Previously, I’d made Ryo’s katanas out of stiff insulation foam, with the expectation that I’d carve a channel down their centerline, insert a metal rod, then seal the combination up with fiberglass. I tried this a few times, but getting the fiberglass smooth after all that was proving.. difficult. Which is really unfortunate, since I have a dozen of these foam blades cut out and ready to go. Ah, well, life is learning.
So, I’ve decided to make molds for the katanas instead, and I’ll cast them in resin, like I did with Gourry’s Sword of Light. Another change is that the hilt will be built into the katana, rather than be made of separate parts like I’d originally planned. I was having nightmares of blades sliding out of hilts in the middle of contests – so, katana accuracy -1, safety +1. I’ll still wrap the hilts manually when I’m done, rather than casting the wrappings as part of the unit. This also lets me add some detail engraving to the blade while I’m at it.
So, the current idea is to make the sword out of foam like before, but then coat it with fiberglass on either side, then melt away the foam from in between the fiberglass sides using acetone / paint thinner. That should give me a mold that I can cast resin in when I’m done. I’ll post pictures as I can, assuming this crazy idea works.
