Where and when did you learn to make shields? I started making shields just a little over a year ago, so I'm still very much in the exploration phase of the hobby. I've got experience and education in a lot of other sculpture media, but almost all of the materials we work with to make shields are new to me, and that's exciting and frightening (especially when there's a deadline looming!) Best materials to make a shield So far, I like 2 lb. EVA foam the best for surfacing. At first I was trying to keep the thickness down by using a solid core and layering it with EVA, but after borrowing a variety of shields from veteran fighters, I'm sold on the thicker, lighter foam you get online specifically for making shields.
Handle options, what are they and what is your preference? My first shields were all strap shields - the solid cores made securing leather straps the easiest, sturdiest option, and as I was playing small shield wielders with spells, I fancied being able to fight sword-and-board with a hand free. Having played with other, more experienced fighters' shields, I think a center grip would be a better option for small shields. They seem to need more active employment to offer good protection. I've seen a lot of interesting ideas for installing a center grip, and the one I'm keenest to playtest is a length of thin walled PVC pipe, flattened where it is joined to the shield and secured with a generous helping of Gorilla Glue. I don't know how well it will hold up to hard use yet, but it's terribly light! For larger shields, a popular option at our park is to cut slots in the foam core, reinforce them against tearing with strapping tape and run wide cloth straps all the way through the core to make a loop. If you use a cloth cover, you can affect minor repairs if you need to, and if the straps get damaged or dirty, you can replace them easily. For my solid core shields, I built Chicago screws into the core, and used them to anchor leather straps to it after skinning and dipping the shield. It's heavier, but it lets me skin the shield front and back, and the straps can be replaced if they wear out.
Plastidip finish or cloth cover, what are the pros and cons of each? A good, durable cloth cover results in a lighter shield because you can put it over the shield's core without having to skin it in heavier, smaller celled foam. You can also make them removable with a drawstring, which gives you the option to have one shield core with interchangeable covers. It's less expensive than PD if you have access to a sewing machine or aren't averse to stitching by hand. Finally, it's safer - making a PlastiDip shield involves a lot of toxic chemicals, and all the safety equipment and facilities you need to protect yourself from those are stuffy, pricy and no sure protection against fumes and particles. PD shields afford you a lot more creative space because you can work them in three dimensions, adding physical textures and solid ornaments. They're also weather resistant - a cloth cover gains weight and sags in the rain.
Snow sled/other materials vs foam, why use one or the other? I've never made a toboggan shield, but I'd like to! That deep, dished interior gives you a lot of coverage without increasing the diameter of the shield, and I've read that it's a strong option for shorter fighters. Apart from that, I think lighter is better, and a nice, flat, all foam shield can be used for a seat cushion between fights.
How long do your shields last? One year and counting, with infrequent (weekly) use and careless storage.
What is your favorite Shield you ever made? My favorite one to play with so far has been the Oakenshield we made the last mid-reign. Visually, the Skyrim-style shield with the dragon device is my favorite.
What was your biggest blunder on a shield? Solid cores. I've got two small shields that are impractically small for their weight (or impractically heavy for their size - take your pick). I also tri
ed to use a plastic trashcan lid for a domed shield once. The straps pulled right through the plastic and shattered it before I could get any foam on it, which, in hindsight, is a blessing in itself. I'm not saying solid cores are universally bad, but I won't use one for a small shield again.
How long does it take to make a shield? In terms of labor, my PD shields have taken me ten or twenty hours once I settled on designs. That's spread over a few weeks, as all the glues and sealants and whatnot take a number of hours per layer to cure.
Most intricate shield you have ever made? The Oakenshield's boss is the most intricate thing I've made out of foam so far (that anyone's seen, at least).
What was your most favorite shield? My favorite shield isn't one of mine. I saw a center grip shield on the Plastidip Artists FB page when I first signed up that looks like a big, oval shingle of oak bark with glowing runes chiseled into the center where a boss would normally be. The mossy bark texture was flawlessly executed, and the whole thing was just perfect all around. If I ever get a visit from the Spare Time Fairy, I mean to try and make one very much like it.
Whats the largest design you have done on a shield? So far I haven't done anything over 24" in diameter, but I've got something pretty ambitious planned for after Coronation.
What materials do you need to plastidip and paint a shield, and how easy would it be for someone just starting out to make one? I need two kinds of Plasti-Dip (it comes thinned out in an aerosol spray, and undiluted in a can,) a load of acrylic paints, and some sort of durable, flexible sealant to protect the paint. If you've got any experience using spray paint, it's a good way to get the first few thin, even coats of dip on the shield without obscuring the details you've sculpted into the foam. It does tend to cause the foam to curl inward, though, so I use the thicker dip in a can to cover seams and reattach foam that peels up after spray-dipping.
I had the very good fortune of meeting Valkyrie from Winter's Edge early on, and she showed me that you can pin down the foam when it separates, glue it with a flexible adhesive (she recommended E6000 for spot repair,) and dip over it once the glue has cured. The pinholes disappear under paint and sealant afterward. It dries clear, so you can use the same technique to repair separation that happens after sealing or damage from fighting. There are a lot of different ways to approach painting. Sometimes the desired result suggests one process over another or the type of finish you want. All of my experience painting outside of shields came from tabletop miniature gaming and college 2d art classes, so I default to brushes. I reckon that also suggests the sorts of finishes I can try to achieve - flat, evenly applied fields of color and smooth gradients are much better done with spray paint and airbrushing, so I'm inclined more toward dense, highly visible texture.
A bare minimum toolkit for me would look like a retractable straight razor, a serrated bread knife or kitchen carving knife with small serrations, sharpies, rulers, a thumbtack and a bit of string (for making circles,) a hacksaw blade, a cheap heat gun (for shaping PVC and doing woodgrain,) a cheap woodburning iron and a bag of disposable sponge brushes. For cloth covered shields, replace the wood burning iron and paintbrushes with a portable hand sewing kit. You can improvise the rest. More expensive or specialized tools I use, but don't really need include a band saw, a workbench clamp, a Dremel, various hobby knife blades and the leather working tools necessary to make and install leather straps.