Basic-Armouring-4of4.pdf

Chapter 15 — Shields

Shields are generally made from 12 mm (1/2 inch) plywood (marine ply is best).

Less authentic, but longer lasting, shields can be constructed from Dural , aircraft

grade aluminium. Small bucklers can also be fabricated from steel. Shield size

is very much a case of personal choice. Some brave souls do incredible things

with tiny bucklers, others provide sterling service in the shield wall with things

that look like barn doors—the rest of us have something in between! Experiment

until you ind a size and shape you like.

Hand and Arm Protection

If you have a nice BIG shield no blow can get behind it,

right? Sorry—wrong—axe and halberd heads come inside shields,

people can hook your shield open exposing your hand and arm,

and crafty people will always ind ways of getting in shots behind

it! Whilst not as vulnerable as a weapon holding arm the shield

arm still needs protecting, in particular the ingers, hand and

elbow.

Facings, Shield Edging and Padding

The simplest facing you can give a shield is none at all—yes wood

is period! A nice effect for Viking shields, and the like, is to

carve a few small groves to give fake planking. Protecting a shield

against the elements is, however, a good idea and even a ‘wood

effect’ shield can beneit from a coat of matt varnish. Once the

strap and grip itting holes have been drilled the face of the shield

can have a layer of cloth glued to it, which both protects it from

blows and gives a good surface for painting. For heraldry and the

like you need a layer of undercoat (you need a special non-ferrous

metals one for Dural) followed by a topcoat of household enamels

or similar paint.

Shield edges can be protected, either to stop them being chewed

up when struck or, when non-steel weapons are being employed,

to pad the shield to stop it destroying weapons! Edging a shield

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also makes it safer to use as a jagged, splintering edge is a hazard to both you and

your opponent.

The most epic thing you can do to the edge your shield is to cover it with

20-gauge steel. Simply cut a strip as shown, fold it around the edge and rivet it

on—of course this won’t actually make it last forever but it may seem that way

after you’ve lugged it around for a bit! A lighter, more practical edging can be

made with rawhide leather. This can be purchased in convenient strips as dog

chews; but I suggest you avoid the lavoured ones! Simply soak in water until

soft, cut to size then tack on and allow to dry. A coating of

paint stops them going soft again after ighting in the rain,

any time during the British summer.

There are several ways to pad a shield edge but irst edge it,

even if it’s Dural, with rawhide—this stops a wooden shield

disintegrating and the hard edge of a Dural one cutting

straight through the padding. You now need to add some-

thing resilient over this edges don’t need to be soft for most

combat forms, they just have to have enough give to make

weapons last more than one blow. Sticking a layer of felt on

works as does split rubber tubing, water hose, thick leather and the like. Finally

you need to hold everything in place. Felt or soft tubing will need something

tough such as a layer of leather over it, thick tubing (unless it’s a really horren-

dous colour) or leather can simply be laced in place.

Round, Heater and Kite Shields

Flat, round shields are very easy to make; buy a

piece of plywood, mark out a circle then cut it out

(a jig saw speeds things up).

Heaters and kites can be made either lat or

curved. If you can’t work out how to do a lat

one then you haven’t been paying attention! For a

curved one buy two (or more) pieces of ply whose

combined thickness come to about 12 mm (three

layers of 4 mm works well) and some waterproof,

slow setting, wood glue (e.g. Cascemite). Glue the

pieces together then either curve the wood over

a former or simply pull it to shape with rope. Ply

tends to bend better in one direction than the

other so assemble the pieces to curve the easy way!

Allow to dry then cut to inal shape.

Centre Grip Shields

These require a boss to protect the hand and a gauntlet to protect the wrist. If

you are feeling lazy go and buy a spun boss at a re-enactors market! Failing that

dish one out or, for a really deep one, build it up like a mini domed top helm.

Viking rounds are large wooden centre boss shields; wooden bucklers are simply

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a mini version! To fabricate cut the wooden round then cut out a hole in the

centre to it your hand. Rivet the boss, over the centre hole, using two of the

rivets to hold the handgrip in place. An alternative way to make a buckler is from

a thick piece of steel (14 gauge or so). Dish the centre, roll the edges then add

a handgrip. The shape of the handgrip will depend on the depth of your boss,

the size of your hand and how you like to use your shield. I make mine from

bar stock with a wooden covering for the hand; other people prefer a wrapped

leather covering.

