First step was to cut the profile of the weapon to make a pattern.
From this the shaft was cut from plywood while the blade was cut from expanded PVC foam (Sintra/Komatex).
From here these pieces were glued together using Loctite Power Grab.
Once the glue was able to cure an angle grinder was used to round out the shaft and bevel the edges on everything.
The hole in the middle was cut using a hole saw.
I realized that the inner portion of the ring needed to be beveled, so the easiest way to do that was to cut another circle at an angle using the jigsaw's built in... angle... thing.
Once this was done 1mm PVC was added to the blade for the arcane letter detailing and acrylic extrusions were added to the shaft.
The grip was made from brown vinyl tape and weathered with soft black acrylic paint. Happy cosplay! Hope to see some of you on the Fields of Justice!!!
Cool idea sandwiching the Sintra in between the plywood. They look good.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny to see the staff you made, next to these and that sword. It looks much smaller than I had previously thought.
Question about the jig saw.. is it hard to cut straight with it? And when you cut, do you usually clamp down the wood so that it's like a bridge and not directly on the table like other machines where there's a table thing that the piece is laying flat on? And about the orbital sander you mentioned in the Yamuraiha cosplay, is it different from a normal electric sander that are square and not circle? And other than those two, do you have any other machine/electrical tools that you use? Sorry for all the questions.. especially if they're elementary..
ReplyDeleteI use a saw horse when I do my cutting, and I typically clamp a guide bar (straight piece of material) along the prop to guide myself for a straight line. As for clamping the piece down on a saw horse you rely on your hand to guide and stabilize. I rarely do wood working on a table.
DeleteThe palm sander (square that vibrates) are for fine detail work and we almost never use them. In the sanding hierarchy, generally, from most material removed to least it goes:
1. Angle grinder
2. Belt sander
3. Orbital sander
4. Palm sander
5. Hand sanding
Hope that clarifies things!
Where did you get that amazing looking red fabric?
ReplyDeleteI can't seem to find it anywhere
The model made it. She used what I think is a velvet and etched the pattern into it. She has a knack for things that would normally drive people insane...
DeleteEverything about this cosplay looks beautiful and marvelous, you did such a great job on the weapons. I'm looking to do Nurse Akali for PAX Prime this year, and I'll have to make my own weapons, so I was wondering; When you layer the wood and pvc board, how do you make the sides look completely smooth? In the beginning you can see the cracks and each layer, but at the end it looks like you just used one piece of wood/pvc for the whole thing, so I wanted to know how you made everything look completely smooth?
ReplyDeleteIt's mostly sanding. I add Bondo Auto Body Filler to gaps and then sand them flush using an orbital sander/belt sander. Hope that helps!
DeleteThanks so much! I hope mine can come out looking half as decent as yours, you're a wonderful craftsman. Can't wait to see more from you (;
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