Good pointers ref the bow colouration from Bob.

We had a bowyer making self bows at a Bristol docks event many years ago. I stood there fascinated as he used a hand axe then spokeshaves and draw-knifes to shape the stave, taking into account any knots, kinks and variations in the grain, ending up with a slightly wonky looking and knobbly article. Of course the bowyer would prefer to work with a perfect length of wood, free from deformities, but he explained that these are few and far between and the everyday workhorse bows he was making were as per the real thing (not the Robin Hood style, perfectly shaped and rather short efforts of Hollywood).

The Mary Rose provided 137 Tudor yew bows, almost certainly unchanged from Agincourt in terms of design and manufacture and, as can be seen, they display odd bumps. lumps and kinks which are far away from modern ideas of 'perfection and uniformity'.

This pic (a MR reconstruction) shows both the variation in colour (light sap vs dark heartwood) and the shaping to allow for the knots, kinks etc.



There's some links to pics below plus an account of an bow recovered from the MR in 1840 by the Deane brothers made from wych elm (records suggest that whereas yew was preferred, wych hazel, elm and ash were also used)

https://maryrose.org/meet-the-soldiers/#archery

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?topic=16543.0

http://www.archers-review.com/magazine-articles/june-2010-longbows-of-the-mary-rose/

https://www.planetfigure.com/attachments/bow-x1-3-1-pdf.367997/

Just caught up with this one Nap, he is coming along nicely, like the face and teeth.

Geoff

The quilted effect on the tunic/jerkin looks pretty good to me, Kev.

Looking good, mate!

Cheers

Good 'two-tone' effect on the bow and that quilting look great (latter looks just like my duvet: must be due for its annual dryclean ).

Nice, Kev, particularly like the weave texture on the textiles... a good touch. (Someone suggested earlier
that this one's ugly face was due to 'iffy'sculpting....... well sometimes life imitates art as you can see).





Mike

Excellent work, Kev. I like the light pattern you've painted into his tunic sleeves.

Bow looks good. Ends of bow were either bare wood or made of horn tips.