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Post by sparky on Apr 2, 2009 21:34:30 GMT
Very nice Odingaard. I like the Larry the cable guy look.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2009 18:25:26 GMT
Yup, still jealous- but that's gona be some harness when you're done with; kudos on the upgrades.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2009 23:06:58 GMT
Progress continues steadily on the project. I was busy this week, so I did not really get much done until today when my helmet and mail skirt arrived. I had to change my helmet order at the last minute for a few reasons. One is that the great bascinet I ordered was out of stock at one vendor and I additionally found out it was not the gauge steel I needed. Rather than order it, I went ahead and order the GDFB Klappvisor from my distributor. The mail skirt came in from Ice Falcon and I am pleased with the quality. It arrived a few days before the aventail is due to show because I actually placed two seperate orders for stuff from him. He is a super-nice guy, gave me a call and everything. I will return to Ice Falcon with business in the future. I spent about 10 minutes lacing the top of the skirt with 1/4" latigo so that it can be secured to my arming jacket. This was probably the easiest part of the project. I have slightly mixed feelings about the GDFB Klappvisor. Right out of the box, I had to do some minor modifications. The retaining thumb screw that holds on the visor was really loose and needed to be repeened from behind so that the visor would not wobble left and right. Additionally, the visor still wobbles side to side a bit because the hinge is slightly loose in its mount. I will work on this later. Overall, the helmet is as thick as stated (14ga), solid, and the visor offers great visibility. It's lined with felt, which will be coming out when I get ready to do the liner. I am a little worried about my big nose impacting the visor, but we will wait and see how it fits once lined where I can get my head a little further back from the faceplate. On to the aventail: Taking some newspaper, I cut a template for the aventail mount, traced the drawing onto leather, then cut it out, punched it, and mounted it. It's still damp, so I laced it on and am allowing it to dry under a fan to shrink, conform it to its final shape. This might result in a little rust on the helmet edge, but since its only going to be a couple hours drying, it shouldn't be an issue. I'll reoil the whole helmet when I am finished. I am waiting on my arms/legs and aventail to show. When it gets here, I will stitch it onto the above mount then have the helmet complete sans liner. I'll repost as I progress.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 4:28:41 GMT
Ok, this is not a process I wish to repeat again...it was the most difficult challenge with this harness yet. The aventail arrives from Ice Falcon today. Mounting the aventail to the helmet was an absolute bear. I removed the leather strap after it dried and punched it for attaching the aventail. I then dyed it, finished it with sheen, and put it onto the helmet, and laced a leather thong through the vervilles. Initially, I had planned to stitch the aventail on with saddle sinew. I tried this, and for some reason, I just could not get the spacing correct. It made for a really non-linear look. So, I then used butted maille rings to attach it, which made it even, but it gives it a funky little flair on the edge of the helmet. I am beat for now, so I will leave it and come back to it later to see if the leather relaxes a little bit. It does not really look bad as is, but its not quite the way I wanted it to look. Also, the opening on the GDFB Klappvisor is more squared than rounded, so it looks a bit different that the effigy pictures in the face. Not exactly perfect, yet it will pass. Someone should have told me how hard mounting an aventail was. I have blisters on both hands from working with a pair of pliers for nearly three hours. ;D Here is the completed (for now) helmet. The black string around my neck is what I used to keep the visor closed for the picture. It will eventually be replaced when I can think of something better.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2009 22:34:24 GMT
I installed the strap to secure the visor in the lower position and installed the internal chinstrap today. I also put some additional holes below and to the sides of the occulus to increase my field of view. The vision is great in this thing now. Here is a view of the completed helmet.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 6, 2009 19:23:02 GMT
The arms and legs came in from Schmitthenner Armory today. I dry fit it before wet forming the leather. I can tell that I am going to have to remove a few rows from the aventail because it hangs too far down. This is everything thus far sans helm, gauntlets, and gorget. Once I get everything formed up and strapped to fit properly, I'll post again.
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