Shield Fittings

It should be emphasised that shields are very personal items. How a shield is

hung will depend on the length of your arm, your preferred hand/wrist angle

and to a large extent how you use your shield. The most important point is that

your shield should feel comfortable in the normal guard position. If it’s putting

a strain on your arm/wrist at this rest position then it is going to cause a lot of

discomfort at the end of the day; anyway you are supposed to be ighting your

opponent not your shield! Additionally remember to keep the elbow free; straps

that cut into the elbow are very annoying! Unfortunately inding the ideal posi-

tion is largely a matter of trial and error keep experimenting until you ind that

perfect shield.

Handgrips

For a simple handgrip take a large door handle,

raise it to a comfortable height above the back of

the shield (with wooden spacers) and then bolt it

in place.

Cutting the required shape from a piece of thick,

stiff leather can make a lexible grip.

You can make a solid grip from a piece of around

2 cm (3/4 inch) wide strip of 14 gauge or heavier

bar stock. The approximate size is shown below,

however as your hand in unlikely to be the same

size as mine make a cardboard template irst then

adjust the size to it before cutting the metal up.

Remember to allow room for your glove or gaunt-

let.

1. Cut out the metal strip, drill two holes to take your bolts then bend

into the shape shown.

2. Glue a piece of wood to either side of the metal then cover these with

leather to ensure a comfortable, non-slip grip.

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Arm Straps

The most basic form of arm strap is made by bolting on two crossed

straps of 4 cm (1.5 inch) wide leather to the shield. Another simple

grip is a single piece of leather, shaped to your forearm, attached to

the back of the shield. If you are using such unadjustable fastenings

then you will need some way of holding the shield on your arm. To

this end you can either use thick, spongy padding behind the straps

or else hang them as shown to right thereby using the weight of the

shield to hold it in place.

Personally, I much prefer adjustable straps, if only because they are

so much easier to put on and take off! They also allow for changes in

padding, arm armour and the huge increase in your forearm muscles

as you diligently practice for several hours every day! Several attach-

ment methods are shown in igure 15-1—take your pick.

Padding

Shields tend to get thumped pretty hard so unless you have some padding,

between it and you, you are going to end up with a sore arm! This padding

should extend from just behind your elbow to either your wrist or hand depend-

ing on the type of gauntlet you plan to use. Felt or close cell foam covered in

cloth or leather will make a perfectly adequate pad.

Hanging

The inal stage is to attach all the bits to the shield. Coach bolts are good for

this, as they don’t protrude at the front. Alternatively you could rivet everything

on, the major disadvantage with this being that it is then dificult to transfer the

ittings to another shield when the wood on the original gives way. Remember

to cut off any protruding length of bolt lush with the nut—you don’t want to

impale yourself on your shield now do you? It is also important that your hand

and elbow aren’t too close to the shield edge as axe and halberd heads can strike

over it. Even then blows can still come inside a shield (especially if it’s hooked

by a pole arm) so don’t throw away your hand protection and shield arm elbow

cop.

For a round shield lay your arm along the diameter with your

elbow at least 5 cm from the edge. Next, with the padding under

your arm and holding onto your handgrip, move your wrist

about until it feels right. Mark the positions for the bolts through

the holes in the grip. Then lay your straps over your arm and

mark their bolthole positions as well. Temporally rough tack

or screw everything in place, put the shield on rotate it a few

times and carefully try a few blocks.

Adjust the grip and strap positions

until the shield feels comfortable,

does not twist around the arm and does not put too

much strain on the wrist. After adjusting glue the

padding in and bolt everything else in place.

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To hang a heater you irst need to ind how it balances. Hold the shield, and

a plumb line (bit of string with a weight on the end), on the corner nearest to

where your hand will go. Allow the shield to hang naturally (as shown below)

then mark the position of the plumb line onto the back

of the shield. Using this line is a irst estimate of where

your arm will go roughly attach the grip and straps (tacks

work quite well) to the back of the shield. You will want

your hand to be at least 8 cm from the edge (thereby

avoiding axe heads etc.) and your wrist at a natural

angle. Next carefully move the shield up and down a few

times adjusting the placement of the ittings until they

feel comfortable; don’t do anything too dramatic or the

shield is liable to fall off onto your foot! Once they are

positioned to your satisfaction bolt them in place and

glue in the padding.

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