Boeotian/Dipylon Shield

[Chris B]

Thanks. When I first made my Aspis, I had delusions of grandeur and started down the road convincing myself I could dish bronze or brass to cover my aspis. I started buying material and started small with making the porpax. After my experience with the Roman Brass Rim and the Porpax working for hours and no closer to perfection, I humbly admitted defeat and accepted that metal work is not one of my God given talents, so I covered the Aspis in a thick linen and painted it. It turned out great. I felt a little bad until I started really paying attention to the reenactor sites and to the shields. I then noticed that MOST are not covered in ANY kind of metal and it made me feel a little better. Out of all my shields (Templar, Kite, Viking Round, Scottish Targe, Aspis, Boeotian, Roman Scutums in various paint jobs, Family Coat of Arms, Heaters, Etc.), if I ever have a couple thousand saved in the future, the Aspis is the only shield that I would intend to commission to be made by anyone other than me to add to my collection. I want to commission someone to make it RIGHT with the wooden core, thin bronze outer, leather inner, fittings, and the traditional Lambda Spartan design so that the paint doesn't cover the bronze. Like I said though, that is probably a decade off for me. I would like to complete my Roman set this year, Greek Panalopy next year, then my Templar, then my Viking, and last my Samurai. THEN, I will probably save for an even more authentic Aspis as mentioned above. Anyways, enough rambling. The Boeotian is cut out and ready to be glued together. I will finish the gluing by Friday and start the sand job. I think I am going with the Black shield with White Scorpions circling a inner solid white disk. I will paint the outer rim in the spiral design and the inner with something else. I like the wave, but someone here is already using it and I don't want to steal any of the thunder on his shield or duplicate any of the other members' efforts.