06-12-2005, 11:06 PM
Yes, I made it with the porpax and antilabe arrangement...actually, while I am at it...
I started out using two wicker doormats which I lashed together using twine and made a large rectangle about 37 inches wide. Then, using a cardboard cutout, I traced the outline of a pelta onto the wicker and cut away the non-pelta parts with a pair of pruning snips. I left the borders of the two doormats intact though so I could lash them back onto the pelta shaped mat. At this point the pelta was a bit...floppy...so I took four strips of wood 1 inch wide and 1/8 of inch think and placed two horizontal and two vertical but angling in slightly and lashed those to the wicker. This stiffened up the pelta quite nicely.
Then I cut out two pelta shaped pieces of leather (if I had unlimited funds or if I was really thinking I would have to defend myself with this shield I would have woven some extra material into the doormats to tighten up the weave and used four layers of leather - 3 front and 1 back) and glued the back layer onto the wooden frame. I stitched the porpax and antilabe to both the leather cover and the wicker behind it. I also arranged things so the stitching runs to either side of the horizontal pieces of the frame. In other words the porpax and the antilabe are stitched to the shield with four sets of stitching - two at the top and two at the bottom.
Then I stitched on a shoulder strap running from one of the "horns" down to just beneath and to one side of the porpax. Pictures of Thracians with a pelta slung over their shoulders seemed to imply this...but you may be able to do the same thing by making the antilabe very long. I chose not to do that because I did not think I would be able to maintain a secure grip on the shield.
After stitching the various straps on to the shield I stitched the front cover onto the back cover and painted it. There was a sort of intermediate stage when I used "Thracian binder clips" to hold the front cover to the back cover which I am sure my comrades in the 20th Legion would be happy to comment on... :roll:
Cheers,
Dan
I started out using two wicker doormats which I lashed together using twine and made a large rectangle about 37 inches wide. Then, using a cardboard cutout, I traced the outline of a pelta onto the wicker and cut away the non-pelta parts with a pair of pruning snips. I left the borders of the two doormats intact though so I could lash them back onto the pelta shaped mat. At this point the pelta was a bit...floppy...so I took four strips of wood 1 inch wide and 1/8 of inch think and placed two horizontal and two vertical but angling in slightly and lashed those to the wicker. This stiffened up the pelta quite nicely.
Then I cut out two pelta shaped pieces of leather (if I had unlimited funds or if I was really thinking I would have to defend myself with this shield I would have woven some extra material into the doormats to tighten up the weave and used four layers of leather - 3 front and 1 back) and glued the back layer onto the wooden frame. I stitched the porpax and antilabe to both the leather cover and the wicker behind it. I also arranged things so the stitching runs to either side of the horizontal pieces of the frame. In other words the porpax and the antilabe are stitched to the shield with four sets of stitching - two at the top and two at the bottom.
Then I stitched on a shoulder strap running from one of the "horns" down to just beneath and to one side of the porpax. Pictures of Thracians with a pelta slung over their shoulders seemed to imply this...but you may be able to do the same thing by making the antilabe very long. I chose not to do that because I did not think I would be able to maintain a secure grip on the shield.
After stitching the various straps on to the shield I stitched the front cover onto the back cover and painted it. There was a sort of intermediate stage when I used "Thracian binder clips" to hold the front cover to the back cover which I am sure my comrades in the 20th Legion would be happy to comment on... :roll:
Cheers,
Dan
Dan Zeidler
Legio XX
Legio XX
