#metal conservation

[monstersandmaw]

Armour nerd anon here - I LOVE LOVE LOVE that you've actually put thought into this! I could tell you've had experience in conservation work on armour from how you wrote it in the story, which honestly just adds so much to the immersion! Thank you so much for sharing! ;_; <3 All the little details on how you wrote it and his armour descriptions in general are just... I love you for it. I really do. I'd love to see in part 2 (or as a drabble) giggly Aubrey getting cleaned, it'd be precious!

Armour nerd anon - bonus here also, I love how you set it all in the uk and the like! That’s where I am and it’s so nice to see an armour story that isn’t someone vacationing here, the idea of using armour conservation as the connection was a stroke of brilliance in my eyes. Thank you so much. <3

Giggly Aubrey getting cleaned would be hilarious. I might have to do a bonus drabble with that, along the lines of: “Oh god, stop, oh no! Why did I think it’d be a good idea to let you do this while I’m still in here!?” (cleaning continues) “Oh I think I’m going to… WAIT FOR IT… *ectoplasm starts oozing from the cracks and joints in the armour* GIVE UP THE GHOST!” *receives a sharp smack on the head for his terrible puns. 

I’m a conservator by training and sort of by profession, though I stepped sideways from conservation, through restoration, to making now, and I do more of that than I do conservation these days. Most Japanese style carving and metalwork, but I make a lot of mail and mail inspired jewellery. Honestly, writing Aubrey’s story was one of the easiest I’ve ever done because so much of it (except the actual plot T.T I didn’t meet a vampire or a haunted suit of armour to my knowledge) came from my own experience working on site at the castle (which was amazing.) Most of that armour was a combo/mishmash of stuff, but a friend of mine has since got to work on a lot of mail from the MET, and also some Maximilian armour, which I wasn’t envious of because of all the fluting… 

*end nerdgasm from Ghosti*

[monstersandmaw]

Ah to heck with it I'm coming off Anon, my love for armour knows no bounds! Hi, this is the face of the armourlover anon! Oh man I'm envious of your friend too, maximilian armour is gorgeous... Working in a castle must have been a really cool experience! I imagine you're happier making things yourself now, though? That sort of thing takes so much time!

:D *waves shyly back* 

The castle project was amazing, and only marginally creepy… (in a good way). I am happier making things myself, though conservation and restoration have their own special joys. There’s a definite satisfaction to bringing something back from the brink of death… :) I’ve always been creative though, so doing something I enjoy for a living is very satisfying, if painfully un-lucrative… :(

[monstersandmaw]

As a major armourlover, I just HAVE to ask: do you have any notes on where Aubrey's armour came from? Like, was it custom made by a smith back when they were alive for him or was it something that got picked up in the family line and they just had on display or...? I'm under the impression he never actually wore it before getting bound to it... Bonus question: Can he cook?? I love the image of this giant suit of armour cooking over a tiny stove with an apron on...

Ho boy. Ok. *nerd alert klaxons going off as I start responding*

So. I’m not an armour expert, but I have done conservation work on a but-ton of the stuff, both here in the UK and in Malta, and I do have a few friends in the arms and armour trade and conservation line of work. (I can provide photographic evidence of me with a special vacuum cleaner strapped to my back, looking like a member of Ghostbusters, and also of me standing utterly dwarfed by a piece of armour that I’ve just finished taking care of… haha).

Aubrey’s armour is basically parade armour, made to be showy. It would originally have been blued and gilded, but it’s been overcleaned at one point (personal conservator’s vendetta coming in there) and its lost its blue-black colouring. Aubrey doesn’t mind, since he didn’t like how flashy it was before. 

I don’t have an exact timeline for them yet, but I imagine they were killed (turned into a vampire in Ruben’s case) around the 1530s or so, so they could have had their armour made by someone like Kunz Lochner, or, more likely since I’m setting this in England, by the Greenwich Armouries… Unfortunately because of the Lorenzo Lotto painting, I’ve set them too early for the likes of Jacob Halder and the armour of Henry, Prince of Wales but hey. The armour was one of the ones his father had been sent as a gift from the king I think. 

I don’t think Aubrey can cook at all. Ruben can, but Aubrey just can’t. He’s too impulsive, so it either comes out like sludge, or he burns it. He tries, bless him, and he looks fabulous with a tiny little pink apron on. 

THANK YOU FOR ASKING ME THIS!! 

[nyupreservation]

Housing archaeological metals, part 2

Before: An assortment of objects as they were stored previously.

After: The objects are set into two foam trays that are stacked in a container together, with a layer of thin Volara foam to protect the bottom tray.

Before: Fragments of a large kettle pot.

After: Kettle fragments in foam trays, with a shelf of corroplast (corrugated plastic) to separate the two layers. At the right you can see a Tyvek pouch containing silica gel. Inside each container there is a humidity indicator strip placed so that it can be read without opening the bin, so curators can easily check to make sure the microclimates are maintaining.