Shield Physrep Creation

A

Ash

Artisan
I'm certain this question has been asked on this forum somewhere, however, I haven't been able to find it.

I'm interested in making a shield. The book gives some useful information but not the step by step sort of info that I would need.

Could anyone shed some light on the subject? How did you build yours? (Pictures of your shields would also be greatly appreciated)

-Chris
aka
-Raizale
 
I went to my local hardware superstore and located the section with wall insulation. I Acquired a sheet of 2" thick wall insulation board. I also acquired some pipefoam, 3/4" being certainly just fine for shields. 1/2" will work in this case too. 4 long bolts and nuts, 8 very large washers, and a cabinet door handle that I liked the feel of. Throw in an old suede belt from a thrift store and tape, and you're ready to start.

I then did some math, and a little guessing. You want to build your shield so that the total size is under or meets the maximum. Measure the diameter of your pipefoam and divide that by two. Whatever number you come up with, you'll want to cut the foam board that much under what you figure for your end dimensions. (Generally, this diameter should be, surprise surprise, 2". This means your pipefoam will end up sitting flush with the front and back sides of your shield rather than having overhang that will pull up the tape.)

Cut the pipefoam in half. Using small strips of tape, secure it around the outside of your cut foam board. Figure out where you want your grip and arm strap to go. Using a screwdriver, carefully punch/drill holes for your bolts to go through. Put the head side of the bolt with one of those nice wide washers on the front sides. Secure it on the back through the appropriate piece with another nice wide washer and the nut. This is the tricky part. You want to tighten them securely, but not break anything. Generally, once the washers *just* start to bite into the foam board, you're at about the right point. You may have excess bolt on the backside. You can cut that off with a pair of bolt cutters or leave it. I haven't had any issues with leaving it, but some people squick just looking at it without handling it first and realizing I'd have to be trying to hurt myself to do so.

As an alternate grip and strap method, you can cut bar-shaped holes through the shield and just use a leather strips, sewing it into a continuous loop. I have shields constructed both ways. You can also go for a center grip. The shield will be light enough not to tire you out quickly in alliance-speed combat.

Once you've got your grip and strap in place, tape it up. Front and back. If you're going to put any heraldry on the front, now's the time to lay out the base. Then, decorate. Again, alternately, you can build a cloth cover to go over the shield and, again, I have shields designed both ways.

I'll see if I can't get a (bad) picture of my shield with heraldry tomorrow and upload it.

This is only one construction method and type. There are many more, some will make shields equally as light, some will make them heavier. There are many different materials you can use to make shields and this is only one set. :) The materials here shouldn't cost you more than $30, and you end up with enough extra foam board and pipefoam to make different types of shields and/or have room to goof up on your first go at it.
 
Thanks so much for the help!

I'd love to see the picture if you can find it, otherwise no worries. I think I've got a lot to go on now. I'll experiment.


Thanks again!

-Chris

-Raizale
 
I would recommend using High-impact flooring also known as activity pad. They sell it at Walmart and prolly other sports stores with the weight-lifting gear. You lay 2 pieces down and trace out your desired shield shape, then cut it out with scissors/straight razor. Get a gate handle and something thin and sturdy,(IE pencil, piece of weapon core cut in half lengthwise, leftover bits of fishing rod) and Secure them on either side of the foam with zip ties(found at hardware store), use either leather or wide elastic from craft stores to make your elbow strap, just cut 2 slits in the foam where you need them and tape the loop on the grip side of the shield, just in case you need to resize. Then attach a piece of corrugated plastic or foamboard to the front of the shield with your choice of duct tape. Make sure the front piece is at least 5/8" smaller in length/width dimensions, leaving a border of foam around the front piece. You can add pipe foam if you really want to but the shield doesn't need to be padded since it's made entirely out of foam. All of Alliance Crossroads NPC shields were made using this method.
Will K.
 
I've just glued three pieces of corrugated cardboard together with white/elmer's glue. Cut strap holes in it, strapped it, glued a final piece of camping foam to the outside and then ringed it in pipe insulation. My shield hasn't failed yet. I'm also under the mindset that if it does fail, it is a good indication that the person who did it is swinging too hard.
 
I made one almost exactly as the one mark describes and it lasted for nearly 5 years even through rain, falling on it etc. it may have been just card board but it was stupid durable.
 
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here are a couple i made from floor mats. the big one is too big for alliance but is great for Amtgard. the other two are for alliance to see how well they work because i have a lot of these mats. someone was throwing out like 80 of them. not bad when they are $5 a piece. they are almost max area, as once you cut of the tabs off, one mat comes to 529 square inches. the doubling them up removes the need for other material, and the only tape needed is to protect the edge. ill give an update when i battle test them.
 
Although the size requirements differ between our shields and those in Belegarth, the design for a "Curved Punch Shield" (the second set of instructions here) cut down to a teardrop shape (26" diameter half-circle above a trapezoid where the bottom "base" is 3.5" wide) for Alliance feels really good in my hands when practicing at home. Since I'm a natural two-weapon fighter, I used weapon core with my normal grip tape "handle" and the whole shield feels like I'm carrying a second weapon tip-down for blocking in my off-hand.

I will be testing the combat viability of the design this weekend. I'll also post pictures when I get a chance to take some.
 
Warlok said:
Although the size requirements differ between our shields and those in Belegarth, the design for a "Curved Punch Shield" (the second set of instructions here) cut down to a teardrop shape (26" diameter half-circle above a trapezoid where the bottom "base" is 3.5" wide) for Alliance feels really good in my hands when practicing at home. Since I'm a natural two-weapon fighter, I used weapon core with my normal grip tape "handle" and the whole shield feels like I'm carrying a second weapon tip-down for blocking in my off-hand.

I will be testing the combat viability of the design this weekend. I'll also post pictures when I get a chance to take some.
Click to expand...

I think if I or my son want's a shield, I would go with a similar set up.
 
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