first attempt at making a prop sword, advice needed!

Hi,

so I'm attempting my first prop build, a sword, I read about a latex method I want to try but unfortunately I've had problems with my laptop recently and had to clear a lot of stuff off it and now I cant find the site I was looking at or anything that seems like a similar way of doing it, it went something like this:

1. make the blade out of clay
2. paint it with a few layers of latex
3. cut and peel off the latex and fill it with shredded upholstery foam
4. seal up the edges with more latex
5. paint etc

does this sound at all right?

are there steps missing or is this method no good at all?

It seems very different to other methods I've seen since where people have made the sword from foam and then layered it in latex, I am willing to try other methods but I've already made the clay "blade" so I'd rather find a way to use it and not have wasted the last 2 days and a big chunk of clay haha

also is this the type of latex you'd use for prop making?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/500ML-Liq...UK_Clothing_Masks_JD&var=&hash=item1c48b2fa3c

I've never done this before so any tips or advice are most welcome,

thank you,
Izzy

If you want to make a soft sword than you could use the method we use here in the Netherlands for making Larp weapons. First you need a strong lightly flexible core, I use to use strong carbon kite rods. Then build the sword around that with a firm but soft foam, sleeping mats work great. Then you paint the sword with liquid latex coloring it with water based paint. Warhammer paint works great. Let it dry and you're done.

Hope this helps

-R-

Personally, I'd use silicon to make a 2 part mold of the blade. That could then be filled with a polyeurethane foam with a carbon kite rod for rigidity.

Izzy,

First off, a sword is a great first project in many ways, as it can really help you get a feel for some of the issues in building. However, I would highly recommend that you start by making what you want in wood. Actually, start by sketching out exactly what you want full size. Personally, I use computer drawing software and then print in full scale (print to a few sheet and tape it together. This gives you a sense of the size before you commit to materials. In any project, materials will eat through your pockets faster than anything, so it is always good to have a plan.

Here are some rough steps:

Step one, get a template going or a few base designs you like. I would warn against anything too fancy or trying to mimic real blade stuff, like adding a fuller. All you really need is an outline.

Step two, pick a basic material to work in. You mentioned clay, but this could be rather troublesome as you will not have good feel for the whole object before spending the time and money to try and "cast" it. Some cheap solutions:

Wood (I prefer it for weight and easy of use, but it does require more tools and patience)

Craft & tile foam (go to a harbor freight or home depot and pick up those large foam tile sets for floors. You will have a very "flat" sword, but you can get a feet for the shape. People do amazing things with this foam, including weapons. Search evil FX and foam daedric sword on youtube for some great examples).

Foam board (this is the more solid foam that your can find for poster board projects at michaels or other craft places. Personally, I hate the stuff and find it hard to cute and work with, as it likes to gouge, but the price is often right and it is good for testing.)

Old boxes (I have moved a lot so I have quite a bit of this. It work, but is not always clean and you may have more paper cuts than you would like).

Once you have a good version of your sword down (it may take a few iterations) you can consider foam options. If you just used the craft foam though, you are probably done! This is where my experience tapers off a bit, as I have not completed a skinned foam sword in the style you described in your post (I have done it with craft foam). Any way, you might want to check out smooth on products like Foam-IT! Or PT-flex 60 from Brick in the Yard (just google the names for videos). There are soft and hard varieties and if I remember correctly PT-flex is self skinning (meaning your should be able to poor it in and get a somewhat decent result from a good mold) but I am not sure about foam it. Indeed, Brink in the Yard's video on making a foam hammer is probably exactly the process you want.

Most of the steps I gave came from learning the hard and expensive way. We all dream big and that is good, but it is also good to be prepared! In any case, the videos and products I mentioned at the end should get you more information regardless.

Good luck and make sure to let us all see what you come away with!

The post above is a great tip. My experience is making swords for larping, but making one out of wood is a great place to start. You can make almost any type of sword using wood. And if you use MDF you can get e nice smooth finish on the blade, crossgaurd, handle and pommel. If you want a sword that can handle a beating than you should lol for a piece of wood with a straight grain for the blade. We use to use wooden swords training medieval martial arts before we went on to using nylon wasters and steel federswords.

-R-

RvanAken makes a good point. Exactly what is the purpose for the piece? If the goal is to have a "bopping" sword, wood might work alright, but you may want to be careful. As indicated, wood can provide great results. I would recomend grabbing a cheap piece of red oak about 1/4" thick and moving on from there. The stuff you get at a homedepot has rather large grains, but this is easily solved with a good few coats of filler primer and some wet-sanding for an ultrasmooth finish. This would also make casting it much easier, since ANY mistake in clay, even the smallest one that you dont notice at first, would clearly show in a finished pull from such a mold.

I am also curious on what style of sword this will be. Could you show a picture of your clay mockup?

this is great thanks everyone for taking the time to reply, it going to be Lady Sifs sword from Thor: The Dark World and here is a picture of my clay model:



I think you're probably right about clay not being the best for casting, I was quite pleased with the results at first but the more I look at it the worse it gets haha, there's a lot of little waves and uneven areas that would probably look really messy if I cast them, I think maybe I'll just start over, a lot of the methods you guys have mentioned sound better than trying to make this one work,

sorry I probably should have mentioned the sword is for cosplay at a comic con, so I don't think wood is a good option as they wont let me in with it, I also don't really have the equipment for wood work,

I really liked the Daedric sword tutorial you posted Novacat17 and I have a dremmel and a hot wire cutter I could borrow that could come in useful for that method, I think maybe that type of thing could work better instead of the clay, I have all the layers cut out in paper so I can reuse those and I also have an old sleeping mat I can cut up like RvanAken suggested, its not the best sleeping mat but it might be good to at least practice on before I spend anymore money as I'm on a pretty tight budget at the moment, I've made things out of craft foam before and just layered it in PVA glue then a primer spray and its painted up pretty well do you reckon that would work here too instead of latex? I appreciate that you have to spend a bit of money but I'm really trying to use stuff I already have as the budget is getting a bit out of control on this project!

