I primed this with a filler primer. This was the first time I used it on an area this large. Filler primer is supposed to fill in any minor defects in your piece, so it has a thicker consistency than typical primer. This made wet sanding less fun than it should be. I didn't like using it too much, but I have a good bit left so I'll have to use it some more.
Once satisfied with the surface I made a mold box. I make a lot of my mold box walls out of faux wood blinds. They are easy to shape with just your hands, but not so flimsy that they won't hold that shape. I shape the pieces as necessary, score them, and snap them in half. Hot glue is used to adhere the joints together. It's cheap and easy. I put supports across the top to keep the walls from bowing out and creating more space to have to fill with silicone.
The handle for this sword is a very simple design. The grip is a piece of one inch pvc pipe. The ends are turned mdf. On the bottom piece of mdf I added a piece of urethane that I cast in my paint tray. All of these pieces are glued together with a two part epoxy adhesive.
Just a little bit of work was necessary to make this look like one uniform piece. Spot filler to hide the joints.
Primed with my favorite primer, Krylon ruddy brown. Ready for wet sanding.
Since this is a two part mold, I needed taller walls than what the blinds could provide. I used cardboard to make the walls. This was a test to see how low budget I could go with a mold box. I also decided to try registration keys facing both directions.
When making a replica in this way, one side to be mirrored, there is a bit of worry at this point. Nothing is laser cut and everything is done by hand. Will it all match up properly?
I had to do a few castings to figure out how to get the most accurate pieces, and overall they line up pretty well. Of course there is the inevitable joining seam line. Once the pieces were adhered together ( using two part epoxie ), I filled all the seam gaps with milliput.
Once the milliput was cured I smoothed everything out with spot filler.
The piece was primed to check for accuracy in the seam and to prepare for paint.
I drilled a hole about 3/4 of the way down into the handle. A piece of rebar was put into that hole and joined to the handle with urethane. Another hole is drilled into the blade and the other end of this rebar will be mounted into the blade with more urethane. This is how the handle will be secured to the sword and give it complete support.
Base coat of purple.
The black markings were made using a technique I use for rust spots. I paint the spots globing more paint in some spots than others and let the paint get a skin on it. Next I dab water onto the paint and let it set shortly. With a wet brush or small sponge, I remove all the loose paint. If too much comes off, I go over it again.
I didn't document the handle texturing with photos. I primed and applied several layers of paint onto a medium grit sandpaper. The sizing was figured up and cut out of the paper. I super glued the paper to the handle and added super glue to the seam to make sure it wouldn't peel apart.
Skeletors version of the sword-
He-Mans version of the sword-
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