Lamellar armor is one of the oldest and most widespread forms of armor. Almost every culture had a brilliant individual who realized that small plates could be layered in differed ways and have the same effectiveness as a solid plate. This proved effective for cheap and ready armoring of large units, armies or militias. From the various asian cultures, through europe, even the native americans and pacific islanders all had their variant of lamellar armor, and all proved effective for generations.
Some examples of lamellar armor:
![Image](http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/4540/armorsamurai736hiwl3.th.jpg)
![Image](http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/6192/lamellarleatherarmourof0.th.jpg)
![Image](http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/6747/lamellarleatherarmourwigk5.th.jpg)
![Image](http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/6581/syracianhimy6.th.jpg)
Sources for lamellar plates:
One effective source is to cut them yourself. There are many resources on the web which display the differed variants of lamellar plates.
Some examples:
![Image](http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/2937/lamellarshapesjb5.th.gif)
![Image](http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/4979/lamellarshapes2iz6.th.gif)
![Image](http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/1778/lamellarshapes3cg4.th.gif)
![Image](http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/5962/lamellarshapes4tj2.th.gif)
![Image](http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/2763/lamellarpatternit6.th.jpg)
Other places are those merchants who offer precut plates and kits in metals and leather:
http://skaldic.com/Pages/torvaldrbodyarmor.htm
http://www.tradersoftamerlane.com/leather.htm
http://www.whitemountainarmoury.com/lamella.php
http://www.polarbearforge.com/lamellar.htm
http://forums.armourarchive.org/phpBB2/ ... lar+plates
Now, as far as construction goes, there are numerous tutorials already in existence, and are very well done. Here are links to many how-to's that I have found effective and used in the past:
http://www.geocities.com/kaganate/howlamlr.html
http://www.pegasusvalley.com/armorguild ... =0&thold=0
http://www.pbm.com/~lindahl/cariadoc/perfect_armor.html
http://www.armourarchive.org/patterns/l ... emplarbob/
http://www.arador.com/construction/construc.html
I used these same tutorials to make my lamellar cuirasses. Here are some photos of a harness I dug out of storage:
Made from 12-14 oz lames. Weighs a liitle bit!
![Image](http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2434/lamellar1uk8.th.jpg)
![Image](http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/8605/lamellar2ey6.th.jpg)
![Image](http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4641/lamellar3kl8.th.jpg)
![Image](http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/8318/lamellar4gf0.th.jpg)
All in all, lamellar can be a fun and productive piece, and functional as it gives and moves with the wearer.
Good luck with all your projects, my fellow craftsmen, and if you can, share your work with us all!