I just spent far too long writing up instructions. I will try and paste them into this post, but I will also upload the file.
The Word 2013 File.
The PPT file with my diagrams
The actual PDF I found with a Newstead Pattern harness
This may get ugly. I'm not going to take a lot of time to edit it, though. Be warned: after the break, here there be dragons. (alas, the pictures did not come in - please take a look at the files themselves).
Lorica Segmentata – Roman Segmented Armor costume
For the Cyprus Fall history program, the kids will be making lorica segmentata out of cardboard (and other materials). The armor was in use for about 300 years, from about 9 BC to somewhere between 250 and 300 AD.
The pattern we’ll be making is the latest of the designs, chosen for its relative simplicity: the Newstead pattern (named for the town in which the original piece was found).
The armor will be constructed flat – first the pieces are cut more-or-less to size, then secured in place with ribbon (representing leather harness straps), then coat-hanger stiffening will be added to help keep the pieces in the proper shape, and then it’ll be bent into shape.
Each lorica was hand-made, a unique piece. If no two children’s lorica are alike . . . that’s historically accurate!
These instructions will give step-by-step guidance for making and fitting a lorica segmentata to an individual.
The Finished Product
The final product consists, more or less, of four components, all strapped together.
The first section is the chest and back plates, which are joined together by a hinged segment that sits on the shoulders. This is six pieces, and we will use ribbon for the hinges and straps.
The second section protects the abdomen, and will consist of long, thin strips of cardboard, attached together in back with more ribbon to make a long, folding piece (we’ll eventually bend it in place to shape it, as in the pictures to the right). The number of bands will depend upon the wearer’s height. They will be secured together into an overlapping pattern by six pieces of (you guessed it) more ribbon. An approximate pattern is found to the right, but that’s a Colbridge pattern, not Newstead, so don’t use it to figure out what to do!
The final sections are the left and right shoulder protection. These are the most intricate pieces and the hardest to strap together, but don’t worry: the Romans did this with leather and hand tools too!
The Basic Materials
You’ll start with the following basic materials:
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A 24” x 36” of corrugated cardboard, which should be painted silver (technically, Ralph Lauren Ancient Alloy metallic latex paint) on one side
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A number of standard metal 14.5-gauge wire coat hangers equal to the number of belly bands needed
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About four yards of black ribbon, of the kind used to giftwrap presents
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Glue
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Maybe 12-18” of Velcro adhesive-backed tape
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Some method of cutting the cardboard. I have used a ruler and Xacto knife (scalpel), but the best is a large paper cutter.
You will also need some measurements for the wearer. They’re pretty simple:
1.
Measure the width of the torso, from the points where the arms meet the torso as shown. This will define how wide the chest and back plates need to be in total. (Green)
2.
Measure the distance from where the collarbone comes together to the bottom of the sternum, either the solar plexus or the xiphoid process, if one is anatomically inclined. (Red)
3.
Measure from the bottom of the sternum to roughly the belt line – maybe an inch or so below the belly button (Blue)
Each chest plate will be half the distance of measurement 1 wide, and the full distance of measurement 2 tall.
You will be using 2” strips for the abdominal protection, and they will overlap slightly. Take measurement 3 and divide it by 1.75” – this is the number of plates from the bottom of the abdomen to the bottom of the chest plates. Round normally, so if the calculation says you need between 4 and 4.5 bands, use 4, while if you’re between 4.5 and 5, use 5. Real Roman armor tended to have six bands; unless you’re Andre the Giant, don’t use more than six! (Or just consult the table below)
Example
If I am making armor for my wife, she is about 12” for the green measurement, 7” for the red, and 10” for the blue. So the chest and back plates will be 6” x 7” each (four of them). We take the 10” blue measurement and look it up – she’s between 9 5/8” and 11 3/8”, so she’ll use 6 bands.
Layout of the cuts
To minimize work and waste (and materials cost), we need to plan the layout of the cuts. The first is to lay out the chest/back pieces.
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Use the longestdimension for each chest/back plate, and mark a long horizontal cut on the cardboard sheet. Then use the shortestdimension and divide that section into four pieces.
The example shows an Alina-sized armor section, which uses up all 24” of the armor. Children will likely have some left over. That’s fine!
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Provide for twice as many belly strips as you need. If you need 4, make 8, if you need 6, make 12. You will need two pieces to encircle the torso for each strip.
