The "I'm painting a Captain America Shield" thread

[Dozer3677]

Dozer, don't worry about that ding. Try to smooth it down carefully, you don't want to make it worse. My shield had the exact same imperfection and thus designated that the bottom of my shield. Nevertheless, after my shield was painted and clear coated, I can't even see it.

Thanks Chewie. It was a busy weekend, so I got very little done. I actually got the ding out. Took some real heavy sandpaper to it and carefully sanded it away. I didn't have a file, nor could I find one, so I had to make due w/the paper. It worked out well. But that was ALL I GOT DONE since Friday.

Saturday, it was really humid, and I had plans, so I was going to start painting yesterday. I went to set up my semi-outdoor spray station (A covered area under my porch completely walled off except one area). Sprayed for bugs and was tacking up the plastic sheets when I got a nasty pain in my left arm. I was BIT by something. OR stung. The odds are endless as there was a huge hornet nest right near there behind a neighbors fence, or it could have been a spider or fire ant, they are also near our house. I didn't see it. Couldn't find it. All of a sudden, an area on my arm stung and was burning and was sore all at once. Same part of my arm rashed up. Still sore today, but swelling went down and the rash is just red w/a mark instead of blueish red.

Needless to say, I didn't paint. I have a hockey game tonight, and tomorrow is supposed to be one of the hottest days of the year. I may need to wait until Wednesday.

But Chewie, back to the ding, the only reason I was so annoyed by it was because as I ran my finger along the edge, it catches there. Or caught there. So I wanted to get rid of it so there would be no paint mess ups.

Wow the photos Or, are you selling this one? (I'm not sure if I should put my email here or if the web site automatically notifies me of your message?)

Most of the shields are incomplete and require you to finish them. If you look at the photos in my post above (edit Now one page back), you will see how the shields come. Plain, blank metal discs. You need to polish, paint, and procure the metal work to do the star and brackets in the back. Or buy them from someone on here. Finished shields usually end up going for a lot more than blank shields. You can find them on Ebay actually. Just try "Shield Blank" or "America Shield". You can find them.

[bjall4jc]

Frosty, any updates on how your painting is going. I'm anxiuos to see them.

[Kerr Avon]

I've been working on painting mine the last couple weeks. Last weekend I painted the red onto the shield. I was really disappointed how it looked, and the rough texture the paint developed. I'm seriously never going to use that paint again. Beyond the texture, it was really dark and didn't let enough of the metal finish underneath through. I did have some hope, however, that some clear coat may help. So I put some gloss clear coat from a can down on it and .. BOOM .. the color fixed itself and a lot of the texture vanished. I put a few more thin coats on it and the texture still wasn't completely gone, developing a bit of an orange peel texture. I know that on automotive body shops they can wet sand that out. So I went ahead and got 2000 grit sandpaper and started wet sanding the shield. Today, it's down to a glass like surface. Throwing some water on it and the color pops out again, though right now it's pretty dulled by the sanding. I'm going to take it out to a friend's shop where he has automotive painting gear and get a clear coat done there and once that's cured will get the straps attached.

[Valor]

I've been working on painting mine the last couple weeks. Last weekend I painted the red onto the shield. I was really disappointed how it looked, and the rough texture the paint developed. I'm seriously never going to use that paint again. Beyond the texture, it was really dark and didn't let enough of the metal finish underneath through. I did have some hope, however, that some clear coat may help. So I put some gloss clear coat from a can down on it and .. BOOM .. the color fixed itself and a lot of the texture vanished. I put a few more thin coats on it and the texture still wasn't completely gone, developing a bit of an orange peel texture. I know that on automotive body shops they can wet sand that out. So I went ahead and got 2000 grit sandpaper and started wet sanding the shield. Today, it's down to a glass like surface. Throwing some water on it and the color pops out again, though right now it's pretty dulled by the sanding. I'm going to take it out to a friend's shop where he has automotive painting gear and get a clear coat done there and once that's cured will get the straps attached.

Dude, you are so close to awesomeness! Can't wait to see.

[Kerr Avon]

Dude, you are so close to awesomeness! Can't wait to see.

To be fair, mine probably won't be as good as some of the others here. Chris' stuff is pretty much the standard I'd say. It's going to be good though, and I'm going to be happy with it I think so I'm good with what I've got. Probably a couple of weeks before I can get it gloss coated, but I'll be sure to post it when it's done. I'm almost done bending your brackets into fitting against the back but still have a bit more to go.

[metalzeus]

quick question do you guys paint first and then put the brackets or vice versa,cause i'm afraid if i have the shield painted and then struggle to put the brackets i would scratch the paint.

[Kevin Gossett]

I'm in the process of getting the brackets on first, then I will clean and clear the back, then move on to painting.

