Switching Gears

I've decided to switch gears here.  I will eventually come back to chainmail but seeing that I already have a chainmail shirt and there is loads of information on the Internet on making chainmail, I'm moving on to something else...Roman Armor.  Specifically Lorica Segmentata.  From what I've been able to find, this type of armor is a perfect next step in armor making.  It doesn't require a number of speciallty tools and seems fairly straight forward. 

This is a picture of what I'm talking about (from http://www.medievalcollectibles.com/default.aspx).  

 

The pattern I'm using is from http://www.larp.com/legioxx/lorica.html.  This website has been very helpful.  I will be attempting the Corbridge Type A pattern. 

 

I've read that it is best made with poster board first to make sure that it will fit.  It is easier to make any adjustments (and less expensive) with paper than it is with metal, so this is where I'm starting. 

 

I printed out the patterns onto card stock paper and started making the hinges.  This was a little tricky becuase the patterns are just images.  Luckily the patterns have a scale on them.  I just copied the images into a Word document and resized the picture until the scale on the pattern matched the scale in Word. 

 

 

You need 8 hinges for this pattern.  The hinges are made of 3 pieces:  the two halves (shown above) and a 1/8" bar that serves as a pin.  To make the pin, I just rolled a piece of paper that was approximately 1/8" in diameter and taped it.  The two different halves are similar, however 8 of the halves will have 3 "bars"  connecting the two sides (as shown in the ones already cut above) and the other 8 halves will have only 2 "bars".  Each half is bent around the 1/8" pin.  When each half is bent the pin is threaded through the "bars" connecting the two sides.  This was also a little tricky.  I am glad I am doing this with poster board first.  The half with the 2 "connecting bars"  has to fit between the spaces between the half with the 3 "connecting bars".  I had to trim the pieces slightly in order for them to fit.

 

It was pretty time consuming but here are the finished hinges.  They don't completely bend all the way but they do enough for their purpose.  I'm planning on making a video to make things a little clearer.  To be continued...