A Gondor book?

[feld]

Why would anyone want to make a heavy plate armour, when a chain corslet, that is as light as a feather and as strong as dragon scales exists.
So clearly, the most skilled armourers would focus on those kind of amazing armours.
On the same note. If the most skilled elven smith can make a headband able to protect its bearer, as if wearing plate mail, then why would you even try to develop that sort of monstrosity!

ME is a world, in which magic exists, so different rules apply in regards to realism.

Well, I had two reasons:
-First because I thought mithril (wrongly as it turns out) wasn't discovered until the late second age.
-Second 'cause I figured that it was rare enough that some folks would have had to make do with more traditional materials but still need greater protection than chain provides.

v/r
feld

[feld]

I just object to "this is how it happened in Europe, and therefore it (probably) would have happened in Middle-earth the same way...."

Glor,
I have not communicated my point here. Our history has little to do with puzzlement. It's just physics. To the best of my knowledge, the ability to cast or forge very thick metal plates requires some very complicated techniques because the whole plate has to cool at roughly the same rate. The good 'ol "throw water on it till it stops glowing" doesn't work well above a certain piece thickness because differential cooling sets up internal stresses in the metal making it vulnerable to brittle fracture at room temperature. That's how stuff like this happens:

But clearly someone (Dwarves or Numenoreans) has figured out how to do it well enough to make the doors for a fortress. If they figured out how to do that then making smaller form fitting plates (with techniques we consider "traditional") wouldn't seem beyond their capability.

And, as you've convinced me above, cannon wouldn't be beyond the realm of their craft either