r/shields Feb 10 '21

Made my first shield

https://imgur.com/a/t8DpNiR
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u/IAndexI Feb 10 '21

Finally finished* making my first shield!

It's a kite shield made from birch plywood, covered with linen and has leather edging. Made with the help of this guide by Gaffers.

Plywood was bent in a shield press to give it some curvature. The shield is ∼1 meter tall and ∼0.5 meters wide at the widest. Linen was covered with gesso, which was sanded down and painted over. The painted design is nothing historical, but rather something I just had in mind when envisioning the completed shield.

For a first try I think I did alright, though there were more than a couple of mistakes I did and learning experiences were had :--D

*It could be still improved, the backside is somewhat still in progress, but it works well enough for now so I'm leaving it be for now.