How to make a Plastidip Shield with both a

Recessed Center Grip and Strapping

Options.
-By Sir Celdic Fitz Caliston

First off make a plan, draw a design, get an idea down on paper for what you want your shield to
look like when you are done. Read this tutorial a few times so you understand what is happening
and when, understand what you need to do so that you dont spend a lot of time and frustration.
Next get materials.
1- 30 inch 2.4lb polyethylene plank foam (shield blank)
2- 30 inch round 2lb MC EVA foam 1/2 inch thick
2- 30 inch round 2lb MC white foam (didn't have it handy when I took this picture)
DAP Weldwood contact Cement
1-can Black Spray-On Plastidip
1-Cans of Black Dip/Paint on Plastidip
Leather strapping or a leather Belt
Center Rod/Slat for your Recessesed Center Grip
Strapping Tape, Duct Tape, Masking Tape
Plastic grocery bags
Acrylic paints. Fine Grit Sand Paper

I traced the 30inch diameter onto the roll and cut it out with a little extra allowance.

It's been rolled for a few months so I've gotta get it to flatten out.
To Flatten the eva out I needed to sandwish between things that wouldn't leave an impression so
I used the 30 inch blank on one side and my 28 inch round on the other. Then added my PD

heater and my marble tooling slab on top for extra weight. Should be flat enough to use
tomorrow morning.

Traced out a 30 inch circle on a large sheet of paper, I used the back of gift-wrapping paper. (I
get the kind with 1 inch squares, it helps keep designs symmetrical.)

Rough idea for the design. It still needs some tweaking:

Since I want to skin the edge of this shield in 1.5lb MC (makes for friendly shield Rimming in
Games with Legal Shield Contact) I needed to trim off some of the original core (same 1 inch
depth that the MC will be.

Next I did a freehand transfer of the design onto the MC skin that will be the design/embossed
work.

Using my Scroll Saw I then cut out the areas that need to be completely removed from the
design. If you dont have a scroll saw a Razorblade/knife will work. Just try to be as precise as
possible (stock up on razor blades if your cutting a lot of MC foam.

Finishing up removal of the negative areas (you can use a razorblade or exacto knife for this if
you want).

Time to start carving!

Rough cut out of the embossed design. Used razor blades and exacto blades for this part. Now
I'm going to get my Dremel-tool out and sand the areas smooth.

Making the Recessed Center Grip:

Now I need to start putting in the center grip and Strapping onto the make Blank Core.
This is a fiberglass slat used in road signs as supports. I've cut it to length and notched the center
where it will be held sot that the handle isn't to wide to grip after the following steps.

Two strips of leather to help widen the handle, use straping tape to anchor/attach each piece.

Use duct tape to build up the dimension of the handle to the desired thickness.

Spiral wrap the handle in hockey-grip-tape in preparation for adhering the leather wrapping (it
bonds better then the smooth side of duct tape.
I also beveled the upper corners of the fiberglass slat so they don't dig into your hand.

For this step I use Supper 77 on the grip tape and the rough/"wrong" side of the leather wrap.

Spray the rough/"wrong" side of the leather and the grip tape area of the handle with the Super
77, follow directions on the can. I cut the leather wrap so that it is longer then the actual handle
then anchor the top (as seen here) and the bottom with Grip tape (next pic) so that it doesn't peel
away from a corner.

I now wrap the leather handle in plastic to protect it from the rest of the construction process, I
once used painters tape but it will sit there for at least a couple days before the rest of the shield
is done. By that time when I remove the painters tape it pulled off the nice sheen on the leather
handle.
So yeah plastic bag, then electrical tape over the plastice to keep it attached.

From this point I follow my tutorial on Recessed Center Grips found :

www.calistonarmory.com in the tutorials section.

I cut the slot at an angle so that the handle is a little cocked, this helps your wrist stay at a
straighter angle while keeping the face of the shield flush with your body for good defense.

Leather Straps for the custom Strapping.

Beveled then burnished the edges of the straps to keep them comfortable.

Dyeing the straps black.

While the straps are Drying/curing, I trace out a back cap out of 1/4 inch Micro-Cell foam.
We will need to DAP this cap to the back/inside of the shield so that the straps can be laced
through it and anchored on the front side of the shield core (the original shield blank).

Use DAP Weldwood Contact Cement for all foam piece cementing. Plastidip will react to the
other adhesives and your pieces with delaminate.
DAP, DAP, DAP away. Get both the Cap piece and the inside face of the shield blank, let cure
per the DAP instructions (that'll take, 25-30 min depending on temp. (make sure you have
adequate DAP on all the edges!!!)

Back to the straps. Using the old Slave Labor here (the Tippman Boss) to add the strength
stitching to the belt straps (not just decorative, it makes the belt/strap stronger according to the
belt makers.

Custom Strapping ready to go, just waiting for the DAP to dry.

Joining the core plank and the inside cap pieces. You'll notice there is extra white foam at the
edges, I do that on purpose. I DAP over the lines onto the excess in case I don't get the core lined
up just perfectly, (as can be seen here) and then I trim off the excess flush with the core plank.

Trimmed off the excess with the bandsaw.

Cut out the handhold for the center grip (this is the side we want to grip from).

Getting placement from the Straps, Dawken and I have very similar arm measurements so
hopefully these placements work. This is the scariest thing about this project, once these are
placed there is not do-overs. I had to go just a touch lower then I personally would pu them just
to make sure the structure would be able to support the straps, otherwise they'd have been to
close to the centergrip hole.

Cut slots straight down through the foam, the slots shout be the width of the Straps you are using.

Forearm strap, start on the bottom, weave through the shield and back through the top slot.

