[Gregory J. Liebau]

I'm at a point in this project where I need some motivation, so I've decided to share some progress. This is a heater shield inspired particularly by a late 13th century funerary shield from Germany. The piece shown below, in fact. The page is from Jan Kohlmorgen's Der Mittelalterliche Reiterschild.

http://io.ua/13464677p

And here's mine thus far. Details to come upon completion, sooner than later, I hope... Cheers!

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8471/8111566700_fefbe45b9a_h.jpg

-Gregory

[Tim Lison]

That looks GREAT! How will this get finished? Covered with parchment and painted?

[Gregory J. Liebau]

Hey Tim. The details on the original's construction are long-winded, but you have the general idea. Mine is actually a budget project that I'm using to get my own operation off the ground, an exemplary piece, if you will. It will also be for my own personal use with a matching harness...

Well, now I might as well describe where it's headed as of right now.

The blank is two layers of 1/4" birch plywood glued together, and the front is covered in 3-4 oz. veg tanned leather and secured in the back with hand crafted iron nails. The back is covered in rough canvas. The eagle is made from the same leather as the covering. Because I can't bare to chance covering the detail work or the brass plated escutcheon pins the eagle will not be painted white as I originally planned. Instead it will be dyed red, and the background will be black.

The back side will have the pater noster prayer written around its circumference in Medieval Latin. Gold lettering with red borders. The strap work, central pad and buckles will all be just as fancy to match, hopefully.

Thanks for the compliment!

-Gregory