[Steppes] Armor questions

[Randy Shipp]

Gentle folk,

Can anyone point me to a good diagram or picture on the Internet that
shows exactly what part of the back/kidneys/ribs must be armored in
the Steppes?  I recently received my Churburg #14 breastplate and had
the brainstorm that I could build my kidney protection into the
strapping of that piece for simplicity.  I bought a 6" wide, padded,
leather weightlifting belt, with the thought being that I'll cut it up
and rivet it such that it goes across the appropriate area of my back
while a pair of "suspender" type straps go over my shoulders and
buckle to the top of the kidney belt for suspension.  It's the
placement of the belt that I want to check on and fit before I go
cutting and riveting so that I won't do a bunch of work and then find
out I don't pass inspection.  I'm not *as* concerned about the
ugliness / lack of periodicity of this solution, as I envision wearing
a lightly padded, lentner type item (cf. http://tinyurl.com/2cdo8hu
and http://tinyurl.com/2cdo8hu) over my armor when "pretty" is called
for.

Also, is there any chance I can borrow one of the Barony's loaner
helmets (this one seems promising: http://tinyurl.com/29zq4fx)?  I'd
be willing to rehabilitate and re-paint it so that it would be in
better shape when I turned it over to the next newbie than when I got
it.  I just need a little time to let my wallet recover and get my
other kit squared away before I make a final decision on whether to
buy this helmet: http://tinyurl.com/28l4xzl).

Speaking of that helmet (or a similar bascinet): the picture I linked
of the miniature of the Hohenklingen armor
(http://tinyurl.com/2cdo8hu) clearly shows a quilted aventail attached
to von Hohenklingen's helmet, probably overlaying a dagged, mail
aventail.  As money is still an object for me on a teacher's salary, a
mail aventail of any quality worth having is probably out of reach.
But if there's historical precedent for a quilted cloth aventail, that
might be a great alternative that would be very, very easy to replace
once a mail aventail appeared under the Christmas tree.  Has anyone
ever seen a pattern for such a thing, perhaps meant for creating a
mail aventail but which might be adapted for a quilted one?

OK, that's about all I can think of for the moment.  Thanks in advance!

Yours in Service,

Antoine d'Aubernoun