How to Make Roman Soldier Metal Costumes
If you are not a metalsmith, making a metal Roman soldier costume is not the easiest of tasks. Whether the costume is for a fancy dress party, a child's nativity play or an amateur theater production, the best solution is to try to recreate an authentic impression of the Roman soldier costume. Pay close attention to detail and use the most suitable material you can muster.
Things You'll Need
- Picture of a Roman soldier costume
- Red cotton or calico fabric
- Pattern
- Sewing machine
- Needle
- Cotton thread
- Scissors
- Pins
- Toy helmet
- Toy sword
- Red feathers (20 to 30)
- Metallic paint or foil
- PVA Glue
- Masking tape
- Aluminum roof flashing
- Heavy-duty scissors
- Tape measure
- Ruler or yardstick
- Metal marker pen
- Cylindrical object or wooden log
- Hammer
- Screwdriver
- Brads
- Hardboard or thick cardboard
- 3 leather belts
- Nails
- Acrylic paint
- Art brush
- Picture stencils (eagle, wings or lion)
- Leather sandals
- Leather or felt
- Metal hook fastenings
- Heavy-duty gloves
- Cotton sheet (optional)
- Red cold dye (optional)
Instructions
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Find a picture of the Roman soldier costume you want to make. Find images in historical books or use the Internet.
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Make the Roman tunic, which is basically similar to a straight short-sleeved dress. Buy a pattern for a Roman tunic at your local haberdashery store, or use an old T-shirt as an alternative pattern guide. Buy some fabric like calico or red cotton, or dye an old cotton sheet red. Cut out the tunic paper pattern and pin to the fabric. Cut out leaving a one-inch seam. Remove the pattern and pins and stitch up on the sewing machine. Hand sew with a needle and cotton if you do not have a sewing machine. Use the pattern guide as a helpful reference.
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Purchase a toy Roman helmet and sword. Look around your toy store for a Roman soldier helmet and a toy sword. A knight's helmet will suffice if you remove the visor and add side pieces. Attach between 20 to 30 red feathers down the central crown of the helmet. Line your feathers up in row. Pour a line of PVA glue along the bottom of the feather stems. Place a strip of masking tape over the feather tips and press down to stick. Repeat until you have laid down and glued all your feathers. Bind masking tape all around the bundled row of feathers at the stems. Use masking tape to attach feathers neatly to the helmet. Paint the helmet and feather binding with metallic paint to hide the conceal the masking tape.
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Make the front and back plates of the metal breastplate armor. Use aluminum roof flashing to make the metal armor at home, as it is lightweight and can be cut with a pair of heavy scissors. Measure the person with a tape measure from shoulders to waist and across the chest width. Use the measurements to draw 2 rectangles on an aluminum sheet, using a ruler or yardstick and a metal marker pen. Cut out the rectangles. Put one rectangle body sheet on top of the other and draw another rectangle on to the body sheet for the for the neck piece. Measure the width of the person's neck to assess the width of the rectangle. Judge the length of the rectangle to what is comfortable for the wearer. Cut out neck pieces.
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Make the shoulder shields for the breastplate armor. Make 2 smaller rectangles for the shoulder shields of the armor. (Width measuring from neck to shoulder with length long enough to cover the shoulder and connect front and back armor plates.) Shape shoulder sheets over cylindrical object like a wooden log using a hammer. Use a hammer and a screwdriver on a hard wooden surface to pierce the metal to be able to fasten the pieces of metal with brads. Align the curved shoulder shield slightly overlapping the shoulder and connect to the body plates. Holes should be positioned an inch in from the metal edges. Mark the points on the armor with a metal marker pen or scratch the metal with scissors to know where you need to pierce the metal to be able to fasten the armor pieces together. Add an additional narrow strip of metal over the shoulder, if desired.
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Make the Roman shield. Get a piece of hardboard or thick cardboard. Attach a leather handle (use an old leather belt) on the inside using glue, or hammer in a short tacking nail. Paint a design onto the shield like eagle wings, lion or abstract pattern. Stencil on the design, if preferred.
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Acquire some open leather sandals. Look around charity shops for a pair of Jesus sandals or even borrow a pair.
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Make a sword belt. Sew two leather belts together and remove one of the buckles. If the toy sword comes with a blade shield, attach that to the shoulder belt; or alternatively, make one out leather, felt or cardboard.
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Make a red cloak. Use a long piece of red material. Sew long running stitches along the neck of the cloak. Pull the thread and gather the material. Tie a triple knot in the thread and sew a few stitches to secure the stitches. Make a neck band. Cut a strip of material, a meter in length and about two inches wide. Fold over the edges to sew a finishing seam to avoid raw edges. Fold strip over the neck of the cloak and sew to form the neck band. Either tie the cloak with extended ties from the neckband or attach a metal hook fastening.
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Tips & Warnings
Dye an old plain cotton nightshirt as an alternative for the Roman tunic. Use cardboard for the armor as an alternative, and cover with metallic paint, foil or fabric.
Use gloves when handling metal to avoid injury.
References
- Photo Credit fake roman soldiers image by TEMISTOCLE LUCARELLI from Fotolia.com
