Painting technique

When you paint a big prop you need paints that have good coverage. Above you have a picture of the colours I used.

First, I started with a mix of silver and black for the blade. Later I applied pure silver. The handle simulates bone, therefore I used a paint called bleach bone. Finally, I used copper and red for the last details.

Cuando pintas un prop de gran tamaño necesitas pinturas con alta pigmentación. Arriba tenéis una foto con los colores que usé.

Primero empecé con una mezcla de plateado y negro para pintar la hoja. Después apliqué solo color plata. El mango simulaba hueso, así que usé una pintura llamada blanco hueso. Finalmente, usé cobre y rojo para el resto de detalles.

As a final step, I used a toothpick and my fingers to simulate blood splatters. The paint I used is called Blood for the blood god by Citadel. However, any glossy paint should work.

Como paso final, usé un palillo y mis dedos para simular las salpicaduras de sangre. La pintura que usé se llama Sangre para el dios de la Sangre de Citadel. Sin embargo, cualquier pintura brillante debería funcionar.

Time-lapse video

In the video you can see the process to paint a sword made of foam. Also, don’t forget to seal your foam with glue or PlastiDip before you start painting otherwise you won’t get a good finish.

En el video podéis ver el proceso de como pinta la espada hecha de foam. Además, no os olvidéis de sellar vuestro foam con pegamento o PlastiDip antes de empezar a pintar, de otra manera no conseguiréis un buen acabado.

In the end, this sword was part of my Dark Eldar Wych costume. In general, I used several weathering techniques in order to make my costume look postapocalyptic. Did I succeed?

Al final, esta espada fué parte de mi Bruja eldar oscura. En general, usé diferentes técnicas de desgaste para crear su apariencia postapocalíptica. ¿Creeis que lo conseguí?

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Carving the foam

First we start with our pattern over the thick foam. You can pin it to the foam to get the best results and trace it with a marker.

Primero empezamos poniendo el patrón sobre el foam. Podéis usar alfileres para mantenerlo en su sitio y luego dibujarlo con un rotulador permanente.

Next we have to cut our shape, I recommend you to use a knife to be precise, also you want to bevel the corners, it is so easy to do it with this material. Remember to do both sides (draw a line on the side to know how deep your cuts need to be). If your foam had any weird shapes because of how you stored it (oops) it is time to make it flat with the heatgun

Lo siguiente es cortar la forma, os recomiendo que useis un cutter para ser más precisos, además hay que biselar los laterales, es muy fácil con este material. Recuerda hacerlo en ambos lados (dibuja una line en el lateral para saber como de profundo tiene que ser el corte). Si vuestro foam tenía una forma rara por como lo habéis guardado (ups) es el momento de alisarlo con la pistola de calor

Attaching the pole

The best way to make sure that our axe is straigh is to make it go through our PVC tube. This way, even if you swing it around the pieces will stay together. For this we draw lines to mark te position of the blade and we make a cut on both sides to the top. A good trick was to glue a PVC joint to the top to keep all together.

La mejor manera de asegurarnos de que nuestra hacha está recta es que atraviese nuestro tubo de PVC. Aunque la mováis mucho no se desprenderan las partes. Para esto marcamos la profundidad y posición de la hoja del hacha y hacemos un corte a los dos lados del tubo hasta la parte de arriba. Un buen truco fue pegar un tubo de unión a la parte superior para mantener todo en posición

Extra details

The extra details where made with 2mm foam and any round shaped stud (you can use goggles or glue dots or even pins). All was painted with a sponge and silver paint (more rusty). I applied highlights and shadows to certain places with black and white paint. Don’t forget to apply 3 coats of plastic vinyl or 6 of school glue before you paint it for extra smoothness

El resto de detalles los hice con foam de 2mm y piezas redondas (podeis usar ojos saltones de plastico o gotas de cola o incluso chinchetas). Todo lo pinte con pintura plateada y una esponja (mas rustico). Acentué las luces y las sombras con pintura blanca y negra. No os olvidéis de aplicar 3 capas de plástico vinílico o 6 de cola blanca antes de pintar para que quede más suave.

Last I decorated the axe with pink and blue elastic bands, scraps of leather and fur. The skull of the handle was also made carving the 5mm foam

Por último decoré el hacha con elásticos de colores, retales de cuero, y pelo. La calavera del mango también está tallada en foam de 5mm

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There are several varieties of naginatas. Maybe the most common is the one with a very long pole resembling a hallberd. There exists another option with a much shorter pole which is easier to handle but still great in size. Naginata for fighting men and warrior monks were called ō-naginata. The kind used by women was called ko-naginata and was less heavy.

