 Captain America 's shield , which serves as both a defensive tool and a weapon , came in four types : metal , fiberglass , rubber , and computer graphics ( CG ) . Prop master Barry Gibbs specified that " We had the ' hero shield , ' which was made of aluminum , for our beauty shots [ and ] close @-@ up work . We then created a lighter shield that was aluminum @-@ faced with a fiberglass back , for use on a daily basis . ... And then we had a stunt shield made of polyurethane , which is sort of a synthetic rubber ... and we made an <unk> one we put on [ Evans ' ] back , so that if there were an accident , it wouldn 't hurt him . " Visual effects supervisor Christopher Townsend said Evans " would practice swinging the practical shield so he knew the arc and the speed at which he should move . We would take the shield from him and shoot the scene with him miming it . Then we would add in a CG shield " . 
