Research thread:
BSG Cylon Sword - Research Thread
I'm working on a Cylon sword and I have the wrist guard and pommel (cast in resin). Does anyone know what kind of wood might have been used for the handle? Reference photo: Reference of the sword from Lost in Space: Condemned of Space
www.therpf.com
This is a project that I've had shelved for a long time and it's actually the last of the BSG props that I need to complete to finish off my collection, so I'm a little anxious to get this sword put together.
Oddly enough, this prop has sort of faded away from the public eye. No one is currently selling them either assembled or as kits, and the originals seem to have found permanent homes in someone's collection.
At some point in the past, someone was making resin casts of an original sword and selling them as kits. I was actually lucky enough to acquire two parts from one of these kits. This includes the guard and the knob that's attached to the very bottom:
Today, I'll be marking and cutting out the blade, then cleaning up the two resin parts. I'm using some standard 1/8" x 1.5" x 4' aluminum stock. I found this aluminum at ACE hardware. Oddly enough, I'm using the same size aluminum for a current run of ROTJ Jabba's Guard Pistol parts.
One of the nice things about working with aluminum for this prop is the fact that it can eventually be polished to the point where it can resemble the original prop, although it looks like the original was chromed plastic.
Using some reference photos and the parts I have, I've come up with some scales used to create a template for the point of the sword along with measurements for the entire prop. I used the template to mark the aluminum and then the remaining measurements to mark the rest of it:
I used a hack saw, mill and a belt sander to clean up the two resin pieces. At this point, I don't know if the knurled section of the guard will be useful when it comes time to attach the wooden handle, so I'm going to leave it as it for now.
The other side of the guard will be milled so that the blade can fit inside of it for stability, so that area will definitely need to be cleaned up:
After watching a you tube video on making swords, I've decided to simply cut a notch at the end of the aluminum handle and attached some standard 1/4" threaded rod, which will allow the installation of the resin knob. The knob actually came with a built-in wood screw, but I don't think this will be enough to stabilize the aluminum.
The aluminum is cut down and then milled, so here's the finished section with most of the parts in place:
At this point, we're ready to play.
The next step will be to finish machining the aluminum and then work on the wood for the handle.
Last edited: