Some costumes are incomplete without a sword.
Swords are a popular accessory in cosplay (costume play), but they present something of a problem. Real swords are heavy and dangerous, and are often not allowed at conventions. Many video game and anime characters' swords are extremely unrealistic. Fortunately, there are ways to make your own cosplay sword that looks good, is light enough to carry around all day without being too fragile, and is not a danger to anyone.
Instructions
1. Draw the outline of your sword on the flat side of the rigid foam insulation. Make the drawing full-sized and include any hand guard you plan to have in your design, but do not include the grip.
2. Cut out the basic shape of your sword. Cut slightly outside the lines of the outline, and save any fine detailing for later.
3. Sand the sword into shape, including any fine details, with sandpaper or a power sander. Taper the blade while sanding to create a realistic blade shape, and make the surface as smooth as possible.
4. Cut the 1-inch dowel to the length you want your sword's grip to be. Drill a 7/16-inch hole down the center of one end of the dowel about half as deep as the grip is long, and drill an identical hole in the center of the base of the sword where you want the grip to attach. Cut the 7/16" dowel to the length of both holes combined. Insert the smaller dowel into the foam, then place the larger dowel over it.
5. Lay the fiberglass cloth over the blade of the sword and apply the epoxy over it according to the manufacturer's instructions so that the epoxy completely covers all of the cloth. Add some epoxy to the join between the foam and the grip as well. Allow this to dry overnight, and apply additional coats of epoxy as needed to completely cover the bumpiness of the cloth and give the sword a smooth texture.
6. Sand off any large bumps in the epoxy. Do this gently so as to avoid sanding all the way through the epoxy.
7. Paint the entire blade with silver metallic spray paint and allow it to dry.
8. Paint only the "sharpened" edge of the blade with chrome finish spray paint and allow it to dry.
9. Wrap the grip with any color of duct tape to simulate a cloth or leather sword grip.
