Thanks Brian, before trying the leather I removed some of the padding in the front of the liner I'm using now. I then soldered a simple brass hook made out of thin sheet brass to the back of the mask to test fit it. The hook goes forward (as you suggested) and attaches on the inside of the helmet to an existing hole. This set up gives clearance for the mask to sit nice and flush with the helmet and perfectly inline for the eyes. Now that I know the length the hook needs to be I will cut out a nice one out of a thicker gauge brass and attach it with rivets. I may even put a brass edging around the mask as per the original. I like this method as it doesn't modify my Italic D and there is no visible attachment for the mask as it is all hidden inside the helmet. I'll post pictures in the next few days as I get the hook made. Just waiting on some rivets to arrive in the mail.
"The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones"
I didn't think it would be necessary to make a whole new thread for this simple question, but I wanted to ask while we have a thread dedicated to the Itaic D...
I'm considering trying my luck with the Mainz version of this helmet, but after owning the Krefeld, I'm curious, how does the plume work with this helmet? As there are no hooks or loops to stabilize it like many of the Gallic helms do.
Is the crest just supposed to sit snuggly on the holder? I don't have a Deepeeka plume, so perhaps that was my issue?
Matt there are two "pegs" at the side of this helmet which most people take as belonging to a centurion with a transverse crest. Makes sense. But I have also seen others use a longitudinal crest on these using the pegs as tie off points for leather straps. Here is a picture I got from RAT, hope the OP doesn't mind me using it:
Except Jay, that it makes no sense whatsoever to tie the crest to the carrying handle. Thus in the absence of any foward or back
hooks, the crest of this helmet should be transverse.
"You have to laugh at life or else what are you going to laugh at?" (Joseph Rosen)
Of course you're right. Just showing how thongs might be used to tie off the crest to the pegs and how others have done it. As I said I don't have a picture of it transverse.
"The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones"
Here is a picture of the late Doug' Arnold wearing the Itallic D helmet that I made for him some years ago, and the whole function of this helmet has to be that of a Centurian where two small leather loops at the ends of the crest are held on the two spigots used to hold the peak reinforce.
Here are also pictures of this helmet without the crest that also show that the crest holder was a permanent fixture to the crest box and simply dropped in and went forwards without any turning at all.
If the "handle" is not for carrying the helmet but had some other exclusive function, then why do not all helmets have evidence for handles or have handles. Of course one can argue that if carrying a helmet required a handle, then why do not all helmets have them. Possibly the answer lies in the fact that those helmets that have survived and sport a handle were customized by the particular owner. So we cannot really generalize.
Bottome line, the so called Gallic G and I believe the Aquincum helmet both have handles AND hooks or holes for those attachment hooks. Other helmets have holes for crests but no handles.
Besides, tying a crest at such a distance in the rear is less stable than an immediate attachment to the helmet bowl itself. The only reason I see attaching the crest to the handle is because a hook on the helmet broke. But again, it would only work for a limited number of helmets because most others do not have handles.
"You have to laugh at life or else what are you going to laugh at?" (Joseph Rosen)
Here is a rather unique helmet that I made some time ago that has no hooks nor even a carrying handle, and it has been considered as one that may again have been used by a Centurian.
[attachment=6576]00001110Medium.jpg[/attachment]
LOL[/spoiler]
