Spring 2005: I recently ran across Khalja's excellent Magyar web site and sent a link for it to my mom, who is very interested in Magyar and Hungarian history. She had, however, not really thought about applying that interest to the SCA. After I sent her the link she dragged out this wonderful book (Fodor, Istvan, Laslo Revesz, Maria Wolf, and Iboyla M. Nepper, The Ancient Hungarians: Exhibition Catalogue, cp Magyar Nemzeti Museum (1996), pb Allami Nyomda Rt, Hungry) full of neat Magyar grave finds, most of which are cast in silver and gilded, but some of which are made of bronze. Since I am currently doing quite a bit of bronze casting I decided that making Magyar bronze bits to stick on clothing would be really neat, and now I am committed to making both mom and I some Magyar garb complete with neat castings.
I am generally basing my casting technique off of viking casting technology as seen on sites such as Anders Söderberg's Viking Casting site. I am modeling most of my pieces out of wax first, and doing a primary casting from which I will base by additional waxes (as opposed to carving a design out of something like wood and basing my waxes off of that) simply because I am set up to do waxes right now and both seem reasonable. I have been unable to find and specifically Magyar (or even steppes tribes) casting information so a furnace of the viking style seems a good substitute. It uses a simple ring of stones around a hole with a blowing source (they show bellows) and a small clay crucible. This seems a basic and reasonable type of set-up for a nomadic people.
Update! (March 31, 2006) I have finished an undertunic, finished a middle layer (unlined which I may decide to change), and am working on a coat. I have yet to actually do any bronze castings, though I have made a mold for some pewter (lets call them substitite silver please) bird head shaped metal bits. They are pretty sweet, but I need to get off my but and d some more waxes and castings. Hank has decided that he also wants Magyar garb ( and possibly a Magyar bow ever) and he has just finished sewing a rectangular construction linen tunic. He is waitin gimpaitiently for me to cut out a caftan for him. Mom is as yet lacking in Magyar garb because she needs to wash the silk she bought and simply hasn't had time. I let others do their own pre-washing.