The other day I mentioned that I would be working on a DIY tutorial project. For those of you who guessed that I would be making a Hylian Shield, you are right! Congrats! I am going to be Link for Halloween, and I thought now is as good a time as ever to try my hand at writing an online tutorial for like-minded gamer girls!
Now, I am a rather practical and analytical person. I love working with new or challenging materials. Initially I had wanted to make my shield out of wood, but without a proper workspace, shared walls, and older neighbors, I thought that may prove to be too messy and noisy. I have worked with wood before, but always in a proper workspace like a garage or studio. I was also taught to “measure twice, cut once,” so I decided to make a small-scale version of the shield to get the materials and measurements right. These instructions will be for how to make a small “display” Hylian Shield measuring approximately 6.5 inches by 5.5 inches (16 x 14 cm).
Step 0: Decide which version of the Hylian Shield you would like to make. For the small shield I chose to make the shield from the Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time. For my larger shield, however, I will be using the designs from the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess.
Step 1: Gather your materials:
YOU WILL NEED:
Cardboard (in large unbent pieces): I sourced mine from my local grocery store.
Newsprint: (or other scrap paper) to make your template drawings. Or print them out from images you find online. Be sure to make drawings for the front of the shield AND for the back of the shield.
Pencils and Bold Markers to make your drawings on the newsprint and on the cardboard
Brads: buy a lot of them, I went through close to 75 of them
Glue: I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue and it worked quite well
Masking Tape: .5 inches to 1 inch wide
Rust-oleum “Hammered” silver spray paint
Rust-oleum Primer (White)
X-Acto #11 Blade and Knife
Scraps of Leather or other durable brown fabric
Paint and Paintbrushes I used Martha Stewart’s High Gloss Acrylic Paints and an assortment of brushes
Measuring tools: Ruler, compass, protractor, measuring tape, etc.
Step 2: Make the shield base. Take your template drawing and trace it out on the cardboard three times.
Make sure you leave a little room around each piece to be able to cut safely.
This will create the piece for the front of the shield, the body of the shield, and the detailing for the back of the shield. Once you have traced and cut out the three pieces, cut out the outside boarder for the front of the shield. Use your template and cut out the inside design of the shield, leaving just the boarder as shown in the image below.
This will help give the shield more depth.
Step 3: Cut out the front and back pieces. Use your Xacto Blade to carefully cut around your templates to make the front and the back of the shield.
Step 4: Secure the shied pieces together. Using brads and glue, you will be making sure that this shield is as durable as possible. It is important to measure out where you want your brads to go to adorn both the front and back of the shield. They add a nice aesthetic, but they also serve to keep the several pieces of the shield from separating. I measured out the places where I wanted to put the brads and marked them with pencils. I found the brads were easier to push into place when I made a small cut with my blade as shown in the image below.
Sandwich the pieces together and use some of your glue of choice to make sure the pieces don’t go anywhere. I found it helpful to add a little glue to the hole where the brad was placed too.
Step 5: Tape it up. Once all the pieces are sufficiently glued together and brads are placed, flip the shield over and view from the side. Here is the downside of using corrugated cardboard: The edges are rough and porous. You will want to use your masking tape and run it around the outside of the shield. This will give the edges a finished look and will protect your shield from damage on the side. Trim the corners so that the tape does not bunch up too much.
You could also fill the holes with hot glue, but the tape is easier and cheaper.
The shield with 1/2 inch masking tape around the edges.
The tape adds a nice finished edge without taking away from the shield itself. It also protects the sides and keeps gunk from getting in there. Stay tuned next time for how to complete your shield!
Page Redford 
