Captain America Shield Star Dimension

[Valor]

One of the things I really analyzed when I did my shield was the dimensions of the rings and star. I couldn't get my hands on the actual prop, so I sought out the best images I could find. As a vendor for a movie promotion, I was able to get some hi-res images of the shield. From a really straight on shot that (based on my measurements) it seemed to have a 10-inch blue circle. Other images I have since found seems to confirm this to within a half inch. As I've been making stars for people I have been asked to make a few different sizes, many as small as 8-inch stars.

Now, I'm not trying to insult anyone else's prop, or claim they are inaccurate or less awesome, but I expect a more rigorous debate from the RPF. I've seen ridiculously exhaustive debates about obscure dimensions of Star Wars props, but little discussion of the dimensions of this prop.

I attached a couple images to illustrate my point. One is the un-altered image of the movie shield that shows a 10-inch blue circle. The second image is an altered file to show how much the look of the shield changes with an 8-inch circle and star. I mean, it REALLY changes the look of the shield to something obviously different from the movie shield.

Again, I mean no disrespect to anyone. If you love the look of the smaller blue circle, rock on. But I thought with so much shield discussion lately this would be a good discussion.

 

[Verbal21]

Perfect timing for this thread, Valor. I just got my shield earlier today and as much as I love it, I just couldn't help but stare at how small I felt my center star was. Here it is

I think I'm gonna start on another shield and will be going with a larger center. I was thinking 9.5" myself, but that 10" one looks spot on to how I think it looks in person. Now, I just have to alter my outer rings as well.

 

[SonofJorEl]

Wish this thread existed before I ordered my shield! Yep--the 10 looks to be about right. I guess I just assumed the vendor that made my shield knew the correct sizes. He did offer to do different sizing if I wished--his standard had an 8 in center. Oh well---I will still be proud to have it in my collection.

 

[Chris Fields]

I tried to mention earlier that 8" looked small, but I got accused of being a troll for doing so.

Based on a 26" diameter shield, the center circle is somewhere between 9.5 and 10". I hope to get real measurements quite soon.

 

[Verbal21]

so are the ones you do 9 3/4"?

 

[Valor]

I do them whatever size people ask for. Mostly 8 or 10 inch. But I think that is being driven by what size circles are on the blank shield they order.

 

[Chris Fields]

Some more useful info:

The movie utilized 6 different sized shields, from around 24" to just over 26" depending on the scene. So there are plenty of size shields that can work and be considered accurate.

However, with each of these, the star is always about the same proportion. So the ones closer to 26" diameter have arund 10" stars, and the smaller ones have smaller stars.

I've actually had 2 different sized centers stars so far, and two different total outside diameters so far, and I think I've settled on what I think is the most average "film like" in my opinion.

But, I have done an 8" star for one person now, and a few other sizes. So what ever the folks want is right.

 

[galmando]

I always thought the centre on some of the shields I saw in here were small, they still look awesome though!

 

[TheCap]

the 8" star were my dimensions, nothing more nothing less. i also agree after getting it, it was rather small, but oh well, live and learn. since then my dimensions became the norm from said vendor, no idea how that happened but it did.

I'm just going to refrain from making a comment about the troll part.

lastly, to each their own. i love my shield, as im sure others love theirs. will some of the people with those dimensions make another shield? maybe, maybe not. it's up to them to do so, until someone gets their hands on the actual prop and posts real pictures not photoshopped the true dimensions will always be ??? for all we know it could be an 11" center who knows. in the end, does it honestly matter that much? it doesnt mean that mine or captainrossi's or verbals or valors, or even your's chris are better than the other persons. they're all different, minus yours chris since you're doing runs, so there will be lots of yours floating around, which is cool, you can always say hey i made that for soandso. for the rest of us that arent trying to make a profit, we can say hey. this is my shield and i made it my way. isn't that all that matters in the end? maybe... maybe not...

when i joined this forum, i never thought there would be so much uppityness here. i thought it would be a good place to help people and give people information,and get help / information. not belittle what someone has done, there are flaws with everything in this world so why discuss it? i dunno maybe i'm reading to much into this, but it seems like if a shield doesnt fit the "status quo" it's not right.

