Japanese scale?

[Fokke]

I have been looking at Japanese armor, pictures and such and have heavily read Effinghams great how-to website, and most of the Osprey books and am looking for something i havent seen much of. Japanese scale armor. Every now and then i see a pic but with very little description. Note I am not using this as a total reference but in The Last Samuri one of the higher up guys was wearing it, i think it was green. In one of the Osprey books there is a commander wearing it in gold. I was wandering through a store and saw a figurine of a Samuri in scale as well. They dont look like your standard rectangle lamilar and instead have tapering points, plus they only seem laced in at the top. Does anyone have any other pics of this armor, or know how one would go about designing some. There are too many disparate oddball pics for this to be completely with reference.
On a side note, i believe Europe or the West had a similar style. Anyone have any pointers or sites to look at?

[Baron Alejandro]

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Honcho-Gunkiko-Revised-Russell-Robinson-Hakuseki/dp/B000LHEHHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232483838&sr=8-1">The Armour Book in Honcho Gonkiko</a> and the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/manufacture-armour-helmets-century-Japan/dp/B0007JDXX0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1232483895&sr=8-1">The Manufacture of Armour & Helmets in 16th Century Japan</a> may prove useful. They're out of print, but maybe your local library can get them for you via ILL.