Go-mai Dou of rivetted lames

[fujiwara]

Not wanting to hijack the OTHER thread about newbies to Japanese armour, here we go...

I am patterning out a five-plater made of lames. The front 7 lames (munaita, two tateage, and four kabuki dou) are all the same width (10"), the back 8 lames (oshitsuke-no-ita, 3 tateage, four kabuki dou) are all the same width (12"), the 4 left side lames are all the same width (9"), and the 4 right side overlaps (5" front, 7" back) are all the same width. YET, It is obvious that, from the other examples I've seen, the dou is obviously bigger around on top than on bottom. How is this accomplished with lames? I understand large plates well enough (i.e. yukinoshita dou): make 'em wedge shaped and dish. Is this also done with lames? HOW? Arigatou!

[kenshiro]

Not a hijack !!!

Good luck sir !!!

[AJBryant]

By *not* making them the same width.

Also, by *curving* them. Look at my pattern for an okegawa do. Those aren't straight lines. They curve and that wraps the plates under each other.

Also, if all the plates are the *same* length, you'll find that the only way the armour will line up is when it's laid out flat. The thickness of the armour plate needs to be taken into account.

Effingham

[fujiwara]

*looks at the pattern* Would ya look at that...

Poop...I guess I'll be making sendai-dou for a while. I can't afford to waste metal cutting out the proper pattern. Thanks, Eff!

- Fujiwara

Edit: sakura-dou, not sendai-dou