Stormwing Hand Made Roman Legionary Scutum Shield | 40 Inch Curved Laminated Body | Rawhide Edging and Steel Dome Boss | Legion Reenactment Gift | RK-1491

The Stormwing is a curved rectangular scutum built the way a legionary carried one, with a laminated body bent across the vertical axis, a hide edge binding, and a steel dome boss riveted through a square plate at the centre. The face is painted in the classic red field with mirrored wings, forked lightning bolts and eight pointed stars, a design taken from the shields of the first century imperial legions. The wings and bolts are the thunderbolt of Jupiter, which is why the same motif turns up on shield after shield in the Rhine and Danube frontier finds and on Trajan Column reliefs.

What surprises most people is that the curve is structural rather than decorative. A flat board of this size flexes and splits when it is struck across the grain. Roll it into a section of a cylinder and it becomes a stressed skin that resists a blow across its whole width, which is why a legionary could hold a shield this large one handed on a horizontal grip. Every Stormwing is cut, laminated, bent, faced, painted and fitted in our Memphis, Tennessee shop, and it ships ready to hang or carry.

Specifications

Why the scutum is curved and what the boss actually does

A Roman shield does two jobs that a round shield does not. It covers a man from shin to shoulder while he stands shoulder to shoulder with the next man, and it lets him punch. The curve is what makes both possible. Wrapping the board around the body pulls the top and bottom edges forward so the shield shelters the flanks without getting any wider, and it keeps the whole panel in compression when something lands on it. Original scuta were built from three thin layers of wood glued with the grain crossed, exactly like modern plywood, and then faced in linen and hide. That is a laminate, and it was invented for this job two thousand years before anyone sold a sheet of ply.

The boss is the second half of the system. Behind that steel dome the board is cut away, and a horizontal bar crosses the hole. Your fist goes inside the dome and closes on the bar, so the shield hangs off your knuckles rather than being strapped to your forearm. That means the whole shield can be thrust forward as a weapon. The umbo punch was drilled Roman doctrine, used to unbalance a man before the short sword went in under the rim. It also means the dome takes the direct hits. A blow that lands on the boss is carried by steel and passed to the bar, not to the timber.

The trade off is that a centre gripped shield is tiring to hold at arm length and it cannot be slung on the arm to free the hand. Legionaries solved that on the march with a leather cover and a carrying strap, which is why so many reliefs show the scutum hanging at the shoulder rather than being held.

Materials, paint and edging

The body is cross laminated hardwood ply, bent over a form and held until the glue cures so the curve is set in the panel rather than forced by the fittings. It is faced and then hand painted with the wings, bolts and stars laid out from the centre line. Paint is applied in flat blocks in the Roman manner rather than airbrushed, so the edges of the motifs have the very slight hand cut quality you can see in the photograph.

The perimeter is bound in stitched rawhide and leather. On an original this binding was the wear item. It took the sword cuts that skated off the face, and it kept the exposed end grain of the laminate from drinking water and delaminating. Ours does the same thing, and it is stitched rather than stapled so that it can be replaced without damaging the board.

The boss is raised from mild steel sheet, planished, and mounted on a square plate with an engraved wreath border and four rivets through the timber. Mild steel is the correct material here. It dents and deforms under impact instead of cracking, which is what you want from a piece of armour that is supposed to absorb energy. It is not hardened and it is not meant to be.

Engraving, runes and your own design

Use the rune converter on this page to turn a name, a date or a short phrase into Elder Futhark and we will cut it into the steel or the leather. If you would rather have a Viking pattern than a rune line, choose your own design in the engraving option above the add to cart button and tell us where it goes. Where a piece already carries an engraved design, your chosen engraving replaces it rather than sitting alongside it. On the Stormwing the natural places are the boss plate, where your line takes the place of the wreath border, or the leather edging near the top rim. A cohort number, a unit name or a date is the usual request. Full detail is on the engraving page.

Hanging and display

Because the scutum is curved it does not sit flat against a wall. Two heavy duty French cleats or a pair of coated hooks set to bear on the top rim will hold it with the belly of the curve standing off the plaster, which is how it looks best. Put the fixings into studs. Fifteen pounds hanging on drywall anchors will come down eventually. On a floor stand it should lean at a slight angle rather than stand vertical, so the weight rests on the bottom rim and not on the edge binding alone.

If you are carrying it for an event, sling it rather than gripping it for hours. A simple shoulder strap looped through the back of the boss cut out takes the load off the wrist and is period correct for the march.

Care

Keep it out of direct sunlight for long periods, because red pigment fades faster than any other colour on a shield face. Dust the painted face with a dry cloth. Do not use household cleaners on it. Feed the rawhide and leather edging twice a year with a neutral leather cream so it stays flexible and does not shrink away from the rim. Wipe the steel boss with an oiled rag now and again, especially if you handle it often, because fingerprints etch mild steel over time. Our full notes on keeping bare steel from rusting are on the steel care page and they apply to a boss just as much as to a blade.

Forged in Memphis

This shield is made in Memphis, Tennessee. The body is cut and laminated here, the boss is raised and engraved on our bench, the face is painted by hand and the edge is stitched by hand. Nothing here is drop shipped from an importer catalogue with a new label on the box. The lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings is ours to honour directly, with no end date and no receipt needed.

A note on handmade variation

This shield is hand made, not machine made or bulk produced, so what arrives will not be a pixel for pixel copy of the photograph. The exact sweep of the painted wings, the grain showing through the face, the tone of the rawhide edging and the planishing marks on the boss vary from one shield to the next, because each one is worked by hand from natural materials. The dimensions, the material and the build are the same every time. The character is not.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use this for full contact reenactment

No. It is built for display, for film and theatre work and for light drill and parade use. Full contact steel combat groups require shields built to their own society standard with heavier bodies and specific edge treatment, and this is not certified to any of those standards.

How heavy is it to hold

Around thirteen to fifteen pounds, which is close to the weight of an original. It is held on a horizontal bar with a closed fist, so it feels heavier than a strapped shield of the same weight. Most people can hold it comfortably for a few minutes at a time.

Is the boss real steel

Yes. It is mild steel, raised and planished, riveted through the body on a square plate. It is not plated plastic and it is not a resin casting.

Will the paint chip

Handled normally it will not. Knocked against a doorframe or struck with steel it will mark, and touch up is straightforward with acrylic. We would rather tell you that than pretend a painted wooden shield is indestructible.

Is the strap in the photograph included

No. The leather strap and the barn door in the photograph are photography setting. The shield ships with the body, the painted face, the edge binding, the boss and the grip bar.

How long does it take to arrive

Processing is one to two weeks because each shield is laminated, painted and fitted to order, then shipping is free within the United States. Because of the size it travels in an oversized carton.

What is in the box

• One Stormwing Roman legionary scutum, curved laminated body with a hand painted face
• Steel dome boss on an engraved square plate, riveted in place
• Leather wrapped horizontal grip bar behind the boss
• Stitched rawhide and leather edge binding around the full perimeter
• Lifetime warranty against defects in forging, grind, heat treat and fittings
• Forged and finished in Memphis, Tennessee

Explore the range

See more in kite shields and bucklers, round shields and shield bosses, or read the guides before you choose a size.