Converting Kite Shields

For my OOP Armored Skeletons I wanted to create special shields and make the unit really stand out. The original ones are small rounded shields with decorations that look a bit childish to me, although, I must admit, totally in the spirit of the 90s Warhammer Fantasy Battles. :)

Looking at the miniatures I thought that the kite shields would fit them perfectly and make them look striking. It then came to me that the Tomb Kings tower shields that I have laying around could be converted into cool looking kite(ish) shields.

Since I don't have the plastic ones, but only metal, I decided to make molds in silicone rubber and cast the shields in resin. This way I will save the original shields and make the converting process easier. You can use plastic ones if you have them. I decided to use three different designs.

After I made my recasts in resin it was time to start cutting and shaving unwanted parts of the original design. Parts that I cut off are marked with red color, and those that I shaved off are marked in green. To get that V shape I simply cut off the lower parts of the shield. I removed those hanging parchments on the front side of the shields. On the back I removed the handles and over-leaping canvas.

Next, it was time to carve in the wood-grain in the parts that got flat after shaving. For this I used a sharp scalpel blade.

Now the shields were ready for some modeling putty. I used Green Stuff to model the metal rim on the edges of the shields and the circle (gluing area) on the back side.

Finally, after the Green Stuff has hardened completely, I added rivets to the rims on both sides.

To save some time, I again made the mold for the converted shields and multiplied them. :)

And here you can see the shields in action: