Captain America Shield from used satellite dish

I had been wanting to make a Captain America shield for some time, but had a hard time finding a suitable item to make it from. I originally tried using an old plastic sled, but it gave me all sorts of grief. The type of plastic would not take paint very well (not even Krylon Fusion for plastics), or any type of adhesive that I tried.

I eventually came across a used satellite dish, and with a little bit of modifying this turned out to the be best option for a Captain America shield.

If you are interested in making one of these, you may have to do a bit of searching and asking to find a used satellite dish. I've seen them show up at thrift stores from time to time. Keep your eyes open, and you should be able to find one.

I have a separate instructable on how to make a flyable version out of cardboard and duct tape, which you can check out here: Flying Captain America Shield.

Thanks for looking!

Step 1: Disassemble the dish

I began this project by disassembling the dish and components. Some of the nuts and bolts were kept and used later on to attach the handles.

Comments

[SupercoolAwesomeAmazingChizz]

Oh! I see now. You didn't go through the shield you just epoxied the bolt heads to the back...but will that take the stress of daily use? I'm making it for a friend to use during paintball. Is it strong enough?

[seamster]

Mine's held up fine, although nobody's shooting things at me. If you prep the surfaces well (very clean, dry, and appropriately roughened up), an epoxy bond should be very durable.

If in doubt though, you could put the bolts through the shield. If the main purpose is to actually use it as a shield, you may want to go that route just to make sure it's going to last. Good luck, let me know how it turns out!

[softenersreviews]

Everybody wants to be Cap. America ;)

[SupercoolAwesomeAmazingChizz]

How did you hide the bolt heads on the visible painted side of the shield? I'm making one and its looking pretty good but I really don't want the bolts to show on that side. How did you do it? Oh an I'm a huge admirer of your work! Think I'm going to try and make a Legend Of Zelda Hylain Shield next!

[seamster]

They are epoxied to the back side of the shield, rather than bolted through. I covered this in steps 4, 5, 6 and 7. Good luck on yours! Post a picture when you're done if you get the chance.

[jdignum]

does anyone know how big the satellite dish is?

[seamster]

The finished size was about 22 inches.

[PixieBeck]

Hot Dog I was going to use mine to make a bird bath using mosaic tiles. I think I'm still going to make my bird bath and using Mosaic tiles I'm just going to adjust it to look like Captain America's Shield for my son's 7th birthday in July. Thank You for a wonderful idea.

[davjohns]

I did one of these a few years ago with an aluminum blank I ordered online. This was before the movies came out and everyone started liking this classic character. I like the way you did the paint. It came out much better than mine. I've been planning to revisit the shield and get the paint right. You've given me a fine plan. Thanks. David

[seamster]

Thank you for the comment. Good luck on yours!

[ble12]

Here is my finished, not what i pictured it, but not bad for something i don't usually do. I am still proud of what i accomplished.

[ble12]

I bolted mine too. Only advice is to use a drill bit to make the holes then you can spin the leather strap on the inside of the shield to get the belt on. Otherwise it will be too hard to push the strap through the screw/bolt.

[ble12]

Here is my star stencil. I did a 9.5cm full length by 3.5cm short length. I found the center and drew 9.5cm out from the center with a compass i made with paper. The 5 lines I used was 72' degree part since 360' divide by 5(star points). I am good with math, but lack motor skills. This i did quite well, but would need another shot at another shield before i perfect my craftsmanship. I have attached diagram to show everyone what i mean with the star stencil.

I did it on paper first and see how it look before i transfer the same on the shield.

[ble12]

Here is the side by side comparison. Next photo with have a zoom up of the star dimensions.

[ble12]

Star dimension details.

[ble12]

My mistake was using normal printer paper to help cover the red/white part of the shield. After 2 coats of blue paint the paint went through the paper and was stuck on. I had to use a brush and brush as much of the paper/blue paint off the red painted area. Afterwards, I had to repaint the red.

