Forge a Paper Sword
Intro: Forge a Paper Sword
I made a Witch King of Angmar costume for my daughter for Halloween but didn't take many pictures, but when I started making the sword I had the camera ready and here are the results.
Basic tools include:
- hot glue gun
- medical scissors
- box cutting knife
- sandpaper
- paint brush or sponge
Materials:
- cardboard
- chop sticks or wooden dowels
- paper
- white glue
- hot glue sticks
- white masking tape
- urethane foam spray like for house insulation
- acrylic paints and hammer metal spray paint
STEP 1: Draw Out a Sword on a Sheet of Cardboard
Draw out a full outline of the sword blade on a large sheet of cardboard. Use a box cutter blade or something similar to carefully cut out the blade outline.The cross-guard is drawn separately and the handle is a piece of PVC pipe cut to length. Use a hack saw to cut a grove into the end of the pipe and hot glue the "blade" into the grove as shown in the picture.
STEP 2: Reinforce and Wrap
Hot-glue some small dowels or chop sticks to create a center ridge on the center of the blade; make half of the last dowel go into the handle. Spray urethane foam into the handle to hold in together; after it dries trim off any excess. Next glue on the cross-guard in several layers and wrap everything in masking tape.
STEP 3: Paper Mache
Mix 2 parts warm water and 1 part white glue to make a glue mix. Tear old paper into little squares and fully dip into the glue mix. Layer the paper onto the tape wrapped sword to cover the entire sword; I just did 2 layers. Clip the excess once dry (sanding is optional depending on how smooth you like it).
Use more masking tape and some hot glue to build up part parts of the hilt or blade if necessary.
STEP 4: Use Hot Glue to Make Designs
STEP 5: Pommel
STEP 6: Paint and Finish
A clear matte sealer should be sprayed on to protect in from any light moisture.
46 Comments
Steamcrunk 10 years ago
slendereye2003 4 years ago
robbtoberfest 4 years ago
slendereye2003 4 years ago
MatyF 6 years ago
MatyF 6 years ago
Mad Props 7 years ago
Looks awesome. Love the hot glue design on the handle.
VivianY5 7 years ago
I have a question. How did you make the part where the blade joins the hilt strong enough? Mine keeps flopping over.
robbtoberfest 7 years ago
Maroon 3 7 years ago
Wow. That is cool.
jackowens 9 years ago
Wow I never would have believed that was made out of paper mache! Excellent idea and Instructable!
Macready 9 years ago
Fantastic! Looks like an actual sword in the photo!
Master Wasi 47 9 years ago
Wow looks like real. Thank you.
Charkhol Studios 9 years ago
Jake_Makes 9 years ago
Love the costume, so good it looks real.
paperfreak201 9 years ago
this is awesome but i dont read the newspaper... no papier mache :(
starwarsgeek1 9 years ago
Cairdy Crafts 9 years ago
Amazing job! Using the hot glue for bringing out the raised detail is a great idea and the mixture of paints at the end works very well. How is the sword bearing up a while down the line?
AssassinzSinpZ 10 years ago
ElCubano 10 years ago