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+--- Thread: helmet crest horsehair length (/showthread.php?tid=14067)
helmet crest horsehair length - Tiberius - 11-26-2008
After many long weeks of not getting to my project, I stand on the verge of completing a horsehair crest for my Gallic H. The block gets it's coat of red paint tonight, and then, the horsehair. This is my question. What is an appropriate length (vertical)? Matt, I know in the LEG XX website, you say 5 to 6 inches above the block surface. What is the evidence?
I'm not trying to be difficult but I have, in the past, seen representations of hair lengths that look like 2.5 to 3 inches. In Simkins' Warriors of Rome, page 133, he has a picture of a Gallic F crest with a horsehair vertical heighth of about 3 inches, I would say. What is the general thought on this?
Re: helmet crest horsehair length - jvrjenivs - 11-26-2008
I think there is only some (artistic) pictoral evidence for lenghts, so hardly anything to say.
Re: helmet crest horsehair length - PhilusEstilius - 11-26-2008
If it is for a Centurian crest I would say around 5 to 6 inch max, for if you try to make it too long it can bend down at the sides. Then it also depends on the hair used for with good black it is stronger and more rigid than Palamino, so if useing the latter come down to 5 inch.
Re: helmet crest horsehair length - A_Volpe - 11-26-2008
Yeah, I think the reasoning for the 'short' length was to help prevent the hair from drooping over time, and just to make it that much easier to take care of / brush up. But I could be wrong.
Unruly Crests? - scott - 11-28-2008
I agree that the shorter lengths are by far more practical and much less cumbersome atop your bonce. Unless there's contrasting evidence, I just can't see floppy oversized crests being of much use at all? They all look a bit 'Hollywood' (no offence intended) to me once they get too big to be honest.
Re: helmet crest horsehair length - Hibernicus - 12-01-2008
Or for longer hair use a stiffener such as gum arabic, rosin or asst animal glues such as Knox Gelatin
Hang the cresta upside down to apply.