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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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 Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 2:10 pm Post subject: My new viking shield |
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I've just finished my first attempt at a Viking shield, which, while not exactly historically correct, I'm rather pleased with. It's made from a 2 foot square piece of plywood, rimmed with rawhide, and features one of the medium shield bosses from Kult of Athena, held in place with the authentic viking screws they sell at Home Depot. the handle is about the toughest piece of oak I've ever come across, and the boss is lined with felt. I haven't weighed it, but I'd guess at about 7-8 pounds.
Thanks for looking 
Tim
EDIT: Sorry didn't attach
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Attachment: 58.29 KB
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J.D. Crawford
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| Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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Tim, the shield looks great. Now all you need is a viking-style sword to go with it!
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Kelly Powell
Location: lawrence, kansas Joined: 27 Feb 2008
Posts: 123
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| Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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Did you put the rawhide on wet and allowed it to shrink?Are you using this for sca combat?
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Jared Smith
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| Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 2:52 pm Post subject: |
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I think it looks pretty good. I hope you do not mind if I ask some questions.
Is there any curvature in the shield? I am not sure if there should be from a historical perspective, but am curious about these things.
Now that you have been through it once, do you have any particular pointers on how you painted the (really nicely done) design? (Pattern, paint type, wood filler, overcoat for protection, etc.?)
Could the leather wrapping have been soaked in water, so as to dry harder and tougher, prior to affixing it to the perimeter? (This would seem like an easy enough thing to do if you can get a moderately heavy weight vegetable tanned leather. I don't know if raw hide behaves that way. I don't know if this was done historically, but would guess seafaring warriors in low walled boats would have ended up with water soaked leather one way or another.)
Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence!
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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for the replies, and I know about the sword, I'm looking at the Windlass Sticklestad, as it's in my price range, but a Rob Miller or Arms and Armor custom would really complement it nicely, don't you think? I stuck the Sword of Auray in for fun, and it's closer in period to my St. Michael Falchion, so I guess that'll be my justification .
| Jared Smith wrote: |
Is there any curvature in the shield? I am not sure if there should be from a historical perspective, but am curious about these things.) |
No, I didn't curve the shield, it seemed a bit too much for the first one, but I have an extra boss, so maybe a curved kite is next
| Jared Smith wrote: |
Now that you have been through it once, do you have any particular pointers on how you painted the (really nicely done) design? (Pattern, paint type, wood filler, overcoat for protection, etc.?) |
Painting is time consuming but actually pretty easy. I divided the shield into six sections, then too a pencil on a string in the center of each of the radii and made the curve from the edge of the boss. The design I drew up and traced it to wax paper, then covered with tape and cut it out (to be more sturdy), and stenciled it onto the shield. This was a lot of work and I still had a lot of touching up to do, though fortunately the paint wiped off relatively easily with a wooden skewer. Next time I might just draw the design straight onto the primer. Oh, and there is a coat of primer, about 2 1/2 coats of the white paint and just one of the blue with touch ups
| Jared Smith wrote: |
Could the leather wrapping have been soaked in water, so as to dry harder and tougher, prior to affixing it to the perimeter? (This would seem like an easy enough thing to do if you can get a moderately heavy weight vegetable tanned leather. I don't know if raw hide behaves that way. I don't know if this was done historically, but would guess seafaring warriors in low walled boats would have ended up with water soaked leather one way or another. |
To answer both of your questions, yes, the rawhide was soaked in water overnight then rung out and nailed on using upholstery nails, which I actually think look pretty good and is a breeze, probably the easiest part of the entire project. the rawhide dries extremely hard, it's kind of medieval concrete, I wouldn't want to try to chop through it with my Sword of Auray
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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Kelly Powell wrote: | | Did you put the rawhide on wet and allowed it to shrink?Are you using this for sca combat? |
Oh, and no, not a member of SCA, this'll probably just hang on the wall
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Russ Ellis
Industry Professional
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| Posted: Fri 14 Mar, 2008 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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A nice first attempt Tim. I've been toying with the idea of giving this a swing myself eventually, I've been buying books and things to that end lately...
TRITONWORKS Custom Scabbards
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Tim Lison
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| Posted: Sat 15 Mar, 2008 12:11 am Post subject: |
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Looks good....It will look much better with the Viking sword on it! I like the painting very much. Well done!
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M. Eversberg II
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| Posted: Sat 15 Mar, 2008 1:28 am Post subject: |
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Very nice, even if it is very small. Hope to eventually make myself one!
M.
This space for rent or lease.
