Question about RL Armor

[Water Bob]

This is a question for you Armor Historians out there. In the pics below, you will see Khalar Zym, the bad guy from the 2011 Conan The Barbarian movie. What kind of armor is he wearing? Is it a version of a type of armor used in real life? What do you know about this type of armor?

 

[Water Bob]

Greek/Roman musculata influence, for sure. But, is that boiled leather? Possibly a metal breastplate wrapped in a leather sheath? And, the multiple flaps on the shoulders and arms--is that common to any RL culture/time period?

 

[Dioltach]

I believe that its Latin name is Regula Frigidi.

 

[Water Bob]

I believe that its Latin name is Regula Frigidi.

Google brings up info about Frigidaire appliances.

 

[Hand of Evil]

yep, looks like Roman base with fantasy elements but not many.

 

[GMMichael]

I'm going with boiled leather on this one. Although, the blue velvet is very nice. Or is that suede?

I suspect there's no need to provide overlapping layers of plate if you're using a strong metal, and leather -might- be light enough to make moving around in multiple layers manageable.

By the way - I'm not expecting anything realistic from a villain in a Conan movie. And that actor has some awesome scowls!

 

[Water Bob]

Boiled leather breastplates made a bit of a come back during the Dark Ages. It was expensive, but it offered a better range of movement and wasn't as heavy as chain--the more popular armor of the era. Protection was supposed to be comparable, though.

I'm thinking it's a boiled leather breastplate--which would be considered "Hyborian". The character is supposed to be Nemedian, so that fits (not the scimitar, though).

What I'm really wondering about is the flared shoulder pieces. Very fantasy, but I'm wondering if that can be traced to any culture in history.

 

[TarionzCousin]

In real life, armor that sticks out away from the body is often a bad idea. So flared shoulder pieces weren't regularly made except those for left-side jousting/late period pauldrons that had a specific purpose. The common example is viking helms with horns: those were not worn in combat, despite popular mythology.

The reason for this is that when your opponent misses you, you want him to actually miss you and not damage your armor. If a sword missed your helm and caught a horn sticking out, it might easily snap your neck.

The main exception is hanging armor, such as chain mail or a coat of plates. Having space between a weapon's impact and your body helps spread the force of the blow.

 

[Dioltach]

Google brings up info about Frigidaire appliances.

What's the point of a classical education if no one understands your puns anymore?

 

[Water Bob]

What's the point of a classical education if no one understands your puns anymore?

Ah, the nips. I get it. You've gotta bang me on the head sometimes.