Lifesize Toy/Comic Style Power Sword

[Ulisses31]

Salivating.......

[sdilks]

I think your new version looks so much better! the first was nice, but I thought it looked too thick as well. Great do-over!

I don't know if its the camera angle, but the cardboard handle looks huge. Like it's a two-hand sword almost. Any way we could see a pic with your hand in the shot for scale? Or a tape measure?...

[Maul]

Thanks for the feedback!

That second pic does make it seem a lot larger. Again, it's basically just there as a placeholder right now, but I definitely see what you're saying. I'll try and get a pic for you. I think it's more like a hand and a half, so the pommel would end up pretty close to the middle of your second hand. It was sort of hard to find a balance, honestly. I still kind of wanted it to have that thick, slightly over-sized feel, like it was meant for a larger person, ie, someone He-man's size. At the same time, I wanted it to still feel right in an average person's hand. If you look at the first pic and imagine it shortened up by half pretty much, to make it a one hand grip, it would probably feel too short. That's what the toy had, but I'm not sure it would feel right on this. The good news is that it will be easy to make different lengths to find what works best!

[Maul]

Another small update. Still a ways to go. The PVC handle is some scrap I had and just there for an idea. I'll deal with exactly how the handle will look eventually.

sdilks, I haven't forgotten about you. I'm sorry, I'll get a pic of that soon. The mock-up is closer to about 1.75 hands, but again, I'll go with whatever feels right for the look and balance of proportions.



Feedback welcome! Thanks for looking!

[hadley]

THis is looking really great man!

[Lay Ze-Man]

Awesome work!!!!!

[Maul]

Thanks a lot guys!

[masterenglish]

That is coming out so nice man. Really excited to this this project progress, and really hoping you make them available for fans. (Me specifically. )

[Adam_Prince of Eternia]

That is coming out so nice man. Really excited to this this project progress, and really hoping you make them available for fans. (Me specifically. )

I'll second that.

[Maul]

There will definitely be a mold made, so yes, if others are interested, I'd be honored! I just can't decide how many I want myself, lol. At least a He-man, Skeletor and Faker. But there's so many possibilities! Adam, TP He-man, Weapons Pack, heck, Wun-dar, Classics style of all of those with metallic blades, etc. I'm also curious to see one half grey, half purple.

I'm still working on the raised area in the middle if the blade. Just haven't gotten it perfect yet. It's so tempting to just move on and fix it later, but anything like that will just have to be fixed twice later, with the way I'm doing it. It's just not exactly how I want it yet.

It's really humbling and awesome to hear others do like it and can see the potential, so I honestly mean it when I say thanks! It also helps to show my wife that I'm not crazy.

[SwiftJustice]

this is looking great, I was debating on startng one myself but if there is a mold made Im defiently in for one (or a few)

[Maul]

Thanks a lot! I've had to take a break on it as my sister-in-law gave us her old wooden dollhouse her grandfather made her as a kid. They have two boys and are done having kids, so they won't get to use it. She thought our daughter would love it. It needs some TLC though, so my extra time is going into refurbishing it. Afterwards, it's right back on the sword!

Thanks again for everyone's comments!

[kylun flac]

this is very cool. i love that you showed each step & progress. awesome!

[Maul]

No, this project has not died. I spent most of November and all my free time of December working on the dollhouse for my daughter's Christmas. Then my vacation time up until now has been mostly spent soaking in as much of this precious time while the kids are at this golden age and enjoy Christmas so much. We all know that they just grow way too fast. On a good note, I got my son Classics He-man and Battlecat and he loves them! Even my daughter knows about and seems to like He-man as well, so the seed is taking root, lol. My wife just shakes her head and says there's no hope, it's in their blood.

I'm back on this now and trying to get the raised area on the blades just right. I've gotten a little bogged down on them, but they have to be right before I can move on. Then I can get the pieces stood up, glued together and then get the cutting edge done. I hope to make some real progress soon.

Thanks everyone who has contacted me for the interest and compliments!

[Caine Drathul]

Great craftsmanship so far. This is going to turn out great!

