military science

Techniques of Armour Reproduction by Brian Price is a masterwork and a MUST HAVE for anyone interested in becoming an armourer, or even for those who want to further their armouring skills. Mr. Price's book is a carefully crafted, very well detailed tome of knowledge that stems from years of practical experience. Unlike the Medieval armourers that went to their graves with the secrets of their art, Mr. Price shares every aspect of the armouring process without leaving out a single element of how each piece is created. From the process of choosing and finding tools to the techniques of every step in the creation of armour, this book leaves no stone unturned. From patterns to polish, Mr. Price shares his vast knowledge with passion and precision. Each page is accompanied by clear and informative pictures that show the reader exactly what his descriptions so skillfully detail. As armourers, we at Summer Knights are constantly honing our skills and challenging our abilities to push ourselves to the next level of mastery. But we can't begin to think of how much 'trial and error' we could have avoided if we had owned Mr. Price's book sooner! In any case, the book has already proven most useful to the Summer Knights Armoury and we know it will enhance your armouring skills too! ...

This is a great reference for amateur armourers and armour enthusiasts. Even if you have no intention of setting up an armoury and creating pieces yourself, any fan of 14th C. arms and armour will find this a facinating overview of armour reproduction techniques. I personally loved the early section that explains the basic shop setup and offers some practical tips on how to obtain hard-to-find tools. In fact, the one major improvement I would suggest for this book is to expand the "shop setup" section to include a more thorough treatment on how to contruct tools on the cheap and provide contact info for known suppliers (things like stakes, stake plates, anvils, hammers, etc). Also, it'd be nice to offer some armour patterns for those inspired enough to try their hand at a piece. Overall, I love this book. I find myself frequently skimming through this book and rereading favorite sections just for lite reading before bed ;-). Highly recommended.

This book is incredibly informative for someone like myself when I got it. I had just began to make armour under a master's tutelage. It's considered required reading by most armouring groups that I know of.

However, it teaches you slightly less than you might realize, and certainly teaches some biases. For example, Price's personal views are clearly reflected in the book, not as his opinions, but stated as fact. When read by itself, this isn't something noticable, but when coupled with "The Armourer and his Craft", by Charles ffoulkes (inexpensive book, and definately a must read for armourers) it's quite dramatic at times.

However, having said that, I agreed with Mr. Price on a lot of his opinions. There are conflicts of interest though, when he states repeatedly some of the basic tenents of armouring, yet contradicts them with some of his personal choices.

Another beef I have with the book is the way in which pictures of armor that are CLEARLY reproductions are toted as being EXTREMELY well made, when quite frankly, they aren't, and certainly shouldn't be used as guides. (For example. dish your cuisses folks.. don't just curl them). Some of these nuances aren't apparent until you immerse yourself in images of the real stuff first, to develop your "eye". If you try to develop your "eye" with repro work, your best work will never compare to the originals.

I'm not claiming mastery, or that I'm better than anyone that's gotten their stuff pictured, I'm just saying that you need REAL reference pics of REAL armour. Aside from that, the book REALLY holds your hand and builds a very strong learning foundation. It's also a great place to refer back to as you go through the various stages of making your armour. It's certainly inspiring, I just recommend caution, and suggest that you keep asking questions, and getting second opinions rather than take the whole book at face value.