Blade marks on shields.

[BESPJL]

Hi,

I coming to you because I'm panting some shields worn down, and something is missing in the marks I've been doing.

Can you please share your techniques for making blade/axe marks on a shield (for example red, black, white backgrounds) and metal (helmets).

Thanks.

Cheers,
Paulo

 

[mikec55]

Paulo--

I've never tried this technique & I'm not sure if this answers your question but I once read that you can buy some of the claylike stuff that sculptors use (I don't know the brand name), form a thin, flat piece over the top of the existing shield, creating a new shield front. Then use an exacto blade to make the cuts in the clay to give the shield that used look. You can even fold down a flap of the clay(exposing the front of the original shield) for an even more realistic look. Hope this helps.

Mike

 

[megroot]

Paulo,

I had the same questions about making marks on the shield of the figure Jean Le Bonne, that i'm doing now.
I took an Xacto blade and gently make carve's into the shield. For making the leather rolled down, gently pushed the knife downwords and just cutting (like you do an apple before eating them without the "skin") down. Its leaving a curl of the whitemetal. You can paint the inside just like wood, and the upperside of the curl like brownleather.
It works for me.
But be very carefull or you cannot paint for weeks
i hope that i explained good enough with my bad english.

marc

 

[KeithP]

Some good suggestions from Mike and Marc. I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to modifying figures so here is what I do.

You can simulate cuts on shields by painting a thin "cut" mark of the highest highlight of what ever base color you are applying the cut mark. Directly underneath that that high "cut" mark, you will then apply the darkest shadow color of the base. Hope that makes sense.
If the base color of the shield area is Red, then go ahead and apply a very highlighted Red and then a very dark shadow Red color underneath.
You can use the same idea on the metal for the armor too.

I have had some minor ( :lol: ) success using metallic pencils for applying scratches to plate armor.

Keith

 

[renarts]

Depending on the period, shields were plain wood or leather or fabric, hide glued over a wooden surface. Sometimes tourney shields had built up surfaces using gessso. While the little bit of rolled over leather or fabric can look good in some cases, it is often overdone or done wrong, in that there is more leather or fabric "rolled over" than would have come away from the cut surface.
In other instances the leather or fabric or wood (yes, I have seen wood protrayed as this) is puckered outward. And again...why when the cut should either split the surface or indent it rather than make it pucker outward?
The easiest method in my opinion is to just go ahead and make the scoring with a scoring tool or just a plain knife. If you want a larger mark, say from a heavier blade or axe, make the incision v-shape in depth to make it look wider. Then as Keith suggested, make your highlight and shadow lines along it to accentuate the incision. Small gouges or indentation can be done the same way.

Smaller shields like bucklers will have more damage on the edges and the center boss since they are more proactively used to parry and block sword blows.

Think of the weapon that is being defended against and it will give you a clue to the amount of damage that will be inflicted but also remember to keep in mind the scenario. For example, a knight in tournament using bastion clubs will not have sword marks on his shield because the bastion clubs are wood or leather and the idea is to count the number of blows struck or to beat your opponent into submission. Tournaments were social activities by the rich or well off and it was not only how well you fought or rode but how you looked, thus shields constructed for that day would not have the damage that say a shield used by a foot soldier on campaign might use. If the tournament is using rebated weapons "a plaisance" (for pleasure or sport) then the damage will be there but not to the extent inflicted by edged weapons for tourneys fought "a outrance" (for war, to kill the opponent).
Axes leave huge gouges on shields and maces make dents, unless they are bladed or vaned and then there are gouges or punctures from the triangular edges. Continuity is everything.

Mike

 

[Paul Kernan]

Paulo:

I portray damage to shields as follows.

Damage to the edge of a shield can be made by simply making small knicks and 'v' s with an Xacto knife. If the opening is small, simply paint the deepest part with a dark paint such as Sepia. The upper edges should be painted with the highlight tone of your chosen colour. For deeper/wider damaged areas, you will have to paint the exposed area to simulate wood and the upper/outer edges with the highlight tone of your shield colour.

Minor damage to the shield face can be easily simulated by scoring with an Xacto knife. Again, Sepia can be used to darken the scored line and a thin line of the highlight tone of the shield colour can be painted along the upper edge.

For heavy damage to the shield face, roll out a thin layer of A+B, Milliput, etc and apply to a section of the shield. Create a wood grain on it with a knife and let cure. Remember to leave the edge a little ragged (simulates torn fabric). Now apply a small, thin layer of your putty under the wood grain area. Work the edge to portray the torn fabric that would have covered the exposed wood.

Paint the wood grain. On the fabric around this area paint the areas with shadow and highlight colours accordingly.

I hope this all makes sense.

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by BESPJL+Jan 17 2006, 07:13 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (BESPJL @ Jan 17 2006, 07:13 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>Can you please share your techniques for making blade/axe marks on a shield (for example red, black, white backgrounds) and metal (helmets).[/b]

A couple of things to remember about most shields Paulo, they were made to be disposable if badly damaged and think of how the specific type you're interested was constructed to 'de-construct' it when showing damage.

One other factor you might like to consider is the way the heraldry/colouring was painted practically - on the leather surface there was very likely a priming applied (which would almost certainly have been white), then the lighter colours would be done, then the darker colours (for exactly the same practical reasons we might choose to paint in this order) so for damage to the paintwork just imagine going down through these layers.

Also worth bearing in mind is that for higher-class shields and for shields issued by armouries (e.g. pavises) they might have had a varnish applied to them to help protect them from moisture.

<!--QuoteBegin-renarts@Jan 18 2006, 01:18 AM
While the little bit of rolled over leather or fabric can look good in some cases, it is often overdone or done wrong, in that there is more leather or fabric "rolled over" than would have come away from the cut surface.[/quote]
Absolutely right. In addition to that they were glued down, and it would take quite a bit to loosen this bond in a functional shield.

Einion

 

[BESPJL]

Hi,

I would like to thank you for all the input.
I'm going to try the several approaches and see with which one I feel more at home.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Paulo

 

[Roy]

Hi Paulo..if you are reluctant to cut into the surface of the shield with a blade...it's fairly easy to simulate light damage with paint as the guys have mentioned above...
Here's a picture with some very simple light damage. It was basically painted with burnt green earth and the damage was added with naples yellow deep for the highlighted areas over the top of the damage and sepia for the feint cut marks. It's a lot of fun to do...give it a try..Looking forward to seeing your results...

All the best..Roy.