Starting with a draft

Naginatas are big. Mine was about 1.3 meters long. This is a comparison side by side with a katana. For my project I needed something very sturdy so I opted to make my naginata from a single piece. Looking back, I maybe could have tried to make it into two pieces as it is actually difficult to transport. Use paper to get an idea of how big you want your weapon. Make sure you get all the proportions right before you cut your foam.

Using foam as the core

Similar to my katana tutorial, I used 5mm plastazote foam to make the core of my weapon. The handle was cut in two parts and glued to the blade with contact cement. Remember to leave a long enough tail to get some grip for your glue. Foam is a very easy material to use and you can sand it with ease. After I sanded the edge and the handle, I added extra details with 2mm foam and glued them with contact cement as well.

Worbla to make it sturdy

On itself, foam is a very flimsy material. That is why you need some kind of coverage to make it sturdy. I chose to use Black Worbla, which is a thermoplastic. If you don’t know this material check my worbla guide. It is easy to heat with a heatgun. Cover your naginata with the heated material. Press the sides together and cut the excess. You can fix the joints with some more heat and a flat tool. Be careful as this materials gets hot very quickly and you could burn yourself. Adding a wooden pole to the core is also a good idea but you will need to cut a space on your foam to make it fit without bulking up.

Add details

When you are satisfied with the base of your naginata you can add fancy details. As I said, Worbla is very maleable, if you heat it you can create ridges with a flat surface and all kind of carvings. Also, you can press it together to create a kind of clay that will get hard once it cools down. That is how I created the embellishments of my tsuba or guard of my naginata.

Final weapon

Finally, after you seal your worbla, you can use acrylic paints to paint your weapon and add any other detail like beads, tassels, a piece of fabric or jingle bells. Don’t forget to add highlights and shadows for a more realistic finish and don’t skip the varnish either as it will protect your weapon later on.

If you want a larger pole for your naginata you can use a PVC pipe as a handle instead. You may not need to cover your blade with worbla if your blade is shorter but remember that it will make your blade flimsier an wobbly. You still need to prime it and paint it tho. Using pipe joints is also a good idea if you want your weapon to be collapsible.

I hope you found this tutorial for a naginata for cosplay useful. If you feel like it, remember you can support me on Ko-fi, there are no subscriptions and you will help me create more cosplays and more tutorials to share with you! Also, if you are looking for patterns and cosplay related downloadables make sure to check my collection!

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Drafting the pattern

For the first part you will need: 10mm semirigid foam, a cutter, a rotatory tool, a marker and sandpaper

I happen to have a bokken so it was pretty easy just to copy the form for my pattern. As this is not something you find at home I wrote down its measures for you. My katana was 101cm long, with a maximum width of 4cm at the base and 3cm at the tip and slightly curved at the end. The original tsuba (or guard) was 8cm but it wasn’t good enough for my design so I modified it.

I grided my paper and started drafting my pattern. I liked it, but it wasn’t long enough so I had a little trick, you see the red dots? that’s where I cut my pattern and added an extra centimeter so it was now 18cm long.

First steps for the foam katana

Now cut the pieces in your 10mm foam. A good trick is to pin your pattern down and draw the shape with a marker. Use a cutter and a ruler to cut it out. I also used a soldering iron to do the holes in the guard but it is not necessary for this project.

As I happened to have 5mm foam at home I decided to glue it to the handle with contact glue on both sides of the sword. This will make your handle thicker. You can also glue two parts of 10mm foam to make your handle and then attach them to the blade. Make sure it is a strong hold or it may break.

Carving your foam katana

Now the fun part, draw how deep you want to sharpen your weapon, a good trick is to hold your finger against the foam to make straight lines with even width (my daddy told me this trick)

And now is the time to use the power tool! You have to sand your edges until you are happy, take your time to make it right. Also, remember to take breaks if the surface is too big, the tool doesn’t work as well if it is overheated. If you want to make it even, use sandpaper to finish it, it will make any bump disappear.

Covering your foam with worbla

Unfortunately, using just foam is not enough to keep your katana straight. In order to solve this you need to use a thermoplastic cover like foam. This will keep your weapon straight.

