Morrowind glass war axe (WIP)

My favorite weapon from any video game will always be the glass war axe from Morrowind. I'm not sure what it is about it, but I have a feeling that I see myself in it - feminine, but I'll ***** you up! Haha.

Anyway, I started my project by making the crystals and the blade out of polymer clay. I've sent a message to Sculpey to find out if their clay has sulfur in it (I've read that it doesn't, but it's always good to be 100% sure). I made 2 crystals and I plan on casting each one twice (if you look at what a glass war axe is supposed to look like, not every crystal is unique. The top and middle crystals are the same, and the bottom and umm.. 10 o'clock crystals are also identical.

My second step was to glue floral foam bricks together and carve the body of it. I left out the large bevels on the end so I could make them separately and glue them on later. This was a FREAKING NIGHTMARE. I will never use floral foam again. There was green dust floating in the air for hours. It clung to everything and made it hard to breathe (I have asthma). Anyway, I am pretty thrilled with how it turned out, regardless.

Now I'm in the "cover the ***** out of it with Mod Podge" phase. I've lost count of how many layers at this point, but it's starting to lose that foam feel.



I threw in the dummies of one of the crystals and the blade so you can get a feel for what it's going to look like. The handle is an aluminum broomstick.

My next step is to add the details in Insta-Morph, then cover it all in Rondo. I'm going to cast the crystals and blade in resin with green translucent dye, with just a drop or two of opaque swirled in.

I'm super hopeful that this project will turn out pretty sweet, but I'm not entirely sure I'm on the right track. I've read a lot on the subject and I've watched a ton of tutorials, but it seems like everyone's got a different method and different materials that they put together. I also want to know if anyone has any suggestions on how I can secure the crystals and blade to the body. I have professional adhesive (in a blue bottle? It's powerful stuff and burns like fire if you get it on your skin) and epoxy.

Most glues will be fine, epoxy would be my bet, just make sure you key (scratch/score/sand, anything that'll give a better physical bond) the crap out of the two surfaces first.
alternatively go for a mechanical bonding, drill through both, tap it and shove a bolt in there, cover up bolt head with body filler, obviously countersink it too.

use both methods and it'll be so tough you'll be able to swing off it

i have a feeling this is going too take you a while...pretty cool, though. good luck.

skyconlb said:

i have a feeling this is going too take you a while...pretty cool, though. good luck.

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You weren't kidding! This is really taking a long time.

Ok, so here's where I'm at now: I coated the body of the axe in rondo about 3 or 4 times, sanding it down each time.



While the rondo was drying, I cut out the bevels from craft foam:



I made silicone molds for the glass parts as well. Here are the jewel details:



And one of the crystal spikes:



I MIGHT have gone a little overboard with the spot putty once the rondo was dry and resanded:



I just want it to be really smooth and sexy ... Anyway, I think I will coat it in another layer of rondo next, then add the 3d details with Instamorph. Then probably rondo it again (It's kind of my favorite). After that, I'll spot putty again. Then I'll add the handle details (I'm thinking non-pariels for the bumpy parts) and spray paint glossy black, then silver. Lastly, I'll age the metal texture and glue in the crystals. THE END IS NEAR!!!!!!

*Also, the axe looks really crooked in the last picture. It's not, it's just the angle, I think. Looks good in person.

Those jewel details are going to look really cool. Nice project.

joshvanrad said:

Those jewel details are going to look really cool. Nice project.

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Thank you!

I added the details on the handle. I really like how they turned out!



I coated everything in Rondo, sanded out the details, and THOUGHT I was ready for the final paint job, but I was wrong ... I posted about it in another thread, but I'll recap. Basically, the raised details were done in Instamorph. There were a good deal of picks from sanding it, but I thought they were minor enough to disappear under a thick coat of spray paint, but that only made it worse. I gave it another coat of Rondo, but that was a huge mistake. First of all, the Bondo that I used to make the Rondo was a little thick. When combined with the resin, it made little tiny chunks. I was thinking I could sand it out once it dried, but because of the spray paint underneath, it won't really dry. Well, it dried on the outside, but it's still kind of tacky. And it's completely wet on the spray paint layer. I can't sand anything without making a huge sticky mess. Here's what it looks like with the chunky Rondo.



I've since hand-peeled off the Rondo. From here, I'll sand off the spray paint, redo the details, and probably put on another coat of Rondo (with new Bondo!) before I attempt the spray paint again. I put the "glass" pieces on, just to see what it will look like. I think the bottom crystal is too dark, so I'll probably throw that one and make another one. Other than that, I think it's starting to look more like what I want it to look like

Setbacks always suck, but they come with the territory I guess. Keep it up!

Spray painted and weathered! I haven't glued the "glass" parts on yet, but this is what it will look like when I do! This has been quite the learning experience. I think for a first big project, I picked something that's pretty hard, but I'm very happy with how it turned out! As a few finishing touches, I'm going to try to get the texture out of the blade, then I'd like to go over the glass parts with a yellow wash. They look too green to me. The original is more of a green-yellow. Also, I think I'm going to add a few silver highlights in the metal. Please let me know what you think and if there's anything else I should do before I call it good.

*Edit: I know the top crystal is crooked. I crammed it in there for the purposes of taking a picture. When I glue it, it will be straight

Looking really good, glad to see you recovered from the tacky rondo

Sent from my Nexus 4

TrentR said:

Looking really good, glad to see you recovered from the tacky rondo

Sent from my Nexus 4

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Me too! I was thinking that that was going to be it for a while. I bought some rub n' buff last night to add some highlights and now it really looks spiffy! I'll post pictures later tonight.

Good to see this nearly completed !
A beautiful choice of weapons to build.

Take some shots of the whole thing!

Finally finished!!!

Made a wall mount so that every time I walk into my bedroom, I see my axe <3

Very nice!

That's one fine axe!

joshvanrad said:

That's one fine axe!

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Thank you!