Trunks DBZ Sword Tutorial

Picture 1 - Sketched out kinda what I wanted. Used thin strip of aluminum for the main piece. Cut sides in to use for handle.

Picture 2 - cut and used a planer to curve those two pieces of wood to put on either side of the aluminum handle. Also stenciled out the guard thing for the sword and made it 3 layers thick, except the middle layer was missing a little slice in the middle so the guard would slide up thru the aluminum handle and rest at the top. then drilled and capped the wooden handle just below the guard so everything stayed in place.

Picture 3-4 - this is what it looks like so far. I would like to say the aluminum is lightweight but if I had to do it over I might have used something that didn't wobble and bend as easy for my base layer of the sword. I know most cons are picky about prop weapons and a steel sword is on the list... but I've never been asked about mine yet. and anyway Bondo is covering over the rest of the sword anyway.

Picture 5 - I bought a standard kind of doorknob and cut it off right at the base of the knob. then pre-drilled a little hole in the bottom of the sword so the screw would have something to start going into. Drilled a screw thru the bottom of the knob and lined the screw up to the hole and finished drilling...pulling the knob tight against the bottom of the sword. Next I just went ahead and cut the tip to give it a point. I then used Bondo Auto Filler to start coating over the guard.

Picture 6 - the blade was still wobbly so I reinforced each side of the blade with a thinner strip of aluminum on one side and steel on one side... I kinda think it was unnecessary... since probably after I put the bondo on the blade it could have been enough to keep it from wobbling. but all I did was super glue the pieces to each side and held them in place with close pins.

Picture 7 - Started putting the Bondo auto filler over the blade making sure to fill in all the cracks and cover it completely.

Picture 8 - completed covering the blade.

Picture 9 - sanded the bondo down as smooth as I could. and because bondo can be difficult to work with you may have to sand and reapply bondo a few times to make sure all the little air pockets get filled in. (a huge pain in the ass especially if you are doing all the sanding by hand) I actually had to sand it down farther than I had intended just so it would fit in the sheath better. And the sheath was made out of thin pieces of wood glued together and then wrapped with a heavy paper that was also glued down.

Picture 10 - DETAILS! just adding all the finishing touches. started off by painting the blade and hilt. I like to use spray paint. had junk purple shirt that I cut the very bottom seam off of. Also cut a piece of fabric out of the shirt to perfectly wrap around the handle so it would show thru under the wrap. I wrapped the handle to give that asian katana feel to Trunks’s sword. I like to add some personal flair to some things in my cosplays, but anyway I dipped the entire bottom seam into a wood stain and let it almost all drip out so that is was still wet but not runny. Then wrapped the handle by going around the handle and flipping the fabric over once on every side. then tied it off at the bottom and let dry. once the wood stain drys the grip will be very hard. I also painted the sheath, and attached pieces of belts for the strap...and used a seat belt buckle for the connection part in the middle. Glued the belts to my sheath by using Gorilla glue... its important if you plan on doing it this way to make sure you practice test the amount of distance your straps have so it fits over your shoulder good before just gluing them down.

Did I miss anything? or was I not clear on something? if so just ask and I'll try to better describe to you the answer.

Thanks for viewing