Saturday, October 26, 2013

Plan of attack - propmaking

Hello everyone :D

Today I was thinking, why not blog about how I am planning on making the glaive Tsumugari!
This is the glaive (I think it's so bad ass 8D):
Amaterasu wielding the glaive Tsumugari
So you'd probably think: Seriously? You know this is impossible because of all the floating objects?
Yes, I know. That's why i'm gonna cheat a little ;) I'm gonna attach the cloudy things to the glaive itself, this will make it one piece, but that's okay.

So this is the plan:
First I will be cutting the base model of the sword out of a block of insulating foam board. I will try to already carve as many details in as I can. When that’s done, I will cover the model in plaster cast. The stuff is not too expensive and not too hard to model. It’s actually more like wrapping the model in plaster cast. Any dents will be filled with regular plaster after the cast is completely dried out. The method I’m thinking of, is just put a bit of the paste on the prop and smear it out with a flat object like an old gift card. The regular plaster can also be used to apply any more detail to the prop. When that’s dry as well, it’s time to sand. I will probably use sandpaper as I do not have any other tools that would be appropriate (not sure if any exist to be honest). The next step is to apply at least one layer of paint on it before I can start on the real paint job. Maybe I will put 1 or 2 layers of the ground color of the sword underneath it. For example: I will paint at least one layer of pure blue on the prop as Amaterasu’s glaive is blue. The cloudy things will have a yellowy layer underneath the visible layer of paint. When the final layer of paint is all done, I will finish the prop with some varnish. For the clouds, I use a matt varnish. For the rest of the glaive, I will use a shiny/glossy varnish. I bought them for just 1,50 euro. This is just a little over 2 dollar. I got three bottles, two of the shiny varnish and one matt. Each bottle contains 80 ml. According to the label, you’re supposed to paint 3 layers on the painting, or in this case, the sword, waiting for 2 hours after each layer. Once 24 hours have passed the prop should be water resistant! Sure hope this method is gonna work out!
And as always: if you have any tips on propmaking or some advice, feel free to share! :D
~Vom
Edit: My brother thought it would be a got idea to reinforce the glaive with something like a wooden plank or something so it won't break easily. Thanks, bro!

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