Bustersword Tutorial.. haha naw notes. yes... thats better
Ok so I'll have to do a second tutorial on how I built my Bustersword, however sadly I have no progress shots and I'm hoping... as this is my first tutorial... that the next time around I'll have more information and in progress pics.
I've been writing this for a while and where it's suppose to instruct really I feel as if it's just advice, so I think tutorial is too strong of a word, but I'll do my best!
I'll start by saying I've done a lot of mistakes on this sword. It was to be retired years back due to all the mistakes and oopses but thanks to a close friend I've dusted it off and have plans to rebuild. I'll let you know where I went wrong and what I did, perhaps those who read this can understand and learn a thing or two and with hope build on what I've already learned. That's what the Cosplay Community should be about, helping each other to grow-without always holding each other's hands.
Without further babbling, this is how I did my first Bustersword:
Supplies:
broom
sintra
epoxy glue
Christmas wreath magnet
resin/mold
Whenever I do my props I do my best to size the weapon down to what it should be if I was that said 6 foot what ever. I'm only an average 5'7” and lets face it a “full sized” weapon is going to be difficult to carry come con, so lets be smart about this. I sketch myself out add my measurements and go from there. The Bustersword usually is about shoulder height on Angeal, so I aimed for that. [lets point out at this time I somehow lost a foot and a half in my measurements. This is why we measure twice, cut once.]
The scale is also important, a sword larger then you is going to be rather hard to walk with! The other things I really wanted to accomplish with this sword was how to get it to attach to my back WITHOUT straps. Magnets was the best solution I could come up with. I just happened to have in my miscellaneous somehow acquired junk drawer a large christmas wreath magnet, aha! Since it'll usually take a hearty tug before it'll come off the door I figured this was the best thing to start with....
now to make it light enough to be attached via magnets!
Another important thing to think about.... how are you going to travel with this thing? I mean TSA loves my nail file, so imagine what they're going to do when you have a 6 foot sword in your suitcase!!! There's the over sized fees which are, ungh, but smaller the square inch, the smaller the fee. So if I could just get that extra foot off by taking off the handle... well then!
How do you do a removable handle? Well I found the best solution was a broom.
On the top part you can see there in the doodle above, it's a broom base, the handle for the sword screws in to where what used to be the handle of the broom fits.
Having a broom at the base and the handle is all well and god and all but please keep in mind you have a whole lot of “sword” at the other end of that handle. A good distribution of weight keeps your weapon more stable. Having the handle go strait down is of course ideal but with the materia holes in the middle of the sword kinda screws that up. My original though and method was to just shove what was left form the broom handle up into the broom's base and hammer the left over handle a bit so it would work both as support for the sentra laid on top of it for the sword AND to be that extra support.
Inoli's lesson learned:
This.... worked but didn't. The handle couldn't handle the weight of the sword and it has broken before at the very base. I've replaced the handle which I'll also point out that if you DO the broom method be sure that you've got a metal screw in and if possible a metal hole for it to screw into!
Once the broom was settled in this.... awkward looking ---E______shape it was time to cover it with sentra and paint it up.
Sentra can be heated and molded to different shapes, not easily but with a little time and much swearing it can be accomplished. DO WEAR GLOVES! This is how I molded the top part, the gold hilt around the base of the broom head, I had a separate section cut out for the bottom where the “blade” would be settled. Placed the sentra down and added detailing, cutting out the holes where the materia slots needed to go putting a tube of plastic inside and gluing it down.
the thicker side of the sword which was a separate piece, inside of there is where the rest of the handle of the sword goes
showing the thinner part of the blade, at the hilt you can see where it comes together
this is the part of the sword facing the public, looks nice and painted to hide the magnet in the botom materia slot
the part facing you, the magnet it flush with the outside pice held in by a LOT fo epoxy and the top left part, hard to see...but there's a magnet there too to angle the sword and connect to the pauldren.
Inoli's Lesson learned:
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, TENTAI, TERRA AND ALL OF THE ABOVE AND BEYOND WORK IN A HIGHLY VENTILATED ARIA.
Of course my roommate who also cosplays as my Mother for Angeal dragging me from the cosplay dungeon to walk and clear my head was rather amusing. Sadly I'm sure I'll have some sort of lasting health issue from this. Dont. do. Drugs. Or work with highly toxic epoxy in enclosed arias you know same thing.
Now I'll pause for a second to talk about sentra. It's a plastic usualy used for signs and the likes. Some cosplayers have mastered it to use it for amour and the likes. I myself.... well I have not worked long enough with sentra to give it a completely positive response. I CAN say however that it serves its purpose. I do think for it's weight and durability going with a polypropylene plastic that's maybe .03mm thick will be lighter and have the same durability. This will be brought up at the end of the tutorial.
The magnets are important. I had to come up with a solution so that the sword would angle appropriately across my back. Sadly the best way to do it was to hide a magnet to the pauldren and to the top part of the Bustersword. This also requires me to have perfect posture which isnt a downfall but it.... can easily be forgotten.
the first image, needing to be rotated show the sword connected tot he middle magnet and the pauldren. the second is obviously showing the pauldren and middle magnet where the sword attaches onto.
You can see here that the sword slides onto the back, snaps to the middle magnet and it literally “clicks” into place against the pauldren.
Ah! This I need to make note of!!! There are TWO sets of magnets about the main magnet. One set in the very middle of the ring of the christmas wreath magnet and it's set so it stand out a little. This is important!!! laying the magnets down flat you can see it sitting like this : ___--___ that little ledge is what the bustersword rests on. Though it's not an actual thing to stabilize it and keep it on there such as a shelf would, it's VERY important. This little ledge allows the magnets to latch appropriately into each other and rest where the most magnetic pull occurs. This helps you keep the sword in the exact position it needs to be... and flush against the back!
here you can clearly see the second set of magnets
In all with this version the sword is maybe 15 lbs?
Now onto the important stuff.... the stuff I'll do with the NEXT Bustersword.
Ok take a look at version 2 sketch.
If you have something solid all the way through the plastic, say a nice thin one will work rather nice to cover and keep an even edge to it all. So my plan is this:
Pink insulation foam angled and craved out to be the right shape of the bustersword. Now, here's the other important part. I really enjoyed having the ability to take off the handle and put it back on, so that I'll keep. However I'd like to set the female part to the handle deeper inside of the sword, perhaps surrounded by a solid material, be it wood or some sort of enclosing material. One idea I did have was to build a skeleton from PVC pipes and have the section for the materia hole open, enclose the plastic and yet.... put expanding foam inside of the sword to keep everything steady and in place.
I've found stronger magnets which I do think will be helpful, They can be found at places like ace hardware 20-50 lb pull magnets. More then enough weight to be used.
The handle- this is important- needs to be weighted at the end. This is important because it will act as a counter weight, therefor making a 15 lb sword feel like it's only 5 lbs. It's astonishing how counter weighting so there's a “middle balance” point in the sword that's closer to the hilt makes the sword feel lighter. It's simply a matter of the weight being closer to your hand rather then being at the end of a stick. There will still still be the angle of the blade, this is so one can walk without kicking the sword off the back.
Hopefully some of these notes will help for the future. Unfortunately a second tutorial will have to come much later.
If you're looking for plastics there are two places to google, Tap Plastics and Plasticare. Look to see if there are local stores and if anything it's worth the trip to head out there and see what they have!!
good luck, happy cosplaying and dont forget to add comments and questions, I'll do my best to respond.