NipahDUBS

Warrior of Light Paladin - Shield Tutorial

Added 2021-05-27 15:53:14 +0000 UTC

Warrior of Light

Paladin Shield Tutorial

Materials and Tools

Insulation foam
Worblas Black art thermoplastic
Heat wand
Heat gun
Craft foam (2mm/5mm)
Rustoleum Spray Paint (Dark Steel)
Rub N Buff (Silver and Gold Leaf)
Black acrylic paint
Painters tape
Pleather belt straps (optional)
Sponge brushes

I began the shield by sketching out the design onto insulation foam with a marker, it took me a couple times to get the right dimensions for what I wanted but I ended up with this.

Once I was satisfied with the general shape of the shield it was time to cut it out, to do so I used a heat wand and slowly carved my way through the foam.

With it cut out it was now time to sand and bevel the shield, you need to do this because the heat wand leaves a jagged rough edge when you cut out the insulation foam, keep sanding till its at a decent smoothness, does not need to be perfect since we will be covering it in worbla.

Once sanded I begin adding the raised details of the shield using 2mm craft foam strips and gluing them to the insulation foam using contact cement. Do not use super glue or any glue that heats up on this, it will melt through and eat away at the foam.

I continue adding more strips of foam to make the raised edges and also cut out these small emblems found along the middle of the shield!

Now time to get the worbla! Lay it atop the shield and begin heat forming it down across it, go slowly and make sure you take your time to make sure there are no wrinkles or bubbles, if air pockets happens just press down on them till the worbla cools down.

To make sure I capture all the raised detailing a go in with the end of a paintbrush and press the worbla down, you want to push it down and get as much of that detail through as possible.

For the crossed/diamond borders I take some worbla scraps and begin heating and rolling them into small thin lines and carefully I begin placing them down in a zig zag formation.

This does take a bit so keep rolling and placing them across!

There are these pieces atop the shield that look like a bird and shield, for them I took some 5mm thick foam for the base of the bird and used 2mm foam for the wings. I beveled out the edges slightly on the birds base and used my heat wand to scorch the details of the wings.

For the shield I took 2 mm foam and free handed the pattern for it. I try working in layers for this to get it as much dimension as possible for the final product!

For the vine I took a rolled up piece of worbla and curved it into shape and for the leaves I cut out oval shapes out of the worba and lightly heated them and began pressing and putting them around the length of the vine whereI saw fit! Use your fingers to help mold and shape the leaves so they have more of a dynamic flow to them then just being flat.

After that I covered all the pieces in worbla the same way I did the shield.

Worbla easily sticks to itself when heated so the way I attached the pieces was just heating the top pieces and the base of the shield they would be and and pressed them down and held them til the worbla was cooled.

Last addition I did was add the googly eyes on the side! They’re perfect for rivets and I love how they look (They also make a fun sound when you shake the prop haha). I adhered them using super glue, super glue heats up when pressed against something and due to worbla getting sticky when heated it helped overall with the adhesion doing it this way! For some extra detailing I went in with my heart wand and etched in some lines around the shield to define it a bit.

Using a sponge brush I went and coated the shield in two layers of mod podge, this helps get rid of the grainy texture worbla has and overall just gives a smoother look. I use a sponge brush because it does not leave brush stroke marks when dried and it doesn't break apart so easily like how bristles do when painting.

Time to paint, grab your choice of silver spray paint (I use Rustoleum in Dark Steel) and spray down a nice even coat.

When detail painting for something like this that is supposed to be old and weathered I used multiple techniques from drybrushing, putting put all over it and taking it away with a paper towel and use a sponge to create various texture on it to give it a worn look! Mess with this till you get the desired look you want for your prop!

When smudging a paint down a line of paint where I want the shadow and then go in with my fingers and just smudge it out and blur it till it gives the shadowy effect I want

With shadows added I then go back and add in some highlights by using Rub N Buff (Silver Leaf) and paint the highlights back in.

Using Rub N Buff in gold I go in and finish up painting the parts that are accented gold and then do the same as I did before and create shadows using black acrylic paint and smudging it as I go. And with that the shields done, all that's left is to add on the straps on the back so you can wield it! I also added on some 3D printed pieces to make the straps a little fancier.