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

The best advice to anyone painting a shield is to just take your time. I've painted 4 now and every time I felt comfortable and worked quickly I messed up.

For stripping the groove, make sure to use a very small amount of acetone. I would barely even dampen the paper towel, this will make you less likely to strip something you don't mean to. When I was doing that, I bought eyeshadow makeup brushes and cut them down with an exacto knife.
 
Im finally ready to get this party started(paint and assemble my shield) but I have a few questions that might have been answered in different areas of this thread.
1. should I clear coat the brackets?
2. do I need to clear coat the front and back of the shield before painting? If so, should I leave the areas for brackets and star uncoated?
3. Do you recommend putting the brackets on before or after painting?
4. after painting, do I need to apply another clear coat? AND if buffing or wet sanding is needed, should that come before or after that clear coat?

I appreciate any advice. thank you
 
I don't think you should clear coat before painting. I don't know anyone who has done that and I never have. I don't primer either, just clean it well and always wear gloves when handling the shield.

I don't clear coat the inside of the shield either. Since it remains unpainted you can just clean the inside as needed. A rattle can clear would actually make the inside worse imo. I always do baked on powder coat clear coats after painting the outside because of the far superior protection and the ease of cleaning after a convention (you just wipe it down with a cloth).

Any rattle can clear will still be affected by fingerprints / oils and highly susceptible to scratching and smearing if the shield is used for anything other than display.But, if you don't like the glossy look of an automotive (powder) clear coat then rattle can is your only option for a matte finish. Just balance your desired appearance against your intended use and make the best choice you can.

Here's a photo of one of my shields with the automotive powder clear coat. 20140802_132123.jpg
 
Take 2. Painted my blank once. It turned out okay. Not perfect but acceptable. But then when I was going to attach the star I scratched the blue. Doh'! So just stripped it and starting over.
 
Alrighty have been crazy busy with work for the past month and havent had time for any project work. I should be starting back up on my shield painting tomorrow. I will take another stab at a video for painting with the duplicolor paints again
 
Cool thing about this prop, it's SO current pop culture with no signs of dying out anytime soon, so there will be more to be had!
 
GeneralFROSTY said:
Here are a few I've been finishing up for clients. In case anyone missed this, I DO take commissions to paint and assemble your shield.
http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums...merica Shield/20140908_115858_zpsyntgpfur.jpg
http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums...merica Shield/20140908_144436_zpsrw4oyxjd.jpg
http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums...merica Shield/20140908_115653_zpsl3fdgtjz.jpg
http://i1215.photobucket.com/albums...merica Shield/20140908_144345_zpspw7jawqi.jpg
Click to expand...

Looks great, General Frosty. Do you have more pictures of those shields in progress. I was curious to what the unpainted part looks like from up close. Also, do you clear coat the the shield before attaching the star? The star looks more shinny than the shield. Could be just the light though.
 
 
DFanatic said:
Looks great, General Frosty. Do you have more pictures of those shields in progress. I was curious to what the unpainted part looks like from up close. Also, do you clear coat the the shield before attaching the star? The star looks more shinny than the shield. Could be just the light though.
Click to expand...
The star gets a light clear after application, that way our mega star press won't damage the clear coat.
 
I preferred to paint mine myself. Along with Valor brackets it got me about 50 compliments and when I had Stan Lee sign it in Chicago, he said "nice shield" in the photo op booth for my picture. Huge sense of pride and accomplishment!!!!
 
GeneralFROSTY said:
The star gets a light clear after application, that way our mega star press won't damage the clear coat.
Click to expand...

Ahhh, I see. What about the back of the shield though, do you clear coat it as well? It seems some members here don't put any coat on the back (sometimes not even in the front). I was just wondering if it's common to coat the back of the shield. I understand that without the clear coat that bare aluminum it may continue to oxidize and dull out, right?
 
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