My Dumb Projects
Thursday, May 28, 2009
  Dragon Quest: Roto's Sword
I was commissioned to make a replica of the Roto's sword and scabbard from the game Dragon Quest.



For the blade, I glued together two sheets 1/4" Poplar with a channel cut to contain a 5/16" steel rod.



After cutting the profile, I shaped the blade edges on the belt sander



The grip was shaped on a lathe from basswood.



I used a long bit to core out the center to house the steel rod.



A test fit of handle on blade



The center rune strips were cut from thick styrene. I found Norse runes that closely matched the reference and carved them into the plastic.



For the pommel, I lathed a yoyo shape from basswood and then drilled out the base.



The pommel now fits perfectly on the handle.



I glued three pieces of MDF to form the guard, leaving a channel for the blade. It was rounded on the router table.



I used a series of files to carve grooves into the curve of the guard.



I glued the guard on to the blade and puttied up the seams. I also inserted screws to give the guard extra strength.



The "bird" shapes for the guard were cut from thick styrene.



I glued on the center rune strips.



To bridge the distance from the rune strip to the bird, I cut some MDF plugs.



Once the styrene was glued down, I used a heat gun to form the "feathers" around the curve.



Once both sides were shaped, I puttied up the seam.



A quick coat of primer to see progress.



I found some nice thick leather to wrap around the scabbard.



I made a scabbard box from 1/4" MDf and reinforced it with MDF in the inside corners.



I rounded it with the router.



The scabbard is to be carried across the back so I got a D-ring as an attachment.



I cut an aluminum strip and pounded it around a nail to form the loop.



I added the D-ring and riveted it to the MDF of the scabbard




I glued black felt into the inside of the scabbard to protect the blade.



I glued the top on and sealed the seam with putty.



To get the rounded profile on the tip, I glued on pieces of 1/4" MDF and sanded them to shape.



The gap was filled with Bondo and sanded smooth.



I heat formed thick styrene plastic over the tip to form the end cap.



Once the imperfections were smoothed out, I cut the decorative slots with a band saw.



For the scabbard collar, I heat formed more plastic around the opening. The blue tape is protecting the felt interior from dust.



I sealed the seam and cut the curved base.



I glued the cap and center band (also heat formed plastic like collar) and gave it all a pretty coat of primer.



I painted the blade and top coated it with Future to protect the finish.



The scabbard and all the "hardware" was also painted. The red applied smoothly...any imperfections you see are from my dusty fingers. It wiped off before top coating.



I applied some extra felt on the top edge to protect the guard when it's put in the scabbard.



Once the collar was glued on, I cut the slot for the guard for a proper fit.



A test fit showing the sword inserted.



I cast some resin gems and glued them to both sides of the guard.



I glued the leather to the scabbard and used upholstery tacks to simulate rivets. I trimmed the nail so that it only went 1/8" into the scabbard surface.



The back of the wrap covers the ugly rivets!



The final sword!



Sword in scabbard.

 
Comments:
Man, i can't believe no one else has told you that your efforts are out-freaking-standing!
Absolutely amazing project, i'm in awe of your patience and devotion to making something like this.
My hat off to you, Sir, for you are a true champion.
Now, If you could make a replica of the Gades blade, as featured in the SNES game Lufia: Rise of the Sinistrals, you would be my number one hero!
As it stands, your top three ;)
Congratulations mate, a very, very amazing project!
 
re: the blurb in the upper right corner of the page:
"These are all the dumb things I find myself obsessed with building when I SHOULD be doing something more productive."... at least as to this sword, how much more productive could you possibly be? And it would only be dumb if made it for someone on request and didn't get paid. ;)

The amount of work, the number of steps you put into that, just wow!

Oh, and one hell of a cool sword! I hope it goes on someone's wall and doesn't just get out for the occasional cosplay.
 
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These are all the dumb things I find myself obsessed with building when I SHOULD be doing something more productive.

As a kid I built lots of plastic model kits, never knowing that one day those skills would actually be of use.

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