1/6 Captain America Shield - help needed

[Rusty27285]

i everyone,

I'm trying to build a 1/6 scale captain america shield. I'm wanting to build it from scratch then I want to try moulding and casting in resin. It's not a complicated thing to make from scratch but I'm struggling to get the dome shape of the shield. I've tried two different methods:

1) Building up clay that I can then sand down and shape the surface so I can then scribe the lines in to but this results in a flat back to it. I'd rather get the concave back too so I can cast a few and do different paint schemes. It's also pretty difficult to get a nice smooth uniform curve to the front (and back if was able to do this)

2) the second method I have tried is using styrene card and cutting in to sections and curving the sections as I go. This isn't working to well either. I've build a little former for it to go on to try and get the shape and curve but it too isn't working too well.

Can anyone give any advice on how they would go about getting the shape and having a decent thickness so I can cast it as one piece of resin?

I know you can buy these already made up on eBay but I want the satisfaction of doing this myself and getting to learn/try new techniques as I go.

I've attached some photos of attempt 1 and 2

Thanks

Rusty

 

[IEDBOUNTYHUNTER]

Try this. Its alot bigger But. Techniques the same

http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=241003

 

[Duncanator]

If you don't have access to a vacuformer, you can try slump forming it.

What you do is cut a hole in two pieces of thin plywood, fiberboard or hardboard (your choice). The hole should be the size and shape of your shield. Maybe just a bit bigger so you can trim away the excess. Sandwich a piece of styrene between these two pieces of wood, making sure that the holes line up properly.

Now you need to heat the plastic so that it will sag down to create your dome. A hairdryer works pretty well. You want to heat the plastic as evenly as you can. If you heat one spot more then the rest, it will sag un-evenly. So keep moving that heat source around!

The styrene goes through three stages while you are heating it. First it develops wrinkles and wavey-ness. Second it pulls itself tight. Lastly it starts to sag and droop.
Once it starts to sag and droop, you want to remove the heat just before it droops as far as you want it. It will droop a little farther after you remove the heat, and then it'll cool and harden. It may take a couple tries to get it right.

As a related method, you could drape the hot plastic over a (non-plastic) bowl that has the right curvature, and let it cool.