Hello! I'm new to the RPF but I have been reading and admiring many of the projects here for some time. I've always wanted to make collectables but never had the drive until now. I'm going to attempt to make an accurate as possible (close to screen accurate) copy of Cap's Shield to give as a gift to a special someone and wanted to share the process with you guys. I hope to continue to make more items in the future and have already started a list of projects that are small so I get some of the basic building techniques under my belt before going into a huge build. Any ideas for small projects that are lower in cost but will help a newbie like me, please let me know!
But anyway... On to the shield! (Pics Below)
PREP AND CUTTING
After reading many posts of amazing Cap Shields I took a little away from each project to craft my own. I started with a steel saucer sled that a cut the edges off of to create a nice disk of the base of the shield. I badly wanted a aluminum blank but sadly, they are a little out of my price range currently. So the red steel sled it is from Amazon!
*** Tips *** If you are looking to build a shield of your own from a sled, I would highly recommend using a grinder with a combo cutoff/ grind wheel. I didn't own one but most Home Depot's have them for rent. I think it was about $15 for a 4 hour rental and 1 - 5 inch grind wheel. Well worth every penny in my opinion! The grinder really helped to not only cut quickly but also smooth the edges quickly without having to use a file too much. I was also worried that without strapping the sled down it would move around a lot but I fixed that problem by using a 55 gallon plastic drum as a workstation. If you have access to one of these, like a rain barrel, it helped a lot. Good height for me to work at too!
I know many people have been using the plastic sleds as bases but I really like the metal look and feel of the end product. I'm planning on painting it with some of the anodized paints as well, so it really pops when its finished.
I drilled a hole in center of the sled and used a board with a nail in it to measure out to roughly where the 25 inch edge of the shield should be.It was marked off with a sharpie which worked well. I had to eyeball it a little so it may be a little over or under 25 inches but it's close enough for me.
REMOVING THE PAINT/ SANDING
This was the part I was not looking forward to. Stripping the paint from the sled is long and difficult task.
I tried some citrus strip gel at first and even after leaving it on the surface of the sled a while it took a lot of effort to remove just a small amount of the paint. I eventually broke down and purchased some not-so-friendly chemicals to aid in this process. Surprisingly, these worked great! Still a lot of work, but it made the paint soft so it could be scrapped off. (I will add the name of the stripper later) After multiple thick coats of the stripper, the paint was at a point where I could just sand it to remove the small spots left over. I used the citrus strip gel again to aid in this process because it didn't smell as bad but could still eat away at some of the paint as I sanded with a scotch brite pad. Overall the star side of the shield looks good! (See Pic)
It wasn't until after I finished one side that I friend of mine gave me a arm saving tip - USE PLASTIC WRAP during stripping.
After you cover the surface with the gel, cover the whole painted surface in plastic wrap to prevent air from getting at the gel. It took a fraction of the time to take the paint off with this method! AND the paint came off in sheets!!! (See Pics) Where as this worked great, it still left a good amount of primer or base coat on the surface. I'm not too broken up about that but at the time my arm was dead from sanding the other side.
*** Tips*** When stripping the paint off, make sure you use REALLY GOOD GLOVES so the stripper doesn't get on your hands. By the time I was done with the one side my gloves did their job, but they were shot. The gel stripper seemed to work well but I have nothing else to compare it to, I have never done this before. I used multiple types of sand paper along with scotch brite pads. The different grits worked well to remove paint. I have 60 grit for the first pass and 160 - 200 for the others. No one that I have seen has really showed this process too much, so I wanted to take some pics during stripping to show how it goes to help anyone who may think about working on one like me.
This was all done in one day, I will continue to give updates on my progress as I go. Please let me know if there are any tips you may have for me as I am working on the piece, any info would be great! I will detail out the steps I took working on each stage and hopefully it helps someone build theirs. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Cryptk5
But anyway... On to the shield! (Pics Below)
PREP AND CUTTING
After reading many posts of amazing Cap Shields I took a little away from each project to craft my own. I started with a steel saucer sled that a cut the edges off of to create a nice disk of the base of the shield. I badly wanted a aluminum blank but sadly, they are a little out of my price range currently. So the red steel sled it is from Amazon!
*** Tips *** If you are looking to build a shield of your own from a sled, I would highly recommend using a grinder with a combo cutoff/ grind wheel. I didn't own one but most Home Depot's have them for rent. I think it was about $15 for a 4 hour rental and 1 - 5 inch grind wheel. Well worth every penny in my opinion! The grinder really helped to not only cut quickly but also smooth the edges quickly without having to use a file too much. I was also worried that without strapping the sled down it would move around a lot but I fixed that problem by using a 55 gallon plastic drum as a workstation. If you have access to one of these, like a rain barrel, it helped a lot. Good height for me to work at too!
I know many people have been using the plastic sleds as bases but I really like the metal look and feel of the end product. I'm planning on painting it with some of the anodized paints as well, so it really pops when its finished.
I drilled a hole in center of the sled and used a board with a nail in it to measure out to roughly where the 25 inch edge of the shield should be.It was marked off with a sharpie which worked well. I had to eyeball it a little so it may be a little over or under 25 inches but it's close enough for me.
REMOVING THE PAINT/ SANDING
This was the part I was not looking forward to. Stripping the paint from the sled is long and difficult task.
I tried some citrus strip gel at first and even after leaving it on the surface of the sled a while it took a lot of effort to remove just a small amount of the paint. I eventually broke down and purchased some not-so-friendly chemicals to aid in this process. Surprisingly, these worked great! Still a lot of work, but it made the paint soft so it could be scrapped off. (I will add the name of the stripper later) After multiple thick coats of the stripper, the paint was at a point where I could just sand it to remove the small spots left over. I used the citrus strip gel again to aid in this process because it didn't smell as bad but could still eat away at some of the paint as I sanded with a scotch brite pad. Overall the star side of the shield looks good! (See Pic)
It wasn't until after I finished one side that I friend of mine gave me a arm saving tip - USE PLASTIC WRAP during stripping.
After you cover the surface with the gel, cover the whole painted surface in plastic wrap to prevent air from getting at the gel. It took a fraction of the time to take the paint off with this method! AND the paint came off in sheets!!! (See Pics) Where as this worked great, it still left a good amount of primer or base coat on the surface. I'm not too broken up about that but at the time my arm was dead from sanding the other side.
*** Tips*** When stripping the paint off, make sure you use REALLY GOOD GLOVES so the stripper doesn't get on your hands. By the time I was done with the one side my gloves did their job, but they were shot. The gel stripper seemed to work well but I have nothing else to compare it to, I have never done this before. I used multiple types of sand paper along with scotch brite pads. The different grits worked well to remove paint. I have 60 grit for the first pass and 160 - 200 for the others. No one that I have seen has really showed this process too much, so I wanted to take some pics during stripping to show how it goes to help anyone who may think about working on one like me.
This was all done in one day, I will continue to give updates on my progress as I go. Please let me know if there are any tips you may have for me as I am working on the piece, any info would be great! I will detail out the steps I took working on each stage and hopefully it helps someone build theirs. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you!
Cryptk5
