The14thDr
Sr Member
Cap’s shield is yet another iconic prop that I really want to add to my collection. I actually made a replica out of cardboard several years ago, but the results were not-so-great. Which is why I wanted to give this another shot.
I'm going to be using cardboard for the majority of this build because I wanted to achieve this on a non-existent budget and IMO cardboard is such an underrated material when it comes to prop building. It’s cheap, it’s versatile and if done properly, can be made to look just as good as other materials. It has been my material of choice for years and has yet to fail me (“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”)
First of all, this thread was a huge help when it came to researching this build, as well as this Instructable which I will be basing some of my shield around (in particular the awesome templates!) I believe that the original prop was 30” in diameter, but I decided to make my shield slightly smaller so that it would look more proportionate to my body when I’m holding it.
The first step after downloading the templates was to cut out the 20 wedges that will form the basis of the shield:
After gently curving the cardboard, I assembled the main shield shape using plenty of duct tape. Unfortunately the wedges formed a sharp point at the centre of the shield rather than having a gentle curve like the original props. To fix this I had to push the point inwards until the shield had the correct concave depth (I can cut out the centre and cover the hole at a later date.)
I then taped the shield down onto a flat surface and gave it two coats of diluted PVA glue to stiffen the cardboard and hopefully help it to maintain an even shape around the edges.
I then coated the whole thing (inside and out – including around the edges) in paper mache to cover the gaps between each wedge, smooth out the overall shape and really seal everything together as one solid shape.
Finally, I “skinned” the shield with foam – both to plug the giant hole in the centre and to recreate the look of the etched lines between each concentric ring. I then did the same for the inside of the shield.
I'm going to be using cardboard for the majority of this build because I wanted to achieve this on a non-existent budget and IMO cardboard is such an underrated material when it comes to prop building. It’s cheap, it’s versatile and if done properly, can be made to look just as good as other materials. It has been my material of choice for years and has yet to fail me (“if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”)
First of all, this thread was a huge help when it came to researching this build, as well as this Instructable which I will be basing some of my shield around (in particular the awesome templates!) I believe that the original prop was 30” in diameter, but I decided to make my shield slightly smaller so that it would look more proportionate to my body when I’m holding it.
The first step after downloading the templates was to cut out the 20 wedges that will form the basis of the shield:
After gently curving the cardboard, I assembled the main shield shape using plenty of duct tape. Unfortunately the wedges formed a sharp point at the centre of the shield rather than having a gentle curve like the original props. To fix this I had to push the point inwards until the shield had the correct concave depth (I can cut out the centre and cover the hole at a later date.)
I then taped the shield down onto a flat surface and gave it two coats of diluted PVA glue to stiffen the cardboard and hopefully help it to maintain an even shape around the edges.
I then coated the whole thing (inside and out – including around the edges) in paper mache to cover the gaps between each wedge, smooth out the overall shape and really seal everything together as one solid shape.
Finally, I “skinned” the shield with foam – both to plug the giant hole in the centre and to recreate the look of the etched lines between each concentric ring. I then did the same for the inside of the shield.