I am using 2 # polyethylene plank foam for the core of the shield and a Carbon Fiber 1/2 inch thick Core.

Transcription

1 Making a Down-spear Style Madu (with Plastidip covering) First, determine what size/shape you want your Madu, both the Shield portion of your Madu and the overall length of the weapon portion. This step is entirely up to personal preference. For this tutorial I am going to make a Down Spear style Madu. I am using 2 # polyethylene plank foam for the core of the shield and a Carbon Fiber 1/2 inch thick Core. First mark the center line of the shield blank. Next determined the size and shape of the hole that the recessed grip will be and used a square to trace out the design. (You could make the hole any shape you like, square just works well for my process.) This will be where your hand grips the core so if you wear gloves make sure you make the hole large enough.

2 Next, using a steak knife cut out the center hole. A serrated knife works really well.

3 Next, I mark the center line of the shield onto the lower edge, then using a wood bit in my drill press I drill out a channel to slide the core in. If you look closely you can see the tip of the wood bit poking out into the top of the Center hole area. I put the channel slightly off center on purpose so that there is more space for your knuckles between the front of the shield and the handle of the center grip. (this will become more apparent latter)

4 Now slide your core up through the channel you just drilled. This will be lower side of your down-spear style madu. Next mark the width of the core on the other side of the center whole in line with the center line you drew before.(as shown)

5 Using your steak knife cut out the "anti-rotation-support-channel" (ARSC)

6 Next cut a few strips of leather roughly the same width of the weapon core's outer diameter and the length of the handle area. Slide your core all the way up into the "ARSC" and mark where the core meets the lower edge of the Center Grip Hole. This is me measuring the length of the straps. Next prepare strips of strapping tape roughly 3-4 inches long.

7 While keeping the weapon core inside the lower drilled channel of the shield, slide it up past the shield so you can tape the leather strips in line with the core as shown. Add leather strips to each side of the core, essentially sandwiching the core between 2 strips of leather using strapping tape (for strength and durability).

8 Continue adding strips of leather to the desired handle shape/width. When you've reached the point where the handle is comfortable you can slide the core back down into position. You can see how the leather starts to fill in the channel that was cut. The next step is to add more strips to the channel area so that when you twist the handle the boxiness of the handle keeps the weapon core from rotating inside the channel independently of the shield portion of the Madu.

9 Cut out enough strips to fill the remainder of the channeled area at the top of the weapon core. Next, attach them with strapping tape. I put each strip on individually so that they are well supported and do not slide back and forth.

10 This is the back side of the shield. The handle has been built up so that it is flush with the back face of the shield portion. As you can see the extra pieces of leather have now been added and bring that up flush with the front face of the shield. That extra area will let your knuckles wrap around the core comfortably once the front face of the shield is added.

11 Before moving on you want to slide the handle out again and complete the handle portion to your liking. Here I have wrapped that portion in grip tape. (some people like to wrap their grip in rope, leather cording, leather sleeves etc) After the Handle grip is completed to your linking wrap that in masking tape if you plan on plasti-diping this weapon (that is what I will do through the rest of the tutorial). So after Wrapping the handle in masking tape I anchor the handle into the Upper channel using the strapping tape method that I go over extensively in my "Recessed Center Grip Shield Handle Tutorial". This will anchor the core into place. (That tutorial is available on my website at

12 Next, I cut out a circle that is about 1 inch larger diameter then the white Plank Foam from 1/4" thick Micro Cell Foam. Dap both the back side of the White Shield foam and the face of this MC foam. Attach the MC to the back face of the Shield and cut out the center hole.

13 Trim the outer edge of the MC foam flush with the White Shield blank, then Add a thick piece of MC foam to the front face of the shield (just don't cut out the center hole on the front this time). Trim the front MC foam flush with the edge of the shield. Now would be a good time to figure out what your heraldry or design will be and where it will go. Cut them out and dap them into place. Here I show how to get the effect of an outer edge to the face of the shield, First cut out a circle the same size as the shield and then using a razor knife cut out the center in the width you want.

14 When adding the outer edge skin with MC foam I find it easier to cut the strip the correct width and then punch out a hole for the core to slide onto so that I'm not fighting around the core latter. Dap the edge MC into place.

15 Here I have added all the heraldry elements. Do a your detail work and if you also plan on Plasti-dipping your courtesy padding for the shaft of your weapon install that padding now. (I go over wood burning in details and sanding in my 3 part video tutorial on PD Shields on my Youtube channel, search for Fitz Caliston PD shield on Youtube.com) Next coat all the surfaces you wish in Plastidip. 3-4 coats. Then paint to your desired effect (These steps can be found in my PD shield Tutorial also available at and in the 3part video tutorial). As you can see on the bottom I have covered the striking surface already in cloth and then masked it off with newspaper and tape so that the PD and Paint did not get on the cover.

16 Adding more paint details and letting them dry in the sun.

17 Once all the paint is Dry and the Seal coat has been added (those steps are again in the PDF tutorial and Video Tutorial on PD shields) remove all the masking tape and news paper. Your done! Now go stab someone! ****If you decided not to PD your shield or shaft padding just make a normal cloth cover for the shield portion and make a Button hole in the sleeve of your cover (there is a Tutorial on my website for making fitted shield covers). After the cover is in place add your courtesy shaft padding and then your strike legal foam and cover as normal.