During the few years I have been into cosplay, I have made a couple of different swords, and I see no sense to make different entries of them all, so here comes!
Group picture, yay!
Let's start in a chronological order, shall we?
Giant Gladius
My first prop sword, which was kind of a rush job knocked in two days(still my record time!)
Blade is made from a pine plank, with the pi shape cut and diamon profile planed. The blade and the handle tang are of the same piece which gives it remarkable sturdiness.
Speaking of the handle, it's a lenght of PVC plumbing pipe with red string wrapped around it. The handguard is made from 1cm x 1cm pine sticks glued together to form a plate. Pommel&handguard ring are some random plumbing rings, which I found lying around, conveniently of the correct diameter. Pommel rivets are brass upholstery tacks.
One more shot of the blade profile. Also note the scratches on the tip from furious use in cons.
Silver sword, The Retribution
Originally made for my Witcher cosplay, but eventually used countless times in random costumes, and named. My personal favourite of my swords, and my favourite prop.
The blade and handguard are made of pine, with the profiles sanded with a belt sander. handle is again a lenght of PVC.
The handle is wrapped with red satin ribbon. The pommel cap is made of a faucet turnwheel. I think it's pretty ingenious, and has a nice shape.
The weapon's name written on the blade. The letters' outline was carved in with an X-Acto knife(a bitch) and the letters painted with thinned black ink.
The tip, worn from two years of hard use. The fuller was cut in with a table router.
Longsword
The steel sword for my Witcher cosplay. Also used in other costumes countless times.
Blade is pine, with the edges shaped with a plane, handle is a lenght of PVC.
Handguard is 1cm x 1cm pine rod. Handle is wrapped with leather.
Pommel is again made of a turnwheel. (I have a box full of these just for this reason!)
Runes are scribed in with an X-acto, and washed with brown paint to give a sense of pitted rust and grime.
Witch-king's Morgul blade (LOTR Fellowship)
The dagger that the witch-king used to stab Frodo on Weathertop. I needed a cool dagger for another cosplay, and I decided to hit two birds with one rock.
The blade and handguard was made from a scrap piece of floor panel(which is essentially MDF)
Blade was shaped on a belt sander and the imperfections later cut in with an X-acto.
The core for the handle was an aluminum pipe, as I wanted some heft for this, as MDF is not as heavy as wood. Otherwise the dagger would have been playfully light. The thicker section in the handle near the hanguard was made by wrapping cloth tightly around the handle, and was covered in cloth tape. Cheap and alot easier than lathing a properely shaped handle!
The pommel is made with the same trusty technique. Still unpainted though.
One more glamour shot. The scabbard is thin floppy leather, but it retains it's shape surprisingly well when the blade isn't inserted. Chape and locket are bent from thin aluminum.
I get frequently asked about my painting technique, and many times my props have been mistaken to be real metal. I use a rim silver basecoat, which on it's own looks just horrible, followed by washes with black ink, which gives the metallic paint alot of depth and dull shine. This is followed, when needed, with colour washes, like brownfor rust, or as in the Witchking dagger, green to give it an eerie feel. This _should_ be followed with a clearcoat, but although most of my props aren't clearcoated, the washes haven't worn off. Not using clearcoat leaves the weathering non-waterproof, but should stand a little rain, as long as you're not soaking your props in water.
That's it about my swords, thanks for reading!
