11-02-2009, 08:39 PM
Transporting my aspis around Yorkshire and Humberside means the paintwork is taking a hammering. In a good Roman tradition I’ve made a shield cover for it, based on the two images from the Bowdoin Eye-Cup Painter.
I used three pig skins. Goat would have been my preferred choice but pig was 25 % cheaper. I applied an eight-pointed star pattern to the front of the cover using leather appliqués. The edge of the cover has been strengthened in some areas with a second layer of leather. The whole cover has been soaked in oil today ready for use on Wednesday. The wooden bipod fits nicely inside the aspis and cover and is now much easier to carry around with the shield.
I’ll post pictures when the leather has dried.
I used three pig skins. Goat would have been my preferred choice but pig was 25 % cheaper. I applied an eight-pointed star pattern to the front of the cover using leather appliqués. The edge of the cover has been strengthened in some areas with a second layer of leather. The whole cover has been soaked in oil today ready for use on Wednesday. The wooden bipod fits nicely inside the aspis and cover and is now much easier to carry around with the shield.
I’ll post pictures when the leather has dried.
John Conyard
York
A member of Comitatus Late Roman
Reconstruction Group
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.comitatus.net">http://www.comitatus.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historicalinterpretations.net">http://www.historicalinterpretations.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com">http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com
York
A member of Comitatus Late Roman
Reconstruction Group
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.comitatus.net">http://www.comitatus.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.historicalinterpretations.net">http://www.historicalinterpretations.net
<a class="postlink" href="http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com">http://lateantiquearchaeology.wordpress.com