[Son of Keldor]

Great work on this project.

Loving the final design.

If anyone is wanting to inquiry about mass production or pricing please remember to keep it to PM's!

Keep up the good work can't wait to see if finished.

=)

[masterenglish]

Good to know the project is still going strong. Seems like you are a perfectionist, wanting every detail to be just right. I can respect that for sure. Still very excited to see this come to fruition!

[Maul]

Thanks!

Masterenglish, yep, you're right. Sometimes to a fault I guess. I can see little things that just drive me nuts, even though no one else can probably see them. I just want it to be RIGHT, especially if there's a chance one could end up on someone else's shelf.

[Maul]

Working on the edge of the raised area. Built it up some, sharpening it some, etc. Putting a different color on it really brings up all the flaws and things left to fix, but progress is progress, right?

[SwiftJustice]

hope this is still moving along!

[Maul]

It is, I promise!

Sorry for the lack of updates. I wanted to wait until I could make a decent one, not just "I'm still working on it." If there's one thing I've learned on this project, it's to not be afraid to re-do something. I wasn't happy with the raised area. It just didn't flow and looked like it just sort of landed on it, not something that flowed with the design. So... it had to go.



That was pretty tough actually, lol. They didn't look the best, but I had some time invested in them. I decided to go a different route and try some new techniques. I was pretty happy with the profile at the center of the sword, just not the edges. So before eradicating what I had so far, I traced that onto some styrene, cut it out, and then made a second copy. This would give me the profile on each side of the sword that already matched, instead of trying to make it match up on my own. The problem is that the pieces would add thickness to the width of the blade. Probably only a little over 1/16", but still. To account for that, I routed out a small bit on each piece to make the pieces fit flush. I'd just sprayed the primer and the discoloration is just it soaking into the filler versus the wood at different speeds.







So now I had a center point to start from. Switching colors occasionally helps see things better. Just working on smoothing out the blade before re-doing the raised areas.





Unfortunately, there's some spaces in places where the blade halves don't meet tight like before. I guess from moving it around so much while working it, and maybe just from warping over time? I'll deal with that soon.



I cut styrene shapes to layout the base of the raised area. I used garage sale signs, so ignore the writing. I also put in the curved line in the middle to set the symmetry for it on both sides. I've seen a lot about Apoxie Sculpt, but never tried it. Ordered some and I have to say so far that I LOVE it! I couldn't believe how quick I was able to do two of the four areas. Between it and the styrene, it sped things up a good bit. It would have taken a much longer time with the other methods I'd been using. They're not 100% and will still need some smoothing once they set, but still.





Again, there will be some more refining needed. One last overall shot.



I'm not sure why I didn't have the blade pressed tighter there. 2 steps back, three steps forward! It's getting there.

[masterenglish]

Thanks!

Masterenglish, yep, you're right. Sometimes to a fault I guess. I can see little things that just drive me nuts, even though no one else can probably see them. I just want it to be RIGHT, especially if there's a chance one could end up on someone else's shelf.

I completely understand, I'm the same way. For my real job I do PDR and often times people have to tell me to stop working because I'm so picky about my work and I'm working on something that no one else will ever see except for me. Sometimes it seems like a fault, but it can't be right? Especially when you yourself can be proud of your own work and other people appreciate it as well. Anyways, nice updates, looking forward to more, and still would like to have one of these guys if the opportunity arises.

[MLHumble]

Holy smokes! This is wicked!

[Maul]

Thanks a lot guys!

Sorry, not the best pic, but I ran out and snapped one before work this morning. I've been refining the raised center section. I'm not sure if the angle of the pic is doing it or what, but it looks more symmetrical in person. Or maybe I've just been looking at it too long. The divots on the sides near the widest part are from testing clamping it together to see how much of the warping will straighten out. The good news is that most all of it did. There's definitely going to be some cleanup do to along the entire edge though. That's why I think I'll be better off gluing it together so I can finish the cutting edge to perfection and then molding it. If I'm going to have to do something twice, I'd rather it be the center line when it's laying flat I think.

[hadley]

I always look forward to seeing updates to this project!