Spook_Nukem
Freaked Out
I swear there was a thread a few months ago asking about how to go about making a 1/6 sword (knife) but for the life of me I can't find it. At the time I had a few projects I was playing around with but nothing I was able to get a picture of and go into detail about. I had an oppurtunity this past holiday weekend to get some photos and I figured I would show some examples of how I have gone about making some 1/6 scale bladed weaponry.
I have dabbled in a couple of different mediums but I will focus on two for starters.
Skewer Method
The first example I have to offer uses a ready made barbecue skewers as donor material to create the blade portion of a sword. I was attempting to create a daywalker sword and opted to use skewers after reading advice from several of the Blade customizers. I spent a good deal of time trying to find skewers that were relatively close in thickness and width. I finally settled on using a skewer that was about 5/32" wide by 1/16" thick. A bit on the thick side but it gave you enough material to work with in case you wanted to create a false edge but was thin enough to be sanded or filed down further if desired.
This first photo shows a skewer "blade" and three pieces of Plastruct styrene that I used to create the sheath. The wide middle piece was rectangular box tube that was large enough for the skewer to slid in and out of. The two outer pieces are half rounds that were the same thickness as the box tube. The half rounds were glued on to either side of the box tube to form the rounded sides of the sheath. I had picked up a Marvel Studios Blade figure on ebay but ended up transplanting the head sculpt and most of the clothes to a Triad Alpha body. I used this body to help chose the length of the blade. I ultimately used a blade length of 4.5" which in retrospect was probably a bit too long. A blade that was 0.5" to 0.75" shorter would have looked a bit better in respect to the narrow blade width. The sword handle was made from aluminum tubing (local Hobbytown store) and split rings from the jewelry making section of my local craft store (Michaels or AC Moore). I used a tubing cutter to make slight crimps in the tubing at specific lengths along the tube. I then used these crimped grooves to locate and glue the split rings. The hilt itself is stacked washers. I used a bit of apoxie sculpt to create the transition from handle to hilt.
This photo shows the assembled sword and sheath of my first daywalker prototype. Ultimately I think the blade is a bit too long and a little bit too narrow but it was a good learning experience. I was in a rush when I made the handle so I relied a bit too much on memory when making the hilt instead of waiting till I had a good photo reference at hand.
Paper Template Method
Next I will show an example using paper/plastic templates and a scratch made aluminum blade. I did this project with documentation in mind so thankfully I was able to create examples of each step along the way. The letters got a bit washed out when I imported them in my SSC gallery but I think you'll be able to follow along.
A. I roughed out the blade design on a piece of manilla folder (any thick paper would do, should be thin enough to cut but rigid enough to hold it's shape when you trace around it). This was a sloppy trace I made after the fact using the template from step B which is why the tang is crooked.
B. Once I had the basic shape down I cut out a paper template. This is a convient method to check the scale of your intended creation against any "handy" 1/6 scale figures you have close by.
C. When I am satisfied with the scale and shape of my paper template (if not head back to part A and start over) I trace the paper template onto a sheet of styrene plastic. Next we cut out the traced shape to create a styrene master template. Depending on the complexity of your paper template the cutting out portion can require as little as a hobby knife and straight edge or as much as files, sandpaper, a pair of snips, etc. The difficulty you experience cutting out the styrene template will give you an idea of what your getting into when you make the jump from styrene to aluminum.
D. Now I have used my completed styrene template to trace the pattern onto a thin sheet of aluminum (1/32" thick). First step is to rought cut out the shape using a pair of tin snips. Generally every time you trace a new generation using a pattern it gets slightly larger (by a pencil width). Personally I would rather be little bit big during the first pass because I can always file/sand to make it smaller, if you need to make something bigger you have to start over from scratch.
E. I have began to file and sand the blade to it's final design. I remove any jagged edges left from the tin snips and have trued up my straight edges. If the blade has parallel sides now is a good time to get them in order.
F. The blade is just about in it's final form. I have shaped the tang to allow me to slide a hilt onto the bottom end of the blade. I added some detail to the blades edge and have added a false edge along all the sharp edge of blade using a micro file and sand paper.
G. Final assembled bowie knife. I created a hilt using a piece of styrene plastic and a handle using apoxie sculpt. The bowie isn't quite finished as it needs runes added along the length of the blade and the handle will need to be painted up like a stag antler handle.
Close up of my "ruby" prototype.
Here are some other quick examples of the above method.
Falcata test pattern
Ghurka test pattern
If your looking for better examples of how to make weapons using styrene only I suggest you check out the work of Warriors 1st BN on the OSW forums.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/fo...ws-discussion/201552-custom-edge-weapons.html
OR
Check out the Punisher Warzone knife thread by our own Mollins
https://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63226
If anyone has some examples of their own work or would like to demonstrate a different method please feel free to post. I would like to provide this thread as an oppurtunity to share techniques or provide information to anyone wishing to try their hand at making their own weapons.
