06-15-2005, 09:08 PM
I agree that both Clang and Raymond's Quiet Press have some very nice stock. Be carefull though. On Clang's page they show a plain plate with rolled ends. This it the correct contruction for a 1st century type 'B' plate but I know of no extant examples which lack a central motif of some sort. Certainly plain type 'A' plates (the narrower cast plates) existed but does anyone have any evidence for plain type 'B' plates?
Clang also show a type 'B' style plate with one end folded over to allow a buckle to be attached. To make a hinged type 'B' plate one end certainly should be folded over but all of the examples I am familiar with show the resultant tube to project beyond the end of the plate, which otherwise appears normal. Two sections of the tube have then been cut away to create three projecting tubes to which the two (or sometimes four) corresponding tubes on the buckle are hinged. I have never seen an actual example where the metal was folded back onto the FRONT of the plate to create a single tube.
Raymond's plates look very nice but it looks as if his type 'B' plates are cast not stamped as the originals were. Grew and Griffiths' 1992 article on pre-Flavian belt plates notes only a single example of a cast type 'B' plate (showing a pair of accanthus leaves) and it has been suggested that this may have been a makeshift copy done in a fort fabrica to make a quick replacement for a lost plate, made by casting into an impression made from one of the surviving plates from the bereft soldier's belt.
As I said, lots of nice stuff on both sites but remember that when buying reproduction kit it is always worth putting a little time into researching what you are after before you buy it.
Caveat emptor
Crispvs
Clang also show a type 'B' style plate with one end folded over to allow a buckle to be attached. To make a hinged type 'B' plate one end certainly should be folded over but all of the examples I am familiar with show the resultant tube to project beyond the end of the plate, which otherwise appears normal. Two sections of the tube have then been cut away to create three projecting tubes to which the two (or sometimes four) corresponding tubes on the buckle are hinged. I have never seen an actual example where the metal was folded back onto the FRONT of the plate to create a single tube.
Raymond's plates look very nice but it looks as if his type 'B' plates are cast not stamped as the originals were. Grew and Griffiths' 1992 article on pre-Flavian belt plates notes only a single example of a cast type 'B' plate (showing a pair of accanthus leaves) and it has been suggested that this may have been a makeshift copy done in a fort fabrica to make a quick replacement for a lost plate, made by casting into an impression made from one of the surviving plates from the bereft soldier's belt.
As I said, lots of nice stuff on both sites but remember that when buying reproduction kit it is always worth putting a little time into researching what you are after before you buy it.
Caveat emptor
Crispvs
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<a class="postlink" href="http://www.romanarmy.net">www.romanarmy.net
