The scutum cover (continue)
 
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On the umbo a different coloured leather has been used just for aesthetic reasons.
Please note the sewings around the circle consider the top-bottom criteria in order to facilitate the rain to flow away.
Next to the the four knots an additional heavy leather piece was necessary to make the cover stronger. In fact
at the first attempt to use it on the shield I created a 3cm hole in the skin.
From the left: pic.8 umbo detail; pic.9 detail of the strong leather reinforcement.
From the left: pic.11 the fastens on the straps; pic.12 fasten closeup;
pic.13 the total view of the cover fastened up.
From the left: pic.14 decoration with letters and motifs; pic.15 mink oil application.
It is very useful to apply decoration on all the carrying equipment in order to better
identify the owner. In my example I have inserted evocative or possibly magic symbols (a fish and a star) according to my
preferences.
Once terminated the sewings I have applied a huge layer of mink oil in order to make the skin softer
and more waterproof. This will make the skin also much less exposed to tears.
I used mink oil, but any kind of oil can be used, also vegetal ones, but with the risk of stinks.
It is better to oil the cover periodically to avoit to get it too dry.
The building of the tegimenta in the way I have presented in these pages requires
a very long time. Particularly the four layers sewing required big attention and patience because of the great amount of stiches.
Just the vertical sewing rquired about 7 hours. The complete cover required 35 hours of work.
From the experience made I suggest to use stiches of 5-6mm distance between them different from mines (3mm), this will
reduce the total time for at least 30-40%. In addition I suggest to thos who "don't have time to waste",
to forget the four layers sewing because also the normal two layers is perfectly waterproof when oiled.
Additional links
Matt Amt's web site
Florentius' web site
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