New helm 1

 Greetings

I have now spent some time polishing the new helm.

First, I removed the visor and avental and polished the main body of the helm.

The rust is all gone and it now looks like this.

Next, I polished the visor, which now looks like this:

I then spent some time cleaning the avental. This is a very messy process. I lay down pads of newspaper and then cover the mail in liquid metal cleaners ( mostly Brasso). I then don a plastic apron and rubber gloves and rub the mail back and forth, working the liquid in between the links until it is clean.

I then patted it dry ( a lot) and cleaned splashed metal cleaner off the leather, before treating the leather with leather food.

The avental now looks like this:

Now I can actually see the decorative brass links.

I then put the helm back together, adding brass wire to secure the avental.

Until next time

Adieu

Merry Christmas

 Season's Greetings

I take on the task of decorating for Christmas each year.

Here is this year's tree.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.

Until next time

Adieu

New Helm

 Greetings

I have just bought a new houndskull bassinet.

A former member of the Paladins of Chivalry sold his armour to the club and they are selling it on to members.

The helm needed a little bit of work. Both helm and avental were rusty, it had lost one of the brass tethers for the visor-pin chains and there was no wire holding the avental on.

I have made a new brass tether from a piece of old electric plug.

Here's the one that came with the helm.

and here's my replacement one.

It's not quite as round as the other one, but it's not bad for a first try and it does the job.

As usual, I've learnt a bit doing it.

Now I've just got to remove the rust from the helm and visor and polish them a lot..

and then take on the messy job of getting the rust out of the mail avental.

Until next time

Adieu

St Andrew's Day Ball 1

 Greetings

Teddy and I went to our second Regency Ball in Putney on St Andrew's Day.

It was very local for us, so we went to the practice in everyday clothes and then went home to change for the ball.

It was Scottish themed, but , even through kilts were allowed, I decided not to wear mine.

My Line Regiment coat happens to have the star of the Order of the Thistle on it. I usually wear it with my nice bullion epaulettes and an aiglette, so I added the swath I usually wear with my kilt , as this was often done by Highland regiment officers.

It was a challenge keeping that much cloth under control for dancing. I passed one end under my right epaulette and threw the rest round and back over the top of the same epaulette, pinning it with a kilt pin at my left hip and with a clan broach at the shoulder. This left a long end hanging behind me.

Next time I will use a clan broach and a kilt pin at the shoulder, as one broach was not enough to stop tartan falling down my arm at times.

This was also the first time I had worn my new white britches. They were very comfortable to dance in.

I will post more pictures later.

Until next time

Adieu

 

Further work to painting

Greetings

I have done more work to the painting.

It now looks like this

This picture is now in the final stages. I will be living with it for a while and occasionally making small alterations until it tells me it's finished.

Until next time

Adieu
 

Regency Buck 12

 Greetings

Here is another version of my new computer art.

The Regency Buck sans wig...

Until next time

Adieu

Yet more work to painting

 Greetings

I have done more work to the kingfisher and the flowers and plants.

The painting now looks like this.

Until next time

Adieu

Regency Buck 11

 Greetings

Once more censorship has been applied to this version..

and it might be better to call it 'Regency Buck Naked'.

Until next time

Adieu