 

[Valor]

Good point on there being several size shields used in the movie. The shot I have was provided by Marvel of the actual shield, but I don't know for sure the size of that shield. So it could be 24 or 26 inches. So at that point, accuracy comes to be more about the proportion of the center star to the remainder of the shield.

While everyone is entitled to their own preference for shield dimensions, I still think a discussion of screen accuracy is warranted and should be welcomed. Whether one adheres to that screen accuracy is their choice and no one else's. Who would belittle another person's prop because they don't think it's accurate enough? Let's move beyond that sort of thing.

So ... I tend to agree with Chris ... although the engineer in me is tempted to calculate the likely ring and star dimensions for both a 24 and 26 inch shield ... The rings seem to be a simple 1/3 of the remaining space after you consider the size of the star. On mine I think each ring was about 2.5" inches ... but I'm not sure.

 

[Chris Fields]

Yeah, the point of the conversation is not to belittle or bash anyone, it never was. The point is to discuss screen accuracy. And yes, screen accuracy is very important to many people here and it does matter. With the pictures available today, even the ones available back almost a year ago, you can take measurements and ratios off of them. My calculations seem to put the ratio of the star to outer diameter at .38. Meaning the star is 38% the diameter of the shield. So, if you have a 26" shield, your star is about 10", if you have a 24" shield, your star is alittle over 9". Now, this also depends on if your "flat" diameter is 26", or if your "curved" diameter is 26", lol, a whole other story that I had some issues with in drawings for the shop. Also, the rings on the back are another whole different story. ... lots of detail in this movie prop, it's definitely a work of art.

There also seems to be aura in some of these shield threads that it is somehow bad or improper or an idea of "ripping people off" for someone to get paid for the time, effort, materials, research, etc they put into making items for others. Not sure why. If people put in the work, they should be paid the value of that work.

 

[Talisen]

Consider, as well, that the shield is curved and that the star in those head on shots would be closer to the camera, thus making it appear proportionally larger.

 

[Chris Fields]

Consider, as well, that the shield is curved and that the star in those head on shots would be closer to the camera, thus making it appear proportionally larger.

yep, a very good point. Which is why you want to look at several different angles and farther back shots.

 

[TheCap]

here's the thing, my shield and also my dimensions are not movie accurate, in which i've stated numerous times. nor are any of the shields really on here if you want to get technical about it. so why really bring up a discussion about a star size that honestly doesnt matter. Captain America has used numerous shields all varying from different designs, how is mine any different. if i was calling mine movie accurate then sure, it could be up for debate, but i think the only person thats claiming movie accuracy is you chris, am i right? i also don't think anyone that has the 8" center has claimed movie accuracy either. so again whats the point? those of us with the 8" center can see it's smaller than it should be, but none of us have claimed ours was movie accurate either. and hence, if those of us with the 8" center arent claiming movie accurate "status" on our shields then the discussion just falls more on hey why is yours wrong!

 

[Chris Fields]

You seem to be taking this personally instead of the intent, which is to try to discuss what is movie accurate, and what isn't. My apologies if I am misunderstanding you there.

I believe the star proportion on my shields is movie accurate. However, the back of my shields are not movie accurate (that will be the next run starting in a few days) and the star is still mounted on top, rather than embedded, which isn't movie accurate either.

Again, the purpose here, and before, was to discuss what is movie accurate and what isn't. The purpose is not to point fingers at anyone, claim anyone is wrong, or bash other's designs.

 

[shenphong]

There was a shop that gave me an estimate for a blank spun shield at $185. Their measurements were:

26” diameter shield with grooves at 20” diameter, 14” diameter and 8”
diameter with ¼” center hole.

