Several years ago, my husband found a 20” vintage farm plow disc on our farm. It had been left in the field decades ago by a farmer who had likely worked the fields for many years to grow food crops to feed American families. My husband cleaned it up a bit and painted it white, intending to put our farm logo on it. Instead he placed it in a corner in our barn, and promptly forgot about it.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, we barely left our farm for the first two months. During that time, while cleaning out our barn, I saw the disc and thought it would be perfect to paint as a Captain America shield. I wanted to hang it on the gate at the entrance to our pasture as a tribute to the farmer that had left it behind so long ago, as well as all farmers, past and present.

My goal was to complete the project by repurposing as many items that I had on hand, and ended up only having to buy a few brushes and two small containers of paint. Once completed, my husband did hang the shield on our gate to share with everyone who drives by. We have even had neighbors contact us asking if they could stop and take a picture of their kids beside the shield.

For us, it serves as a symbol of just one group of everyday American heroes, (and there are many!), the farmers who work tirelessly, rain or shine, with or without Covid-19, just to keep American fed. We thank all the farmers, you are some of the great superheroes of America!

Supplies

Materials and supplies:

20” vintage farm plow disc (other sizes may be used -adjust patterns for painting accordingly)

1 cheap plastic table cloth (mine was leftover from a birthday party)

White paint (I used exterior acrylic latex white paint leftover from painting the trim on our house)

Exterior acrylic latex red paint (I purchased a 7.75 oz. sample size from our local hardware store, but any leftover exterior red paint is fine and 4 oz. would have been more than enough.)

Exterior acrylic latex blue paint (I purchased a 7.75 oz. sample size from our local hardware store, but any leftover exterior blue paint is fine and 2 oz. would have been more than enough.)

3 1-inch sponge brushes

1 small paintbrush (leftover from a child’s watercolor set)

Pencil

Black marker

Tape measure

12-inch ruler

scissors

1 large brown grocery bag (or two other large pieces of paper such as newspaper)

1 sheet computer paper (or other paper at least 8-inches square)

Step 1:

Once all materials are gathered, you are ready to paint!

Step 2:

Cover a table with the plastic table cloth. Place the disc on top. Remove any dust or debris from top of disc. Use one of the foam brushes to paint the outside of the disc with a fresh coat of white paint. Allow to completely dry. (Rinse sponge brush and let dry.)

Step 3:

Using one side of paper bag, use scissors to cut a circle with a 17 5/8-inch diameter. *Use marker to make a black dot in center of circle. Place circle in center of disc, using black dot to ensure circle is centered. Hold circle down a weight in center (I used one of the small cans of paint), and use pencil to trace around outside of circle, holding circle in place with other hand as you trace.

Step 4:

Using other side of paper bag, use scissor to cut a circle with a 13 1/8-inch diameter. Starting with the * in step 2, repeat steps.

Step 5:

Use the sheet of computer paper to cut a 5-point star that is 3 1/4 inches from center to each of the 5 points, using marker to make a black dot in center. Center star then trace around it using the pencil. Now the disc is ready to paint! (Alternately, you can print a 5-point star off the internet, then cut it down to fit in center of 13 1/8-inch diameter circle on disc.)

Step 6:

To begin painting, use the watercolor brush to paint a thin red line on the pencil marks on the three circles. (No worries if you have small drips or runs, touch up will be done last.)

Step 7:

Using one of the sponge brushes, paint the outermost circle red, leave the next circle white, then paint the third circle red. Allow to completely dry. (Rinse brush and let dry.)

Step 8:

Using the watercolor brush, paint a thin blue line on the pencil marks on the star. (Rinse brush and let dry.)

Step 9:

Using a sponge brush, paint blue around the star to the edge of the innermost red circle. Allow to completely dry then use the watercolor brush to touch up any areas or paint drips as needed. Allow to dry one final time. Finished! (Rinse brush and let dry.)

Step 10:

To display the Captain America shield, we used heavy duty zip ties, (other means to fasten may be used), to secure to the gate.

Step 11: Conclusion:

I hope you enjoyed this Instructable. It was easy to create, inexpensive, and will bring
many years of joy to my family as well as neighbors, friends, and others that happen to pass through our rural community. I was happy to be able to repurpose the vintage disc into something that has a deep meaning for my family, while keeping the disc on the land where it last served its original purpose, farming. Farmers, thank you again!