Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess: Link's Master Sword!

[Trix]

Hey guys! This is my first official build I am working on. Would love some tips on things I should maybe think of for future parts of the build/maybe some things it looks like I should work on.

First time really getting down and dirty with this hobby, so any and all critique is welcome!

Decided to start with a sword from my favorite series, The Legend of Zelda. This sword specifically will be the Twilight Princess sword since it is the most detailed of the current swords (Why did I choose the most detailed one for my first try...)

I avidly follow Volpin and Blind Squirrel Props (I hope it's OK to name drop) blogs, and noticed they like to take two pieces of wood and route down the middle for a steel pole to go for strength. So that's what I did! I have a lot of smoothing and refining of some edges to do, so I am going to pull the dremel tool out tomorrow and keep working.

Pictures below! I will update this as often as I progress on the project, which will hopefully be daily!

 

[Olsen Designer]

hmmm looking good already..

 

[MooMooEgg]

Nice. There can never be enough Zelda prop builds =)

 

[Trix]

OK so not a big update. But an update none the less.

Big thing is, I am at a bit of a loss right now. I decided to try some Apoxie Sculpt for the wing guards of the blade, and decided to at least try to sculpt one side first to see how it would turn out. I feel like I either didn't mix the apoxie well enough, or maybe my measurements were off, but the sculpt stayed very sticky for a very long time, and would tear when trying to do any carving/sculpting within the 3 hour period.

Below are some pictures of the lack of progress, but I would love to hear feedback as to what I did wrong (or if that's just how it is supposed to react), or maybe any other suggestions. I read somewhere that some people only use small amounts of apoxie sculpt over cheaper clay as to not waste to much.

Any thoughts?

 

[jimbo7]

I will be watching this closely!

 

[Trix]

So the guard as I expected is the most difficult part for me so far. After failing in my attempt at a single mass of Apoxie sculpt, I decided to reduce my lost costs of using a lot more apoxie sculpt to get the job done. So, I decided to buy some cheap dry floral foam to try my hand at shaping that.

It seems to have turned out well, although I feel I may need to get a higher density foam as I have to be extremely light handed with this current foam as dents are almost imminent. My goal was to shape the foam and cover it with a thin layer of apoxie sculpt or some sort of hardening agent. Also, I bought bricks and was considering gluing them all together, however it would probably be more beneficial shaping one large piece rather then multiple small parts and trying to fit them together.

So this update is more or less an update of trial and error. But! I am getting much more comfortable with my tools and the design process/idea.

 

[Hazz]

Im currently working on a Majora's Mask from wood too, carved it all out and done the horns from Acrylic Resin, a good idea for wood products is if you can get the basic shape for the hand guard is use this stuff like car bondo called "repair wood for good" its like a paste that dries like wood and can be sanded and everything! It can even stick wood together VERY strongly, hope this helped =]

 

[Trix]

Thanks Hazz! Great idea, if my current approach leaves me unsatisfied I may take a shot at shaping the guards out of wood like you said. I'll have to check out this bondo like stuff you are talking about, I love bondo, so I am sure I would love that product as well.

 

[Trix]

UPDATE (finally)

So, I molded some guards out of natural clay about a week ago, and decided to go the air dry method to avoid as much shrinkage as possible. So far I am very pleased with the outcome, although I now need to do a little extra shaping to get the two pieces symmetrical (wish me luck). If I can't get the clay to come out as smooth as I would like, I may make a thin layer of apoxy sculpt to lay over the tops, unless anyone has any idea of a good clay sealer/finish.

 

[Marmite taz]

UPDATE (finally)

So, I molded some guards out of natural clay about a week ago, and decided to go the air dry method to avoid as much shrinkage as possible. So far I am very pleased with the outcome, although I now need to do a little extra shaping to get the two pieces symmetrical (wish me luck). If I can't get the clay to come out as smooth as I would like, I may make a thin layer of apoxy sculpt to lay over the tops, unless anyone has any idea of a good clay sealer/finish.

might sound stupid but i use clear nail polish or pva glue as a sealer :confused

 

[Trix]

That doesn't sound stupid at all, and actually makes quite a bit of sense. I was thinking of just doing a thin wax layer before molding the guard, but that could get messy, so I may try your nail polish idea, thanks!

 

[Trix]

Due to still being in the early stages of this build, I may be adjusting this sword to a Skyward Sword Master Sword build, not that it will change much.

 

[nick daring]

or you could just stop right now and say it's the wooden sword.



Nick

 

[Trix]

You know, that was one of my first thoughts when I made the cuts! But that would have been to boring to end then.