The Art of Making Armour: A Craftsman's Guide to Creating Authentic Armour Reproductions

Rating:
Summary: Thin as a spiders web, but not as sticky
Review: A book that cannot be used as a reference book. While the basic steps for making armour are touched on, it is more a collection of pictures taken during the manufacturing of a harness of armour.

Rating:
Summary: Not an instructional book
Review: A book that cannot be used as a reference book. While the basic steps for making armour are touched on, it is more a collection of pictures taken during the manufacturing of a harness of armour.

Rating:
Summary: A Formadible Guide to An Almost Lost Art
Review: Although it's illustration(via photographs) deserves five stars for thorough, step by step visual aid, I give this guide four stars over all. If it is to be a step by step guide some steps need more detailed explanation where, although the photographs might show it, further written clarification is needed and some terms are used but not defined. In some cases more photos would have been useful, but not nessessary if there were text to detail the process, which was merely mentioned briefly. Beginner craftsmen need that extra instruction as to how to achieve a certain effect or finnish. Perhaps even a list and better explanation of the various basic tools one would need would have been an asset. It is very informative despite the great difficulty the author must have had in his efforts to revive an almost lost art. He has obviously learned the craft well and though he admits in the introduction that it is not be considered a conclusive manual, his years of personal experience earns him the title of master artisan and is quite inspirational. It can be a great resource for anyone interested in armour making.

Rating:
Summary: A Formadible Guide to An Almost Lost Art
Review: Although it's illustration(via photographs) deserves five stars for thorough, step by step visual aid, I give this guide four stars over all. If it is to be a step by step guide some steps need more detailed explanation where, although the photographs might show it, further written clarification is needed and some terms are used but not defined. In some cases more photos would have been useful, but not nessessary if there were text to detail the process, which was merely mentioned briefly. Beginner craftsmen need that extra instruction as to how to achieve a certain effect or finnish. Perhaps even a list and better explanation of the various basic tools one would need would have been an asset. It is very informative despite the great difficulty the author must have had in his efforts to revive an almost lost art. He has obviously learned the craft well and though he admits in the introduction that it is not be considered a conclusive manual, his years of personal experience earns him the title of master artisan and is quite inspirational. It can be a great resource for anyone interested in armour making.

Rating:
Summary: disapointment, disapointment, disapointment......
Review: DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK!!!! BY ALEX PRICE'S BOOK IT HAS SO MUCH MORE IN IT!!!!!!! this book (or overpriced pamphlet) had absolutley no usefull information in it. You would be much better served bying Alex Price's book Techniques of Medieval Armour Reproduction.

Rating:
Summary: Fairly disappointed
Review: On the positive side, Rob Valentine makes some phenomenal armor, and I have seen his work. It is excellent. His book also has excellent photos. On the negative, I'm afraid I was a bit disappointed with this book. I didn't learn anything. It is not a book explaining how to make armor, as I was under the impression, but a book giving a basic overview of the concept behind putting together a suit is. Whereas I wanted what tools I'd need and patterns, there are only a few sentences depicting each part of the armor. To his credit, Valentine does not claim this to be that type of book, but other sources mislead me. If you want to know how it's done but don't care to ever do it, this book is fine, but otherwise you don't need it. You can find all of the information on the internet very easily.

Rating:
Summary: For anyone with an interest in medieval armour
Review: Self-taught Rob Valeintine has been hand crafting chain mail and plate armour for more than seventeen years. During this time span he has built more than 200 full suites of armour of different styles and over 600 helmets of all designs. In The Art Of Making Armour: A Craftman's Guide To Creating Authentic Armour Reproductions, Valentine draws upon his considerable expertise and experience to show the neophyte how to construct a complete suit of armour. His "reader friendly" text is wonderfully showcased with profuse photography throughout. The Art Of Making Armour is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in medieval armour, its design, and handcrafted manufacture.

Rating:
Summary: More Company Advertisement Than Technical Work
Review: The title of Rob Valentine's work The Art of Making Armour: a Craftsman's Guide to Creating Authentic Reproductions is a bit misleading. While it does show extensive photographs of the armourer at work, it offers very little substance in the way of techniques and methods. The text, what little there is, gives the reader scant insight to the craft. For example, a section is dedicated to the fact that his armoury produces their own rivets, while this is an interesting tidbit, it has more of a feel of a company ad brochure than an instructional work.
Often the photos are not in sequence (for example, early in the work, a breastplate is shown being worked, and then suddenly on the same page photos of a chin piece) and lessen the impact of the work. Instead of teaching, the work tends more to show how his techniques offer the client quality pieces, again giving the reader a sense that this is more of an advertisement than actual scholarly intruction.

Rating:
Summary: Thin as a spiders web, but not as sticky
Review: Well, I bought it, and got it and was very disapointed.
I expected more from such a great armourer as R. Valentine. Instead I found great amusement in Brian R. Price's; Techniques of midieval armour reproduction, the 14th. century.
If you want a book to show you how to make your own armour, or how it was done, buy the biggest book.

B. R. Price - 485 pages + sources !!!!

R. Valentine - 90 pages (mainly pictures)

Norwegian Armourer.