Introduction: 3D Relief Shield Wall Art (Hylian Shield, Ocarina of Time)

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About: I'm a family man, with restless hands, so I try to think about crafty things that my kids can do.

This was a very inexpensive fun little family project with my daughters.
My youngest was taking the pictures, so there aren't any great action shots, or pics of tools... just the step-by-step shots.
It's made of Redi-board (Dollar Tree Foamboard).

I'd actually planned to do a Hogwarts crest, but my daughter wanted this instead. Either way, the process would be the same

I spent $2 on this project as I had paint, knives, and glue on-hand.

Step 1: What You'll Need

2x Redi-board

Floor-pad/easel pad (anything for a large piece of paper. I'm sure a page from a broadsheet newspaper would work)

Paint

Knives (Xacto/Utility)

Pencil

PVA Glue

Obviously a cutting mat will be helpful. I used an over-sized carving board, but a cutting surface that you can push down on is important. Foam board isn't very forgiving, so having something that will prevent the board from bending is necessary, as well as allowing you to cut clean through without putting pressure on the material so that you can get clean corners. I also used scissors in places, but the knife would've worked too.

Step 2: Templating

Using a single page from the easel pad, I folded it in half, and free-handed the general shape of a shield being sure to not go larger than the board that I'd be transferring to.

I then cut out the shield shape, and copied the details of the rest of the shield that I'd be cutting out onto half of the shield. This particular shield is symmetrical, so I did it all on one half, and using the knife, I cut through both layers.

(sorry some of the pics are a little blurry, my documentarian daughter was running around taking the pictures.)

Step 3: Transfering to the Redi-board and Cutting Out.

Using the first cut from the shield shape, I made two outlines of the shield on Reddi-board, and cut them out.

Then using the rest of the stencil, I drew the lines for the detail onto the other board.

From there, I simply cut out the pieces with an Xacto. (I used a utility snap-knife for the bigger cuts, but the Xacto was needed for some of the curves, and the intricate corners.)

You can't see it here, but obviously there were triangles cut from the board too.

Step 4: Paint, and Glue

I used spray-paint, which I think is the best way to go.

Reddiboard is a surface that takes the paint well, so more than one coat is unnecessary unless you're trying to make it durable (in which case Reddi-board is probably the wrong way to go.)

I would've preferred that my Gray was a little lighter, but I was using on-hand paint.

It's important to go slow when painting Reddi-board. If you go too heavy, the board will curl, and also the solvent in the spray paint will dissolve the foam.

Step 5: Hanging

For this step, I took some scrap pieces of board, and cut three small rectangles.

I cut a thin slot in one, and a slightly wider slot in the other two, making 3 small "U-shaped" pieces of foamboard, and glued them together with the narrow slot on the top. (I used super-glue here, but PVA would be just as good. If you use super-glue, be aware that it can dissolve the foam too, so only apply to the paper)

I then glued the small block to the back of the shield, with the wide slots facing the shield, and the slot opening facing down.

I used a command hook, but if you made this block right, this could be hung on a nail, picture-hanger, or screw too.

Step 6: Step Back, and Admire

OK, now this is obviously not a particularly detailed shield replica. I could still add embellishments, but I was going for something of a simplified version, a little bit like the cell-shaded aesthetic of Windwaker, but we all thought the Ocarina of time shield was the better looking shield.