Costume Tutorials: Sword Making with Worbla

Materials/Tools:

  • Paper
  • Pencils/Markers
  • Foam Board
  • Balsa Wood
  • EVA Foam
  • Craft Knife
  • Wood Glue
  • Clamps
  • Scissors
  • Wood Filler
  • Sander and Sandpaper
  • Worbla
  • Dry Wall Filler
  • Filler Primer
  • Black Spray Paint

Step 1: Draw out your sword

The very first thing you’ll need to do is draw out the plans for your sword full size.  If your sword is symmetrical, you really only need to draw out one side of it.  Once you’ve drawn out one side, simply fold it down the center and transfer your lines to the other half by drawing over it on the backside of the paper.  The pencil lines should transfer over from the pressure of the pencil.  This technique will only work if you’re using a pencil, though; ink will not transfer this way.

Step 2: Cut out your paper sword

This step is simple.  Just cut out the sword you drew with a pair of scissors.

Step 3: Cut the pieces for the base of your sword

There are many different materials you could use to make the base for your sword.  I used a combination of balsa wood, foam board and EVA foam, but you can do it differently if you choose.  This tutorial will work no matter what you decide to do.  So, grab your chosen materials.  Its time to cut the pieces for your sword out of them.

First, lay your paper sword out on a piece of whichever material you are using. In my case, I used balsa wood.  My sword was too long to fit the entire thing on the sheet. If that happens to you, don’t worry!  There is a simple fix for that we will get to later.

Just fit as much of the sword on as you can and trace a line around the entire thing.  You’ll need to make more than one copy of your sword, so trace it out on more than one piece of balsa wood.  How many copies you make will depend on how thick you want your sword to be.  I needed two layers for mine, but you may need more depending on your sword.

Next, take a simple craft knife and cut the sword pieces out.  Do this very carefully, and make multiple scores along the pencil line to make cutting easier.  Next, you’ll need to cut out the rest of the pieces for your sword.  With mine, I switched to foam board for the rest of the pieces.

If you are using both foam board and balsa wood like I am, they both need to have the same thickness. Having the same thickness makes it easy to puzzle the pieces together. The hilt of the sword is raised higher than the blade, so you’ll need to layer pieces on top of it in order to get the correct shape.

Take your paper pattern and cut off the hilt.

I also cut off the pommel of mine as well as the guard. Both these pieces would be too difficult to make with foam board or balsa wood, so I will be making them with other materials later.

Now that you have just the handle left on your pattern, trace the shape out on your chosen material.  I’ve cut out four layers because I need to fill the rest of the blade in where the balsa wood didn’t reach, and I need the handle to end up thicker than the blade when I put them together.

Next, use the blade part of our paper pattern to mark where the handle needs to begin.  If your sword is like mine and the blade doesn’t extend to the end of the sword, you’ll need to cut the middle pieces of the handle to sandwich neatly inside.

Step 4:  Glue your pieces together

Brush a layer of wood glue onto your blade pieces and clamp them together. You can also take this time to glue the handle pieces together. Clamp those pieces while they dry. Be careful to make sure they all line up perfectly, or they might not fit correctly together later.

Once the blade and the handle pieces are dry, brush some wood glue onto the blade where the handle will fit. Slide the pieces together and clamp them there.  Wait for it to dry completely.

Step 5:  Start shaping

Once the glue is completely dry, its time to start shaping the sword.  Draw out some lines with a marker to help you keep things on track.

First start by shaping the blade.  Take a flat sander and sand the edges down to a point.

Sand the handle down to a curve with a sander as well.

Step 6: Fill holes and smooth with wood filler

If you’ve only used balsa wood for your sword, you probably won’t have this problem, but if you’ve used foam board you might have some holes in the sword that need filling. Wood filler makes an easy fix for this. It will also help round the handle out and smooth things over, so go ahead and smother the whole handle in it. Once the wood filler dries, sand it smooth. Repeat this process until the handle is as smooth as you want it to be.

Step 7:  Add any missing pieces

If you remember, the guard on my sword was too detailed to make easily with foam board or balsa wood. So, to make them, I used another material: EVA foam. The guard was a straight piece twisted around. This shape would be very difficult to carve but very easy to make with EVA foam. To make this piece, I simply cut the piece out of foam, heat it, twist it around, and hold it there as it cools. If you have pieces like this that would be too difficult to make with the balsa wood or the foam board, EVA foam is a possible material to make them with. If you do make some pieces with EVA foam, the best time to add them is last, after the sword has been smoothed with wood filler.

