The helmet finally is ready to be etched

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All areas, which should remain smooth, are protected with tar; the excessive tar is removed. The inner surface is also completely covered with tar.

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And an interesting point of view - "from the sky" :D - to the arabesques

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The etching process in short....

The helmet almost totally submerged in the vessel (in this case - just a bucket from a wall-paint, which provides me the diameter and depth I want)

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After some time in the liquid the helmet was put out, washed with fresh water and neutralized both from outside and inside

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The etching liquid is about 20% solution of Nitric acid (HNO3), while for the neutralization Sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) was used.

The results from the etching....

* front
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** right
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*** left
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**** back
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and finally ***** the top
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Well, before giving me your "wow" votes, let's see the flaws:
The etching is very deep - my micrometer showed difference of about 0.2 mm. The reason for this is the long time of etching - about 40 minutes.
The welding seam is very well visible (it appears almost a damascus pattern in the area of the topmost row); this is also due to the long process time.
I have some etching cavities in places they shouldn't be - it seems the tar wasn't applied properly, or again the process time is longer.
Anyway, as the helmet was already designated as a "trainer" - the flaws are inevitable; next time it would be far better, I hope.

Still gets my 'wow' vote. Bonus points for doing a kit for an under-represented culture and religion, especially one not your own.

IMHO, that etching really turned up really well! thumbs up for your skills (and patience - with such a large area). I suppose that the visible welding seam would be repaired by polishing.
BTW - if you happen to decide that you need to get rid of your "trainer" pieces, do not hesitate to contact me :D

Thanks both, Kai and Radovan!

#Kai
BTW, although Islam isn't really my culture and religion, it's not unknown for me at all.
Far more interestingly, it's good to note, I learned a lot new things about the Islamic culture as a whole; this makes me see the things from a different point.

#Radovan
The etching is really good - what I don't like are all these flaws, many of which actually were avoidable.

If someone is interested in, the meaning of Surah 1: Al-Fatihah as given here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Fatiha is:

1:1 In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.
1:2 All praise is due to God, the Lord of the Worlds.
1:3 The Merciful, The Compassionate.
1:4 Master of the Day of Judgement.
1:5 You alone do we worship and You alone we seek for help.
1:6 Keep us firm on the Straight Path.
1:7 The path of those upon whom You have bestowed Your blessings, those whose (portion) is not wrath, nor of those who have gone astray.

According to http://www.quranse.org/QueryEngine/index.php?...&BL=en a slightly different translation could also be given:

1:1 In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
1:2 Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds,
1:3 The Beneficent, the Merciful.
1:4 Master of the Day of Judgment,
1:5 Thee (alone) we worship; Thee (alone) we ask for help.
1:6 Show us the straight path,
1:7 The path of those whom Thou hast favoured; Not the (path) of those who earn Thine anger nor of those who go astray.

The script itself is called "Naskh script" and is directly taken from this

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14th- or 15th-century manuscript of the chapter.

Time for some riveting....

The eyebrows and a part of the band in a close - in order to see the decorations. As already said - nothing complicated, just some flower-shaped motives made with pin punches. The holes are for the rivets, obviously.

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And the riveting began. First were the eyebrows

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The rivets are (almost traditionally for me over the brass) pieces cut from a copper wire. Two of the holes were not riveted yet - they've been intentionally left un-riveted for now.

Then the band was riveted.

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Here, I've started from the middle of the band (back of the helmet), moving consecutively to both "eyes". When reached the ends, they were very carefully trimmed and drilled; the riveted also.

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The empty holes you see near the bottom edge of the helmet are intended to hold the vervelles (I hope I wrote this word correctly :D )

It took me three attempts to make this

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tiny detail, until I reached shape and dimensions that satisfied me.
After riveting, the final holes in the eyebrows are now filled, the detail is in place.

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Well, I know there would be questions about its function, let me explain.
As the aventail would be hung on a wire, hold itself by the vervelles, there wouldn't be any suspension (for the wire) in the area between outer corners of the eye-slits. So, this plate would hep me to do this. Also, by simple bending, I'll be able to fix both ends of the wire securely behind the nasal.

Are these plate and method historically correct?
As I didn't have a chance to examine a turban helmet from the inside so far, I can't give a precise answer to this question. What I could say is that the method/plate are easy to be done, simple and secure. In my opinion this make them at least plausible.
BTW, another, even simpler, design has come into my mind after the riveting was done.

William,
I'm well known with this construction, but all turban helmets I've seen (believe me, they are literally hundreds - both personally or as pictures) do not share such feature.

For now (unfortunately after riveting) I consider as best plausible really small (mine is very, very big) bracket, riveted behind the nasal with a single rivet; the rivet itself is filed flush from the outside. I should re-check all my pictures available in order to verify / or dismiss such theory.

The tops of the turban helmets usually end with very distinctive cube/reversed cone spike.
Now it's the time to make this detail.

In the beginning it was 20 x 20 mm piece of brass.

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As turning such shape on standard (with three-jaws chuck) lathe is impossible, I started with marking and drilling recesses at the centers of both square surfaces of the piece - as precise as possible.
Later, this time on the lathe itself, these recesses were used to turn the piece "between two cones" - one cone attached to the tailstock, the other held by the jaws of the chuck and the detail between them.

Once the work on the lathe has been done, I cut off the excessive brass from the walls of the cube (now it's 16 x 16 x 16 mm) and drilled the crossing holes on the surfaces of the squares.

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The corners of the cube were cut off also (in a manner used on the head of my Type II mace) and all surfaces sanded and polished. The cylindrical part was drilled and threaded for the future bolt assembly.

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Note that the cylindrical part was filed to fit the hole at the top of the helmet.

And finally - on the top to check the fit

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Lovely detail, Boris. And really well-executed. From what you write I assume you are going to attach it to the helmet with a screw hidden inside. what´s the advantage compared to soldering?

This might be a silly question but, I'll ask it anyway. What is the purpose of the holes in the square's faces ? Is it only for decoration ?

# Radovan
Actually, the spike is already fitted on the helmet (temporary I have some sort of delay with posting the progress).
Yes, I did this with bolt and big-diameter washer

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The washer is the anchor, that locks the whole assembly firmly. What is crucial are the diameter of the washer and the length of the bolt - you need to select them very carefully in order to achieve good results.
Speaking about advantages, on my opinion this is the quick assembly. Also, as I will blacken the helmet (this includes a lot of heating) soldering wouldn't be much appropriate for me.


Leo
The question isn't silly at all - actually it's very good and interesting one.
I wouldn't assume the holes are only for decoration. Some of the helmets still retain rings in these holes

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Well, what is the purpose of the rings could be disputable:
* most unlikely - to hold some sort of identification banner (in the manner similar to the Japanese kasajirushi-no-kan - holding the ID banner kasajirushi at the back of the kabuto)
** to hold some sort of plume - horse-hair could be the best choice
*** if one puts a piece of cord or leather thong through this ring, it would be easy and comfortable to wear the helmet hung over the shoulder during march.

As my superiors almost unexpectedly sent me to an UN MILOBs training course thus being closer to my PC only at the weekends, the above-mentioned delay will grow greater.
Actually, the helmet is already completed (and with this - all the harness) but now we are still dealing with the vervelles.

The vervelles themselves made of bronze - the one on the right was the first test one and was dismissed as dimensions

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Later, when I fitted the avantail, it became clear the dismissed one would be better, but anyway after riveting all eight were in place

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and closer to one of them

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The wire in place for a test-fit

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Hi Boris
Love your work every thing you place your hand on turns to Gold I am impressed with your talent.