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Making an Aspis - Ring Method (Visual Aids)
#46
Wow, Chris, laudes from me!! I knew this would be useful, and I added a link to the thread on my Hoplon page before even reading all of it! But you got canvas to cover the inside and outside without puckers?!?! I'm flabbergasted. (That's a Greek word meaning roughly "Holy mackerel!")

I'm getting contacted every week or so by someone else who is starting Greek reenacting, so information like this is absolutely priceless.

Thank you very much!! Khaire,

Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
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#47
Waauw!!! Speaking of great timing Big Grin I had just finished the woodwork of my aspis (thanks To Matt's great site).

Though I had honestly no idea on how to go further (making and attaching the metal parts, covering the shield,...) Thank you so so much for this 'walkthrough' ! It will be a major helping hand!!!

Please keep posting the progress :-) )

Best regards and thanks again,
Verus
Tom Pinceel
a.k.a.
Caius Titius Verus

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.LEGIOXI.be">www.LEGIOXI.be
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#48
No problem. It is the least I could do for all the help I get here.

Matt, your the pioneer on this shield so thank you for helping me to make one!
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, but the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
Chris Boatcallie
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#49
No need to say congrats in every post,Chris. Just a minor point,that I wasn't fast enough in saying. The fittings are great,especially the rosetes with the rings. However,the lower two rings should be blaced a bit further upwards,and perhaps slightly more appart from each other. This way,the rope hanging due to gravity doesn't reach the rim. For some reason they were farther appart,I don't know exactly why,but this is what we see in vases and in sculptures. It's really minor,though,a detail.
Have you seen this design of a porpax anywhere or was it your inspiration?
I have to say that once more,Matt's shield has influenced dozens of re-enactors in that matter. I think he was the first to make such a simple porpax with only the trapezoid plates and not the long bands,the so typical in art and in the actual finds. Matt,did you see this design anywhere? In a vase I'm missing,perhaps...
Khairete
Giannis
Giannis K. Hoplite
a.k.a.:Giannis Kadoglou
a.k.a.:Thorax
[Image: -side-1.gif]
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#50
An example of what I meant:
[Image: DSC00578.jpg]
Khaire
Giannis
Giannis K. Hoplite
a.k.a.:Giannis Kadoglou
a.k.a.:Thorax
[Image: -side-1.gif]
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#51
No, there is no reason for stopping the porpax shorter than vases show for accuracy. I did not have any scrap longer than this and do not want to spend another $100 to lengthen it a few inches. I actually intended to make my bands full length until I couldn't find the scrap to get full length. As a side note, it is plenty strong this length though.

Next, I cut a ring of cloth out to cover the joint where the front and back cloths meet on the back rim.

[Image: 051a.jpg]

[Image: 052a.jpg]

Keep the scrap from this step to cover the shield while you paint sections of your desgin. I ALWAYS cover light color sections that are dry that I pass over while carrying the brush to the new area of work. No matter how careful you are, there is always a chance of paint dripping off the brush. I also hold a small piece of cloth in my other hand and hold the brush over it until I reach the area to paint. Point is that you should keep some scrap for this.
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, but the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
Chris Boatcallie
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#52
This is the design I am using on my shield.

[Image: FINAL001.jpg]

I will replace the sunburst shown with the following though.

[Image: Verginasun.png]



Always paint the aspis fully with the lightest color first. It is much easier to cover a light color with a darker one. In the case of my design, the yellow is the lightest so......

[Image: 053a.jpg]

I will coat it with a second coat later tonight and then coat the back rim with two coats of yellow tomorrow night after the glue dries on the back. In the meantime, I will begin working on poster board stencils for the sunburst, the full inner circle with ALL designs cut out in order to keep it perfect, one full key design for the outer rim that I will simply pick up and trace over and over, and one of the design elements for the back rim.

Note: I have worked with this yellow before and it will dry a bit darker than it is shown here. It looks too yellow to me in this pic.
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, but the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
Chris Boatcallie
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#53
Giannis,

Looking at that picture, It almost looks like the porpax is only the triangular section and that the band is under it as some sort of reinforcement. There is clearly a triangle coming from the portion that wraps the arm, but the band almost looks detached from the porpaxon the left shield.

Either way, I made mine as long as I had material. My first one is just a triangle and has no length to it at all. I planned on saving more metal, but you know how much I burned through to make my greaves. I would personally use the full band if I had the material.
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, but the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
Chris Boatcallie
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#54
I fully understand. Perhaps you could produce that length with more than one pieces of scrap metal. This was done in some originals,too.
However in most real examples found,the bands are one piece with the porpax,or at least they have remained one piece. My point was more about the placing of the rosetes,but as I said,it's really a minor point.
To explain it more clearly,look at this one:
http://hoplitikon.com/shop/F1000004.jpg
I don't find other reason for doing this other than have your rope hang nicer.
Khaire
Giannis
Giannis K. Hoplite
a.k.a.:Giannis Kadoglou
a.k.a.:Thorax
[Image: -side-1.gif]
Reply
#55
Quote:I have to say that once more,Matt's shield has influenced dozens of re-enactors in that matter.

Well, I'm happy to have led the way! But I'm even happier to see other people expanding on my work. And if Chris decides to sell shields as a business, I'll be ecstatic!

