Raven Bones Cuirass

The winter of 2009 saw a bird other than the phoenix rise from the flames. The Raven bone cuirass was wrought with wing and skull motifs, continuing the theme of grotesque gothic armour wickedly.

The back plate features a folding wing enclosure with a separate back plate held tight by leather belts.

Witch King Battle Arms, WK Gauntlets, NAZ legs with cloven sabatons

In the summer of 2007 the coals burned red during the early morning hours long before the heat of the sun could punish the lands in order to produce this 'grotesque' armour set. Cloven sabatons were the pillars to NAZ style legs, and at the top, WK battle pauldrons, rerebraces, couters, and vambraces link together with WK gauntlets.

Deeply cloven sabatons denote a most unusual creature beneath.

Details of the 'Hell Bent' conceptual Nazgul armour set

The first month of 2006 brought the opportunity to keep the forge fires hot, despite the cold, snow covered lands. A fifth suit of armour with a ferocious war mask emerged when the ice melted. Born in the depths of Winter, a heart of fire has manifest itself. Behold, Hell Bent.

The Hell Bent set features details evolved from the earlier 'Dragon and Tower' set (shown further below). The gauntlets, arms, and legs are WitchKing themed. The sabatons have a cloven toe with gothic laminations that run up under the greave. We refer to them as 'Batmobile' styled because of the resemblance.

The Helmet was designed with the thought of a kingly war mask, in the same realm of the WitchKing's war mask. The crown like spires embrace a multi-lamed cranial dome, not unlike Sauron's. The side mounted 'tusks' articulate on thier mount points, and nasal vent holes support vision.

DETAILS OF 'THE ALL SEEING EYE' CONCEPTUAL SET

The fourth conceptual armour set was wrought by October 2005 and features WitchKing arms, pauldrons, and legs. The cuirass was requested without fauld or codpiece, so for the pictures we substituted a section of chain mail (not actually part of the suit as shown), but would be a suitable region to wear it. The cuirass features 4 articulated abdominal laminations that preface the eye embossed chest plate. Note that the eye has been buffed to a high shine to make it 'pop'. Similar to our previous models, this piece has folded veined wings in the back that embrace a two tier back plate.

DETAILS OF 'THE DRAGON AND TOWER' CONCEPTUAL SET

The third conceptual armour set, unlike it's predecessors, worked to implement what was known of the WitchKing design, with the exception of cloven sabatons. As the hard core enthusiasts know, very little of this armour was actually seen, so we've taken some whimsical liberties. The eye sits suspended in it's tower, nestled between the wide pauldron fans. A cod piece with a dragon head theme was requested, with the orbits left blank, for the addition of jewels at a later time. Not shown was the lightning and fire chape on the WitchKing scabbard. We hope to have pictures of this set (with the helmet) in action to show soon.

DETAILS OF 'THE DRAGON WINGED' CONCEPTUAL SET





This was the second conceptual armour set to be realized following our 'eye' set. Intact are many of the same gothic lines and angular forms. There is an asymmetric element shown in the stop ribs of the pauldrons, one having a clawed fan, and the elbow fans, one with a wing. The articulated chest plates have spires pointing upward, indicating where the respect is to be paid. The fauld lames integrate and flow into the cuisses without restricting movement. The cloven hoofed sabatons are a stunner, and make you wonder whether or not the wearer is human at all. The veined wings on the back plate encase the cuirass. In the event of an encounter with the bearer of this armour, this is the only side that you'll hope to see.

Amendment: The correct placement of the leather suspender straps shown here under the pauldron lames. Worn the other way, a well placed hack with a sword could lose you some fashion points on a runway.

DETAILS OF 'THE EYE' CONCEPTUAL SET

The first conceptual armour set produced in this line. In contrast to the sharp and gruesome lines, the focus was on engineering an ergonomic design, that would enable an armoured rider to carry out their evil appointments without puncturing themselves too often.

The 'eye' on the centre of the gorget / bevor glares through the framing of the breastplate. (MIDDLE) A profile of the gorget showing the deep locking hooks on each shoulder, and the covering back plate. It was envisioned that some form of crown helmet armour would be utilized, and this is yet to be realized (watch this page for this upcoming piece). We have seen evidence that a gorget existed for the wraiths, so in this we felt that we were on the right path. The pauldrons are a toned down version of what was evidenced in the WitchKing armour, and with the use of a gorget, the redundant haute piece or stop rib was also dispatched. (RIGHT) The rear of the gorget showing the covering plate descending down the back. Note how these components mate with the additional plates in the photos to follow.



The breastplate and back plate components on their own. The forged spiked rings seemed suitable, and the hinged folding back 'wings' of the breastplate continue with the dragon theme. The right couter (elbow) has an alternate design to the left couter. This one has a stylized knob conical form, while the left has a twisted conical form, reminiscent of an animal horn.