Lorica segmentata construction help

[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.