mattaiello92
New Member
Hey Y'all, I here's a walkthrough for the cap shield that I built from scratch.
Materials:
22 guage sheet metal - ~$25
Thin steel bar (for handle) - ~$7
Red, white and blue stray paint + top coat - ~$5 each
2 Bolts + 2 Nuts - ~$1
Painters Tape - ~$3
Tools:
Drill
Tin Snips
Grinder
Metal Saw
Sand paper
Bench mounted vice
Start with your design. I folded a large sheet in half, and simply free-handed the kite shield shape, then traced it on to the sheet metal.
Easy peasy, use tin snips to cut out the shield.
Next, take your long thin piece of metal and using a vice, bend it into a handle shape, and drill holes in either end.
Place the handle on the back of the shield, and mark the holes on the back of the shield and drill holes to match the handle.
Then attach with bolts. Seeing as how I was going for the vintage look, I decided not to cover up the bolts, however if you want to, go with the standard grinding, JB Weld + Bondo + Sanding strategy to make the bolts blend in.
At this point, I removed the handle and used a round support pole to make the bend in the shield. Place both hands evenly on either side, and position the pole in the middle of the shield. Gently, and evenly pull on both sides until you reach the desired curvature.
I added a little padding to the handle for comforts sake.
Now onto paint.
Sand the shield, and apply a few coats of white primer. Once that dries, apply your painters tape to the top ~1/4 of the shield and trace on your stars, one larger in the middle, flanked on either side by smaller stars.
Next, carefully cut out the stars, and remove the REMAINING tape, do not remove the stars themselves. Then go over the stars again with the white primer to seal the edges of the tape. Use a newspaper/tape combo to cover the rest of the shield, and add your blue. Once it's dry, carefully trace the stars again with a knife, then peel back the stars. Make sure the paint is completely dry before doing this. Tacky paint will cause it to chip.
Now for the stripes. Starting at the center, using the bolts to line it up, mark 2 inch stripes going to either side of the center until you run out of room, the center stripe should be red, so cover the alternating stripes, as well as the top, and like before go over with with white primer to seal the tape. Once the primer dries, hit it with the red.
I did several coats of red to really make the stripes pop. Wait until it dries, trace the lines with a knife as before and peel away the tape, and you should have a damn fine looking shield. The final step is adding a few layers of a clear coat to protect the paint, you can also paint the back if it suits you to prevent rust.
Here's the finished product.
Hope you enjoyed!
Materials:
22 guage sheet metal - ~$25
Thin steel bar (for handle) - ~$7
Red, white and blue stray paint + top coat - ~$5 each
2 Bolts + 2 Nuts - ~$1
Painters Tape - ~$3
Tools:
Drill
Tin Snips
Grinder
Metal Saw
Sand paper
Bench mounted vice
Start with your design. I folded a large sheet in half, and simply free-handed the kite shield shape, then traced it on to the sheet metal.
Easy peasy, use tin snips to cut out the shield.
Next, take your long thin piece of metal and using a vice, bend it into a handle shape, and drill holes in either end.
Place the handle on the back of the shield, and mark the holes on the back of the shield and drill holes to match the handle.
Then attach with bolts. Seeing as how I was going for the vintage look, I decided not to cover up the bolts, however if you want to, go with the standard grinding, JB Weld + Bondo + Sanding strategy to make the bolts blend in.
At this point, I removed the handle and used a round support pole to make the bend in the shield. Place both hands evenly on either side, and position the pole in the middle of the shield. Gently, and evenly pull on both sides until you reach the desired curvature.
I added a little padding to the handle for comforts sake.
Now onto paint.
Sand the shield, and apply a few coats of white primer. Once that dries, apply your painters tape to the top ~1/4 of the shield and trace on your stars, one larger in the middle, flanked on either side by smaller stars.
Next, carefully cut out the stars, and remove the REMAINING tape, do not remove the stars themselves. Then go over the stars again with the white primer to seal the edges of the tape. Use a newspaper/tape combo to cover the rest of the shield, and add your blue. Once it's dry, carefully trace the stars again with a knife, then peel back the stars. Make sure the paint is completely dry before doing this. Tacky paint will cause it to chip.
Now for the stripes. Starting at the center, using the bolts to line it up, mark 2 inch stripes going to either side of the center until you run out of room, the center stripe should be red, so cover the alternating stripes, as well as the top, and like before go over with with white primer to seal the tape. Once the primer dries, hit it with the red.
I did several coats of red to really make the stripes pop. Wait until it dries, trace the lines with a knife as before and peel away the tape, and you should have a damn fine looking shield. The final step is adding a few layers of a clear coat to protect the paint, you can also paint the back if it suits you to prevent rust.
Here's the finished product.
Hope you enjoyed!
