The "I'm painting a Captain America Shield" thread

[joostin]

Hey guys!

I've been lurking this thread for a very long time – many a month – and I've got a couple of questions.

I've been stripping back my paint job after a slightly dodgy masking left it with some jagged edges. With the acetone, it tends to leave a bit of a film as it evaporates after I wipe past, even after going over it with the cloth many times, and I find that there appears to be red in the very, very fine spun grain of the metal.

How have you guys conquered these? The evaporation is getting on my nerves, so I'm hoping someone can help!
And as for the grain, how can I get the paint out of there? Has anyone got any nifty little secrets such as tools to use; fine steel wool, or something? I don't really know.
This clean up job has me stumped – but I'm finally getting close.

What they say is true though – you earn your shield!

Cheers in advance for any help you can give me!

Justin

 

[Valor]

Your Patriotic Nacho Bowls look very nice. I myself sell attractive nacho bowl stars that really jazz them up. For large dinner parties I also have been known to make a leather handle system that allows you to transport 20 pounds of nachos with cheese sauce from the kitchen to the living room with ease.

 

[Douglas235]

Hi everyone,



The Riot Shield above was made of Clear Polycarbonate PC Material.
Hope anyone of you can give some friendly tips on how & what requirements to paint this shield and turn it into Captain America Shield.

 

[CT7567]

Got the blue on and the star cut and attached. Clear coat was put on last night. So far its turning out really great.

 

[drakeprimeone]

Hi everyone,

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The Riot Shield above was made of Clear Polycarbonate PC Material.
Hope anyone of you can give some friendly tips on how & what requirements to paint this shield and turn it into Captain America Shield.

thats pretty awesome! May I ask where you got the riot shield? Was it modded that way or is that how it came? I would think because of the clear you'd have to go standard matte paint

 

[Madosheet]

Just about to start on my own shield after receiving a blank; looking at all these completed ones gets me pumped to begin!

There's such a wealth of information in this thread but I have a question that I don't think has been asked yet, probably because no-one was as noob as me :$

So the general consensus is to clean the aluminium blank with acetone - my question is, would I need a mask for that, or can I just chuck some on a towel and begin? Is it best to be outside whilst cleaning it, and would nail polish remover work since that's mostly acetone right?

Just wanted to make sure and be safe than sorry!

 

[drakeprimeone]

Just about to start on my own shield after receiving a blank; looking at all these completed ones gets me pumped to begin!

There's such a wealth of information in this thread but I have a question that I don't think has been asked yet, probably because no-one was as noob as me :$

So the general consensus is to clean the aluminium blank with acetone - my question is, would I need a mask for that, or can I just chuck some on a towel and begin? Is it best to be outside whilst cleaning it, and would nail polish remover work since that's mostly acetone right?

Just wanted to make sure and be safe than sorry!

There shouldn't be any excessive fumes to worry about. I don't even bother getting the acetone at Home Depot / Lowes. Just go to your local Walgreens/CVS and find the 100% pure Acetone bottle. Put some on a folded up paper towel and wipe it down. I make sure to go in a circular pattern to stay with the brushed grain.

Good luck and have fun painting!

 

[JD]

I'm also eager to start on my shield blank... I finally gathered all the paint, acetone, a clear coat and masking tape to get thing's rolling. Tomorrow's my last day of work for a few weeks (vacation), so I won't have any more excuses to not get this done.

Is there a consensus on what to paint first the blue or the red? I'm also a bit worried about painting the blue and making sure I mask properly to attach the star after.

Any pointers?

 

[drakeprimeone]

I'm also eager to start on my shield blank... I finally gathered all the paint, acetone, a clear coat and masking tape to get thing's rolling. Tomorrow's my last day of work for a few weeks (vacation), so I won't have any more excuses to not get this done.

Is there a consensus on what to paint first the blue or the red? I'm also a bit worried about painting the blue and making sure I mask properly to attach the star after.

Any pointers?