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You will also want a two 2.5” strips that will make the large shoulder guards. This will take up 5”. This is not shown in the example above.
Now we get to the heart of it, creating each of our four armor subsections.
Creating the Belly Protection
First thing required is to measure the circumference of the torso at its widest point. The lorica is not a svelte or tailored piece of armor. Take a belt or measuring tape and get a reasonably snug fit . . . and then add 4” to that. Divide that total distance in half. This is the required width of each belly segment.
Example: If a completely hypothetical person had a widest circumference of 38”, I’d add 4” to that to get 42”, and divide that in half to get 21”. Each of the 12 belly bands will be cut to 21” long. A 6yo might only require 12” or 16”, leaving lots of spare bits left over. This is good – it will allow using that for shoulder pieces!
Once the pieces are cut to size, lay them flat on a table, painted side down. Mark each piece at the top of the band at the ¼, ½, and ¾ positions, at the top of each band, with a dot or a short line. Pair up two bands, end to end, but leave a 1/8” gap between the two bands. We will be making a hinge that will allow them to bend.
Cut a 2” piece of the black ribbon, and glue each pair of belly strips together in the middle, as shown:
Once that is done, and the pieces are dry (wait 30-45 minutes for white glue), you will assemble the bands.
Line up the bands so that the middle segment is exactly aligned. It may help to draw a line on a piece of paper on the work surface, and ensure that the hinge/gap is always on top of it.
Overlap each band by roughly ¼”, perhaps a bit more, but not more than ½”.
Cut six pieces of ribbon, each as long as the blue chest-to-beltline measurement above. Put a small bead of glue along each of the marked segments of the bands (shown as black lines), and then glue a piece of ribbon along each column of lines. There should be very little slack in the ribbon, but it need not be taught. Let the glue dry.
The extra 4” we added to each segment should allow plenty of extra room to close the armor in front. The next step is to add the stiffeners. Cut out the long wire of a clothes hanger for each belly strip (up to 12 will be needed) and thread them through the corrugations along the bands, left to right. Trim them so they’re about ½” to 1” shorter then each band – once they’re bent into shape, they’ll stay inside the abdomen armor just fine.
Creating the Shoulder, Chest, and Back
The chest and back plates are much simpler than the belly guards.
First, take the four back and chest plates cut from the first piece of cardboard. Lay them out so that the direction of the red measurement runs together. Put the paint side down.
Then take some scrap 2” wide strips that are each as long as the red measurement. In the example for Alina, each 2” strip will need to be 7” long.
Then trim the end of each strip, by cutting (using a scissors, paper cutter, or Xacto knife) an angle such that the inner edge is 1” shorter than the outer edge. Do this same cut regardless of how long the strips are!
Finally, trim one set of plates (the chest pieces) to match the angles of what will be the shoulder supports (the 2” wide segments). Mark off a line 2” wide and 1” along the side of the plate – this will match the angle of the shoulders exactly.
Before we glue the “hinges” on this assembly, we will stiffen the shoulder plates. Slide a piece of coat hanger down the middle of each
shoulder. This will allow them to be bent into a shape that conforms with the shoulder and allows the back/chest plates to hang more naturally – hinge or no.
Finally, glue “hinges” on the unpainted side of the cardboard, once again leaving 1/8” gap or so between the pieces to allow them to bend. Do not join the front chest pieces, or you won’t be able to get the armor on your head!
The shoulder pieces will attach to this assembly in a fairly unusual but important arrangement of ribbon. So we’re going to mark the connections. Using a black magic marker on the unpainted side of the back/chest assembly, make the following dots
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One dot in the middle of each shoulder plate, halfway down the short side of the plate
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One dot on each chest and back plate, 1” from the edge, and 2/3 of the red measurement from the end of the plate
Example: Alina’s plates are 7” long, so 2/3 of that is about 4 5/8”. So the dots go 1” from the edge of the plates, and 4 5/8” from the ends.
Shoulder Guards
The shoulder guards are the final intricate piece of the armor. You will need two each of the following pieces (this is enough for one shoulder):
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One 2.5” wide strip that is 2.5x the red measurement (Example: for a 7” red measurement, the piece is 17.5” long)
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Two 2” wide strips that are each 2x the red measurement (Example: 7” red measurement will have each strip 14” long)
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Two 1-1.5” wide strips that are each roughly 1.25 the red measurement (Example: 7” red measurement will be 8.75” long each)
All in all, you will need ten strips of cardboard.
