Hoplon Sword Hanger
After building my Spartan sword, I needed some way to display it (see 5-5-05 entry). I decided to build a mini Hoplon (shield) based on info from re-enactors' sites.
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The basic flattened dome of the shield I heat formed from a small frying pan.
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The dome was rimmed out and mounted on a flat disk.
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I added some modeling putty to smooth out the seam so that it would look like it was made out of one piece. If'n I had a vacuum form machine, it could have been...plans are in the works to build one.
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The painted shield. Unfortunately because of the weird shape it was impossible to mask off and paint it in the correct order (Gold-Red-Black). I had to paint the red first, then the black and finally the gold. The problem with this order is that because of the paint build-up, you get ridges next to the masked areas (the red doesn't look like it's ON the gold). Just don't look so close...
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I found a plastic over-the-door clothes hanger at Wal-Mart for the sword holder. The clear plastic may not be "period", but it doesn't cover up the shield as much.
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The trimmed and notched hanger on the hilt.
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The hanger attached to the shield. The screw in the hanger goes straight through the shield and mounts it to the wall.
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The final display!