BlazBlue
BlazBlue Alter Memory is a 2013 anime series which premiered in Japan on October 8, 2013. It is based on the video games BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger and BlazBlue: Continuum Shift.
The weapon I have made from this Series was done as a comission for a client in England. BLAZBLUE |
I was Commissioned to make the sword belonging to a character called HAKUMEN. I was given some specification, along with a bit of creative freedom. The client commissoned me to create the Sword, at accurate length to the character, and its corresponding Sheathe. The client also provided me with a few pieces of research Material.
With these reference material I was able to gauge the size of the finished prop through anthropometric interpretation, I interpreted the size of the Character to be the size of an Adult Man. Using freely obtainable anthropometric data, I calculated that the Sword was approximately 1.8m long. Using refernce image 3, which dictated the width of the blade I managed to form a 1:1 Scale plan so that I could move on to the next stage. Another relevant piece of anthropometrical data which I used as the width of a mans fist, as the handle leght was vague in most pictures. I designed two blade designs for the client to chose from. All sections were taken in close up to help the client understand the products scope. As at the time I did not have enough paper for a full plan, I spliced two pieces of paper together.
Once the Plan was Approved, I moved on to the Making of the blade. I chose to make the blade mostly out of Pine. The Handle, Tsuba and Pommel were made out of MDF. The client aproved of the dual edged version of the blade. This created a problem for me to work around, I made the blade in a total of 7 pieces. The main Body of the Blade, in two halfs with a hardwood 'floating' tang in the centre. This was coupled to two more floating tangs on the edges followed by the beveled edges. This construction allowed me to avoid weakening the structure by trying to have a softwood tang.
The Tsuba of the sword was made from both MFD and Pine. The main Trapezoid of the tsuba was made from MDF, while the decorative Element above was carved from Pine, due to it having a slightly higher desity than the MDF. Both pieces slipped up the tang and onto the blade. It took many attempts to get the pieces to fit correctly. Once mounted I afixed them in place with a 2 Part Epoxy Glue.
For the handle I decided to take a bit of creative license. Due to time constrains on Manga and Anime often leave out details when replicating multiple frames. An example of this is by having the character wear sunglasses so as to not animate the blinking of the eyes. In my point of view the artist took this route with the handle of HAKUMEN's sword. As such I marked and divided the Handle.
The handle was to be solid black, I chose to apply fake leather to the pommel end of the handle while the upper section was covred in White Polyester. On top of this I applied 2 steel bezels at the top of the handle and at the join between materials, reminicent of a FUCHI and KASHIRA, respectively. The KASHIRA had a slot cut out on either side, I used this as for orientation when chisling out a slot though the Handle and Tang. Once completed I began covering the white polyester of the handle with black cotton flat cord in a Katana Wrap fashion, including the MENUKI under the cord wrap. Being that the show and style of the Character is japanese inspired, I chose to add a flair of Japanese styling in this manner. I finished by tieing the Cord through the handle as a katana would be. I had to learn how to do the Katana wrap, which I learnt via YouTube Tutorials. It took four Youtube Videos and three attemts at the katana wrap, it took and hour and a half to wrap the handle, compared to the 10 minuites it takes the person in the video. Due to having to use the technique often i have been able to do the wrap in 30 minuites.
The last piece was the pommel, I made this out of two layers of MDF, carving a recess on the top and sides to accept the metal accents. Shaping the pommel took careful consideration as the join between it and the handle was curved, however using a template the curves ended up matching. After rounding off the edges I sealed and painted the Pommel to match the reference images. The accents were ovals of steel, cut and refined to fit the recess. Using a hardened steel tool I punched I labouriously punched a design in to each accent. A piece of transparent Acrylic was then cut to shield the steel in the recess as well as keep the surface of the pommel smooth. The Acrylic was fogged by using 400 grit wet and dry paper and the steel was painted in a metalic blue paint.
