Louis's shoulders

click on these images to enlarge. Below is a closeup of the shoulders. I think they are strips of overlapping leather, perhaps with some decoration on them. In two layers.


Below is a picture made by an eye witness to real Byzantine armour. It is of a fairly high ranking (white cloak!) individual. The painting is on the wall of a church in Cyprus


Louis wanted an armour which would look Byzantine. That means scales, oxblood leather, and of course, it has to be solid enough to stand up to the sudden impact of SCA fighting. I can do that.

These shoulder cops are made from sixteen gauge steel to withstand the impact, and they buckle around the upper arm with a one inch strap. I am not really fond of the location of that buckle though....but there are not a lot of choices here. I may install a tongue under the buckle....not that I am especially worried that the buckle would be driven into the skin, it will be on the inside after all, but maybe better safe than sorry.
The eyelet holes, of course, are for the elbow cops which I have yet to make. He will only use two of them, but this will provide some adjustment. Once you get all the equipment out to set eyelets, it takes much the same time to set six as it does to set four. I am sort of thinking right now that they are all out of place, but oh well, at least they are decorative. More eyelets are easy to install if I need to.

How does it look so far Louis?