Becoming Captain America: Part 2

Part 1: Stripping
Part 3: Finishing
Part 4: The back

Ok so we left off with the shield taped up and ready for step two. This is where I used my ruler attached to the center of the shield with a sharpie in the holes I've drilled in it as a template. Don't worry about the hole in the shield, that will get covered up by the star later. So, looking at that picture, the hole I drilled in the center gets a metal ruler bolted to it temporarily. Because I have guide holes drilled in it, it spins around the shield like a propeller and the sharpie gives me clean circle. Once you draw your rings on, you'll end up with this.

This next step is one of the more stressful moments in this project. You need a steady hand and a sharp knife. Take an exacto knife and work your way around the outer two lines. You could do these separately but I like to do the red first and as one step, doing both rings at the same time. You've got a little wiggle room (pun intended) where variation won't show up but if you get crazy wild it'll be clear later that your lines are all wonky and out of whack. So take your time and remember to breathe.



Ok so here's an important point. Anodized paints are what you want here. They stay transparent so you can see the metal through the paint and don't go opaque which would counter all the hard work you did laying in those rings earlier. I prefer Duplicator paints because I think the colors are closer and like them better. Another good thing is follow the directions on the can. I do one light coat of paint, wait about 10 minutes, lay down another, and after another 10 minutes I lay down a medium to heavy top coat. The first layer won't cover well but thats ok. The last heavy coat gives it some richness and a nice solid covering. Don't get too heavy, you'll get a feel for it as you go.

This is the end of step 2.0, step 2.5 comes after a day of wait.
You need to give this red time to dry before moving on. Don't tape it, don't move on too quick. You'll regret it. I usually do the blue a day after the read but for sure wait 24 hours. If you want to get real technical the can says it takes 7 days to cure... I can't ever wait that long.

Tape around the blue ring that you haven't pulled up yet, OR pull the center tape and then tape over the red. However you want to lay out the last blue circle. I still don't have a great method for it. You want to make sure you don't overlap because you'll see the paints on top of each other.

Once you've done that, repeat the process to do the blue. Leave the last ring untouched, thats the bare metal, the stand in for the "white" and remember what happens when it's exposed? yup, it rusts. so leave it covered and let the blue dry. You'll want to leave it covered until you clear coat the whole thing.

I love how the blue looks while its going down, its my favorite.


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