The Armour Archive

Hey,

I thought I'd share my first attempt at a shield with you guys. I've seen pictures that put my work to shame, but I wanted to get the public opinion on my next attempt.

This shield is made from 1/2 in thick plywood; with canvas from a painters drop cloth attached to the front. For straps I used an old pistol belt that was dry rotted, I cut the good portions out of it and attached with wood screws. I used wood screws again to secure the canvas to the front of the shield to paint the front.

The dimensions are 24 inches wide at the top, and roughly three foot tall.

This started off as a heater, but due to inadequate tools I screwed up and made it more triangular than it should have been. The next attempt should look better.



For the next attempt, I'm going more for what I think is authentic.

I'll start by buying a better grade of plywood and cutting it to the correct shape. What I think I'd like to do next is cover the front with thin metal sheets, attached with bolts. I'll find leather for the straps and secure those with rivets. I'll paint directly on top of the metal, unless it's better to cover the metal with canvas prior to painting.

Two questions however...

1.) Should I redo the dimensions? I'm six foot four inches tall, should I make it bigger or smaller for my frame?

2.) Would metal sheets, likely steel, be worth the time and effort to include on the next shield?

The taper seems very abrupt. Likely leaving your elbow, thigh, bumbum, and back open on one side, and your gut and groin open on the other.

For your next, I would suggest going a touch longer. If you are going with a similar shape, start the taper lower, and make it more curved. A more gentle point with more surface area will protect you a lot better.

I'd go 24" x 36". Cut a template out of paper or cardboard to get the right shape, then trace it onto the plywood.

I would ditch the steel sheet idea. Adding a sheet of steel would make the whole thing extremely heavy, to the point of being unwieldy, and the wood underneath will still compress and fracture under the hardest hits.

Basically, you'll be dragging around a shield that feels as heavy as a brick wall, and it'll still be dented and eventually broken.

Instead of steel, use wood glue diluted with water to glue down a piece of canvas on the front of the next shield you make. Let it dry, then coat it with more diluted glue. Put a couple coats on there, letting each one dry for at least a day. Sand it to a smooth finish when you've put down all the coats you want, wipe it clean, then paint it with acrylic craft paint.
Then enjoy a shield that will be a lot lighter and tougher.

watch the over spray from the white spray paint, more tape next time would probably help.

A superb and cheap tool for cutting a heater's curvatures is the good ol' saber saw, $20 for the Harry Homeowner Chi-com special to $50-120 for something more professional. 120 is definitely professional grade, and would last your entire lifetime. $185 gets you a Porter-Cable 9543, new, with the fixin's -- and a lot of features including some nice stuff for cutting on metal with blade lube.

and i would swap out the screws holding your straps on for carriage bolts and washers.
the screws can possibly rip out and could be bad.
plus the bolts hold much better and are simple to install.

Thanks for the input guys, I've taken notes from this thread.

The diluted glue idea sounds interesting; I think I will drop the steel plate idea in favor of that. But another question, would it be better to brush the paint on next time, or stick with spray paint (with more masking tape)?

Also what's the ideal grade of plywood to use for this sort of thing? For the first shield I just used some old scrap that was laying in the shed.

I think brushing on always yields a better look, if anything because it shows a bit more craftsmanship, not to say you can't lay base layers with spray, but I think anything laid over a base and details, brush for sure.

Plywood, I can't comment on, I've just always used what I had laying around, I just made sure to finish my edges and it got covered with canvas anyway.

If you want an idea of shield shape your going for, just look at alot of the avatars here, a fairly generic "heater" type, a good starting point. That said, some heaters have more of a straight-edged before it starts its curve to the point, than others. Preference and aesthetics really.

Welcome New Member.

I have heard of artist white gesso applied over the canvas.
Yes the shape is a little wonky.
Jolly well done for completing your project.

I made my shield with steel bands and it is to heavy.

R_Flagg_77 wrote:Also what's the ideal grade of plywood to use for this sort of thing? For the first shield I just used some old scrap that was laying in the shed.

Any plywood that isn't delaminating from deterioration will work.

The expensive stuff will work longer.

Typical middle level for plywood quality is good-one-side exterior grade. Good-two-sides is next step up.

Top end is marine plywood. Aside from the number of knotholes with biscuits glued in them to retain strength in that area, the other big diff in plywood quality is what kind of adhesive is used. Marine grade uses the stubbornest adhesive and the clearest wood in all its layers. Correspondingly priced.

I would be happy to send you posterboard patterns of various shield shapes.

Again, notes taken for the next project. I really appreciate the input.

Atzinger, I'll send you a pm.

Welcome Flagg. It is always a pleasure to have new blood added to the list. I know you are asking questions about flat shields but here is a link to my shield making process. It is for a curved shield but the idea works for flat shields as well. If I can answer any questions feel free to PM me.



GreenShield

You might want to mark the width of the white stripe at each edge to ensure the masking tape is even before painting.

I haven't had great luck using masking tape for a nice sharp edge. We usually cut the edges of our designs by hand.

-I am pretty familiar with oainting white diagonal stripes:
http://www.gerryadamsconstruction.com/s ... artins.htm

One of the things I learned in art class in highschool for making a clean line was this:

Lay your tape out as straight as you can. I usually use a roll of paper or news paper or several printer sheets to shield over spray. Once your tape is layed out, spray a nice coating of clear coat along the tape line. Allow this to dry, then paint your main color. In this case the white stripe. The clear coat will seal the edge along the tape line. When you pull the tape away, bingo! Clean, straight line.

G