Hi everyone,

So I'm cosplaying Captain America for Amecon this year, and I want to make the shield.
Now I haven't really attempted a prop like this before so I'm a bit lost.

I was wondering if anyone could suggest a few methods I could try, what sort of materials people would recommend as I'm interested in giving it a good go.

I would cut a couple large circles from cardboard packaging, bend them into dish shapes then glue together with PVA. That will hold the basic shape. Then I would coat it all with newspaper strips stuck on with more pva, a few layers, to give it more rigdity. Add a handle on, maybe coat hanger wire covered in newspaper and pva. Then to get a smooth finish all over I would mix some pollyfiller type DIY filler with pva and water to a thick paste and spread it on smoothly, sand it down when dried. Finally paint.

I've never done a shield before but I'd use an EVA foam tile as they are 60cm x 60cm and usually 1cm thick but you can get 2cm thick ones as well. You can then use a paint stripper/heat gun to warm up the foam and bend it over a shape, the benefit of this is that when it cools it will stay in that shape. The best way is if you've got something the right shape but if not you can bend it over something e.g. your knee (cover it with a cloth or something as it gets hot) just heat and bend, rinse and repeat until you've got it the right shape.

You then just need to fix a strap and a handle. EVA foam can be coated in a few layers of PVA to seal it and then can be painted with acrylic paint or spray paint. I found hot glue gun glue works great on them as well (before painting) as it melts the foam a bit and makes a pretty permanent join.

another method is like a standard larp sheild... plastazote ld45 foam 12mm, latex and paint, and isoflex to seal the latex and waterproof it. not 100 percent on the handle... some people have a cardboard or plastic or something like that for the basic shape and handle and then that's wrapped in suede... google how to make a larp sheild

Thanks guys! This has really helped.
Sounds like either EVA foam or Plastazote is the way to go!

jenova36: Do you know a good place to get hold of the 12mm plastazote? and when you say latex am I right in assuming you use liquid latex as a covering? (sorry if this is either really dense or completely wrong, unknown territory for me!)

For UK supply your best bets are

Flints:
http://www.flints.co.uk/acatalog/Plastazote.html

Coscraft:
http://www.coscraft.co.uk/en/3-plastics-and-foam

I notice coscraft don't have 12mm listed at the moment, but contact them and Pez can usually order in whatever you need.

Coscraft appear to be stopping doing foam now so you might have trouble getting it from them but probably still worth asking anyway.