Pattern for foam shield boss

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#9

[quote=“IdiotSavant”]I suspect its just my general crapness at crafty stuff. I can count the number of times I’ve cut and glued foam on the fingers of one hand, and I’m not fitting the facets together properly. Will try again.

I now have two 10" buckler blanks drying in the garage. With some bosses and handles, I can try MS I.33-style combat.[/quote]

Cool. Given that one of the people pictured in I.33 is a priest, this’d be a perfect manuscript to print out and do training with in game at St Wolfgang’s.

#10

My second attempt, with straighter cuts and two thinner coats of glue, worked a lot better. A bit oval, but perfectly serviceable.

Next problem: what to use for a handle.

#11

I use PVC pipe. Hosepipe could work too.

How are you attaching the handle to the shield?

#12

For a buckler, I would cut a piece of plastic barrel (or maybe two layers of corflute) in a shape like the Greek letter Phi. You can then sandwich it between two pieces of camp mat to be the shield:

(kind of like this but in a sans-serif font)

#13

Somewhat follishly, I haven’t thought that far ahead. I was thinking glue, but it might not be strong enough.

#14

Nope - I highly recommend either Ryan’s approach with the fibreglas rod down the centre, or if you’re using coreflute you can cut two half-circles in the pattern Derek describes, leaving about a 1 inch strip in the middle as the handle which you can then reinforce with a length of pvc pipe (or similar) cut in half along the length. This works really well, just make sure you use lots of glue…

800×600

You really want the handle integrated into the main part of the shield itself.

#15

A bit late for that now, unfortunately - but I’ll definitely do that with the next lot, or if I make a proper Viking-style roundshield.

Note to self: plan projects, properly, rather than just going “offcuts! I wonder what I can do with them?”

#16

I drew a round shield because the circle tool is easy :stuck_out_tongue:

I assume then you’ve already cut a striaght hole in the middle? or are you going more with what you posted in the other thread so it straps to your arm?

#17

Somewhat follishly, I haven’t thought that far ahead. I was thinking glue, but it might not be strong enough.[/quote]

I’ve had this kind of experience, it’s like putting together a DIY furniture kit and finding yourself with a piece left over. :wink:

We really need some step-by-step guides with illustrations like Dave’s.

Do you have enough foam to make another layer of shield? If so, you could glue the rod to the back of the shield you have (AFTER attaching the handle to the centre of the rod so that it will fit into the hole) and then glue another layer of foam over the back of it.

Or if you have corflute and no rod, you could glue corflute to the back of the shield, after following Dave’s instructions for attaching the handle.

#18

[quote=“TequilaDave”]I drew a round shield because the circle tool is easy :stuck_out_tongue:

I assume then you’ve already cut a striaght hole in the middle? or are you going more with what you posted in the other thread so it straps to your arm?[/quote]

The former. Bucklers should be punch-shields rather than strap-ons.

#19

Aren’t these threads helping to build them? :slight_smile:

[quote]Do you have enough foam to make another layer of shield? If so, you could glue the rod to the back of the shield you have (AFTER attaching the handle to the centre of the rod so that it will fit into the hole) and then glue another layer of foam over the back of it.

Or if you have corflute and no rod, you could glue corflute to the back of the shield, after following Dave’s instructions for attaching the handle.[/quote]

I have plenty of materials, so its just a question of what I want to do. I have two blanks at the moment, so I have scope for experimentation.

But I’m certainly remembering all this for next time, since I’ll have similar-sized offcuts in future.

A question: where do I get appropriate carbon-fibre rod, and how much am I looking at? Since its used for weapons as well, and I’m thinking of a dagger sometime, I should probably source some.

#20

RD1 or like agricultural store, although specialist kite makers and fibreglass manufacturers have it. Or the Field days at Mystery Creek every year. Lots of glass fibre rod to be had.

#21

Since I avoid farmers like the plague, guess I’m looking for kite shops.

The price list here looks cheap.

#22

Kiteworks is where I usually go.

What you want is SOLID rod, not hollow tube. It doesn’t make much different if it’s carbon fibre or fibreglass, so long as it’s NOT TUBE. The tubes shatter on impact.

You could use 6mm in a dagger, of up to 45cm length. Larp daggers are often longer than you’d expect, which helps so that your fist doesn’t get too close to your target (don’t want to accidently punch them).

Personally I would buy their 7mm fibreglass rod for weapons of up to 1 meter in length, and I’ve used it for shields too. I used to use 8mm, but now I find it a bit too heavy. They have 7mm rod for $7/meter. About 1 meter is a good length for a longsword.

#23

I’m personally inclined towards RD1 in Albany, ad a 1.5m lenght will set you back a mere $6.49 for a 10mm thickness, and less for thinner. The rods also tend to be a bit less whippy than the ones used for the kites.

But like everything, there’s a lot of personal preference involved.

If what you have is effectively a flat disk with a hole in the middle, you could try getting a piece of pvc pressure pipe (offcuts from any plumber are the way to go - don’t go to stores, they will rip you the smeg off), maybe two-three times the length of your centre hole…

Ah fuggit, pictures ftw

Just bear in mind that this kind of handle won’t be as strong as a more integrated one, but if you wanted to increase the strength you could put a cloth layer (ie cloth soaked in ados/f2) running over the shield face and handle, as well as over the back of the shield above and below the handle.

If you think it’s worth trying to do a compiled guide, I’ll look at it for the next week. It’s something I was quite keen for if we got the nzlarps website back into more frequent use - especially if it were to be used for articles and such in the vein of Immersion :wink:

#24

This morning I’m using the shield boss pattern (in the first post) to make monster eyes. :wink:

#25

Sailmakers is also another good place. Ask for sail battens.

#26

I recycle the fibreglass rods from old bubble tents. I just cut the short piece of aluminium tube of the end and it’s perfect for shield handles.

#27

Cheers Derek, just used the pattern, works perfectly.

#28

Here’s the original pattern, which had fallen off its hosting service.

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