GW2 Firebringer/FotM swords

[Hawk Callo]

Hey guys,
i am currently working on a pair of swords from Guild Wars 2 and i would love to see your feedback and i might need some advice with painting.

So the first one is Firebringer.
Reference:


Modeling went alright as it is made mostly from MDF.
Paintjob s pretty good except the blade, i dont really like how the weathering turned out and i might repaint it, even though i don't know how to make it better.



Second sword from Fractal of the Mists is still heavy WIP.


Mostly made from MDF and styrene sheets, blade will be held by steel rod.



Painting the blade of this one is going to be quite an experience as i have no idea how am i going to do it, so some advice would be appreciated

Thanks for feedback and your advice!

More images on my FB (i'll be updating this post): https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hawk-mods-and-props/749396548458200

 

[novacat17]

Hey Hawk,

Nice work, I do love a good blade build. As far as painting mdf, I have recently discovered the joy and wonder that is filler primer and wet sanding. Forgive me if you know all this already, but if not:

The big problem with MDF and this shows a bit in the first blade image, is that is absorbs everything so much. You can seal it, but that may not get the smooth look you want in a blade (it keeps the MDF texture). So I would recommend getting filler primer (check a local auto zone or other auto supply store) and some wet-dry sand paper (I use 200-400 grit, higher if I want to cast the item and need a super smooth finish). Get two colors of the primer. Do a base coat and let it dry, then hit it with some wet sand paper (you may remove a good bit of the paint doing this). After you do this, repeat the process 3-4 times, alternating the color. As you do this you will notice that the mdf builds up a coat of super smooth finish that can cover many earlier mistakes (if you are like me, I get a bit saw happy with MDF). The result, however, is a blade that will take any other paint very well (for a good metal, check out other automotive colors, they have some good metal colors and many shades). The finish is also quite smooth. It is a bit time consuming and labor intensive (wear a mask when you sand of course, but working with mdf, you already knew that). Otherwise, I have gotten great results! It saves make quite a bit of time when I am finishing a piece.

Specifically, that glowing effect may be tricky, but if you are just going for that color, then a good base coat for the blade followed by some dark washing and lighter dry brushing in those high areas may provide the result you want. If you use the method I mentioned above for the priming, then the gnarly bits by the cross guard would be less of an issue to paint.

Are you planning to sculpt part of the blade at the bottom?

By the way, another alternative I have used on blades is to grab some aluminum tape (used for duct work and other household stuff) and stick that on the blade. I then steel wool the crap out of it to give it a very rough appearance and hit it with a good dark paint wash. The results can be a bit fake looking if not done well, but it is promising if time is taken. It also gives a metallic texture rather than mdf.

I look forward to updates!

 

[Hawk Callo]

Thanks for tips novacat, as sealing the MDF goes I usualy use 2 layers of spray filler and primer, sanding the hell out of it between layers (200 - 800).

Painting bottom part of the FotM sword is going to be a big fight as i will have to learn a lot with acrylics, so it will take really long time and i hope i won't give up


Bottom of the blade is being sculpted, it looks good so far, but there will be a lot of filling to be done


Thanks for tips

 

[novacat17]

Wow, excellent sculpting on the bottom of the blade. As far as the acrylics work, I would recommend looking up tutorials on painting war minatures (stuff like warhammer 40k and others) and these tutorials are usually very detailed about things like washes, transparent effects, glowing, fine detailing, texturing, and much more. All the paint is usualy acrylic based, so it would be in the right area. Dry brushing and washing are probably two of the biggest, non-air brush paint ideas that I have learned in terms of getting great detail out of a surface. The methods are also good at hiding any sins in construction (curse my constantly visible glue marks).