Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Wooden Hylian Shield

Me and my father made the Hylian shield from Zelda OoT. Its made completely from hard board and it's designed to strap to the right arm, so it's accurate to Link's from the game.

I never expected to post this so I don't have every step in photo form, sorry... But first I found a design I liked on the computer and use the projector to transfer the design to a piece of paper I had blu-tak'd to the wall. Then transferred that design on to a piece of hard board, the three sheets of hard board were clamped together with two bits of wood on either side and then used a steamer to bend the wood into shape and some string to keep it bent. Then it was let dry for a day. While it dried, everything but the border was cut from the first sheet. My father came up with the idea to use the steamer but wasn't sure if it would weaken the wood or not. Luckily it didn't and it came out great!

We kept the piece that was cut out because it had the design already drawn out on it and was curved perfectly.

The first piece of hard board was used for the all the details the second just needed some primer and then needed to be painted blue. The third piece of hard board was used just to keep it extra sturdy.

I painted the second piece using a small roller so there wouldn't be any brush strokes minus the areas that were needed to glue on the details, which were covered with masking tape.

I painted the details after using white primer and they dried within an hour.

I found these bolts at a local ironmongers which were perfect because they had no lines for a screwdriver. I need 20 in total which cost £6 all together.

The grips were made using a door handle and a cut belt from a pound shop that was attached to an extra plank of hard board. Everything on the back could be attached to the bolts used around the edges of the shield. A chain was added so it could be used as a display piece.

Because I would mainly use this for display I didn't worry about the back so it was painted black, the foam was added to stop any scratching, the block sticks out enough so the handle doesn't touch the wall.

It was glued together using wood glue and holds together completely fine. My dad took a picture of the shield before it was painted and roughly putting on the details and it looked really cool! So I might come back and make one again and paint it so it looks wooden?

The shield turned out great and it only took a weekend to completely finish. It's completely left handed just like Link (And me as it happens) and can be hung up for display too. I cut two slot in the foam at the back so the sword can slide in and out easily. Now that I think about it I could've made it so it goes on your back too but I won't be lugging it around anywhere. It's hard wood so it's quite heavy and there's also bits of metal scattered around so it's not the lightest thing, it measures at 640mm long and 50mm wide so it's big too. So just keep the size in mind if you decide to build one of your own. I would love to read any messages or feedback down in the comments below!!! I have other projects posted if you wanna take a look at them, like Soul's scythe form from Soul Eater. I also have a DeviantArt page and a Twitter if you want to look at them too!!

http://ant-richards.deviantart.com/

https://twitter.com/_Ant_Richards