[ble12]

This is where the skills comes in. If you can use an exacto knife well you can get near perfect circles, if you can't then it will look a bit off. It will also, scratch the shield but, with 2-3 coats of paint you should cover the scratch. Make sure you do 2 coats and make sure you have the tape on tip as bleeding will happen if you don't.

[ble12]

I used mask and in an mainly open area. Try not to do it in a garage. Makes sure you cover the background with cardboad of course unless you want stains.

[ble12]

I find this the most important step. If you don't get circle the look of your shield will be off, being not circle. Make sure you make a good compass to give you those perfect circles.

[ble12]

Also, i fine that you need to put more on the inside as there won't be enough surface area that touches the shield. My JB weld holes actually fell out as it was too thin near the edge. So, i did it a 2nd time where I had to put extra on the inside of the shield to create more grip.

[ble12]

I only filled the 2 holes near the edge of the shield. I used the middle two as bolts for my straps later on. Apparently from others that if you don't bolt and use glue the straps rip off. Of course by doing so, I have bolts coming out of the shield which, i don't mine not to mention you have less grinding, welding, and bundo to do later.

[ble12]

TIP: I found that by cutting the length of your tip snipes i created bends in the shield. So, only cut 3/4 length of your tin snipes. The last snipe bends the shields and create sharper sides that is harder to grind later.

[Nolex117]

Hey excellent job!!!
The only thing that made him lack are the measures.

Could you please give me the measures?.

[moderncap88]

This is the best cap shield ive seen so far and i wanna make it but can u please tell me the dimensions of the shield and how thick the stripes are thanks

[seamster]

My shield was about 22" in diameter. The width of all the stripes is 1/5 of the radius. So, no matter what the diameter of your shield is, measure the radius and divide by five, then place all the marks for laying out your circles accordingly. (The center circle is 2x this number.) Hope that helps! Good luck.

[moderncap88]

thanks a bunch im sure itll help. i just hope i can find a sat dish big enough

[iron_spider]

can super glue work for the handles and bondo for the jb weld

[iron_spider]

also could you make an instructable on caps other shield

[selizabeth7]

How did you cut the dish out? What exactly did you use? I'm having a lot of trouble with mine. Thanks a ton.

[seamster]

I used metal snips. They are showing in the first photo of step three.

[kingdavy98]

Nice instructable !
im planing on making one of there very soon. so i was wondering how strong is
it ? like if it was hit with a .20 gram 6mm air-soft BB traveling at 400 fps would it do any damage ?

[seamster]

I wouldn't think so.

[sgtmarshmello]

Where did you get the dish from because i want one really bad i mean REALLY bad im gonna use it for paintball and look awsome.

[seamster]

I got my first one off of my house when we switched to cable. Since then, I've gotten a couple of old ones from actual Dish employees.

[Maholinaj]

a couple of changes i made to your creation so far. hammered out the border to make the whole dish a dome, then i trimmed off the top and bottom to make a perfect circle. also hammered the bumps smoothly before filling in with jb weld. now its a perfect dome, just waiting for the weld to dry and to continue!

[Maholinaj]

Good idea with the JB Weld only thing is i just hammered out the bumps and filled in the little holes. saved time sanding.

[Tatarigami]

My first Captain America Shield !! Thanks for the instructable, my kid wear it with pride

[seamster]

Wow! It looks like it turned out well. Did the plastic weld work as needed, or did you have to use something else? It looks great!

[Tatarigami]

Thanks! the plastic weld did his job perfectly, but just to be sure I used tons of it ;) Now I'm only have to wait the "final combat test" which will be tomorrow in a Nerf battle. Sorry my english! regards from Rancagua, in Chile.

[seamster]

Vivi en Puerto Rico, y habla un poco de espanol. Pero, creo que tu ingles es mejor que mi espanol... Gracias otra vez para los photos!