May 2005 - session 3 A conversation about inflated egos, Polish movies, weapons, fabric, leopard heads and Laughing Gravy...   Ran: Well BIG DUDE... that was a hell of an impressive work on the helmet and cuirass. Keep it up anymore and you're going to make me look real bad. Ron: Thank you, Master. You have inflated my miserable ego which now, is no longer miserable, forever. LOL Ran: Yeah, forever! Ron: LOL.Man these Hussars are so impressive pieces of Art. I'm afraid when you see the DVD you may say "Hey how come they didn't have more shots of the Winged Hussars?"Just saying that so you won't be too depressed when it's over. You know, letting you down easy.Remember this is a Polish movie. Now if it were made in the USA, they would have spent much more time showing the magnificent detail of all the armor and weapons and such. You know like a shot of them getting it all ready for war. I wish they would have done that. Because like I said before, I could not really see what they used for weapons, maybe my TV screen is too small. I just have a miserable RCA Trinitron hi resolution 1000 line  36" screen. Not those fancy new fangled widescreen Plasma units, like everyone in Singapore has. LOL. Ran: I've received the movie you sent and have watched it, and you're correct about the 3 minutes worth of winged hussars exposure - I think they are only incidental to this story which is basically about friendship, love, sacrifice and the need for the unity of all societies in a country. However, I must say they look pretty good. Did notice that they were wearing only the front half of the cuirass secured by leather strapping crossed-over the back. I noticed the wings contraption was secured to the back by some padded undergarment worn beneath the red garment. Quite different from the reference images we see in the museums. Ron: Anyway, if it's not too much to ask, whenever you have the weapons you intend to use - I think these are the Sideshow Vlad weapons - could you just line up what you'll be using and take a couple pix of the weapons you'll be using and include a metric ruler in the pics? I can just match it to my printer and scratch them easy that way. Eh? No rush. No problem with time. Ran: Okay, there you go. In the photograph I sent you, the 2 flintlocks at top are from the SST Blackbeard figure. As you can see, compared to the Cotswold version one is too long and the other too short ... The Hungarian sword is the one with the black scabbard, it's from the SST Vlad the Impaler set, likewise the mace at the bottom. Ron: Thanks, those weapons pixs will work just fine. There's a close up of a hussar sword hilt on the cover of the DVD. It is perfect for our project. I really like that Hungarian sword. Got the shoulder armor finished. Made of sculpy. They were kinda tough to cover the curves with foil but I finally got it. Whew! I'm using the design on the pix you have on your site of the red uni Hussar for the arms.   Ran: I've made the collarplate out of the aluminium pan metal sheet, well at least I found some use for that! LOL. The upper section of the cuirass I'll sculpt out of modelling clay. What are you doing for the garments? I haven't even begun to start getting material. Ron: Oh man, I got a lot of cool material at the fabric store. I should have sent you some. Blood Red velvet with tiny gold thread designs,  Some green shiny stuff with curly Q's, a couple metalic gold and silver material and lots of gold fancy border ribbon. I got a couple feet of each. I should have sent you some, but I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I know .... you want pix's. LOL. But then you probably have all those eastern Chinese silk design fabric stores that would be perfect too, just laying around all over Singapore. LOL. I'm also thinking I'll be using those German riding boots I got from Ops Gear a while back. They're nice but Black. And I guess they should be Tan instead of black eh? More of period color don't you think? Most pix I've seen, show them with tan boots. And I guess cavalry boots would be a closer match cause of the way the boot at the knee looks. Ran: The Hungarian boots have a curved bit at the top of the boot I think. I have a SST pair of boots that looks similar to the hungarian boots, so I'm okay on my side. Apparently the tan-yellowish boots are a favourite with the rich Polish nobility, it was like the thing to have, if you know what I mean. Ron: That's what I've noticed in all the pixs too. And did you notice the uniform sleeves kinda have a strap between the thumb and forefinger? Kinda like a Samurai or ninja aren't they?  Ran: Yes, I noticed the strap, there's also a variation of the sleeves-end where there is a curved extension of sorts - over the hands. Ron: But I'm wondering if I want the armor skirt? What are you doing there? Ran: I'm thinking of scale skirting for an armour skirt. Or chainmail. Ron: LOL. Oh so it's a secret now, eh? LOL The armor skirt might make it difficult to have him mounted on the horse, that was my concern about that. Chainmail would work better but I'll probably try out the scale skirt and see how it goes. Ran: LOL... no. no... no secret... just being indecisive because of the production constraints. The problem with these are that the cuirass has to be a perfect fit, thus allowing a chainmail skirt of scale skirt to be attached around the waist. If the cuirass doesn't fit perfectly, the gaps in the sides would show the armour skirt hanging at the waist. The final option would be to just leave it plain. Ron: Yeah, I know what you mean about the fitting of the cuirass. That's why I made mine on the figure. I did the front half then baked it then fit the back half with a little added for more space inside so it wouldn't be too tight over the clothes. Besides you know you can just put a strip of metal tape if there's a gap. LOL. It'll work out. Ran: I will leave that decision of having an armour skirt to the end, there's still so many things to work on. LOL Ron: Chainmail would work better but I'll probably try out the scale skirt and see how it goes. Ran: LOL... chainmail would be easier... Ron: Hey I talked to Laughing Gravy 2 on Chat tonight. He's got some 1/6 Flintlock trigger and pan casts that he made and is going to send me some, free. He asked if you needed any too? They're real nice and they will work for pistols. I told him I'd ask if you wanted any. I did tell him you had the SST ones but you weren't sure if they were the right size. Anyway he's made 1/1's and so he knows all about old weapons cause he's also a real Mountain Man. I told him 16 cent. Like late 15oo's. He said they would work even for Spanish Conquistador weapons. Coo.l Anyway we had a pretty good chat all about Mountain Men and Flintlocks and Bows and arrows. LG2 is a pretty good artist. Anyway he said if we had any questions about Flintlocks or wheel locks that he'd be happy to let us know. Ran: That's so cool and extremely kind of him. We need experts like him for sure. Thanks and welcome on board, Armand. Armand: Howdy, pard. Like I told Ron; it's my pleasure to help fellow(s) collector(s) out if I can. I'll cast up those locks in the next couple three days, and try to get them out by the end of the week (I have to go into town to the post office). I'll try to compile a page or two of drawings etc., to try and give an overview of period-correct firearms/pistols then email that to you guys. As for being "on the team".........man, that's quite an honor. Honestly, I don't think I deserve it. My knowledge has come to me through free information and my love for the subjects. I didn't have to scratchbuild it, I didn't have to trial-and-error it. For me to have a spot next to guys who are actually building the items for this project, seems like it would detract from your efforts. I'm also not exactly the most beloved member of the 1/6 community lol, as I have a tendency to speak my mind. Never cheated anybody or lied, but some folks get a bit uncomfortable with the truth lol. I certainly wouldn't want any of that to follow itself to your incredible project. I am perfectly willing to be in the wings and answer or help anywhere I can, but this is your baby. You two deserve every bit of the credit and glory. I kinda like being the unknown one sometimes. I will give a basic summary of what I feel I can help on; I have been a traditional blacksmith for over 20 years in 1/1. I specialize in pre-1840 accoutrements and edged items. This raises the need to research as many of the older and ancient styles as possible in order to create period-correct items. Firearms. I build my own blackpowder firearms (not kits) and use them very often. I have shot competition and hunted with pieces I've built. Again, research is critical. Practical experience. I have been a member of The American Mountain Men for several years. This is an educational/survival organization dedicated to preserving the skills of the pre-1840 period. Some of us refer to it as "experiential archaeology", in that we often have to rediscover techniques that have been lost to modern times. I have also been a horseman for most of my life, and build all my own tack etc. I've also got a bit of background knowledge on the historical aspect of horsemanship. Please don't hesitate to ask away if you feel I might be able to help. Again, I take great pleasure in sharing. Ron: For sure! Ran: Wonderful! But he never explained how his moniker "Laughinggravy2" came about! Everytime I see that , I visualise a plate of hot gravy with an animated laughing face. Ran: Well, this is the final evolution of my Polish Winged Hussar helmet. It's metalised, using a combination of silver leaf for the crown and foil for the cheekguards and neck guards. It was pretty tedious working with silver leaf ... I'm glad to get this out of the way! Phew