Step 8: Cover with Worbla

Now that you have a complete base for your sword, you can finally cover it with Worbla! I use Black Worbla in this tutorial, but you can use regular Worbla as well. Just take your sword and use it to trace a piece of Worbla slightly larger than the sword itself. You’ll need to do this twice, so you have a piece for the front and back.

Start by heating once piece of Worbla over the top of the sword. Use a piece of craft foam to help smooth the Worbla over. Important note: the Worbla will get very hot, and it is easy to burn yourself if you are not careful.

Continue heating and pressing the Worbla over the sword until the whole side is covered.

Flip it over, and do the same thing to the other side with the second piece of Worbla. This time, however, you’ll need to seal the edges around the sword where the two pieces of Worbla meet. To do this, you’ll need to make sure both pieces are heated or they will not stick effectively.

Once this is done, cut all the remaining Worbla away from the sword.

Step 9:  Add fine details

Undoubtedly, your sword has some details we didn’t add into the base. You can sculpt details like this with leftover Worbla. When you heat Worbla, it becomes soft and pliable. It sticks to itself, so you can use it as a putty and sculpt with it. You can also layer pieces of Worbla to make thicker, flat pieces and you can use tools to press details into the Worbla. Use these techniques to make the details you want.

For the piece on the pommel I used Worbla to sculpt one head, and then made a two-part silicone mold to cast the other. I simply stuck them together and then attached them to the end of the handle with Worbla.

Step 10:  Smoothing

Worbla, even the smoother Black Worbla, has some texture to it. There are a number of ways to smooth this out. Wood glue and gesso are both common ways to do this. But I like to use a filler product to smooth. The particular filler I like to use is a dry wall filler called Flex-All. I like it because it can be applied fairly thickly, sands very smooth, and stays flexible.

Its not a great idea to apply this filler with just your hands, as it will dry out your skin, so you should use a tool to help you as much as possible. The tool I use is a flat tool commonly used for sculpting clay. It works very well for smoothing filler over the flat blade of the sword.

Once you have a layer on, let it dry. It is a good idea to do at least two layers of this filler before you sand, because otherwise you might sand through the filler.

You can use a sander, or simply use sand paper. Either way will work. If you choose to use a sander, be careful not to sand too long with it, as the heat from the sander can compromise the strength of the Worbla underneath and can end up damaging the filler on top. To make sanding with just sand paper easier, you can make a sanding block by cutting a piece of EVA foam to wrap the sand paper around.

Once you’re done sanding, check the sword over to make sure everything is smooth. You might have some spots you need to fix from sanding through the filler. If this happens, just add more filler, let it dry, and sand again.

This kind of filler, however, is really only useful for large, flat areas. If you were to use it on the finely detailed areas, you would likely lose most of that fine detail you took the time to sculpt. This is why I only use this filler on the blade of the sword. For the rest, I used a filler primer.

Filler primer is great for finely detailed areas because it doesn’t cover up that detail, but it will fill the texture of Worbla if you put on enough layers. Filler primer does go on thin though, so you will have to do multiple layers before you can sand it. The filler primer will also help you see imperfections left on the blade that still need to be filled and sanded out.

Keep adding layers of filler and filler primer and sanding until the sword is as smooth as you want it to be.

Step 11: Paint and seal

The last thing you need to do is paint you sword.  You can paint your sword using whatever painting methods you like, but I like to start with a layer of black spray paint. I like to have a black base on which to add color, and spray paint will give you a smooth surface. If you were to brush the black paint on you would likely end up with brush strokes. As for the rest, you can paint by brushing acrylics on, by using different colors of spray paint, or even by using an airbrush. Each project is different, so find a painting method that will work well for you. Once the paint is done, it is a good idea to seal it with something. There are many different kinds of sealer you could use, but my personal favorite is Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel. It makes a very durable finish and can be found in glossy, satin, and matte varieties. So, it’s easy to find one that suits your project. Be careful if you have used a metallic spray paint, though, as most spray sealers can have an adverse effect on the metallic shine. Always test your materials before you commit to them!

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