Painting my sallet.

[Stuart Quayle]

Bought a German 'jawbone' sallet a while back from a member of this forum and decided it needed "blinging up" a bit and so have started painting it in Oils.

Saw an extant German Black Sallet and was inspired to paint my sallet along those lines.

Am in the process of adding the sixth point to the Mullet stars at present and adding the side stars.

Anyway here are the 'work in progress' pics so far.

Regards
Stuart Q

[Stuart Quayle]

A pic of the front of the helm at present.

[Stuart Quayle]

How the helmet looked to begin with.

[Bad Viking]

you will be gutted if it gets dinged up after all of that painstaking effort !!! - beautiful paint job !

[Stuart Quayle]

Many thanks Bad Viking, hehe yes, although the odd scuff and dent might improve it's looks

[Bad Viking]

yeah yeah ! you say that now - but when it happens you will be spitting tacks !! hehe !

[Stuart Quayle]

True

[Clarenceboy]

The lid looks great painted up and very 'fentic. i just wondered what you used and if you had any thoughts on protecting it, oils or any types of varnish?

[Stuart Quayle]

Thanks Clarenceboy. I am going to finally spray it with All purpose High Gloss Varnish (Windsor & Newton) to keep the gloss finish of the paint. I was told that the original egg tempera paint would have given the helmets a gloss finish, so a high gloss varnish sounds the safest bet

[Stuart Quayle]

Forgot to add, that for the red I was originally going to paint in Windsor & Newton Galeria acrylic (Vermilion Hue), but took the tube to my local B&Q and got them to mix me up some Dulux High Glass Weathershield in that colour red instead, tough, durable, protects against knocks etc. and good for outside use

For the white squares I used Crown quick drying brilliant white gloss for exterior metal, but I first undercoated the helmet in white radiator paint, which sealed the helmet perfectly and provided a good base to paint on to.

[Senilis Pravus]

Very nice indeed. Really like the design.
Make sure you wrap it carefully when you ship it to me...

[Stuart Quayle]

Thanks SP

hehe make me an offer I can't refuse and I'll wrap it very nicely for you The helmet cost me £90 and I have spent about a month painting it.

Here are some pics of the work I have done on the helmet today, just the odd square to complete and also need to finish painting the helmet squares where the visor covers.

[Stuart Quayle]

and some more pics of recent work.

[Senilis Pravus]

Heh heh - then I'd need to buy a harness to match and get you to paint that - far too rich for my pocket I'm afraid

Looking good, looking very good.

[Darkmere]

Looks Great!

[ForTheMarshal]

Looks most impressive - just a few bumps and scrapes and it'll be perfect

/Yes, I'm serious

[Stuart Quayle]

Many thanks for your kind words folks

Am painting the part of the helmet which the visor covers when in the down position at present, so that the pattern is continued when the visor is raised.

Pure therapy

[gregory23b]

Good job on the paint work, the red looks like a vermillion and the white passes for lead white.

I hope you have nice thick brush strokes like the surviving ones.

" I was told that the original egg tempera paint would have given the helmets a gloss finish"

You mean a matte finish

You don't want to paint a sallet with egg medium in any case, egg is painting for wood and cloth.

As you have used a gloss paint you don't need any more varnish as the gloss medium is varnish and it will of course be waterproof.

I have just received a kettle hat which I will be daubing on, yay.

Remember paint was cheap, painted sallets/helmets etc that survive are often the less expensive sort, paint was used to buff up inferior work, so the odd ding is ok

[Stuart Quayle]

Hi Jorge

Many thanks for all of the good advice - duly noted

Look forwards to seeing some progress pics when you begin painting your kettlehat, due you have a particular design in mind at present? Keen to hear.

I would love to have a go at painting maybe a bascinet with a nice biblical latin inscription along it's edge, but have no idea what the best style of lettering is to use and how to find a template of letters to copy. Can anyone help please?

Regards
Stuart Q

[gregory23b]

It will be very simple, in keeping with the surviving items, there is a tendency for some reenactors to over egg the pudding when it comes to painted helmets, it was often a cheap way to make a cheap helmet look better or to hide defects (in many cases), so personally will not put lettering or such stuff.

Even though Venetian Guard helmets (Wallace Collection) are well painted, ie with skill, the helmets are not exactly the epitome of the armourer's craft.

Have you considered another method for the lettering? engraving or etching perhaps that might be more in keeping with your status, or at least more permanent?

[Stuart Quayle]

Thanks Jorge, I might look into the engraving instead, I like the Dot-punched engraving also, so might go that method.

Best Wishes
Stuart