I'm awaiting mine to come in (its currently in transit from across the US) and while this is based off the 8" circle, its certainly a great deal especially for a lot of those who do not have the space or sources to make there own.

Having said that, I do also like the look of a bit larger star on the shield as well and contacted them about purchasing one with a 10" center circle. They were also open to me providing them with new dimensions, which I had begun speaking to them about a day ago. I've since then, measured 26", 20.625", 15.375", and 10" as the new measurements. For those interested in creating a shield and possibly working from the 8" diameter center, it changes the measurements very noticeably. Not sure if my measurements are correct (I'm a psychologist darn it, not a math maj:lolr) but it does help with the look of screen accuracy, something we can't exactly nail down without examining or getting the actual shield dimensions.

But for those looking to go the 10" star route, can anyone confirm my measurements? It certainly looks like if someone wanted to place a 10" center circle on a shield with the dimensions for 8" it'd look very wonky, so a lot of people would be forced to start from a new standpoint. All in all, there are dozens of different Iron Man helmets dozens of Thor Hammers, adding more Cap Shields into the mix just makes it more fun.

 

[Verbal21]

^those are very close to the scale adjustments I made as well using the 8" center shield measurements as my base. I'm also curious to see someone confirm that or roughly be around the same ballpark

 

[Chris Fields]

There was a shop that gave me an estimate for a blank spun shield at $185. Their measurements were:

26” diameter shield with grooves at 20” diameter, 14” diameter and 8”
diameter with ¼” center hole.

I'm awaiting mine to come in (its currently in transit from across the US) and while this is based off the 8" circle, its certainly a great deal especially for a lot of those who do not have the space or sources to make there own.

Having said that, I do also like the look of a bit larger star on the shield as well and contacted them about purchasing one with a 10" center circle. They were also open to me providing them with new dimensions, which I had begun speaking to them about a day ago. I've since then, measured 26", 20.625", 15.375", and 10" as the new measurements. For those interested in creating a shield and possibly working from the 8" diameter center, it changes the measurements very noticeably. Not sure if my measurements are correct (I'm a psychologist darn it, not a math maj:lolr) but it does help with the look of screen accuracy, something we can't exactly nail down without examining or getting the actual shield dimensions.

But for those looking to go the 10" star route, can anyone confirm my measurements? It certainly looks like if someone wanted to place a 10" center circle on a shield with the dimensions for 8" it'd look very wonky, so a lot of people would be forced to start from a new standpoint. All in all, there are dozens of different Iron Man helmets dozens of Thor Hammers, adding more Cap Shields into the mix just makes it more fun.

Hey, those dimensions seem good. Are they "flat" dimensions, or dimensions down the curve of the shield? I am assuming they are flat.

Yeah, Accurate Metal Spinning in Miami? Those guys are fantastic, and they do a great job. They do the bases for my shields as well.

 

[Chris Fields]

^those are very close to the scale adjustments I made as well using the 8" center shield measurements as my base. I'm also curious to see someone confirm that or roughly be around the same ballpark

I can't absolutely confirm them, since I haven't measured a real on in hand yet, but from my calcs based off the images, they are accurate in my opinion, with the tolerances of my calcs.

 

[shenphong]

Hey, those dimensions seem good. Are they "flat" dimensions, or dimensions down the curve of the shield? I am assuming they are flat.

Yeah, Accurate Metal Spinning in Miami? Those guys are fantastic, and they do a great job. They do the bases for my shields as well.

Those are based off the flat dimensions from what I've been told. yes it is from Miami, I contacted several shops in the bay area here in CA and they wanted nearly $300! So this was a great deal, along with purchasing valor's star, this would be fantastic for any builder out there who wants to go with either a 10" star or 8" star, I'm trying to help them get a basis for both builds. They are charging me extra for the new dimensions, but I figure it'll help others in the long run. I currently have 4 IM helmets, lol now just need 4-5 different Cap shields.