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Edoras Kingsguard Shield

Hi there !

I made this prop for a cool shop next to where I live in Valence (FR), it's called "Lignarius", the idea was to bring more Lord of the Rings vibes on site, so I crafted them one Rohan and one Gondor shields :)

I made it mostly out of EVA foam. I placed a cardboard in the middle (think of it as a sandwich), to reinforce the EVA shape. Then carved out details with a dremel. The wood planks part was easy to sculpt, but the leather side was quite trickier as I has to get more random worn damages, for that I used various metal-sanding heads and fiberglass polish to get subtle surface smoothing variations.
Then I painted the prop as I would paint in photoshop : mix colors, try things, use various paint tools (old worn brushes, pieces of clothes, and vary the amount of acrylics I dropped on every strokes)
As always I added a dirt pass to unify the pieces and get a more believable prop, with a few drops of water to smudge blacks/dark paints on a few points, follow wood fibers...etc. For the gold I used 3 layers of cospaints (1st=espresso gold, 2nd=gallant gold, latest=14k gold , which respectively tinted out as brown, pink, and yellow golds. I believe having breaks even there helps selling the result)
I then used leather for the grab and back straps, it's all worned using sandpaper and a leather carving tool to get nice damage cuts :)

It all started with a cardboard. I smashed borders to facilitate the welding with back & front EVA parts and reduce the ugly slope I had on the Gondorian Shield

It all started with a cardboard. I smashed borders to facilitate the welding with back & front EVA parts and reduce the ugly slope I had on the Gondorian Shield

Traces of future woodenplanks. Uneven on purpose, this makes the props less boring and fun to explore on the sculpt part ;)

Traces of future woodenplanks. Uneven on purpose, this makes the props less boring and fun to explore on the sculpt part ;)

I checked back the ref at this point haha, seeing that there's no wood on the front, but leather. I didn't want to wrap a green leather piece as I thought I could try faking the surface by sculpting EVA and doing a cool paint job :)

I checked back the ref at this point haha, seeing that there's no wood on the front, but leather. I didn't want to wrap a green leather piece as I thought I could try faking the surface by sculpting EVA and doing a cool paint job :)

I made this pattern with a good old compass, just to make sure it follows the design perfectly

I made this pattern with a good old compass, just to make sure it follows the design perfectly

Once placed, I quickly airbrushed them to get a perfect stencil for later paint/glue and placement

Once placed, I quickly airbrushed them to get a perfect stencil for later paint/glue and placement

the stew spoon helped molding the dome

the stew spoon helped molding the dome

White marks helped me seeing where to carve out EVA

White marks helped me seeing where to carve out EVA

I use wood drills to pierce the shield in order to attach big bolts

I use wood drills to pierce the shield in order to attach big bolts

each step was so satisfying to see !

each step was so satisfying to see !

There I wanted to sculpt a fake old, worned leather surface

There I wanted to sculpt a fake old, worned leather surface

Smoothness varies thanks to a fiberglass polish :)

Smoothness varies thanks to a fiberglass polish :)

Added some cuts as i would do in ZBrush. Not too many, else it will really look fake (really the same rules we had in 3D sculpting ^^)

Added some cuts as i would do in ZBrush. Not too many, else it will really look fake (really the same rules we had in 3D sculpting ^^)

Metal parts once carved :)

Metal parts once carved :)

Starting to see the end result ; that's the first layer of painting (espresso gold, more like bronze result tbh, cospaint colors aren't really coherent between their packaging colo charts and what you effectively get, be sure to test them first ^^)

Starting to see the end result ; that's the first layer of painting (espresso gold, more like bronze result tbh, cospaint colors aren't really coherent between their packaging colo charts and what you effectively get, be sure to test them first ^^)

That piece wasn't obvious to craft, it took me some time to figure out the bas-relief in the ref I coud get out of the internet. And it's a small one where dremel starts being a little too bold (need to find another tool, more precise)

That piece wasn't obvious to craft, it took me some time to figure out the bas-relief in the ref I coud get out of the internet. And it's a small one where dremel starts being a little too bold (need to find another tool, more precise)

leather on the handle, I folded every border so it looks (and feels) very soft and comfortable to handle

leather on the handle, I folded every border so it looks (and feels) very soft and comfortable to handle

With finished gold layers :) This looks more intricating, more vibrant

With finished gold layers :) This looks more intricating, more vibrant

First paint of the green leather :) I really felt like texturing in 3DCoat but in real life. It's so satisfying !

First paint of the green leather :) I really felt like texturing in 3DCoat but in real life. It's so satisfying !

The leather backstrap, slightly worned

The leather backstrap, slightly worned

I bought a cool "viking" buccle that fits to the Rohirrim essence :)

I bought a cool "viking" buccle that fits to the Rohirrim essence :)

With gold pieces ! Looks like we're on the good way ;)

With gold pieces ! Looks like we're on the good way ;)

Back part, the wooden planks, I painted them with "clear" colors, so I could play with more contrast later with the dirt pass

Back part, the wooden planks, I painted them with "clear" colors, so I could play with more contrast later with the dirt pass

Here is the end result of the front part with that dirt pass ! It always brings more life to your props : so destroy them, it's really good !

Here is the end result of the front part with that dirt pass ! It always brings more life to your props : so destroy them, it's really good !

I went back with gold and green touches on various points, this helps blending all together, dirt goes into caveats, but colors have more chances to stay clean on convex/flat parts, that last finish helps getting that :)

I went back with gold and green touches on various points, this helps blending all together, dirt goes into caveats, but colors have more chances to stay clean on convex/flat parts, that last finish helps getting that :)

And then the back part, with black/dark brown and reds, placed sometimes differently from a plank to its neighbor, or uniformly, helps bringing always more volume to the prop :)

And then the back part, with black/dark brown and reds, placed sometimes differently from a plank to its neighbor, or uniformly, helps bringing always more volume to the prop :)

Last but not least, I worned leather using a carving tool to make bas-reliefs basically, it's a really cool "low-depth"-knife (so you can't accidentally ruin your work)

Last but not least, I worned leather using a carving tool to make bas-reliefs basically, it's a really cool "low-depth"-knife (so you can't accidentally ruin your work)

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