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LASER SCANNING AND VISUALISATION OF AN AUSTRALIAN ICON:
NED KELLY'S ARMOUR
Cliff Ogleby
Department of Geomatics, The University of Melbourne, Australia 3010
c.ogleby@eng.unimelb.edu.au
Abstract.
This paper will present the results of a project to acquire multi-purpose three dimensional data of a very significant cultural artefact
for conservation and visualisation purposes. The artefact in question, known as Ned Kelly's Armour, is associated with one of the
most famous (or infamous) folk heroes in Australian history. The armour is the manifestation of everything the man represented
(both hero and villain), and is a readily recognised icon, even appearing in the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic
Games.
The results of the laser scanning survey and the subsequent visualisation and use of the digital model of the armour will be dis-
cussed.
Introduction:
There are very few post-colonial artefacts in Australia that are
as well known or as instantly recognisable as the armour worn
by members of the bushranger gang known as the Kellys. In
particular, the armour worn by the leader of the gang, Ned
Kelly, with its cylindrical helmet and eye slot is as well known
as Uluru, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge as an Australian icon.
The armour is also symbolic of many aspects of the non-
Aboriginal cultural identity in Australia. It sometimes repre-
sents the man Edward (Ned) Kelly, it sometimes represents the
fight against oppression, it sometimes represents the rebellion
against English rule, and it even sometimes represents the glori-
fication of a hardened criminal. In any case, it is a very impor-
tant piece of Australia's cultural heritage.
The State Library of Victoria possesses most of the components
of Ned Kelly's armour, the most significant of the four sets.
Other pieces of Ned's armour and the other sets are held in pri-
vate hands, by the Old Melbourne Gaol (a museum run by the
National Trust), the Museum of Victoria and the Victorian Po-
lice Museum. The Library has commissioned the installation of
a virtual reality multimedia initiative known as Experimedia,
which will consist of both an Internet and a physical presence
(www.experimedia.vic.gov.au). The centre in the Library is due
to open in late 2002, with the first exhibition devoted to the
most important artefact in the collection, the armour.
Given the general need for a better set of documentation relating
to the armour, and the potential to use a digital facsimile as the
basis for a multimedia/virtual-reality production, it was decided
to record the armour using a 3d laser scanning process.
The Ned Kelly Story — Putting the Armour in Context
Edward (Ned) Kelly was hanged in the Old Melbourne gaol on
November 11 1880 at age 25, uttering the famous words ‘arr
well, I suppose it had to come to this. Such (is life)’ as the
hangman’s hood was adjusted around his head. He had been
captured wearing his locally made armour after being hunted for
over 2 years for a variety of crimes including robbery and mur-
der. He was of Irish decent from a very poor family, a crack
shot with a pistol and rifle, a horse rustler and more signifi-
cantly an articulate rebel against authority and the landed gen-
try. He was also a Republican when this amounted almost to
treason, and to many of the region he was a gentleman who was
persecuted by the authorities and became hunted as a result of a
corrupt and incompetent Police and judicial system.
Eventually, and almost fatalistically, the Kellys decided to stand
and fight at the Jones’s Hotel at Glenrowan in Northern Victo-
ria. Part of the defence was a set of armour made by local
blacksmiths from donated and stolen mouldboards from
ploughs, Ned's weighing in at 97 pounds. The armour consisted
of a helmet with an eye slot, shoulder protectors, front and back
plates and a lappet covering the groin.
The armour was forged in the region by sympathetic black-
smiths, although naturally their identity was never confirmed at
the time as this was a hanging offence. There were probably 4
sets of armour made, requiring 30 or so steel mouldboards for
their manufacture. The iron panels were cut, formed and rivet-
ted together to form the front and rear plates, the helmets and
shoulder protectors. The idea for the armour may have come
from Ned Kelly (possibly from reading ‘Lorna Doone’), al-
though a set of ancient Chinese armour shown in a parade in
Beechworth may also have served as inspiration.
—545—
