Lorica Segmenta From Planet Trading

[Matthew Amt]

true but there are images on Trajans column that they are unsure if the seggies are made from mail or leather

Most of us are pretty confident that metal is being depicted. There are only a few holdover Victorians who don't want to admit that the Romans had that much iron! I'm all for doing LARP and things like that, just be sure that your philosophy for the historical end of the hobby is pure--you can't justify using something because it can't be proven wrong. Stick to what we know. Simple.

I think the leather seggie will be a first project to try and get the shape and articulation of the joints right etc (much cheaper to f*** up using leather!)

Decent leather will cost 70 or 80 bucks a side, whereas you can get steel for free from trash piles. I'm not sure all the articulations will be the same, since leather is bulkier, and flexible unless you stiffen or harden it.

then i'll try a Steel one, im just not confident in metal work at this stage, but i have a few projects i want to give a bash!!...

The more projects the better!! Yeah, steel is a different animal from leather, but a lorica is a good starter project because there is very little complex metalworking, really. A few folded edges, the rest is just bending and riveting. No dishing or raising. Word of warning, if you do your own fittings, do those first, before starting on the plates. They are indeed the hard part, and once you get them done the rest is easy. But if you do all the plates and then get bogged down with the fittings, you may never finish the job.

Really can't see much on that little photo, by the way. The straps should be on the INside on the backplates, so that makes me a little skeptical about the rest. Hinges are what I always look at, but can't make them out.

Good luck!

Matthew