I'll definitely share photos of the finished result if I ever pull this off, or even if it looks awful the results could still be entertaining hehe

Izzy,

I would highly recommend the foam approach if you want it to be con-safe. If you have a harbor freight in your area, they sell the large tiles rather cheap, but they are the thicker variety. You can pick up the thinner stuff for detail work at a craft supply store (with sales and online coupons, you can spend less than 20 dollars). You will probably want access to a sander (power hand sander) to remove any texturing on the mats you end up using, but sanding by hand with paper and a block gets the job done, albeit slower.

The process can create great results (lots of stuff on the RPF and other prop sites use this foam, search for good painting and even finishing methods). While it is a pity you lose the work on your clay - it looks good by the way - the foam approach will be cheaper, allow for more trial and error, and produce something you know will be con-safe. You can add wire or a small dowel to the core of the foam (cut out a slot) to add some strength and shape to the sword, so it does not go all droopy on you.

We all know that budget can get extreme. The foam method will be cheaper by far, as mistakes with casting can quickly add up. Check out OG Velociraptor's Destiny Hand Cannon build in foam to see some good possibilities for this stuff; the post is on one of the first few pages. Many people use the stuff for armor, but all those tips transfer really well to other projects. A tricky part may be the blade's taper, but this will probably just require some patience and practice. Still, if you get good layer thicknesses with the foam (i.e. the center layer is one piece of foam instead of a laminate), this will be less of an issue.

Good Luck!

Hi Everyone, I know I posted this question quite a while a go now but it has taken me several attempts to get my sword done, anyway I wanted to let you know how it went! this is version 4.5 (I say 4.5 because on one attempt I couldn't even get the foam glued together haha)

I think there is still room for improvement in several areas like you can kind of see where the pieces of foam join together and it's a bit rounded on the end, I kept trying to make it pointier but it was just making the sword shorter and shorter every time I shaved a bit off so I gave up haha but I'm happy with it for the moment, and I've learnt so much getting to this point so thanks so much for all you're tutorials and advice it has been invaluable

That looks really great, especially for a first attempt! I stumbled on your thread and really love how you took the general suggestions from people and created something really cool. Great job. Do you have any in progress pictures you can share?

Steps for making a Wooden sword:

1. Get a piece of wood .
2. If you are using a pank, draw your sword shape with pencil.
3. If you are using a young tree then remove the bark.
4. Using a knife start shaping the blade.
5. Amongst the shaping of the blade, you may want to make your handle into a sort of oval shape instead of a pure circle, this makes the sword more comfortable to grasp.6. Feel the weight of your sword, if it feels heavy take off some more material until it is the ideal weight.
7. When you have the perfect sword shape, sand your blade using sandpaper .
8. To make your sword more stylish, you may wrap the handle with electric tape.
9. If you wish to add a guard, take a file and file down the blade near the handle so the blade stays the same thickness up until the handle, then the handle just pops out.
10. Once the guard slides up perfectly to the handle, slide it up on the sword.

faille said:

That looks really great, especially for a first attempt! I stumbled on your thread and really love how you took the general suggestions from people and created something really cool. Great job. Do you have any in progress pictures you can share?

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thanks! yeah everyone's been really helpful, I'm a bit rubbish at recording my progress but I did take a couple of photos:

Awesome work. Great to see such a nicely detailed finished product

dipti said:

Steps for making a Wooden sword:

1. Get a piece of wood .
2. If you are using a pank, draw your sword shape with pencil.
3. If you are using a young tree then remove the bark.
4. Using a knife start shaping the blade.
5. Amongst the shaping of the blade, you may want to make your handle into a sort of oval shape instead of a pure circle, this makes the sword more comfortable to grasp.6. Feel the weight of your sword, if it feels heavy take off some more material until it is the ideal weight.
7. When you have the perfect sword shape, sand your blade using sandpaper .
8. To make your sword more stylish, you may wrap the handle with electric tape.
9. If you wish to add a guard, take a file and file down the blade near the handle so the blade stays the same thickness up until the handle, then the handle just pops out.
10. Once the guard slides up perfectly to the handle, slide it up on the sword.

Click to expand...

unfortunately I couldn't make it from wood as its for comic con and isn't allowed but this is really interesting and something to bare in mind for the future so thanks!

novacat17 said:

Awesome work. Great to see such a nicely detailed finished product

Click to expand...

thanks and thank you for all your help I really appreciate it

That sword turned out great. Good job.

And now some pics in costume.

-R-

RvanAken said:

That sword turned out great. Good job.

And now some pics in costume.

-R-

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thank you, I don't have any photos in the costume yet because it's not quite finished so I'm kind of saving it, but I've got some of how it is so far:


I still need to make the leggings and a chain mail skirt then its pretty much done!

Your sword and suit look great well done

Maryfoxfirebird said:

Your sword and suit look great well done

Click to expand...

Thank you

If you wnat more feedback and advice, look up the plasti-dip artists group on facebook. Reading through the thread all the methods mentioned work, some more difficult than others