I had at one time considered getting a replica from Sal D'Aquila, but after discussing it with him could not convince him to offer me one without the handle epoxied onto the blade,
I completely understand his reasoning on it however, all one needs to do is browse youtube or read some of the horror stories over at SFI to understand why.
I love the highlander sword, it's what originally got me interested in Japanese blades as a kid, but when it's all said and done, regardless of how nice, you essentially have what amounts to a plastic handle.
It's what got me started on swords PERIOD!:cool
More than every other average kid anyway. From the point I saw Highlander on I knew I had to have that sword. I went all the shortcuts, sad ones even for a 15 year-old: cheap vague asian sword from the swapmeet..painted the hilt white. it served for a while, until I got a cheap Taiwan samurai sword!!! Trust me, it was a step up.
After wrapping the hilt in white cloth(man, am I a prop nerd or what? Just looking for the appearance :lol) I got ambitious and replaced the hollow nylon handle. After breaking a couple of fairly nice wooden grips, I got REALLY ambitious and made this:
It's a nylon rod capped with a pine carved dragon head. I cut the head with a jigsaw and a utility knife(seriously) and refined it with tiny files. The nylon is tougher than rock, and after an insane amount of power sanding, I finished it with my Wizard tool, carving the tail with a barrel sanding bit.
Man I wish I could control these moments of productivity!
The blade is the same United Cutlery 440 katana blade, tsuba and habaki(same model as was used by Butch in Pulp Fiction) It's an item I made so will never get rid of it, but MAN that D'Aquila is pretty. I'll never have an exact match for the prop, that much is pretty certain, but that replica ain't a bad substitute.
Paint works, just make sure you sand well first. This is a good quality enamel, years of handling and it hasn't really come off(got dirty, not washing it for aging purposes).
