My apologies for falling off the face of the earth for last week’s update. I started a new job that week, and ended up on travel for most of this week for work, so progress has not been what I had hoped. Realistically, I don’t think I am going to be able to finish everything before Monday, but I might be able to get something respectable before the actual showcase thread next Saturday. Anyway, what I did accomplish:

• Made cuts on the main body of the shield and the handle. The shields outer and inner curves are definitely not perfect, and I somehow managed to cut the handle too long? But I think it won’t be too noticeable in the finished product, and a too long piece can always be cut down.
• I made one attempt at attaching the linen facing, but went about it all wrong. I tried to spread glue over the full surface and lay it down all in one go, which I had some misgivings about but thought would work. When I went to add more glue on top of the linen to complete my composite, it bubbled horribly.
• I made a second attempt at attaching the linen, this time gluing down one section at a time, pulling the fabric taught as I laid it down on the glue, using an old library card to push out bubbles, and waiting about 60 seconds before moving on. This worked quite well, and I was able to add more glue for the top surface without issue.
• I trimmed the excess linen. I started with scissors for this, but because of the glue in the fabric, a box cutter ended up being the more appropriate tool.
• I applied my primer to the whole surface of the shield to make sure my paint sticks nicely.
• I applied a coat of green to approximately half of the shield. I think this will need at least one more coat to get everything reasonably even.

Pictures of my progress so far here.

I am also participating in a parallel Make Something Month on Tildes