The Tsuba of the sword was made from both MFD and Pine. The main Trapezoid of the tsuba was made from MDF, while the decorative Element above was carved from Pine, due to it having a slightly higher desity than the MDF. Both pieces slipped up the tang and onto the blade. It took many attempts to get the pieces to fit correctly. Once mounted I afixed them in place with a 2 Part Epoxy Glue.
For the handle I decided to take a bit of creative license. Due to time constrains on Manga and Anime often leave out details when replicating multiple frames. An example of this is by having the character wear sunglasses so as to not animate the blinking of the eyes. In my point of view the artist took this route with the handle of HAKUMEN's sword. As such I marked and divided the Handle.
The handle was to be solid black, I chose to apply fake leather to the pommel end of the handle while the upper section was covred in White Polyester. On top of this I applied 2 steel bezels at the top of the handle and at the join between materials, reminicent of a FUCHI and KASHIRA, respectively. The KASHIRA had a slot cut out on either side, I used this as for orientation when chisling out a slot though the Handle and Tang. Once completed I began covering the white polyester of the handle with black cotton flat cord in a Katana Wrap fashion, including the MENUKI under the cord wrap. Being that the show and style of the Character is japanese inspired, I chose to add a flair of Japanese styling in this manner. I finished by tieing the Cord through the handle as a katana would be. I had to learn how to do the Katana wrap, which I learnt via YouTube Tutorials. It took four Youtube Videos and three attemts at the katana wrap, it took and hour and a half to wrap the handle, compared to the 10 minuites it takes the person in the video. Due to having to use the technique often i have been able to do the wrap in 30 minuites.
The last piece was the pommel, I made this out of two layers of MDF, carving a recess on the top and sides to accept the metal accents. Shaping the pommel took careful consideration as the join between it and the handle was curved, however using a template the curves ended up matching. After rounding off the edges I sealed and painted the Pommel to match the reference images. The accents were ovals of steel, cut and refined to fit the recess. Using a hardened steel tool I punched I labouriously punched a design in to each accent. A piece of transparent Acrylic was then cut to shield the steel in the recess as well as keep the surface of the pommel smooth. The Acrylic was fogged by using 400 grit wet and dry paper and the steel was painted in a metalic blue paint.
As per the clients request I then began work on a suitable sheath for this Sword. Using the length and width of the Blade as a base, I tried to Ovate a seection of PVC Pipe to accomodate the Blade and make it look closer to the reference material, but it failed as the plastic would not heat and bend uniformly. I ended up making a box sheath, which I rounded all visible edges using a router with a round-over bit. Being that the scabbard was to be mounted on a persons' back I intentionally left a slot one third of the length on top of the scabbard, this was to be able to draw the sword without pulling the whole length of the sword from its sheath. The user would pull the Sword as far as he can then flick the blade out of the sheath.
I attached a webbing belt and shoulder strap to the scabbad so that the waist instead of the shoulder and back take the load. |
Once the whole prop was assembled and painted, then coated the Blade in two layers of Airconditioning ducting tape. This made the blade cold to the touch as well as the apperance of Metal. However it was too reflective and so I dulled it back with 000 steel wool, giving it the apperance of brushed metal.
The Client was surprised with the level of detail as well as the size. He mentioned that the images I sent him did little justice to the sword. I gave him 50 of my business cards, which he promptly ran out of on the day of handover with many people amazed by its size and detail. The Client kindly sent me this Picture when he debuted the Costume and Sword. |
Product Comparison
Recently I came across a mass manufactured version of the sword and decided to make a comparison of it.
A main difference is the Length of the Prop. While the sword I made measures 1.8m, the mass produced sword 1.4m.
The blade profile had been straightened, probably for a saving of material requirements.
The Pomel of the sword is rather Angular relative to the source material.
The blade profile had been straightened, probably for a saving of material requirements.
The Pomel of the sword is rather Angular relative to the source material.