Lorica segmentata construction help

[9thlegion]

   
Hello all, 
I'm hoping to get advice of construction of Roman Lorica. Any common mistakes made and general advice is also welcome. I'm a member of an SCA group here in Northern Ontario Canada, 4 of us are Roman. We made a test suit from 18g mild steel a long time ago, using cut plates from local sources and left over leather. We plan to make stainless steel 18g version so we don't have to worry about rust every battle or training session. I know it's not period. 

Included is a photo of the test suit. The rib plates overlap alot, originally was designed too fit the largest person in the group. It's too big so I want cut the plates shorter, especially the two two and taper more towards my hips. Plus I want too do bronze fittings and rivets. We used speed rivets I think.

[A_Volpe]

https://www.larp.com/legioxx/lorica.html

Also try to get a hold of “Lorica Segmentata” I & II by Dr. MC Bishop, you ought to be able to find it online on Scribd or Academia.edu
but can also find a hard copy out there.

Also recommended is Bishop & Coulton’s “Roman Military Equipment”, worth its weight in gold. While it doesn’t really have construction information, it does have a lot of great illustrations and diagrams of actual artifacts so good for reference.

Unfortunately I couldn’t see the test suit photo.

I was able to get copper “roofing nails” at the local hardware store, for a fairly good price a few years ago. They seem to work really good for most of the Seg plates and fittings. I went to Leg XX’s website and to RJ Leahy Co. for some boxes of domed copper rivets...I still have a ton of them left...I’d say go with the longest length of shank you need and then clip down as needed. (I got 3 different lengths which turned out to be overkill on my part, ah well)

I have also seen copper rivets from Tandy Leather (even offered with copper circle rivets), although I’ve gone to a local hobby shop and got a few sheets of brass (ca 20ga) and just drill & snip out a ton of washers and then round over the corners.

[9thlegion]

https://www.larp.com/legioxx/lorica.html

Also try to get a hold of “Lorica Segmentata” I & II by Dr. MC Bishop, you ought to be able to find it online on Scribd or Academia.edu
but can also find a hard copy out there.

Also recommended is Bishop & Coulton’s “Roman Military Equipment”, worth its weight in gold.  While it doesn’t really have construction information, it does have a lot of great illustrations and diagrams of actual artifacts so good for reference.

Unfortunately I couldn’t see the test suit photo.

I was able to get copper “roofing nails” at the local hardware store, for a fairly good price a few years ago.  They seem to work really good for most of the Seg plates and fittings.  I went to Leg XX’s website and to RJ Leahy Co. for some boxes of domed copper rivets...I still have a ton of them left...I’d say go with the longest length of shank you need and then clip down as needed. (I got 3 different lengths which turned out to be overkill on my part, ah well)

I have also seen copper rivets from Tandy Leather (even offered with copper circle rivets), although I’ve gone to a local hobby shop and got a few sheets of brass (ca 20ga) and just drill & snip out a ton of washers and then round over the corners.

[9thlegion]

https://i.imgur.com/MmTu1u5.jpg

Try that. Thanks for all the info as well. )

[A_Volpe]

If you want to stick with the leather straps, belts & buckles for the horizontal/“belly” plates, you’ll probably want to look at the “Kalkriese” style L.S., although keep in mind, very little actual plates attributed to the armor variant have been found, so there is a LOT of theoretical guesswork and gap-filling with that.

IMHO you don’t need those straps to be *that* long, but, it’s your armor, do what is comfortable.

...Speaking of which, do not assume that the design and construction of this armor, let alone its “functionality” is anything “practical” in our modern senses. As you’ve already noticed, there are a lot of gaps and kinks in the armor. There is a lot we have left to learn about this thing, so, do the best you can with what you can research, etc.

I have seen so many people get this armor, make an unnecessarily thick “subarmalis” padded jack, and it all just doesn’t look nor feel “right”. I too went through a dozen variants and modifications of my padding before I got it down to a point where it seems to “work” for me. (note you should be able to find another thread with something like “Share pictures of your Subarmalis”)

I (advise) to start thin and small, then slowly build up layers as needed.

Back on the armor/shoulders - I think you will need to add another leather strap that goes along the leading edge of the shoulder plates, and anchors near the nipples/or close to where the ‘breastplate’ vertical straps are (the Leg XX page has pictures which will hopefully make more sense). This will help ‘pull’ the shoulder plates down more towards and around the (front) of the shoulder, and will reduce that glaring gap whenever you raise your arms or shrug your shoulders.

Good luck.