Adjustable strap because most peple wear armor sometimes and will need the strap to go over
their bracer or they lend their shield to someone else that has different size forearms as they do.

Before weaving the hand strap punch 4 holes in each end in a box pattern.
Weave each side of the wrist strap through the respective slots you cut, your going to attach them
together on the other side of the shield.
Figure out how much room you'll need to fit your hand in it. If you wear gloves or gauntlets you
might want to give yourself extra room. (I gave a little room because Ive seen pictures of
Dawken with MMA gloves)

Figure out where you need to punch those holes by doing this if you don't already have the
process down, remove the strap if need be to punch the holes then re-thread it into position.

Using Zip tips attach the 2 ends together. For a PD shield I'd also suggest hand stitching this if
possible (I searched for my hand-stitching awl for half an hour before giving up and just putting
in an extra zip tie, crossing my fingers)

Trim off the excess Zip Tie.

Rotate the strap through the shield until the zip ties heads are inside the core plank.

Next using Strap tape make a box pattern around each end of the strap, this will add extra
support to help keep the leather strap from pulling through the core foam.

I add a couple pieces of Duct tape under the straps as well for added support.

Synch the straps tight from the back side so they are as flush on the front as possible then anchor
them down with duct tape. This will keep the straps from rotating during use. This will help
prolong the life of the core foam.

I then traced out a 28 inch Cap of foam out of 1/4 inch MC for the front. Then I use my Dye
brush to dab on some wet dye over the top of the straps. I'll set the 2 pieces together and this will
make a "Stamp" impression on the inside layer of the MC cap pieces to show me where the
straps will line up when they are joined together.

Wet dye over strap locations.

These are the "stamps" markings where the straps line up (I laid the top Cap of MC on top of the
straps above and pressed down). I need to "dig" these areas out so that when the 2 pieces are
together the front Cap doesn't have noticeable bumps where the straps go.

I used the Dremel sanding tool to router out the strap spots.

DAP both pieces and letting them dry for joining. (btw I wiped off as much of the Dye from the
straps as possible before applying the DAP.)

Join the front cap with the face of the core, make sure to line up the slots with the straps. Press
firmly and if possible press flat with weights overnight to ensure a good bonding.

I'm thinking I'm going to have to add another 1/2inch layer of MC to the face. Normally the
positioning of the heraldry gives the Hand hole covering enough support, especially on
Amtshields, however with this going to a Bel fighter I'm going to want to make sure there is
enough padding there.

Added an extra 1/2 inch thick cap of MC foam to the front to make sure the center grip had
enough padding in front of it.

Lining up the center line on the front face of the shield to line up with the handle for the center
grip (this keeps the heraldry oriented properly, I've screwed this up before so I take extra care
now).

I lay the Symbol layer down and traced it in preparation for DAPPing it to the face. This way I
can lay the symbol down properly when the DAP is ready for joining.

Symbol layer joined to the front face of the shield.

Cut out strips of 2lb MC 4.25 inches wide to edge the shield. This will make for a friendly
rimming latter on. The sheets of MC are not long enough to get a strip that will go around the
entire edge in 1 piece so I have to use 2.

First Edge piece applied (DAPPed).

Both edges DAPPed on and then a Bevel to round the edge a bit. Again this is for friendlier
rimming shield in games that allow aggressive shield contact.

Figuring out the wrapping effect of the wings for the symbol.

A little more sculpting on the shield edge this time.

Masking off the Leather straps in preparation for Plasti-dipping. Again, use plastic bags or
newspaper as the first layer against the leather straps and then tape to hold the protective layer in
place.

Do any last minute prep or changes/additions to the shield that you feel necessary. For instance,
Dawken asked me to incorporate this skill into the hollow of the tail.

Face of shield just before Plasti-dipping.

First use SPRAY-ON Plastidip. I find that the paint on PD goes on more even and quicker if I've
coated it with the spray first.

Make sure you spray it in a well-ventilated room or outside

if its not to windy!

Painting" on the Plastidip. Use a 1inch foam brush, bristle brushes get their bristles pulled out
and left in the PD attached to your shield. I grab a big bag of brushes every time I start a new
project.
I normally do 2-4 coats depending on how thick the PD is going on (the hotter the ambient temp

the thicker it seems to go on)

Make sure to coat the inside seams of the design where they join the under layer.
PD may look like it has streaks and blobs, smooth them out as best you can but also realize that it
will smooth a lot on it's own as it dries.

The 1 inch brushes are the most convenient for the 2 inch opening on the PD can.
Mix the can really well before you start. The can has a thinning agent that will float to the top.
Mix that into the can really well. Once opened you want to use it as fast as you can (so have your
project ready to go). It comes with a plastic cap for the can. Close the lid up between coats so it
doesn't dry and get a skin on the top, adding a layer of plastic food wrapping to the top of the
can and then the plastic lid helps keep the PD fresh between long breaks in applications.

Once the final coat of PD has tried and set up for a good 24hrs I take some very fine sandpaper
and buff the entire surface to prep it for painting.

Painting:

I like to airbrush the main color with Creatix Airbrush colors.

You can use Folk Art Acrylic paints, laytex paints, etc to brush on however youd like. Doing the
main base coat of the heraldry with the airbrush just makes it easier and faster for me.
In the following steps I start with the Bronze airbrush paint from Createx, then use various
shades of brown, black, gold, sivle, and greens to get the Bronze to have that Rustic aged look:

Clear Coating the Entire surface with Krylon Clear coat spray paint for plastics. There are a few
different clear coat options available. Check the PD forums for suggestions on which will be best
for your application.

Final Shots before Packing this baby up and shipping it to Dawken:

Once the clear coat is dry make sure to carefully remove the protective wrappings on the straps
and center-grip handle:

Now go play with your new toy!