Lightning
Master Member
It's 5 months until Halloween so It's time for me to start costume planning.
This year the Girlfriend and I are Emma Peel and John Steed. She has some sewing to do I have to find a Bowler hat that fits. But first I tackled the Umbrella.
This is a functional, rather than exactly screen accurate umbrella. I figured being able to draw the sword was the most important part. I have time to figure out how to simulate a whangee handle.
First of all I picked up a $10 umbrella on ebay. It's the one with the collapsible plastic sheath.
Disassembly:
removing the locking mechanism made the entire shaft hollow.
I used 5/16 stainless steel rod for the sword itself. The Brass tube is glued to the portion exposed here, but extends over the umbrella shaft
I used PC-11 to secure and fill the gap between the brass tube and steel rod. The front couple of inches have no adhesive, leaving a gap.
The unit slides into the umbrella handle all the way down to where it starts to bend. I was lucky it was all hollow, that wasn't needed to assemble the original umbrella but it is critical for the strength of my version. It's glued in.
A beveled rubber backed washer is glued to the end to give it a finished look
The other end of the tube gets finished with another piece of the same brass tubing and few brass bits and pieces
The assembled umbrella, still a few cosmetic things to work on. I need a 3/8 drill bit stop for the hilt to rest against.
The (almost) finished product
The end of the rod is rounded off. Since it doesn't have an sharp edges, I'm not entirely sure if it is legally a sword or not. And that's sort of important, if I want to carry it around. It still works as an umbrella, by the way.
This year the Girlfriend and I are Emma Peel and John Steed. She has some sewing to do I have to find a Bowler hat that fits. But first I tackled the Umbrella.
This is a functional, rather than exactly screen accurate umbrella. I figured being able to draw the sword was the most important part. I have time to figure out how to simulate a whangee handle.
First of all I picked up a $10 umbrella on ebay. It's the one with the collapsible plastic sheath.
Disassembly:
removing the locking mechanism made the entire shaft hollow.
I used 5/16 stainless steel rod for the sword itself. The Brass tube is glued to the portion exposed here, but extends over the umbrella shaft
I used PC-11 to secure and fill the gap between the brass tube and steel rod. The front couple of inches have no adhesive, leaving a gap.
The unit slides into the umbrella handle all the way down to where it starts to bend. I was lucky it was all hollow, that wasn't needed to assemble the original umbrella but it is critical for the strength of my version. It's glued in.
A beveled rubber backed washer is glued to the end to give it a finished look
The other end of the tube gets finished with another piece of the same brass tubing and few brass bits and pieces
The assembled umbrella, still a few cosmetic things to work on. I need a 3/8 drill bit stop for the hilt to rest against.
The (almost) finished product
The end of the rod is rounded off. Since it doesn't have an sharp edges, I'm not entirely sure if it is legally a sword or not. And that's sort of important, if I want to carry it around. It still works as an umbrella, by the way.
