Armax: The Journal of Contemporary Arms, Vols. I–VI

Delivery update
about 2 months ago – Fri, Dec 20, 2024 at 05:10:26 PM

Hello backers, 

We want to offer our sincere apologies for the scarcity of recent updates. We have perpetually thought we were on the verge of being able to send the update we were really waiting for—to say that books have been rolling off the presses!—while remaining always just a tantalizing inch or two away. 

I hope that you can all appreciate the complexity of this project. With nine issues to be transcribed by hand, newly laid out, edited, sent for editorial board comment, and thousands of photos to be re-shot or to have their rights secured, and having taken on extras including a whole extra book, progress has been slower than we would like. 

We can report now that all of the extras like pins, ex libris bookplates, and prints are either finished or currently in final production; the extra volumes including the New Haven Factory Cookbook and Ink & Iron are complete and ready to hit the presses; and we are just waiting on the nine issues of Armax. Our printers have all of our specialty paper in hand and we are in the print queue. 

We appreciate your patience with us through this process and expect to finally have everything in stock early in the new year. We will send a substantive update—hopefully featuring another excellent video from CFM Curator Danny Michael—as soon as we have a projected delivery date. 

Thank you for your patience and faith in the hard work of our small team. Please accept our apologies for the delays, and have a safe and happy holiday season. 

Armax & Helios House Press

Very nearly ready for print!
5 months ago – Thu, Sep 12, 2024 at 03:25:56 PM

Hello everyone, 

We just wanted to let you all know that after all of the new photography, transcription, edits, checks, and re-checks, we are very close to being able to send the full set of remastered original Armax issues off to the printer, along with the fun recipe book and the new book about printing blocks in the Cody Firearms Museum (CFM) collection we made as an extra, Ink & Iron. 

To hear a bit about that, and to see another unusual (possibly entirely unique!) firearm from the CFM collection, enjoy this video of CFM Curator Danny Michael and Armax Editor N.R. Jenzen-Jones:  

A fun behind-the-scenes fact: Armax Associate Editor Jonathan Ferguson was standing behind the camera whilst filming this update. We tried to coax him into frame, but he had already made a YouTube video with Danny just moments earlier. Keep your eyes peeled for that on the Royal Armouries channel soon! You may also notice a few Armax accoutrements in the video... 

Please also enjoy a peek at the now-completed additional titles from this project. First, we have a couple of sample pages from Ink & Iron: 

Next, here's a glimpse at The New Haven Factory Cookbook, assembled from recipes in various publications in the CFM collection, and inspired by the visual language of those publications: 

Thank you so much for your patience as we have worked hard to make this project the best it can be, and we hope to be in touch within the next couple of weeks to let you know that all remaining pieces are in the hands of the printers!

Best regards, 

Helios House Press

Progress Update: February 2024
12 months ago – Sun, Feb 18, 2024 at 07:29:10 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Disassembly and reassembly of a Winchester prototype fifty-calibre rifle
about 1 year ago – Mon, Dec 04, 2023 at 08:17:27 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

General update, and a unique Winchester from the CFM collection
over 1 year ago – Fri, Sep 22, 2023 at 02:24:28 PM

Hi everyone, 

The work continues. Remastering nine volumes with refreshed layouts and nearly all-new colour photos is no small job! There are more than 600 photos from upwards of 50 different original sources, including museums, historical societies, other publications, and private owners, in the original Armax issues. To get new, high-resolution, colour replacements for the original photos entails research, outreach, a little detective work, and in some cases, traveling to take new photos ourselves. It's not quick, but we are working away at it, as we are finishing up the transcription of the text from the originals. 

Here with a little more information and another treasure from the Cody Firearms Museum collection, is CFM curator Danny Michael: 

We thank you as ever for your support, and look forward to sharing more peeks behind the scenes as we continue to work on giving these reprints the shine they deserve!

All the best,

Armax & Helios House Press