Quote from: Fenton on 24 January 2015, 07:52:35 PM
Painted mail might be referring to the bluing of the mail after manufacturer

There is bluing, and I suppose unpolished it may be blackened. There is  also russeting, but I think that is a later discovery.

A reenactment group doing a long march in Roman gear a few decades ago found that mail (yes, mail) requires less upkeep and polishing than other armour as long as it's being worn; the rings chafe the rust off each other in movement.
This implies the corrolary that mail probably wore out faster than one might have wished.

Quote from: FierceKitty on 25 January 2015, 12:37:30 AM
A reenactment group doing a long march in Roman gear a few decades ago found that mail (yes, mail) requires less upkeep and polishing than other armour as long as it's being worn; the rings chafe the rust off each other in movement.
This implies the corrolary that mail probably wore out faster than one might have wished.

It's also easy to clean, chuck in a sack/barrel with some sand and shake around a bit.  Easier than polishing pieces of plate in my experience.

I have written to Bretealda asking them to cite sources.

I think my problem is that I got a Kindle edition. Obviously a printed book is infallible, but the Kindle skirts the line between the sooth page and the lying internet.

I quite fancied some troops in green mail. 

For Sir Gawain to try to cuckold?

Why not.

I may experiment with coloured mails, just 'cos I can. 

In "Wargames Tactics" by Charles Grant there is a chapter entitled "Fracas at Bray" which is a medieval skirmish. I think the Stephen-Matilda Wars lend themselves to this format. I'd like to have some distinctively coloured lances to give me flexibility (today red and blue take on black and white - tomorrow red will defend a church against the other three.) Just need 10-15 figures per lance, perhaps a few peasants ... ooh and some Welsh, 'cos they're funny, and let chaos ensue!

Couldn't you try an appropriate coloured ink wash over 'normal' chainmail, Nobby ?
Cheers - Phil

That was my thought. Thought I'd go for the "silver" mail rather than my usual "gunmetal" mail and then slop some limey-green or reddy-brown over the top.


I shall let you know how I get on. Think I've got some Normans left over. 

The only other method I tried years ago.....Which, to me. worked really well was painting a coloured Tamiya varnish over drybrushed armour/chainmail.
There was a significant drawback to using this method, in that the Tamiya varnish would 'lift/dissolve' acrylic paint.
This meant using a metallic enamel for the drybrushing.
Not a problem, way back then, as I still had pots (of pots) of metallic enamels.
Like I say.....I thought it worked really nicely....I'm not sure if Tamiya still produce those varnishes, now though.

Cheers - Phil

I remember doing CHAINMAIL (correct term) with a suede brush and then varnishing. Buffed up the rings nicely. I also have never heard of painted mail, the ID was via the surcoat shield and banners.

IanS

Who let it in?

No idea - scuse me whilst I get a brush and case that cat OUT.....

IanS 

Case out the joint - that I understand. How do you case a cat out? I resemble that remark.

I have had a response from Bretwalda.

'I fear that you may be correct. The reference was from a very learned, but rather old and therefore possibly out of date, work on medieval armour that was talking about the 11th century. On checking more up to date works I see that there is no talk about the painting of mail at all, though there is reference to coloured helmets, shields and plate. I suppose that since I can't find a reference to the fact that mail was not painted does not necessarily mean that it was not - "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence" and all that - but it does make it very much less likely.'

I am slightly saddened, but it is nice to see the author responding positively.

What the hell, there are always surcoats.

What a remarkably reasonable and swift reply!

PurrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I always understood that "mail" was, by definition, interlocking rings. So "chainmail" is a redundancy. Rings sewn to a leather backing was known as "proof".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mail_%28armour%29

There's chainmail, ring mail, banded mail, splinted mail, plate mail .... Sheesh! Did NOBODY here play D&D but me?

As I understand it mail simply refers to the wearing of armour of some sort. Plate mail is completely different to chain mail but the word mail on its own does not convey which mail is being worn. What I think has happened is that as armour itself became redundant people simply referred to plate mail as plate and chain mail became shortened to mail.