Scutum detailing

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Interesting. Split rivets are used too in anglo saxon buckets rivets.

http://web.arch.ox.ac.uk/archives/asbuc ... ?part_ID=8

[Primvs Pavlvs]

I meant these:

Caius,

I have used these before, but I always trim the washer to a square shape. Then I peen both sides with a hammer to make them look more handmade.

[caiusbeerquitius]

That is a possibilty, but the heads are still flat, which they shouldn´t be.
The originals usually have a raised dome which is hollow on the inside.

[Caballo]

"You have Paul, you may not have looked that closely, but you carried a shield like that this year at Colchester! "

Well, embarrassingly from the photo at http://www.images2view.co.uk/ I appear to be holding the Ermine Street Guards shield upside down :oops:


Much more comfortable with the Batavian shields we carried later that day!

Cheers

[Peroni]

That is a possibilty, but the heads are still flat, which they shouldn´t be.
The originals usually have a raised dome which is hollow on the inside.

Read my very first post on this thread! :wink:

[Caballo]

Btw- re split pin rivets. Are these split down the middle (as shown above) or are they with a hole drilled in the shank to accept a holding pin?
Cheers

Caballo

[Steve Schonberger]

Another question: Would oil-and-egg paint be a historically defensible alternative to casein paint? It sounds easier to make, from the descriptions I've found with a sloppy web search.

[Peroni]

Btw- re split pin rivets. Are these split down the middle (as shown above) or are they with a hole drilled in the shank to accept a holding pin?

Generally they are made by soldering a 'staple' to the back of the domed head of the fastener. Then, once it is passed through the boss and the shield board, just opened-up and hammered flat.

I believe this is how the ESG do theirs.

[Caballo]

Thanks Peronis! Laudes for a very clear explanation; I've been holding off riveting my hexagonal shield until I understood this.

Cheers

Caballo

[Steve Schonberger]

Nice diagram, Peroni. I had imagined a rivet with a hole, with a split-pin inserted through the hole. I suppose a simple description of your would be to call it a rivet with a split stem, right?

Anyway, I keep coming up with more questions. What are some good ways (in terms of being easy, being authentic, or both) to bring back the luster in brass after it's annealed. It looks pretty dull now, as if a film of dirty soap had dried on it. (I don't mean that there is a film of anything coating it. That's just the best way I can think of to describe it.)

[Matthew Amt]

What are some good ways (in terms of being easy, being authentic, or both) to bring back the luster in brass after it's annealed.

What I do is to "pickle" the brass for a few minutes in a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water. Most of the cruddy stuff wipes and rinses off easily, then. Dry the surface quickly with a towel, though, to avoid making water spots. The finish at this point will still be a little dull, and have a pinkish tone. Just hit it with Brasso or Nevr-Dul (my favorite, a cotton wadding soaked with polish), and your brass will quickly be very nice and shiny. (Assuming, of course, that it was nice and shiny before you annealed it!) This should be somewhere on the Legio XX site, by the way, either on the Lorica page or with the Armor Hints.

Would oil-and-egg paint be a historically defensible alternative to casein paint? It sounds easier to make, from the descriptions I've found with a sloppy web search.

Egg tempera was used for paint, though I don't know about the oil part. But casein paint is as simple as buying the bags of powder from the Old-Fashioned Milk Paint Company (there's at least one other manufacturer, too) and mixing with water. Easy-peasy. (But read the directions!) Smaller amounts can also be bought in tubes from good art supply places, handy for black outlines or other colors that you don't need much of. See the Legio XX Scutum page for some links.

Vale,

Matthew

[FAVENTIANVS]

Btw- re split pin rivets. Are these split down the middle (as shown above) or are they with a hole drilled in the shank to accept a holding pin?

Generally they are made by soldering a 'staple' to the back of the domed head of the fastener. Then, once it is passed through the boss and the shield board, just opened-up and hammered flat.

I believe this is how the ESG do theirs.

Have any pic of that?

[Steve Schonberger]

If you want a nice collection of scutum emblems, get a copy of [amazon]The Armies and Enemies of Imperial Rome[/amazon], by Phil Barker. It has 22 line drawings, made from sculptural examples of early imperial scuta. It also has more of oval curved scuta, clipea, and late Roman examples.

I just got an e-mail from the seller (the cheapest one listed on Amazon) saying that he sent out my order this morning. Thanks for the pointer.

What I do is to "pickle" the brass for a few minutes in a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water.

Thanks. I'm giving that a try. It looks like it's doing something. I'll have to buy more vinegar though, so I can just dunk the brass instead of sliding it around in a little puddle of the mix -- and so we still have some for normal kitchen use.

[Robert]

Hi Peroni (and salvete to all others!)

Like your new avatar! Would this also be used on securing plates to belts or were these more like rivets preened into a domeshape on the back? I did find the kind of large upholstery nails mentioned in the right size, they were steel with a brass coating. They didn't have the plain iron ones, so perhaps I can take the brass off with a good grind.

[Peroni]

Hi Robert,

Yes, the upholtery nails should work. Careful the pin doesn't become detatched from the head.

A scrub with a scotchbrite pad/ wet'n'dry paper will take off the brass plating quite easily.