May 2005: Cuirass / Breastplate - session 2 Ron: Here's what I've done so far... The head is not on yet cause I still have to paint it and add the steel wool mustache hair.Everything is hinged with gold pins. I'm working on the collar, shoulder and arm pieces.

Ron's cuirass at left. I am examining his cuirass prototype made out of malleable aluminium sheet

Ran: Awesome! Here's what I have done below. Notice that the front center of the cuirass is ridged. The studs on the sides were small handicraft plastic movable animal eyes originally mounted on cartoon cow stickers for kids. Hope you like it. LOL

Ran: Here's my complete ensemble - minus the shoulder guards.

Ron: Oh that looks pretty good Ran. Especially like the gold embelishments.

May 2005: Shoulder/arm armour - session 1 Ron: I've been working on the Shoulder pieces and hooking them to the upper arm pieces. It's a difficult thing to work out especially if you want them able to move. I had to make the shoulder pieces out of sculpy cause there's so many curves but I made all the segment's out of the heavier aluminum pieces so they keep their shape real nice. It's just hooking the three parts up to make it work right and look right that's taking time. But I think I have it figured out now. Wait till you get to that part and you'll know what I mean. LOL Still working on the skirt. When I finish the segmented skirt I'll take some of the completed armor and more head shots so you'll have them all at the same time. If all goes well you should have them all this week. Ran: I didn't encounter any problems working on the shoulder guard, possibly because the example I chose was a 2-piece assembly as opposed to a single curved unit. I simply used that aluminium sheet and cut them to the templates. I reckon on scribing on the back of the metal sheet to create the illusion of leather straping and buckle. Haven't done it yet, but that's my secret tip of the day. LOL Well, we'll see how that goes. Ron: OMG! That's so clever. I ended up using real leather for all the straps. I still had some of that thin deer skin. One thing I noticed is there's a lot of straps and a lot of buckles. I counted like about 8 for each side. So that's like 16 buckles I'll be using. I put 18 together last night. So they're ready to go. I made about 26 metal buckles since this weekend. Pain in the butt but they'll work and look pretty good. I'm going to use pins to anchor each end so they'll be able to work well. Here's pixs of my completed armor set:

Ron's completed hussaria armour set. Tungstan lighting gives a nice warm hue to armour.

Ran: That's great! This looks like show and tell time. Here's what I have been up to, so far. The shoulder guards are easily articulated, thanks to some discrete taping at the back. It's kind of complete for the moment except for some embellishment on the shoulder guards. I will do that at a later stage.

My completed hussaria armour set. The photograph on the extreme right is the 1/1 museum piece that I based the shoulder guard assembly on. As usual, I used daylight whilst taking these photographs.

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