Making an Aspis - Ring Method (Visual Aids)

[Chris B]

Next I cut slits from the outside edge of the material to approximately where the material takes a 90 degrees turn down from the rim. Then I slowly start working the walls of the part of the shield perpendicular to the rim. Don't be afraid to pull the material off the shield and keep working the folds to the outside edge.

I get out 95% of the creases and folds, but a few very small ones always are sneak their way past. Add glue to the areas your working if it starts to dry and work one area to the next until you get 360 degrees around the shield.



You will have to continually go over the entire surface repeatedly while it begins to tack down in order to be absolutely sure you do not end up with large bubbles where the material does not take hold. I also place a large fan blowing over my work to speed this up some. I spend about 1 1/2 hours constantly going over the surface with the different size putty knives until I can see that the glue is holding strong.

After the inside edge tacks well, I glue down the flaps to the rim only going about half way to the outer edge. I will fill the other area not covered when I wrap the front material to the back in a few days. I personally will add a second layer of linen in the form of a solid ring of material in the dimensions of ring 10 to cover all the gaps, points where the material meet, and flaws so that it looks like a solid piece of fabric.

This is where I will leave it tonight.



We will paint the inside of the bowl tomorrow with black enamel paint. It is not historically accurate, but I like that it will be waterproof and stiffen the fabric. I only paint the bowl because of what I mentioned above. We will cover the rim with another layer of material in later steps.

You DO NOT want to cover the front until ALL your metal work is attached to the back so we will tackle the porpax, etc. after the back has been coated twice.