-Spook
I have dabbled in a couple of different mediums but I will focus on two for starters.
Skewer Method
The first example I have to offer uses a ready made barbecue skewers as donor material to create the blade portion of a sword. I was attempting to create a daywalker sword and opted to use skewers after reading advice from several of the Blade customizers. I spent a good deal of time trying to find skewers that were relatively close in thickness and width. I finally settled on using a skewer that was about 5/32" wide by 1/16" thick. A bit on the thick side but it gave you enough material to work with in case you wanted to create a false edge but was thin enough to be sanded or filed down further if desired.
This first photo shows a skewer "blade" and three pieces of Plastruct styrene that I used to create the sheath. The wide middle piece was rectangular box tube that was large enough for the skewer to slid in and out of. The two outer pieces are half rounds that were the same thickness as the box tube. The half rounds were glued on to either side of the box tube to form the rounded sides of the sheath. I had picked up a Marvel Studios Blade figure on ebay but ended up transplanting the head sculpt and most of the clothes to a Triad Alpha body. I used this body to help chose the length of the blade. I ultimately used a blade length of 4.5" which in retrospect was probably a bit too long. A blade that was 0.5" to 0.75" shorter would have looked a bit better in respect to the narrow blade width. The sword handle was made from aluminum tubing (local Hobbytown store) and split rings from the jewelry making section of my local craft store (Michaels or AC Moore). I used a tubing cutter to make slight crimps in the tubing at specific lengths along the tube. I then used these crimped grooves to locate and glue the split rings. The hilt itself is stacked washers. I used a bit of apoxie sculpt to create the transition from handle to hilt.
This photo shows the assembled sword and sheath of my first daywalker prototype. Ultimately I think the blade is a bit too long and a little bit too narrow but it was a good learning experience. I was in a rush when I made the handle so I relied a bit too much on memory when making the hilt instead of waiting till I had a good photo reference at hand.
Paper Template Method
Next I will show an example using paper/plastic templates and a scratch made aluminum blade. I did this project with documentation in mind so thankfully I was able to create examples of each step along the way. The letters got a bit washed out when I imported them in my SSC gallery but I think you'll be able to follow along.
A. I roughed out the blade design on a piece of manilla folder (any thick paper would do, should be thin enough to cut but rigid enough to hold it's shape when you trace around it). This was a sloppy trace I made after the fact using the template from step B which is why the tang is crooked.
B. Once I had the basic shape down I cut out a paper template. This is a convient method to check the scale of your intended creation against any "handy" 1/6 scale figures you have close by.
C. When I am satisfied with the scale and shape of my paper template (if not head back to part A and start over) I trace the paper template onto a sheet of styrene plastic. Next we cut out the traced shape to create a styrene master template. Depending on the complexity of your paper template the cutting out portion can require as little as a hobby knife and straight edge or as much as files, sandpaper, a pair of snips, etc. The difficulty you experience cutting out the styrene template will give you an idea of what your getting into when you make the jump from styrene to aluminum.
D. Now I have used my completed styrene template to trace the pattern onto a thin sheet of aluminum (1/32" thick). First step is to rought cut out the shape using a pair of tin snips. Generally every time you trace a new generation using a pattern it gets slightly larger (by a pencil width). Personally I would rather be little bit big during the first pass because I can always file/sand to make it smaller, if you need to make something bigger you have to start over from scratch.
E. I have began to file and sand the blade to it's final design. I remove any jagged edges left from the tin snips and have trued up my straight edges. If the blade has parallel sides now is a good time to get them in order.
F. The blade is just about in it's final form. I have shaped the tang to allow me to slide a hilt onto the bottom end of the blade. I added some detail to the blades edge and have added a false edge along all the sharp edge of blade using a micro file and sand paper.
G. Final assembled bowie knife. I created a hilt using a piece of styrene plastic and a handle using apoxie sculpt. The bowie isn't quite finished as it needs runes added along the length of the blade and the handle will need to be painted up like a stag antler handle.
Close up of my "ruby" prototype.
Here are some other quick examples of the above method.
Falcata test pattern
Ghurka test pattern
If your looking for better examples of how to make weapons using styrene only I suggest you check out the work of Warriors 1st BN on the OSW forums.
https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/fo...ws-discussion/201552-custom-edge-weapons.html
OR
Check out the Punisher Warzone knife thread by our own Mollins
https://sideshowcollectors.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63226
If anyone has some examples of their own work or would like to demonstrate a different method please feel free to post. I would like to provide this thread as an oppurtunity to share techniques or provide information to anyone wishing to try their hand at making their own weapons.
-Spook
