[Martin Kallander]

I have been working on a scale armor and the scales feel very cumbersome. Am I doing something wrong or is scale armor just super cumbersome.

[Dan Howard]

Looks like the plates are a little too thick. Typical thickness of scales was around 0.5mm or even less. In any case, yes it is very cumbersome. Scale is the heaviest type of armour construction. Lamellar reduced the weight a little by getting rid of the need for a backing material.

[Martin Kallander]

[Matthew Amt]

The scales should overlap horizontally, more than yours do. That will close up all those potential gaps. And unfortunately it will increase the number of scales you need, and the weight as well. So, yeah, .9mm is too thick!

Also remember that scales will cut their own stitching, just by the movement of being worn. So tie off your stitching thread at least every third scale (if not *every* scale!) so that you don't end up shedding whole rows.

Have fun!

Matthew

[Mart Shearer]

Although it's not the only way to punch or sew scales, the Roman fragment from Carpow at least retained the original stitching and backing fabric, so might be useful.

[Martin Kallander]

[Dan Howard]

Just move the old 0.9mm scales to the chest area and use 0.5mm scales for the rest. If you want to tailor it like mail armour then you use smaller scales for expansion and contraction gussets or you adjust the degree of horizontal overlap between scales in those areas.