Forging a full plate armor set involves creating multiple pieces of intricately shaped metal plates that cover the entire body, including the torso, arms, legs, and sometimes the head. Crafting full plate armor is a highly skilled and labor-intensive process. Here's a breakdown of potential time estimates:
Materials Preparation: This involves selecting, cutting, and preparing the metal plates, as well as any other materials like leather straps or fabric lining. Depending on the complexity and size of the armor, this step might take several hours.
Forging Metal Components: Shaping the metal plates and other metal components of the armor would require heating, hammering, and shaping. The complexity of the design and the intricacy of details affect the time required. For full plate armor, which covers the entire body, this step might take 100 to 200 hours or more, depending on the complexity of the design.
Joining and Assembly: Joining the separate pieces of the armor together, such as the breastplate, backplate, pauldrons (shoulder plates), cuisses (thigh guards), greaves (leg guards), and helm (if included), might involve welding or riveting. This step could take several hours, depending on the method used and the complexity of the assembly.
Finishing: Once the armor is assembled, it needs to be polished and finished to ensure smooth surfaces and remove any imperfections. This step might take an additional few hours.
Fitting and Adjustments: Fitting the armor to the wearer's body and making any necessary adjustments for comfort and mobility could take a considerable amount of time, potentially tens of hours.
Considering all these factors and assuming skilled craftsmanship, the total man-hours required to forge a full plate armor set could range from 200 to 400 hours or more. This estimate can vary widely based on the factors mentioned earlier and the specific requirements of the armor being forged.