Introduction: How to Make Sting From the Hobbit


Materials


You'll need the following:
Foam board
The pattern printed on sticker paper (Available at my website: http://bit.ly/1352a00)
Scissors
Xcato knife
Good quality masking tape
A marker
A hot glue gun
A meter stick (or a steady hand)
Silver, Brown and Black spray paint
Painters tape
Crazy glue

Cut out the pattern


Cut out the first two pages of the pattern. Take the sticker back off and lay them out as shown here.

Then, cut them out with an xacto knife.

Use these pieces to trace the total number for each piece indicated on the pattern
The only one that won't need to be traced at least once is the handle piece with the long skinny bit (The tang).

Use the meter stick to cut almost, but not quite the entire way through the centre of each blade piece
If you accidentally cut all the way through, that's ok, it will still work, it's just a bit more difficult to put the blade together.
Take the stickers off

Tack the two blades together so the middles are slightly bent.
Then slide the handle piece in between them

Put a couple more pieces of tape on the blade so it's snug against the handle piece. But not so snug that it can't still move.

Assemble the blade


Put one of the side handle pieces on so that it lines up with the centre handle piece, and use this as a guide to make sure the blade is in the correct position.

Hot glue the side pieces on either side of the centre handle piece.

Hot glue the triangle piece in the gap between the blade and the handle pieces. It's ok if it's not a perfect fit.

Hot glue the hilt on one side as shown. Then glue the 6 spacer pieces on. 3 on each side.

Finally glue the second hilt piece on.

Trim off the ends of the hilt with the exacto knife if they don't quite line up right.

Tape the blade


Tape the whole blade. Try to get it as smooth as possible, and make sure there are no areas of the foam visible

Cut one strip of masking tape as long as the blade, and line it up right down the middle.

Cut along the shape of the blade about a quarter inch away. Then fold it over the edge. Repeat this for the other half, and then twice more for the other side. This helps make sure that the blade part looks nice and smooth.

Spray Paint


Time to work outside for a bit.

Using something underneath to catch the overspray, paint the whole side black. Once it's dry, flip it over and do the other side.

I taped both the hilt and the handle at this stage, but since both the blade and the hilt are silver, you only need to cover the handle with painters tape at this stage.

Do not just use masking tape either. Painters tape is designed to be much less sticky. If you just use the masking tape, you'll have a hard time taking it off without also taking the layer of tape below it off.

Spray paint one side silver, and then once it's dry, paint the other side silver.

Take the painters tape off the handle, and put a new layer of painters tape on the hilt and blade.

Spray paint the handle brown. I forgot to film that part, But I'm sure you'll figure it out.

Attach the decals


Once everything is dry, and you've removed all of the painters tape, it's time to put the decals on.

Cut out the decals with an exacto knife. Try not to leave any of the white bits on the outside, or they'll really stand out.

Once they're cut out, take the back off the stickers and attach the curly pieces to the blade on either side, and attach the hilt pieces to the hilt on either side.

I also found that the sticker paper had a really hard time sticking to the spray paint, so I used some crazy glue to make sure it was attached.

Enjoy your new blade!