Captain America Shield- Fiber glass or Aluminum?

[Diogenis]

So I'm planning on doing a Captain America suit this year. My costuming experience is limited, ( Bought my first major costume from UD Replicas, then about two years ago followed Lunamans excellent spider-man suit instructional). There are a lot of great resources on here for how to make a good Cap suit and I see that things can quickly add up in price with buying the base suit and all the modifications.

Which brings me to the point of my post. Ive reached out to ArtFunk (because his work is just beautiful) but I see there is a seller on here that sells blank aluminum shields. I have a friend who is confident in her ability to paint it the way I want it to look but the main question is, as one of the focal points of the costume which shield type is better? What are the pros and cons of each? (as I haven't had any experience with either.) Which did you choose?

Any and all replies are appreciated. Thank you in advance!

 

[Diogenis]

Also thoughts on this ?

The only problem is its 22.5 inches but it is made out of Carbon Fiber

 

[Kevin Gossett]

I've got both. The aluminum definitely gives a real, wow factor. It can also get heavy carrying it for hours at a time. Fiberglass is definitely lighter, but also harder to get a realistic metal finish.

 

[Diogenis]

Thanks Kevin. I saw an aluminum one on sale here in the junkyard and it says its about 9 lbs. I found a steel one on etsy and he says the whole thing including brackets is about 4 lbs. How heavy would you say the fiberglass one is?

 

[STLAssassin]

After carrying it around for a full day at Dragon Con I can vouch for how heavy the aluminum one becomes. That said I wouldn't trade it for anything as everyone I got pictures with were most amazed by the shield. The kids thought it was the real deal.

 

[Diogenis]

I think I'm leaning towards the real metal. The fragility of fiberglass has me worried. So do you think i should go with the 10 lb aluminum or the 4 lb steel? Is there a benefit to one type of metal over the other?

 

[tijojo98]

Well steel if you dont apply rust protection will rust with time and aluminium wont

Envoyé de mon SM-G530W en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[Heyjude7]

If you are looking for an inexpensive shield I have a couple (WWII and Modern) in the junk yard