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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Sat 15 Mar, 2008 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| M. Eversberg II wrote: | Very nice, even if it is very small. Hope to eventually make myself one!
M. |
Yeah, I had chosen the 2'x2' to just see if a circle could be cut with a Sawzall, and I liked how it turned out so I figured I might as well finish it up how that the hard part was done (or what I thought was the hard part).
I've definitely decided though that the next one will be a kite, which be considerably larger
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Kelly Powell
Location: lawrence, kansas Joined: 27 Feb 2008
Posts: 123
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| Posted: Sat 15 Mar, 2008 7:57 am Post subject: |
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Have you ever thought about a oval/celtic oval(either a small squat oval around 24 x20....or more of a rounded rectangle with a little bit of belly on top and bottom)?....They decorate up real purdy. 
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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Sat 15 Mar, 2008 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| Kelly Powell wrote: | | Have you ever thought about a oval/celtic oval(either a small squat oval around 24 x20....or more of a rounded rectangle with a little bit of belly on top and bottom)?....They decorate up real purdy. |
Hmmm, that does certainly sound like it has possibilities... *sigh* so many shields, so little time.
The spirals and such though could really look nice, definitely would go with some sort of green... congrats Kelly, the seed has been planted, and there goes my life (well, or at least my free time)
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Luka Tic
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| Posted: Mon 17 Mar, 2008 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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I love the paint job.
What kind of a grip did you use?
Luka
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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Mon 17 Mar, 2008 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Luka Tic wrote: | I love the paint job.
What kind of a grip did you use?
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Thanks
The grip is just a piece of oak I found in Home Depot's scrap wood pile, rounded on one side and flat on the other that I sanded/carved down so it feels nice in hand, wish I had a decent pic, but none came out and I'm back at school now
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Brent Thacker
Location: Dayton, Ohio Joined: 13 Jun 2008
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Fri 13 Jun, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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where did you find the boss exactly? this looks like an interesting project:)
Only in death does duty end.
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Tim May
Location: Annapolis, MD Joined: 12 Nov 2006
Posts: 109
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| Posted: Sun 15 Jun, 2008 9:38 am Post subject: |
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Hi, Brent,
You can get them from a variety of places, such as viking-shield.com for the more authentic ones hammered instead of spun. I got mine at Kult of Athena, as they are much more affordable, I think that one cost 17.99 plus S&H, I just finished another that I'll post pics of as soon as my computer is fixed, and I definitely encourage you to make one, it's not particularly difficult and way cheaper than buying one. Good Luck!
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Jonathan Eells
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| Posted: Tue 17 Jun, 2008 10:16 am Post subject: Bloody Well Done! |
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That is a first class job you've done. Out-bloody-standing!
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James Barker
Location: Ashburn VA Joined: 20 Apr 2005
Posts: 365
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| Posted: Tue 17 Jun, 2008 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Jared Smith wrote: | | Is there any curvature in the shield? I am not sure if there should be from a historical perspective, but am curious about these things. |
From the historical perspective I have not heard of any find with a curve in a sheild of this kind.
James Barker
Historic Life http://www.historiclife.com/index.html
Archer in La Belle Compagnie http://www.labelle.org/
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Bjorn Hagstrom
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| Posted: Tue 17 Jun, 2008 1:18 pm Post subject: |
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Looks good, but from my experience, you could have done it using half the nails you have used.
Another tip (if you intend to actually use the shield) is to glue to the outside surface a layer of linen, this will serve the dual purpose of making the shield less inclined to splinter, hide the fact that you have used plywood and provide a nice surface that will take paint really well.
There is nothing quite as sad as a one man conga-line...
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J.D. Crawford
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| Posted: Tue 17 Jun, 2008 2:29 pm Post subject: |
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| James Barker wrote: | | Jared Smith wrote: | | Is there any curvature in the shield? I am not sure if there should be from a historical perspective, but am curious about these things. |
From the historical perspective I have not heard of any find with a curve in a sheild of this kind. |
If I remember correctly, the TV series 'Weapons that made Britain' did an episode on shields that included a segment on a modern day maker of Anglo-Saxon shields similar to this viking example (sorry, I forget his name). He made them very thin and light to be maneuverable and reduce fatigue. He also put sort of a shallow conical shape to the shield, and they found through tests that this was far more resistive to splitting in the face of airborne weapons than a flat shield of the same thickness and weight. They talked about this conical shape as though it were the secret key to shields of this era.
(I'm not saying this is historical, just repeating what I remember from the show...and my memory may be faulty at that).
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