If you are working with a grooved blank, tape the entire blank up. You could always print up a smaller star stencil then trace that over the painters tape. Once you do that cut away the center blue circle leaving the traced star stencil. Spray the blue down. Once its cured, re cover the center circle and cut away the red rings. Spray down the red, let it cure. Peel all the tape away. That should leave a bare star shaped center. Glue star down then lay down the clear. Final step.. admire your work!

 

[IamJAd]

Drake, I've delayed gluing down the star long enough. What are your best tips for curving the star before glue down, and gluing tips? How close to the edge of the star, etc?

(Anyone else can give tips, too!)

 

[drakeprimeone]

Drake, I've delayed gluing down the star long enough. What are your best tips for curving the star before glue down, and gluing tips? How close to the edge of the star, etc?

(Anyone else can give tips, too!)

To be totally honest, I stopped gluing stars down on my shield after the first two I made. I've opted to riveting the stars down. I find that I prefer the real rivet look over the simulated one and it allows me to safely remove the star if I ever need to repaint my shield. When I did glue it I just tried to gently flex the star by hand. You may want to take pointers from others though.

 

[JD]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Riveting the star down is a great idea. Will have to look into that... I'm guessing it's a pop rivet? Any issue with drilling a pilot hole for that?

 

[Nbraam08]

What prep work did you do to your blank before painting?? I got my blank last week and it's got a rough brush to it. And a rough texture. I'm not sure what exactly is needed I haven't prepped bare aluminum for paint before. Any and all help would be very much appreciated!!!

 

[drakeprimeone]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Riveting the star down is a great idea. Will have to look into that... I'm guessing it's a pop rivet? Any issue with drilling a pilot hole for that?

No issues at all. I start with a smaller drill bit for the pilot hole then use larger one to match the rivet. Hand riveter from Lowes.

 

[Douglas235]

Hi drakeprimeone,

Thanks for noticing my post.

It's from China. Just type 'riot shield' to search in eBay.

It's not modded & that's how it's originally look. Round, circular perfect for Captain America shield. You can choose between diameter 53 cm to 60cm & thickness between 3.5mm to 4mm.

The only problem is nobody have tested to paint it.

I hope there is anyone in this thread will also buy this shield & tested it out since they said it's hard to paint on a clear polycarbonate material & will easily taken out.

I'm still waiting for this shield to arrive.

 

[CT7567]

I hope there is anyone in this thread will also buy this shield & tested it out since they said it's hard to paint on a clear polycarbonate material & will easily taken out.

I would suggest maybe a good sanding and then a few coats of primer. What kind of shield were you thinking of making? Getting a metal finish for the movie version would be kind of tough to do although the comic version would be much easier. Maybe some of the chrome automotive paints would work. Either way good luck to you!

 

[Fly4v]

If it sticks, could use silver rub-n-buff and then spray a clear red and blue for a metal look.

 

[CT7567]

^^^What he said

 

[drakeprimeone]

Hi drakeprimeone,

Thanks for noticing my post.

It's from China. Just type 'riot shield' to search in eBay.

It's not modded & that's how it's originally look. Round, circular perfect for Captain America shield. You can choose between diameter 53 cm to 60cm & thickness between 3.5mm to 4mm.

The only problem is nobody have tested to paint it.

I hope there is anyone in this thread will also buy this shield & tested it out since they said it's hard to paint on a clear polycarbonate material & will easily taken out.

I'm still waiting for this shield to arrive.
View attachment 434955View attachment 434954

It looks really cool. I'm thinking because of the clear nature of the shield that if you applied the standard anodized paints we use then it would still look see through. You would most likely need to go with a matte metallic paint. It does give you a good base to make a Stark Energy Shield though. I've been wanting to try to make one.

 

[CT7567]

Alright guys, MAJOR dilemma here and I need some of your help. I had my shield leaned up against the wall under a shelf.... And it got hit by a falling object.... Scuffed it up pretty bad. One pretty bad scratch in the clear coat and one spot (thankfully not on the paint, just the metal) chipped all the way through the clear coat. As I'm sitting here panicking I am running through ideas of how to fix it the only thing I can think of is to do a light sand with some super high grit sand paper and then buff it as you did with auto wax. What do you think? And any suggestions as to what grit to use?

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