Sunday, July 1, 2012

How I’m Making a “Real” Version of Rei’s Sword

work in progress 2012.07.01 - paper and popsicle stick sword materials

As part of the huge Oh No! Manga event occurring later this month, I’ve decided to make a real life version of Rei’s sword in Karma.

I don’t really know if there’s a proper way of making these things of not, but my nephew suggested a kind of craft board he uses for his Gundam model kits. He has no idea what it’s called, but the material feels like plastic, and it can be cut and shaped with an ordinary box cutter. The only problem is, Rei’s sword has a very thin blade, so I did some research and found Returacan on YouTube.

work in progress 2012.07.01 - paper sword handle popsicle stick supports

His technique in making swords involves the use of hardened paper, which is basically normal copy paper glued together twice or thrice, depending on what you’re going to use it for. I skipped that part and used his technique of adding support using popsicle sticks and hot glue.

work in progress 2012.07.01 - paper sword tip popsicle stick supports

So far so good. I tried to swing it a couple of times, and the 2cm blade is quite durable, but not strong enough. I decided to use Returacan’s technique again, but instead of wrapping just the handle of the blade with paper and glue, I did the entire length of the blade. It’s like paper mache without the water, so the paper layer is much straighter than its watery counterpart.

work in progress 2012.07.01 - paper sword covered in dry paper mache

My main concern with this sword is how I’m going to build the hand guard and hilt. I’m regretting how much detail I put into this sword now that I’m making a real one, mainly because I’m not sure how to translate what I drew into a 3D replica!

Oh well… I’ve been working on this for 2 days now, I think I’ll take a little break after I put another layer of newspaper and glue.

4 comments:

  1. Sorry I couldn't respond yesterday, had a bit of an issue Dx

    It's much bigger then what I was expecting xD It looks awesome so far :D

    how do you plan on finishing it?

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  2. Still trying to figure that out... I have an idea how I can construct the hand guard and hilt, but I'm just not sure if it will work or not.

    And I'm currently too pooped out from all that heavy lifting that I think I might pass out soon. @_@;;;

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  3. I'm quite excited to see this one. If suoh attends the cosplay camp, will you let him wield your sword for picture purposes??? :3

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  4. Of course! Then again, Infalna will be the one carrying the sword all day long. xD He'd have to ask her. :))

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