Next step, you will need to cut the long, 2.5” piece of cardboard into three pieces, and then re-join them as a hinge.
Measure and mark a line 90% of the Red measurement up from each end, and cut the segment at both places. This will turn one piece into three, which you will promptly glue back together with a ribbon hinge!
Before you fix the hinge in place, slide a coat hanger wire into each of the three segments – each will need to be shaped.
You will also need to mark the harness attachment points (ribbon) with dots again. They are placed in the dead center of the central piece, and 0.3 x R (1/3 of the length) of each outer piece.
Remember, you need twoof these.
Next we mark the ribbon locations on the shoulder plates.
Notes:
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The middle row of marks is in the midpoint of each of the lengths
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The four single pieces are marked close to the edge of the piece, to allow it to wrap over the shoulder and upper arm
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The best way to align the outer marks is that it’s halfway between the hinge and the dot on the wide piece. The three outer pieces are all exactly the same width apart for the marks
Now thread coat-hangar wire through each of the shoulder plates, since all of these will need to take a fairly sharp bend. The angled pieces of the hangar should be sufficient for this (they’re slightly shorter, but should be long enough).
Finally, stack up the bands, starting with the hinged band, and put each layer slightly overlapping the next, just as was done with the abdomen. You may need two pieces of ribbon (as shown) to make the curve work.
Now let it all dry – overnight is probably best.
Putting it all together
Now that we have the abdomen, chest/back piece, and both shoulder assemblies, it’s time to bend them all to fit.
1.
Start with the abdomen. The paint goes on the outside of the curve (bend towards the unpainted side). Bend the entire assembly together as one into a flattened C-shape that fits the wearer’s body. It is best to bend it around something that has a semi-circular shape to it already, such as the arm of a couch. There will be 3-6 coat hangers in each hinged section, so bending it around the wearer is not likely going to work (and may hurt them). When done, the pieces should form more-or-less a broken ellipse (right).
2.
Next comes the chest and back. The only parts that need bending are the shoulder pieces, and these need just enough bend to help the chest and back plates lie more-or-less flat to the body. (also right)
3.
Finally, the arm protection. This may be difficult. Always bend away from the painted side of the armor.
Bend the entire middle section around something the diameter of roughly a 2- or 3-liter bottle of soda. Once the middle has taken shape, continue to work a gentle bend into the 2.5” section (it doesn’t have to be much). Finally, bend the 2” and 1” into roughly a half-circle, perhaps a bit less.
Assembly
This next part puts the shoulders and chest plates together. The final product is a bit daunting to look at – just remember that most of the work has already been done!
1.
Slide each shoulder piece to connect with the chest/back plates. The bending may make this challenging
2.
The hinged shoulder piece goes OUTSIDE (on the bottom) of everything else. This is important!
3.
The only real assembly work is to glue the loose ribbon from the shoulder assembly to the marked spots on the underside of the chest/back assembly.
4.
It is probably best to apply glue, then clamp the ribbon to the chest/back assembly with a clothespin or even a large paperclip (that might be best).
Once that glue has dried (give it an hour), the entire kit can be put on like football pads and then adjustments to the bend and fit of the armor can be made. This is the primary opportunity to adjust the fit of this part!
The final assembly is connecting the belly bands to the shoulder/chest assembly. The best way is likely to permanently affix the belly to the back plates, using four small strips of ribbon and glue. The particular fit will be unique for each set of armor (sorry!)
“Lacing” it up
The real thing was held together with hooks made of metal, and lacing in front (and back, for that matter). Armor was often “built” onto a warrior, as it was hung from straps piece by piece. This is seen in later European armors, as well as Japanese styles. It’s why wearing armor was often referred to as being “in harness,” as your protection was strapped on to you.
Closing our costume armor is probably best accomplished with some Velcro, however. The belly bands can seal with a Velcro sticky-tab on each band. Then the chest pieces can be folded around the head, and also attached with a Velcro tab in front, mimicking the hooks.
That’s it! You’ve got your lorica segmentata.
A final note
This is a very intricate costume, and will teach you just how much work went into protecting each and every Roman legionary.
However, it is a costume, not armor. It has roughly zero protective value, and will likely not stand up to roughhousing, stage combat, real combat, squabbling with brothers or sisters, or wrestling lions, tigers, bears or alligators.
Please keep that in mind. J