[xcelsior]

It was also my plan to attach the brackets first and then do the cleaning and painting afterwards to avoid any potential damage to the paint. In the queue for a set of Valor's bracket kits in August, so hopefully come September I'll have all the pieces and the right humidity to get started.

[metalzeus]

do you also put a clear coat on the back when the brackets are attached,then at the end the leather straps?

[Kerr Avon]

As for the brackets I've not done anything to the back yet. My plan is to finish bending them as close as possible to the curvature of the shield as possible. Once that's done I'll clear coat the top surface of the brackets and attach the leather. Then clean the back side of the shield with acetone SO VERY CAREFULLY and then use JB weld to attach the brackets. Once attached I'll tape over the leather and bag them as possible and then clear coat the back with a rattle can.

[Kevin Gossett]

Why not attach the brackets and clear coat before adding the leather? Will save you a step...

[Kerr Avon]

From what I can tell in Valor's instructions, and the way the screws go on, you can't attach the brackets to the shield without the leather being on it. I guess you could flip the screws around but then you're looking at the screwheads on the straps. I dunno, maybe.

[Valor]

From what I can tell in Valor's instructions, and the way the screws go on, you can't attach the brackets to the shield without the leather being on it. I guess you could flip the screws around but then you're looking at the screwheads on the straps. I dunno, maybe.

Exactly. I'm also of the school that says you paint separate sub-assemblies THEN final assemble.

When I did mine, I painted the front of the shield, clearcoated the front and back. Clearcoated the brackets. THEN attached the brackets to the back. If you're careful, there's no reason attaching the brackets last will scratch up your paint job.

[Kevin Gossett]

From what I can tell in Valor's instructions, and the way the screws go on, you can't attach the brackets to the shield without the leather being on it. I guess you could flip the screws around but then you're looking at the screwheads on the straps. I dunno, maybe.

Exactly. I'm also of the school that says you paint separate sub-assemblies THEN final assemble.

When I did mine, I painted the front of the shield, clearcoated the front and back. Clearcoated the brackets. THEN attached the brackets to the back. If you're careful, there's no reason attaching the brackets last will scratch up your paint job.

Makes sense to me, I was just curious to the reasoning

[Kerr Avon]

Exactly. I'm also of the school that says you paint separate sub-assemblies THEN final assemble.

When I did mine, I painted the front of the shield, clearcoated the front and back. Clearcoated the brackets. THEN attached the brackets to the back. If you're careful, there's no reason attaching the brackets last will scratch up your paint job.

The only thing that makes me hesitate putting the screw side of the screws on the leather under the bracket is at that point, I can never take the leather off. If for some reason I need it repaired or adjusted or something, it's never coming off. If I leave the screw side of the screws on top, then I can. So, no firm decision yet on that.

[Kevin Gossett]

Still working on finishing the brackets, but I have the screws on top. I attached the receiver of the screw post on the underside of the brackets so I could attach them to the shield and clear it before attaching the leather.

(Not Valor's brackets, BTW)

[DarthCalibar]

Has anyone had issues with the paint sticking? I'm working on a small shield replica that's 7.5 inches across and I can't get the dulpicolor paints to stick. I'm using a spun aluminum disc, so obviously I don't want to sand it or anything because I'd ruin the spun texture. I painted it with the blue and got it looking really good by wetsanding between coats and everything. When I went to peel off my masking it peeled the paint off with it!

[Kerr Avon]

How long did you wait before putting tape down? I waited over a week. Also, I used the Frog Tape which left no residue and didn't take anything off.

[DarthCalibar]

Do you mean how long did I wait before pulling the tape off? There was no paint on the shield before this. I waited a full day for the paint to cure before peeling the masking tape off. I'm using vinyl masking material. It sticks really good and doesn't leave a residue.

[Kerr Avon]

Is blue the first color you were putting on it? Did you clean the shield with acetone first to make sure there was no grease or stuff on it?

[DarthCalibar]

Yes, blue is the first color I'm painting. I figure that would be the easiest way. I'm open to suggestions though as far as how to mask and in which order to paint the different colors. I haven't used acetone to clean the surface, but I have washed it good with warm water and soap before painting. I'll have to try acetone, there could be some sort of residual preventing the paint from sticking...

[Kerr Avon]

Yeah, use a solvent like acetone or mineral spirits or something. Soap and water won't remove the grease on the metal that well.

[DarthCalibar]

I went ahead and cleaned it up with some acetone, remasked and tried some of the testors paint instead of the dulpicolor and the results are 1,000 times better. I strongly recommend the testors over the dulpicolor. I could not get the dulpicolor to work AT ALL.

[Kerr Avon]

Yeah, the Duplicolor is a ***** to use.

[kdflash]

has anybody have problems with the clear coat being foggy in some spots. I just cant get that high gloss shine on the whole shield. I'm using testors clear coat.