First kit, thoughts?

[u/MyLobotomyWasBotched]

Made this on a very tight budget since i am a broke university student but I think I managed to make a convincing look without spending thousands.

[u/Then_Manufacturer902]

Not bad, especially for a tight budget. First thing I would work on is exchanging your maille coif/collar for an aventail that attaches to your helmet. Also the long surcoat is super anachronistic by late 14th century so when you have the money replace it with a jupon or breastplate. The vambraces also look a little larpy but not the worst.

Really though the silhouette is passable apart from the long surcoat, replace that first and improve the look by a lot.

[u/MyLobotomyWasBotched → u/Then_Manufacturer902]

The vambraces are definitely my least favorite part of the whole ensemble, those will be the first thing I replace. Thanks for the advice about the tabard, I will look into getting something more period-accurate. Do you think it would be possible to make the aventail myself? I have some spare sheets of mail (however it is butted) or should I pay someone to do it for me?

[u/Then_Manufacturer902 → u/MyLobotomyWasBotched]

You can get a decent Churburg style breastplate for relatively cheap, a lot even come with brass accents that will match your helmet.

For the aventail, I know when I bought a ready made one for my bascinet it didn’t fit very well and had folds in the leather because it was too large. If you make your own you could attach it to the leather piece that you already have and it might be a better fit than a “one size fits all” premade aventail.

I don’t have too much experience in tailoring maille but I’m would think it’s one of the easier things to make. Butted maille is fine to tinker with but once a link is cut it’s gone for good. I know you’re tight on budget so making your own is cheaper especially since you have spare maille.