Need help/pictures of Tomegawa and Shiki placement

[kyuujou]

Hello, I have off and on been working on building my own set of Hon Kozane armor using Effingham plates. I have almost got all of my boards laced with the Shita Garami and realized I cant understand the instructions for adding Shiki or Tomegawa (stopping leathers) from SengokuDaimyo. I have been even less lucky when it comes to finding pictures to figure out how to do this correctly on my own.

Can anyone help me with detailed instructions/Video/ or pictures of how it looks? 


EDITED - Clarified I have the shita garami down but not the Tomegawa

[nismos14270r]

Those two images sum it up quite well. From my understanding, you use the tomegawa to essentially lock the plates together with the lacing smashed in between the two horizontal lames.

I made a quick demo out of poster-board, left over lacing, and artificial sinew.



Bonus shiki from an old test piece I made probably 8 years ago:



(its immensely overkill, but demonstrates the attachment)

[kyuujou]

DUDE!

THANK YOU!

I can not overstate how hard it is to see any kind of example on these parts are actually suppose to look or work! If you don't mind would you be able to tell me whether or not I should run Shiki along the entire Shita-Garami and should I use Tomegawa on every set of holes when putting the boards together or sporadically?

[nismos14270r]

I totally know what you mean, I only saw my first suits of armor in person just yesterday at the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York. I am planning to make a particular type of haramaki dou, but I just could not find pictures of how the back would be constructed. But, the museum they had a haramaki dou from the muromachi period that was exactly what I was trying to make!

Using that same armor to answer your question (not my photo)....



Do you see how the kusazuri  at the bottom maintain a curve throughout the entire length? Its my understanding that the shika runs the entire length to ensure it is the shika giving the armor a curve and not because it is tied in a circle. 

“tomegawa” This is what makes laced armours rigid. For sugake odoshi, there is one set of holes per row of lacing; for kebiki, it is one set of holes every 3" or so.

So, every 3" or so, but its really whatever makes it look best since no one will see it.

[kyuujou]

Again thank you both! Seriously you guys are the real MVP's. With any luck what-so-ever my Dou will be finished by December and my helmet ordered by February while I finally start getting all the last bits started by January.

So excited for a chance to have some nice looking armor!