Skyrim: Dragonbone Sword.
Intro: Skyrim: Dragonbone Sword.
Ok so here is my tutorial for weapon props!
Firstly the items you will need are:
- Scissors
- Glue Gun
- Glue Sticks
- Hobby Knife
- Marker Pen
- Pencil
- EVA Foam (Gym mats)
- Thin Craft Foam
- Paint ( Preferably modelling paint)
- Black Plumbers Tape or Leather Strip.
- Wooden Dowel
Firstly the items you will need are:
- Scissors
- Glue Gun
- Glue Sticks
- Hobby Knife
- Marker Pen
- Pencil
- EVA Foam (Gym mats)
- Thin Craft Foam
- Paint ( Preferably modelling paint)
- Black Plumbers Tape or Leather Strip.
- Wooden Dowel
STEP 1: Step 1.
Ok so first what i do is bring up the image of the sword on my computer in a basic image viewer.
i then scale it up to the size i want the sword to be (i use my hand as a gauge to determine the right size) also if you don't have a big enough screen the only way to do this is to draw it free hand (the measurements for my sword is 9'' across the cross guard and 36'' for the tip to counter weight, use this incase you can't draw it the way i am).
Once you have your desired size, take a piece of paper, turn your brightness all the way up and start tracing with a PENCIL NOT A MARKER PEN!! the ink will go through and possibly stay on the screen... Once you have it all drawn up in PENCIL then you can go around it in pen :)
i then scale it up to the size i want the sword to be (i use my hand as a gauge to determine the right size) also if you don't have a big enough screen the only way to do this is to draw it free hand (the measurements for my sword is 9'' across the cross guard and 36'' for the tip to counter weight, use this incase you can't draw it the way i am).
Once you have your desired size, take a piece of paper, turn your brightness all the way up and start tracing with a PENCIL NOT A MARKER PEN!! the ink will go through and possibly stay on the screen... Once you have it all drawn up in PENCIL then you can go around it in pen :)
STEP 2: Step 2.
Ok so in my photos you can see i am using A4 size paper, want i do is move the image along and draw it out on to different pieces of paper then stick them together with sticky tape so that you have a paper version of your sword. Cut everything out and then lay it on your foam. i should also mention that the blade i made didn't fit on the foam tile i was using so i made the hilt and the blade separate! The hilt is two pieces of foam thick! Trace around the paper template and flip it over to do the other side of the hilt. Once you have done this you can then cut out the blade.
STEP 3: Step 3
Ok so all of the pieces have been cut out! But you will notice that the blade is all bendy! So get you hobby knife and cut out a rectangle from the base of the blade to where my marker says on the image of the sword, make it so that your wooden dowel can just about fit in side the hole u have just made. Glue it into place and once that is dry glue the blade to the hilt. Glue it central to the two pieces of the hilt, you can cover up the seam line of the hilt using hot glue the paint should cover it!
After all that, grab some more paper and trace out the metal piece that goes along the blade the same way as you made the rest of the pieces. (Remember use PENCIL!!) Cut out the paper template and lay it on your thin foam, trace around and cut it it out, flip over the paper template to make the other side. Glue this in place and you will have a sword! (i used a dremel to sand down the edges of the blade rather than keeping them square, if your are using a dremel remember to use a mask and eye protection!, if you don't have a dremel you can always use your hobby knife just don't cut yourself!)
Time for paint!
After all that, grab some more paper and trace out the metal piece that goes along the blade the same way as you made the rest of the pieces. (Remember use PENCIL!!) Cut out the paper template and lay it on your thin foam, trace around and cut it it out, flip over the paper template to make the other side. Glue this in place and you will have a sword! (i used a dremel to sand down the edges of the blade rather than keeping them square, if your are using a dremel remember to use a mask and eye protection!, if you don't have a dremel you can always use your hobby knife just don't cut yourself!)
Time for paint!
STEP 4: Step 4.
Ok so for the blade i firstly painted it brown as a undercoat with a bone white paint on top, the colour is sort of a cream colour, don't worry if the brown shows through because the blade is suppose to have in perfections.... because its bone :P
I undercoated the hilt in black and then painted it with a gun metal type colour (like a dark gray) then wrapped the plumbers tape around the hilt and glued it in place just to make sure it didn't come off!
Aaaaaand thats pretty much it! i also made a Dragonbone War Axe using the method i have shown you now but i made it a little too small! :P
Any questions about the build just let me know and for more pictures go to my Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iron-Foam-Nathan-Williams/510935398979074?fref=ts
Thats all thanks very much! :)
I undercoated the hilt in black and then painted it with a gun metal type colour (like a dark gray) then wrapped the plumbers tape around the hilt and glued it in place just to make sure it didn't come off!
Aaaaaand thats pretty much it! i also made a Dragonbone War Axe using the method i have shown you now but i made it a little too small! :P
Any questions about the build just let me know and for more pictures go to my Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Iron-Foam-Nathan-Williams/510935398979074?fref=ts
Thats all thanks very much! :)
6 Comments
rainingfiction 7 years ago
Cool!!
Zender cool 10 years ago
Nate Space 10 years ago
Next stick all the templates together and lay them on your foam sheet, then just cut out the shapes and bin the template (or keep it if you were not happy with the first attempt and try again, all comes with practice).
Then just paint it up, add a bit of detail and boom! you have your weapon prop or armour or what ever you fancy making :) for full list of what you need check out the intro page of this instructable!
Hope this helps!
Snortimer 10 years ago
I have a suggestion for creating the template, though. If you have Adobe Illustrator (or another vector-based program - Inkscape is free), you can use it to trace the image, remove the background, and scale the resulting shape to an appropriate size. This may result in better accuracy, and certainly saves your monitor from potential risk. Alternately, just scale the image in any photo editing program (trim it to the ends of the sword or measure the hilt/sword/image ratios first and do math), tile it, and print it.
Great instructions, keep up te good work!
Nate Space 10 years ago
And also i didn't know you could do that on illustrator?! i will have to give it a go next time i make a weapon! :) so thanks again! :)
Snortimer 10 years ago