Using a heatgun, cover your katana with black worbla or a similar thermoplastic. Use a flat stick or other tools to flatten the sides and cut the excess. Remember that worbla becomes really hot. Make sure all the foam is covered and reheat again if necessary. You can add extra details using several layers of foam and covering them with worbla and also rolling the foam to create ridges.

Final result

Finally, this is how the katana looked when I finished. I will show you how to seal your worbla with glue and how to paint it in another tutorial.

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Making a foam knife for cosplay

Like any other project, you should start by making a pattern on paper. This way, you can modify everything you need before you start cutting and shaping your prop. It will also become your reference during the construction. My knife is the demon killing knife from Supernatural.

Once you have your pattern, you need to make it into smaller pieces. I used foam with two different thiknesses. As I only had a limited amount I couldn’t make my blade longer. If you can only find your foam in 5 mm you can cut two parts for your handle and glue them together. Use a box cutter to cut the pieces and make sure you hold it straight while you do so.

Of course, our knife is supposed to be 3-dimensional. In order to do so you need to use a rotatory tool in order to sand those corners until you are satisfied. Once you are happy with them, assemble your knife using contact glue. Don’t forget to put skewers in between the parts to make sure the knife has a secure core.

It is time now to add all the details, remember you can use a simple pen to carve those details into your foam. A pirographer is a good option for deeper details.

Once you are satisfied it is time to seal your foam and prime it before you start painting it. Remember to add lights an shadows to your weapon in order to give it a more prominent 3D shape.

As you see, making a foam knife for cosplay is rather easy. Now you have no excuses to go to a convention without a prop for your favourite character. What is your favourite prop to wear to a convention? Let me know in the comments.

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Here is the tutorial of my Maleficent scepter! It is actually very easy to do so enjoy!

Aquí tenéis el tutorial de mi cetro de Maléfica! En realidad es muy fácil así que disfrutad!

First I got some transparente christmas balls. They are plastic so they won’t break easily. Inside they have this plastic which change color with light, you can do this with iridescent celophan (plastic wrapping paper) 
Also, as you see I made the basic shape with wire and I covered it with newspaper. For the stick I used a pvc pipe that you can get at a hardware store (cheap, safe on the events and lightweight)

Primero conseguí unas bolas transparentes de navidad. Son de plástico así que no había peligro de que se rompieran. Dentro llevan unos pelillos iridiscentes que es lo que le dan ese brillo “mágico” Se puede conseguir un efecto parecido con celofán iridiscente (esto quiere decir que a la luz se ven diferentes colores,también lo he oido llamar efecto holograma)
También podéis ver que hice la forma básica con alambre y la cubrí con papel de periódico. Para el palo usé una tuberia de PVC que podéis conseguir en ferreterías como Leroy Merlin (barata. segura para los eventos y pesa poco)

I wanted my sphere yellow so I painted it with a Sharpie permanent marker. i have seen people using paint for lightbulbs or glass, Be careful when you store this as the colour my stain other things. 

Quería que mi esfera fuera amarilla así que la pinté con un permanente amarillo. También he visto a gente usar pintura para bombillas o para cristal. Cuidado cuando guardéis los props pintados así porque a veces pueden manchar.

Back to the scepter I sticked the newspaper in place with masking tape and covered it all to reinforce it. Then I used a mixture of water and glue and stuck newspaper strips to it. For better results you can use bondo to make it smooth or do it directly with some kind of lightweight dought

Siguiendo con el cetro pegué en su sitio el papel al alambre con cinta de carrocero y lo cubrí todo con esta cinta. Luego usé una mezcla de agua y cola y lo cubrí con trozitos de papel de periódico al más puro Art Attack. Si queréis un mejor acabado podéis usar masilla o hacer las piezas de pasta para modelar o similares 

I sprayed painted all once it was dry

Lo pinté todo con spray una vez seco

And I glued the ball in place. You can also add a led inside but remember it won’t be noticeable unless it’s dark

Y pegué la bola en su sitio. También le podéis meter unos leds pero recordad que no se verán a menos que esté oscuro

I also have a tutorial for the horns ^^ and more tips and details of the costume HERE

También tengo el tutorial de los cuernos ^^ y más consejos y detalles del cosplay AQUÍ

Photo: fotofobico Edition: Larxenne Cosplay

Watch out for the spindles mwahaha

Cuidado con las agujas mwhahaha

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