gondorian shield- 2nd age

wolfgang

wolfgang

New Member
i'm partially new at this craft of making props the only thing i've done is hand draw a map of middle earth, if anyones interested i'll post a picture of it here later, and i made a psychic paper like in doctor who and thats it i think, but here is my try at making a gondorian shield
lets see if i was able to attach these photos , i'm not good with computers.
 
i painted the whole shield white and made a kind of reverse stencil of the white tree of gondor and and stuck it on and painted the while thing black and then removed the stensil leaving what i needed to be white, white. I know there where probably easier ways of doing it but that was the only way i knew how and im not very experienced at this but i think it came out ok. I drew the tree on this large white sticker if you call it and then cut it out.
 
ts is the only one i have. I'll post more when i put them on my computer also of the shield.
img4741hk.jpg
 
Very cool looks like you have a great start. I like LoTR but am no expert so I just looked this shield up since I wasn't sure which one it was, and this will look great when it's done. But I was wondering how you were going to do the metal trim around the edges? Will you be using real metal and rivets or a substitute?
 
thank you, i always beat myself up due to the fact that i wrote "Rhun" way to big on there, wrote it there before i figured out how big the map was going to turn out, i'm impatient. I was thinking about weathering it a bit but i'm not very experienced at that and i dont want to risk ruining it considering how much work it took.
 
Oh man dose that map look killer and that template WOW. I wish I could draw like that. I put a pic of a finished shild below in case some one like me dose not know what it looked like.
I was curious about the shield, I was looking at them on line looks like they are convexed (curved). I was wondering how you were going to do that, the only way I could think of was to cut each piece with a slight bevel, I have no idea on the angel. But if you did then put on the metal and rivet each board that would probably be strong. Maybe even use wooden dole rod or bisect to join them, that would make way strong. Only saw one shield with the tree cut from metal, all the rest including the screen caps from the movie were painted on.
2 centsFrom here on its just advice take or leave it, I used to make armor 10+ years ago and learned a thing or two. As for the rivets I would suggest “round head solid mild steel rivets” and washers, you can find them on the net fairly cheap. You need to make sure they are mild steel so you can work with them without having to heat them up. You will need to measure the thickness of you shield plus the steel and add ¼ inch that is the length you need. Just at a glance you will need 3/8 in diameter. After you get the shield ready to put in the rivets clamp the steel in place with wood clamps with pads, because by this time you will have worked the finish of the steel ahead of time. After drilling the holes you will insert the rivets through the front, on the back you will need a washer. Now comes the fun part, if you have not pinged rivets before practice on some scrap first, it should only take one or two to get the hang of it. You will need a rivet set block, pic below. To make one any size steel will do, but should be at least ½ inch thick. Now take a drill bit the same size as you rivet head and trill about 3/8th deep hole. This piece will let you set your rivets without flatting the fronts out. Set the rivet in the shallow hole with the backup put a washer on the back. You will need a medium size ballpein hammer, you will start by lightly smacking the rivet around the edge and you will see it start to mushroom out keep at it until it has a slight round mushroom shape and the rivet is tight. Tada you just set you first rivet. The first few times I did it I was amazed how ez it was.
As for the steel “USE GLOVES”. You can go two routs you can go cheap using sheet metal for heating and cooling. I would try a small piece and polish it first to see if that is what you want before you by a big piece. The up side to this is ez to work with and cheap. Down size it is thin and will not help as much in the strength of your shield. Also it dos not polish as well, you could paint it though. If it was me I would cut a pattern and go to a steel house in your area and get 16guag sheet steel. Remember the bigger the number the thinner the steel. I used 16guag to make helms and shields for live steel combat, it will not fail you. And you can polish it to a chrome like finish. Make your pattern out of poster board and transfer it to the steel with a marker. I used a jig saw with a metal blade to cut up to 16 gauge steel with no problems, you can get them at any hardware store. After you cut use a wire wheel to clean the burs or a file, if you use a file do not go to sleep and sharpen the edges.
Next use 80 grit sandpaper disk with your drill to polish up the steel. Work your way up to 160 to get a good used look or keep going to 220 for that polished look. The hard part is trying to get your rivets to mach. Put them in a vice and polish the head ahead of time before you use them. Then when it is all together put down two or three layers of tape over the wood next to the steel and hit the rivets one last time to knock off the scratches it may have got during pinging.
As for the arm straps go to the Good will or thrift shop or yard sale and look for real leather belts to cut for straps. Or you could order belt blanks from Tandy’s leather, but that’s pricy. You will want to make the handle one piece leather, and the lower strap two piece with a buckle so you can fit it to any arm and tighten it up once two have it on. I would use ½ to ¾ rivet and big diameter washer for that and mayby leave them unfinshed or panted black as to blend in and not detract from you great artwork.
Well I will get down of my box now if you have any questions fell free to ask. Can’t wait to see it done, good luck.
Ps. This is just a joke please don’t take this the wrong way. I got a chuckle out of your second pic with it together and panted white on the floor. I got a mental image of a shield shaped hole in fence somewhere.:lol

gondor_shield_2008.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
wow thank you so much your advice and help i wish i could have used it but i'm already almost completely finished with my shield. I am planning on making another one because i'm not really satisfied with the curviture,since i have absolutely no expertise in shield making i had a bit of trouble figuring out how to curve it .When i do make another one i will definitely use your advice. To curve it i got a sheet of plywood and let it soak in hot water then ten i set it on blocks of wood and put heavy weights on it till it dried completely and kept its shape then i just glued and nailed the wood planks on it.
 
oh thats a good idea if i get ahold of the materials i'll definitely do that, seems simple enough from what i've seen. i havent seen if theres anything behind the shield i should look online to to see if theres another design behind, but yea i would love to have a banner behind it.
 
i ll post more pictures of the shield later today i put the metal on it already. I want to make it look battle worn, does anyone have any ideas on how to weather it a little?
 
heres what ive got so far. It looks to new for my taste I want to weather it a bit. Does anyone have any tips on how to make it look battle worn? id appreciate any suggestions.
 

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