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This is a flying Captain America shield that you can make out of duct tape and cardboard. Make a couple of these and you can battle it out with your friends Captain America-style!
I had two goals in mind with this project: 1) that the finished shield could be tossed around safely and actually fly stable like a giant Frisbee, and 2) that it could be replicated by almost anyone, independent of their current crafting skills.
For this project I made a couple of different flying shield prototypes. After some experimenting, I eventually reached a design that flew really well . . . and now I'm excited to share it!
I've included a PDF with all the pattern pieces that are required to make this. I worked directly from these finalized pattern pieces to build the finished version of the flying Captain America shield you will see in the following steps and in the video below.
The finished shield is 22.5" in diameter, and weighs 27.5 ounces (780 g). It's hefty, but it flies great. Still, you wouldn't want to knock a little kid in the back of the head with it, but it's certainly a lot safer for throwing around than this version (also made by me).
Here is a video of my flying shield in action:
I had two goals in mind with this project: 1) that the finished shield could be tossed around safely and actually fly stable like a giant Frisbee, and 2) that it could be replicated by almost anyone, independent of their current crafting skills.
For this project I made a couple of different flying shield prototypes. After some experimenting, I eventually reached a design that flew really well . . . and now I'm excited to share it!
I've included a PDF with all the pattern pieces that are required to make this. I worked directly from these finalized pattern pieces to build the finished version of the flying Captain America shield you will see in the following steps and in the video below.
The finished shield is 22.5" in diameter, and weighs 27.5 ounces (780 g). It's hefty, but it flies great. Still, you wouldn't want to knock a little kid in the back of the head with it, but it's certainly a lot safer for throwing around than this version (also made by me).
Here is a video of my flying shield in action:
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Signing UpStep 1Things you will need
Here is what you will need to make your own Flying Captain America Shield:
- Print-out of the attached PDF
- Flat pieces of cardboard, at least 12" wide across the grain. I used thick double-ply cardboard.
- Duct tape, one roll of each: red, white, blue, and regular
- 24" of webbing or other suitable material for handles
- 74" of 3/4" polypropylene rope
- Cutting mat
- Utility knife with extra blades (and/or heavy-duty hobby knife with extra blades)
- Hot glue gun
- Sharp scissors
- Marking pen, like a Sharpie
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Also, that's a good idea to mark certain points to help with the placement of the white ring. I'll edit that into the instructions. Thanks!
I still think yours is better lol I don't know what it is it just looks cleaner. I will say I have one problem that when I put the cardboard shield together it started dipping in the middle, I thought I could fix that with the duct tape part but it is still doing it. Any thoughts on what I could do to push it out and make it stay out?
Thanks! Yeah I layed them all out and tried at least four times but could not for the life of me get them to make a nice ring. So I measure from the blue circle out 2 /12 inches on each line where cardboard met and made a mark and it helped tremendously! Thanks for using an idea!
My kids have beat mine to bits, turned it inside out, folded it in half, and whatever else kids do.. and it still pops back to it's original shape. I don't know what to tell you!
Well thanks again for the help I will get back to you with the dip see if what I do helps it, as well as my 2nd and 3rd shield I plan on making!
Was it a silvery-colored duct tape (typical plasticky kind), or the actual tape used for real duct work (that's more metally)?
Or was it something else entirely?
http://www.acmoore.com/p-99391-colored-duck-tape-188-wide-20-yard-roll-silver-coin.aspx
Regular duct tape would be a little too gray, I think. Unfortunately, if you rub the silver coin tape too much the silver rubs off and the tape turns gray. But you can always replace it with more tape.
My friends got a big kick out of the shield, especially throwing it. Holding the shield out of a car window and yelling "CAPTAIN AMERICA!" at passers was pretty entertaining. Have you thought about making any other Avenger-related props, like an Iron Man helmet or Thor's hammer perhaps?
However, there are some pretty good homemade Thor's hammers out there, and quite a few Iron Man masks too. Some even on this site.
In my first attempt I didn't get enough curve to the segments and when I went to draw the last section in to glue it together the center popped up so it was more of a shallow cone than a parabolic curve....looked more like a coolie hat than Cap's shield.
Anyway, it's a fun project and I'm thinking of all kinds of modifications I can do to my next one, like scaling it up a bit, using metal tape instead of white like some of the others here have done,etc. Might get brave and try coating the cardboard with resin and fiberglass cloth then sanding it to shape and painting it using your technique from your satellite dish shield.
Thanks for the photo!
Thanks for the photos!
Here's my shield:
Thanks for the photo!
Thanks for taking the time to post the photo!
Just a hunch . . . but it might have something to do with the two pieces glued together to create each wedge. Hmm. Post a photo if you can and I'll try to help you out.