Boeotian/Dipylon Shield

[Chris B]

OK. Had to delete my pics off the subarmalis thread, but here is where I was today at about noon. I started out with a small hole like the other one pictured in this thread. Separating the rim like that for a shield considerably weakens its integrity though. Even if it were to have a thin metal facing it is rather flexible around the holes. I guess its kind of like the difference between a Katana's rigidity as oppossed to the Chinese Gim Sword or broadsword. I would most definately prefer the Aspis for a hard blow. I increased the size of my holes after carefully studying the vases. ALL the paintings show them as MUCH bigger than the reproductions I have seen so I more closely matched mine to the artist renditions. It does weaken the overall structure a little more than a smaller hole, but not by that much. My wife, who has an architecture degree, walked out and said, "I wondered why the hell they would have done that. I knew it would weaken it just from the drawings I saw. Guess it had to be for some reason to compensate for the weakened state it leaves the shield." Anyways, I will post more current pics when I am done. Ahead of schedule now by a day. It does leave one to wonder though.....Why in the heck would a sane person split the shield at the rim which is the hardest and thickest part of the shield to leave the support to the center which is the thinnest and weakest part of the shield. Oh well, it "LOOKS" great even if it isn't the beast of the Aspis.