Viking Shield Boss

Making Weapons and Shields

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Viking Shield Boss

Postby GreyWolfSif » Sun Dec 07, 2014 1:13 pm

Some of my realm members and I are going to be constructing some viking style punch shields soon, but we've ran into an issue when it comes to the boss/handle area. I've seen some viking shields with boss' made with foam and plasti dip, but we don't want to spend quite that much time or money on these ones. We thought about making the boss by covering a plastic bowl in foam, but that doesn't sound like it would last that long.

What do you guys think about the bowl idea? Any other suggestions would be great as well.
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Re: Viking Shield Boss

Postby Sir Thurat » Sun Dec 07, 2014 6:01 pm

If you are wanting to make the boss hollow, I would recommend the following:

  • Obtain 4# foam (puzzle mat works fine)
  • Obtain a heat gun
  • Obtain a metal or glass bowl in the shape that you want your boss to be.
  • Cut two pieces of 4# to be just slightly larger than the bowl (just a bit; too much will ruin it). These circles should be the same size.
  • Put on some leather gloves or something equally heat resistant.
  • Heat the bowl a bit.
  • Heat the first piece of foam a bit on both sides, and begin pressing it into the bowl, heating it as you go to get it to mold.
  • Once it is done and cool, remove the first piece, and repeat the process with the second piece.
  • Once molded and cool, DAP both molded pieces together. Once the glue has cured, heat the bowl and both sides of the glued together boss, and mold it as much as you can.
  • Once finished with molding, trim the edges flat, and glue your boss onto the face of your shield.
  • To cover, make a regular shield cover, cut a hole where your boss will go, and sew in a piece of cloth to fit your boss (kind of like finishing the neck of a tunic, except you're covering the middle).

That's one method of doing it. You can also glue a bunch of foam into a stack, and then trim it to the shape you want and hollow it out (if you want it hollow).

Hope that helps.
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Re: Viking Shield Boss

Postby GreyWolfSif » Mon Dec 08, 2014 4:03 pm

That sounds like it would work. We considered making it out of foam, but thought it would break down too fast. We hadn't considered using #4foam though.. That might make it more sturdy.

Thanks for the advice.
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Re: Viking Shield Boss

Postby Tordek » Thu Dec 11, 2014 5:31 pm

I made a plastidip viking punch with a hollow boss. I ended up using a plastic salad bowl from target and covering it in foam. Initially the shield had a fabric cover that I just spray adhesived on, before I PDed the entire shield.

What I can recommend about the salad bowl method is this, drill holes in the salad bowl and run paracord/zip ties through the holes and then around the back of the handle, sandwiching whatever your core is (be it plywood or all foam) between the two pieces, this will keep it from coming off. Also, if you are building on a core, attach the foam to the bowl, then the bowl to the core before gluing on the shield face foam. Then one at a time add the face layers, measuring the hole to just around over the bowl at that height. This will ensure the boss does not move without the rest of the shield.

Anyway, best of luck with it!
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