Glueing a Linothorax

[ouragos]

Just logged on - sorry. But you seem to have overcome the problem you faced so nothing lost :lol:

I am a little surprised you encountered ridges when gluing the layers together, but if you started with material that was creased, or more to the point, was both creased and pretty thick linen that might explain it? It also needs to have enough, but not too much glue. Tile spreader (flat edge) was the right way forward and I guess that now you have assembled one you would be more effective if you were to do another. Building wet is, perhaps, something you would find easier after you had built a couple, but that is simply getting used to how the building materials work.

OR... and with hindsight I am guessing this is where the problem lies, did you glue the body or the layer to be added to the body? If the latter, that is why you will have experienced problems. You should always put the glue on the body and apply a dry piece of linen. Maybe I should have made this very clear at the outset? :oops:

On this, material stretches and so on the lower layers it is not worth stressing about eveything being in line. The trick on the final layer is to line the weave with the chest - and as you are applying a dry layer of cloth it is pretty easy to do this.

Paint - should have mentioned, and again probably too late, but if anyone thinks spraying paint on will speed the process, think again. Spray paint forces the linen to rise and you will need to smooth it back. I made this mistake once on a rush order and ended up having to smooth everything back with my hands before it dried. Took days to get the paint off my hands!

Also with paint, remember this is a flexible item, so some paints work better than others. Oil based / enamel works well, masonary paint (and yes, I have seen this done) does not work as well as it cracks in use. As does that polyfilla 'textured' paint... and yes, I have seen that used as well. Horrible!

If you are applying a top pattern you need to get enough base paint (white or whatever) to seal the linen, else it will spread like crazy. This is particularly important on the bits that cover the stitching lines.