abn, THANK YOU! The shields have done good so far that I know of. Havent had anyone complain nor ask to redo one after they've gone through a good fire. Acouple are covered in smoke but none have blistered so far. Plus, a smokey looking shield looks cool according to them anyways.
Spinner, I use the Eco-Flo sometimes and other times acrylics. I then put acouple of coats of sealer that you would use to cover wood. So far they have been doing the job and not blistered. Who would have thought right...? LoL
The stitching is done by hand just like everything else. A few are heavy thick leather and some are two layers with contact cement in between. I ruff up the leather before, cement it, let it dry a little bit then attatch them together before double sewing them together. I'm sure there's a better way of doing it but I've only taught myself this so if there are better technigues, feel free to let me know.
The 'weathered look' come by accident! I was doing it brown but didn't like the way it came out so I used a damp papertowel and tried to take it off. When that didn't work, I applied the black Eco-Flo then used the same papertowel and there you have it.