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Post by Sulfur on Dec 2, 2014 17:49:28 GMT
Put it under fantasy as I don't think it's patterned from a real sword Wallace would have used but from an obscure, 1994 indie film I can only guess is valentine themed.
It was the mrl deal of the day for 160 and I came within a longshank of buying it. I couldn't find a single review and that partly stayed my hand (or wallet, rather).
Any experience? It seems to be a different blade in subtle ways to previous claymores.
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Luka
Senior Forumite
Posts: 2,848
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Post by Luka on Dec 2, 2014 20:04:55 GMT
Freedom fighter is basically a widely recognizable sword "type" because of its appearance in Braveheart, but it is very similar to late 15th to mid 16th century Swiss and German two handers, just a bit cruder, cross guard and pommel have little of the grace of the original ones...
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Post by Draven on Dec 10, 2014 20:54:44 GMT
I don't have any experience with it, but...
Personally, I like the movie, but it has to be taken for what it was; a theatrical adaptation of Blind Harry's Wallace poem. Not history. I'd like to have a replica of the sword, but that one has a few problems. Firstly, the hexagonal blade section - it should be lenticular as it was in the movie. Also, the plunge cuts near the ricasso look brutal; they, with the hex section, make what is probably a decently made sword look pretty bad IMO.
Funnily enough, in the movie it's never described as a claymore to the best of my recollection; I'm not sure why it gets so much flak for not looking like one. To me it looks more like an XIIIa or XX without a fuller. The plain, lenticular and fuller-less blade was clearly (IMO) based on the Wallace Sword at the Wallace Monument, though there is significant speculation as to whether it belonged to Wallace or even a contemporary.
The weight is quite a bit less than the wallace sword, but similar in size - an improvement, I would think, but I tend to think the blade might have quite a bit of sag, losing that much weight and remaining so long.
It also looks like they used leather for the grip and ricasso-wrap, which is an improvement over the suede that a lot of replicas have. What was with all the suede in that movie anyway?
Personally, I think it would've been cool if they incorporated a little norse influence into the sword. There was certainly some Norse influence in Scottish swords at various times in the form of lobate pommels and such. But that's by the way.
Anyway, all that rambling aside, I wouldn't feel bad about buying the sword but I personally would probably do a bit of work making the blade lenticular and smoothing out the plunge lines.
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Post by nddave on Jan 13, 2015 5:09:20 GMT
Yea it seems like Windlass lost their license to sell Braveheart merchandise. They did a big sale a few years back getting rid of everything Braveheart on MRL. Then a couple years ago the Freedom Fighter shows up without the movie plaque and tartan.
It's a sword I've always wanted and there are reviews of it, you just have to look up Windlass Braveheart. I know for sure there's one in the old review index. Overall it's very similar to my Hero's Warsword in handling and profile. Honestly I believe the same blade is used for both swords. The Warsword is based on the Robert the Bruce Lowlander which also has a hex blade profile. There are also type XIIIs in my Records of the Medieval Swords book with hex profiles. The only real difference between the HW and the FF is the HW is peened and FF uses a compression nut similar to the Sword of Roven.
Most believe the Claymore both High and Lowlander wasn't used pre 16th century but both the holders of the Bruce and Wallace claim they're 12th century swords used by their namesakes. But if your not a fan of the Windlass there's always the Del Tin model and or the Albion Tyrolean. Either way I consider it more historical than fantasy as it's a sword based on actual sword type even if it wasn't technically used in that time period. Nobody ever gave the movie Excalibur a hard time for not being period accurate or fantasy based on the sword designs.
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