15th Century Armour - Being too pedantic

[Ethelred the Almost Ready]

Further to my last post, I have decided to go for mid-15th Century Italy rather than mid-14th.
Perry miniatures have a lot of what I want. 
Now, I really know very little about this period but have done some reading and searching on Google.  A little knowledge is a dangerous thing............
Looking at the Perry mounted men at arms (plastic) most torsos seem to be in Gothic armour (fluted and symmetrical pauldrons) rather than Italian.  Is this the case?  Does it really matter?  I see Front Rank have men in Italian armour.  Am I correct in thinking Front Rank are somewhat chunkier than Perry?

For armed fops in fashionable clothes I wondered about using some nicely attired TAG Italian crossbow men but have them holding long swords with the left hand down the blade (as with the combatant on the left in the second picture) or with a sword at the ready and a target shield in the left hand.







Again, thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

[Atheling]

The Perry stuff (plastics) do have some Italian Armours.

[Charlie_]

The Perry plastic mounted-men-at-arms has 4 types of armour.

Now the most recognisable 'extremes' of late 15th century armour styles are
1 -  the Italian/Milanese form, with large smooth plates and asymmetrical arms, suited for cavalry combat (the left side being more fortified with little mobility needed, the right side (weapon arm) needing more mobility).
2 - the German/Gothic form, with a slimmer, tight-waisted outline, lots of decorative fluting, and symmetrical arms.

HOWEVER - there are many, many more forms that blur these lines.
There is a fantastic series of books by Dr Tobias Capwell which detail English armour of the period, which he demonstrates was quite distinct, and also (in vol 3) imported European forms of armour that would be seen in England, most notably armour that is basically Italian in form and construction, but adapted to English / West European tastes - basically a little extra decorative fluting, and more flexible for foot combat rather than purely mounted combat.


Ok, so the Perry set has:
1 - Italian
2 - German
3 - English
4 - A body with a tabard / livery coat, the armour which can be seen underneath looking somewhat 'Italianate'.


Having recently read the Capwell books, I have a few thoughts on this Perry set, I might even dare to call them criticisms!
1 - German-style armour was rarely EVER seen in England, in particular the famous late-period gothic form they have used.
2 - The 'English' set they use I think in the notes they also call Flemish, but this is NOT correct - the Flemish form of armour of the period was very different. Their English armour has all the right features (lots of cusping), though interestingly its distinctive pauldron (shoulder) shape is barely touched on in the Capwell book.


So yes, the Perry set will get you two Italian armours - one covered, one uncovered. It will also give you a German armour and a distinctly English armour.

[commissarmoody]

Steelfist also has a pretty decent late medieval and Italian wars line.
https://www.steelfistminiatures.com/product-category/italian-wars-1494-1538/

https://www.steelfistminiatures.com/product-category/later-medieval-1460-1490/

[SJWi]

To answer one of your questions, from memory Front Rank are quite chunky and sculpted in a very distinctive style. Nice figures though.

[cadbren]

If you're going to have the pictured figures holding a long sword with the left hand on the blade then it would be best to cut the left hand off and rotate it so that it's palm down instead of palm up. This is how the knight on the left in the other image is holding his sword and is the typical way of half-swording.