Heaven Sword project update II

I was able to do more work on the sword yesterday.

Also, I finally got to use a decent camera for pictures of my progress!

I tested out my idea of using a sanding disc attached to my power drill to shape and carve the foam of the sword on the prototype I messed up on, and I'm glad to say that my ideas work.
Here is an example of how I shaped the prototype with only a few minutes of work with the drill:

 This is just a rough mock-up, the final prop will be shaped by drill, and hand-sanded to final shape.

I filled in the holes in the top and bottom of the sword with expanding foam in a can, and started another project with it.  I have to wait for 24 hours for the foam to cure, but I still could mark out where I'm going to cut the shape of the sword.

I've put a source picture and my marked sword next to each other to compare the dimensions.  You can see where I had to remark the prop to move the guard, by sanding off most of the old marks.  Here is a close up of the markings for the guard and hilt.

I'm going to make the guard collars from Milliput or other air-cure epoxy or clay.  I have some left over from my Hellboy halloween costume from a few years back, but I'm not sure if its still good.

Once the foam is cured, I'll be able to start carving the blade and hilt and then to final shaping of the piece.

In other projects, here is a beginning picture of my next project:

  

These are the raw foam forms I will be carving into a pair of Satyr horns, using a technique I picked up from another costuming/propmaking blog called Kamui Cosplay.  This should yield a pair of lightweight horns I can glue to my head and wear around all day.  I used a similar technique to make Hellboy's horn-stubs, but I used paper-clay and liquid latex to glue them to my forehead, and it worked beautifully!

Cheers for now!

~W

Heaven Blade prop update

so, I began again on the Heaven Blade prop, and did a few things differently this time.

I checked the prototype, and the glue I had used is still not cured in some places!  That's what I get for using too much, and not taking the time to do it right.  I had to use my cell phone camera again for these pictures.  (I  really need to get a camera for myself!)

I will continue the construction method I first devised, a dowel spine and the blade made of two halves of polystyrene insulation.  As with the prototype, I used a dremel to route a channel for the spine, but I made it by running two passes right next to one another, ending up with a channel that was 1/2" wide by 1/4" deep.

Next, I ran a bead of glue down the middle of the channel and inserted the dowel rod into the channel.  I'm letting the bead of glue cure before I put the other half of the body on, to make sure that it cures all the way.  Here I've clamped it with the new clamps I bought.  I had to use come scrap material to extend the reach of the clamp jaws.

 Here is a close-up of the dowel in the channel.  I only used a small amount of glue, so hopefully it will be cured by tomorrow, and I can sandwich the pieces together Friday night., then on to shaping the blade and defining the edges, hilt and grip on Saturday!

That's all for now, I'll update more when I get more done!

Heaven Blade continued, and further news

So over the weekend, I went to do more work on the sword prop for my friend, and I discovered, to my dismay, that the glue was still wet.  It was probably because of the cold temperatures over the weekend, and that I am working in my basement, and I probably used too much glue in my haste.  I can see a few other things I messed up as well.

It appears as I will have to start over.  (Boooo!)  This may be a blessing in disguise, though.  I went to the local home improvement giganto-store, and found a few more dowel rods that were almost perfectly straight!  I also opted to pick up a set of better clamps, the ratcheting kind with pistol-grips.

I'm going to rethink my design and make a new blank for the sword, working slower this time, by making one side of the sandwich first, by gluing the spine in and letting it dry before gluing the other half down.  It is good to see that my construction methods and ideas are sound, however, and it was just my haste that set me back.

Seems to be a characteristic of mine.

Pictures will go up here when I do more work.

I may get to do some work on it tonight, but I had to spend most of my day re-installing everything on my PC, as my OS freaked out on me, and I found out my backup wasn't just that so much.  As I'm writing this, I'm re-installing my video card drivers, which should be the last step.  I don't have all the programs I once did, but I've got most of them back.

Heaven Blade prop

I've taken on a project for a friend of mine. He will be cosplaying Layfon Wolfstein Alseif from the series Chrome Shelled Regios, and he wanted me to help him by making Layfon's sword.

You can see the costume my friend will be wearing and his sword here:



I decided the easiest way to make the sword would be to sandwich 2 halves of polystyrene insulation foam (the pink foam sheets you see at the hardware store) around a wooden dowel spine for strength and stability.
I had to go with wood due to rules of the convention my friend will be attending, as they do not allow metal in any form for props or armor-type costumes.

I apologize for the quality of these photos, I could not find my camera, and had to make do with my cellphone's camera. >.<



Here I have cut two strips of insulation approximately 6" x 48" in dimension, and the 1/2" x 48" wood dowel.  I haven't done any work on the material yet; I just wanted to get a photo of the materials. To cut the foam I used the jigsaw I got for Xmas, (thanks mom & dad!) set to the lowest speed.


Next, I marked a center line and routed a channel down each piece using a dremel with routing bit, and a depth guide set to 1/4". I expanded each channel with the dremel again, this time with a sanding drum bit.


I did a test fitting of the dowel before gluing anything together.

Polystyrene is a neat material, light and easy to work with tools, but certain solvents and other chemicals can melt it. Among them are Acetone and chemicals found in fiberglass resin. I wanted to keep things cheap so I had to use what I had on hand. I glued the two halves together around the spine using a glue called Mod Podge. Its basically white glue, but would work perfectly for what I had in mind. I don't have any pictures of me applying the glue, as I had to work quickly.

After gluing, I clamped the two halves together, as the dowel was slightly warped. To my chagrin, I discovered just how cheap the cheap clamps I bought were, when one broke right after I put it on the piece! I had to improvise slightly to keep the two halves together while the glue dries, so I stacked a few boxes and old books on the piece while it dries on the floor of my basement.

I will post more once the glue is dry and I've done more work.

~Cheers~

Welcome to the Grid

Hey there everyone!  This is going to be a showcase and build log for my varied and numerous projects.  I've mainly been inspired by the prop blogs of Volpin Props and Blind Squirrel Props, so I decided to make my own.
I will be posting as I work on projects, and with anything else I find that I think is cool, so stay tuned!