I got this method from the Sydney Ancients in Australia, remember, so I don't want to hog the credit!

Quote:I think he was the first to make such a simple porpax with only the trapezoid plates and not the long bands,the so typical in art and in the actual finds. Matt,did you see this design anywhere? In a vase I'm missing,perhaps...

Oh, geez, did I mess up?? I honestly don't remember clearly, it was too long ago. All I had to work from was Connolly and Warry, and I may have gotten a look at a small book or two on vase paintings (but that might have been later). So I must have concluded the same thing Chris mentioned, that the long bands were under the porpax but not necessarily part of it. I could still add them! But I'd have to get more bronze, and I'd probably use something thinner than the metal of the porpax.

You know, we really need some Greek Military Equipment Conferences, and an Ancient Greek Military Equipment Journal (AGMEJ). The rotten Romans have all kinds of stuff like that, after all! We're still arguing basics about how to make the studs for a linothorax... Time to raid the museum storage rooms, aaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrgggghhhhh!

Ahem. Khairete,

Matthew
Matthew Amt (Quintus)
Legio XX, USA
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.larp.com/legioxx/">http://www.larp.com/legioxx/
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#56
Okay. Like I said earlier, I have gotten the most PM's about how I paint my shields. I am sure many others here do similiar things, but here goes.

Unless your a PHENOMINAL free hand artist or auto detailer, I would STRONGLY recommend making patterns and working out all the bugs in your design on paper, cardboard, or posterboard first. I use posterboard because it is thick enough that it is hard for the pencil to pull through the template, but it is thin enough to fold around contour.

First, I design a rough pattern and play with the colors via freehand drawing and computer paint programs. When I decide on a pattern, I blow up images of the pattern as large as I can or sections of the pattern if I need larger than can be printed on 11 X 17 paper. I piece the parts of the pattern together and then transfer it to cardboard.

For example, with this shield's design, I blew up that picture of the star and cut out one of each of the two size rays. Then I drew lines equal distances apart to make sure the rays would be spaced equally. I then drew the center circle and started tracing the rays to the cardboard. I will then cut out the inside of the rays with an exacto knife so that I have one perfect pattern to trace to the shield.

I then printed a half of the inner rim and glued it to the cardboard. I cut out the half rim, folded it in half and traced it to the other half of the cardboard to get a perfect circle. I then centered the sunburst inside this and traced the inner circle to the sunburst pattern to make sure they will meet up perfectly once traced to the shield. I will cut out two or three key patterns and simply turn the pattern clockwise until there is a full pattern around all 360 degrees of the inner circle.

When you have a natural border like a rim, it is easiest to just cut out ONE of the pattern and keep repeating it until they meet. MAKE SURE YOU DO SOME QUICK MATH CALCULATIONS TO MAKE SURE THEY WILL MEET UP! Those are the two stencils shown at the top of the picture.

Another small trick is to trace your patterns with map pencils in close to the same color as will be touching the edge. It will take less work to cover up the marks. For instance, if you trace a yellow wing on a Scutum with black pencil, it will take many coats to cover it with yellow, but if you had traced it with yellow, it will cover up very quickly, and you will never see the pencil. Here are my stencils ready to have the detail cut out of them.

[Image: 054a.jpg]
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, but the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
Chris Boatcallie
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#57
Great job done.
A bit disapointed to notice we ll have more or less the same pattern...
But we belong maybe to the same city/tribe so we ll have to fight side by side on the battlefield.
At this stage (may be i missed one most) since your aspis is allmost finished, would you please tell us its weight ?
Thanks.
FROESSEL
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#58
Unless you want an impression of a classic period Makedonian bodyguard the the 8 ray star was also found in the Kodridae and Medontidae clans in Athens.
At that period you could skip the menander (Key pattern).
A box type pattern would be more apropriate unless of course you just want a liberal interpretation which is fine as a personal taste.

Kind regards
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#59
I don't know about weight. I don't have a scale handy. I'll have to see if someone has one.

As far as the pattern, I am going for a loose interpretation. I have not seen this specific combination of elements anywhere. The Corinthian shield I made that most of you have seen is my primary shield should I ever reenact. This is for fun since my wife is the one wanting the sunburst more than I really want it. I added the other elements to make the shield bareable to me.

I plan on making more, maybe one a year for the fun of doing different designs. The only other one I will definately make is one with a brass or bronze face with the spartan design showing the metal. I am really, REALLY hoping that the other aspis thread will soon have the name of someone in the US who will spin the metal and provide dimensions so I can make a wooden inner layer to fold the outer metal over.

Stefanos,

What kind of box pattern? The chess board look or the one that looks like a rest in music.
"A wise man learns from his mistakes, but the truly wise man learns from the mistakes of others."
Chris Boatcallie
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#60
Quote:or the one that looks like a rest in music.
HAHA! Nice description! So,a musician,too? :lol: I don't know what of two Stefanos means,though,perhaps the latter.It is more often shown in pottery,i think.The chess board pattern is more frequent in crests.
Khaire
Giannis
Giannis K. Hoplite
a.k.a.:Giannis Kadoglou
a.k.a.:Thorax
[Image: -side-1.gif]
Reply


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