Personalizing a Linothorax

[Gaius Colletti]

Seeing how many users here and across the web have beautifully decorated their linothorax armor, I wanted to ask, I have recently purchased a linothorax (interestingly it was a prop for the "Alexander" movie. I know it will need some modifications before it is fully accurate, but I am assured it is a decent piece, being made with multiple layers of linen as well as the overall correct shape) and wanted to ask while I research some designs, where do you guys get your inspiration from? Is it from a historical context or is there some artistic licensing?

I have seen simple leather additions, but also ones as fanciful as a checkerboard linothorax, and of course some bronze scale additions. I am ideally aiming for a 5th Century Hoplite, either Spartan or Athenian if that helps narrow it down (or broadens it mile: )Thanks

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Hello Matt.
First thing to do to that lino is to stitch together the right side of the joint between the front and back plate.If i remember corrsctly they are attached by backles on both sides. Then on the left side better to replace the backles with thongs.
There are literally thousands of representations of the tube and yoke cuirass on vases and the best suggestion i have it to base your decoration on those. Avoid copying other re-enactors' decoration, the bads of "reenactorism" are well known!
If you want to add some more intricate designs, better base them on the few surviving colours on buildings. The motifs are repeated in all greek art, and the best samples come from architecture. Also, i would suggest to use colours and shades only shown in greek art, namely red, blue, black, some yellow and traces of dark green, the latter two being very rare.
Khaire
Giannis

[joeandmich]

Hey Matt,

Did you buy them from Brookster_007? He sells hoplite greaves and props from the Last Samurai as well? If so how does the linothorax fit? I was thinking about doing the same but was unsure about the fit since I am 6 feet tall and weigh 190 lbs. I bought the greaves from him and they fit perfect and from 6 feet away look like bronze.

Thanks

[Iraklitos]

Joe -

I'm 5' 8" at 200 lbs and mine fits pretty good. Here's a couple of photos to you can judge how it sits on me. As I have a large gut I didn't sew closed my front and back as Giannis suggests but did both of them with leather ties. When you cut the buckles off you still have a nice D ring attached to thread the ties through.

[Gaius Colletti]

Giannis, I will be working on getting the sides tied together as you suggested, though it may be awhile before I get there. Is there a database that has recorded paintings on the linothorax armor, or do I just have to search around for Greek pottery? I am not familiar with the term "tube and yoke" but from a limited search it appears to be a reference to linothorax armor, am I mistaken?

Joe, yes I did purchase the linothorax from brookster_007. He has several other linothorax cuirasses if you send him a message he can get you a nice one he may not have listed. I am 5'7" and have an athletic 190lb build and the linothorax fits me nicely. Since you are taller, the pytruges will not appear as long.

My linothorax only appears to have some dirt on it, which I plan on getting dry cleaned before I did any sort of painting or modifications. The leather straps are quite horrible, I was unaware that the Greeks just tied them with leather laces, that is reassuring.

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

I use the term tube and yoke as a generic for this pattern of cuirass, as we are not sure of its material. Yours is made of linen but this doesn't mean that all those depictions in vases are meant to show linen.
So we might call yours a linothorax (in greek it would be two words "linen thorax") and mine, which is leather, a spolas.
There is not a database but it is pretty easy to find vass that show them. I would suggest that you create a free account on the beazeley archive where you can have access to thousands of vases, and you can search for battle scenes for instance. Or departure scenes and so on. Even a google search would turn many examples though.

If you think that you can shorten your pteryges that would be adeal, and perhaps one of the best personalization moves.
If you can post photos of how it looks now when you wear it, we might even give more advice on what you can do.
Khaire
Giannis

[Gaius Colletti]

I will post a picture of me wearing the linothorax in the next few days when I get some free time. I am checking out beazley as I write this, the search is a little slow, but it is exactly what I was looking for, thanks Giannis.

I do not know if I will shorten the pteryges anytime soon as I do not know if my skill level would be able to restitch them as nice as they are currently.

[richard robinson]

I purchased two of these for very cheap
they were knocked arounnd more than the others
but i fully intend to reinforce at least one (the one that fits me- i am quite portly these days) with scale as they would not be any great protection in any thing but a pillow fight methinks.
just need to get a round toit first
i do like the patterning on them and do not intend to change them at all
the tie at the side i can live with as the ancient world was a big place
but if i was bothered by it it would not be hard to stitch it together.
i bought some of the leather greaves for a friend and he loves them
i would not touch the fibreglass ones cos thats how i roll...
regards
richard

[Gaius Colletti]

[attachment=2052]1107011821.jpg[/attachment]
Sorry for the horrible delay in getting a picture posted, as well as for the horrible quality, no one else was around (except for my 2 year old daughter who made a cameo appearance in the photo), so I took the picture in my living room in the mirror.

I suppose the pteruges are not as long as I thought, there is plenty of tunic between the pteruges ends and my knees. The tunic is from my Roman kit, I have yet to make a Greek chiton, and looks rather baggy since I pulled the armor up from my feet since it is near impossible to do the horrible buckle system alone. Yes, I still have the original buckles on the side and have not replaced them with leather ties yet. The linothorax has not yet been dry cleaned yet and features some dirt and sand deposits from filming (but thankfully no fake blood which I imagine wouldn't come off with dry cleaning).

The linothorax is also quite thick, but still flexible, a sword or spear would meet some resistance while penetrating it. What do you think?

[Gaius Colletti]

Anyone wanting to see some pictures of other linothorax available from the seller, or whoever just wants another look, see the link:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/greek-linothorax...500wt_1287

[M. Demetrius]

From what I can see, Matt, that looks really nice. And a cute little sidekick you've got there, too.

[Gaius Colletti]

Thanks David. Anything you see worth noting on the linothorax Giannis?

[joeandmich]

I think looks great Matt

[Giannis K. Hoplite]

Hello Matt
The linothorax looks very good. It is blank enough that leaves you all the space you want for customization.
We don't really know much about their construction, so you can decorate with paint, metal or leather.
I would suggest that you wear the cuirass as high as possible, so that the shoulder guards reach lower on the chest and as much of the throat as possible is protected.
I think that if it was mine, i would find a way to shorten the pteryges by 1/4 or 1/3 perhaps stitching a read leather hem on the cut side for protection and decoration. I wouldn't say this is absolutely necessary though, just what i would do.
Khaire
Giannis

[Peter Raftos]

And if the price was close to the remaining one I think you and Richard have got yourselves a bargain off the shelf product with a glam pedigree to boot!