SCALES the fast way

[Tarbicus]

Or: http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic. ... 717#113717
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/viewtopic.php?t=13228

[Sextus Aurelius Propertiu]

Hello Luc,

Merci pour tes remarques si amicales. Oui, je serai vraisemblablement à Marles au printemps prochain. J'ignore encore cependant si ce sera dans le cadre proposé par nos amis des Herculiani. Je ne désespère pas en effet que ma présence puisse également intervenir dans le cadre de mon très récent groupe fin II e, début IIIe , la XVI Flavia Firma . Quoiqu 'il en soit, je serai très heureux de t'y rencontrer et grâce à ton tutorial, je n'exclus pas d'arborer ce jour là un superbe pectoral d'écailles ...

Très amicalement

Sextus Aurelius Propertius pcc Eric-Alexandre POHER

Ancien membre des Foederati, toujours membre de la XIV GMV

To all comilitiones, sorry for this message in french ... :wink:

[Syr Ateas]

Beautiful collar Luc, Ik ben jarloes!

Stupid question time: Do pre-cut strips come in Bronze? I am currently recording and working on original bronze scale Scythian armour from the 5th century BC and would like to copy it one day *sigh*.

For those of you who are interested its been sewn onto a leather backing using animal sinew. Each scale only has two holes, placed at the top, and the whole garment has also been edged with leather presumably to prevent it rubbing against the skin. The scales have been laid out in a similar way to roof tiles, so they overlap the obvious places. All preserved for 2,500 years.

[Paullus Scipio]

Hi Marika!

I share your interest in things Scythian ( and Sarmatian for that matter! )
Have you pictures of the original cuirass? ( or can you direct me to some...)

I take it you've seen the nice photos of the all but intact ( except for the Yoke ) Scythian leather scale cuirass made in similar fashion ( In the Met in NY) posted
elsewhere on the site?

[Syr Ateas]

Hi there Paul!

I have some photos the museum has taken but am waiting for the actual items to be taken out of 'deep storage' so I can photograph and record the back for instance. Sadly some of it is missing, especially the pieces recorded as 'Bronze scale armour 'sewn onto' chainmail' (must have made it quite heavy?) which has me quite excited as an archaeologist - sorry, I don't get out much!! :?

I'll scan in what I do have over the next few days and post them in a new thread so I don't hijack this thread I shall place it in the Greek section where its pertinent.

I havent seen the photo you mentioned, but that might be because there is so much of interest on here I havent been able to read it all yet! Have you a linky?
I have seen (and have a selection of photos) of the replica suit of armour from the Ukrainian National museum made from Bronze (not leather) - is that the one you mean? I've posted it below being worn by a model, not a dummy :wink:


The woman should be wearing a belt - she isnt here as they don't know exactly what it looked like.

[Matt Lukes]

Stupid question time: Do pre-cut strips come in Bronze? I am currently recording and working on original bronze scale Scythian armour from the 5th century BC and would like to copy it one day *sigh*.

Sometimes one can find pre-cut metal, but is FAR less-costly to buy large sheets and have them cut either by the supplier or any sheet metal shop with a mechanical shear. That's how I did it- I purchased 3'x8' sheets of brass and took them to a shop that cut them into 2.5cm-wide strips 8' long, which were then easy enough for me to cut into shorter lengths for drilling, etc. The shearing only took a minute, so didn't cost me much. Places that offers pre-cut metal, so far as I've seen, can be very expensive in comparison.

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

What are the prices for bronze in Canada Matt? Just curious, as the only source I have found so far is mucho deneros here in Aberdeen!
And, yes I know, I have probably asked this question before..... :roll:

[Aedinius]

Every thought of buying Red Brass instead??

http://www.thunderbirdsupply.com/product.aspx?cat=YZ

[Paullus Scipio]

"Bronze scale armour sewn onto chainmail !"

....what the...??? hock: hock: Surely some mistake?

A new "Scythian Armour" thread in the Greek section will be the way to go. The photos of the Met Leather corselet ( minus it's Yoke) are on the last page of the 'Linthorax construction' thread.

The colour picture is here:
http://www.romanarmy.com/rat/templates/ ... nipost.gif

Are the scale and leather pieces the fragmented ones from 5cent cuirass found in the Sem'Bratiev barrow?

The Scythian Queen in the photo is obviously based on that found in theTolstaya Mogila Royal Barrow, but the male does not appear to be based on the 'King's' equipment, rather a 'composite' of many, including the Solokha comb... be nice to see more of these on the new thread....and he's definitely not wearing the 'Met' Leather armour.....

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

Thanks for the link Jason! Can always have a look at it too! :roll:

[Emeraldweapon7d]

Amazing work! Laudes!

[Hibernicus]

thead took a fun twist..

Anyway.. my apologies for taking so long to respond .. re: making scales...but I've been attempting to retrieve my scale making punches.. loaned out... argh.

You know me.. avoid machinery whenever possible...

This is an example of the tool I used to make the ends of the scales...

strap end punch...
http://www.outfitterssupply.com/images/WLF0150.jpg

Since the brass is so thin a modified bricklayers chisel shaped to an edge or a mortising chisel can be used to cut strips.. or tinsnips.. or bev shear...

The strap end punch.... It's VERY fast! Each scale is not perfect... each being appropriately varied.. subtley varied...

Lacing hole layout... a block of wood with predrilled holes in the desired pattern. Nails through the holes.. then cap the block with a sheet of steel and use a hammer to strike the top of the nail block thus setting the hole pattern ....use a drift punch to make the holes.

[M. CVRIVS ALEXANDER]

Sean,

That sounds interesting - could you show us some pics of the scales, or better yet, a squamata you have made with this method?

Many thanks,

[Matt Lukes]

Yeah, after cutting all the curves with shears, I really want to get or better yet make a chisel for next time :oops: And the fact that holes were originally punched is a detail that is indeed correct, however it's a very slow method too; I made myself a correctly-sized punch to replicate the small-sized scales from Vindonissa (originals of the type I got to examine a while back), and 8 or 10 seconds per scale doesn't seem like a long time until you multiply it by many thousands so it doesn't really qualify since this thread is about fast ways to make scales :wink:

[Gaius_Calvus]

And thank goodness for me, Matt makes some very accurate fast scales. :lol: