Hi guys! Today I'm going to show you how
to make a miniature version of Daryl's
crossbow from The Walking Dead
I absolutely love this show and Daryl is
definitely one of my favorite characters
A great thing about this crossbow I'm
showing you today is that actually shoots
arrows. So let's get started!
The first thing you need are some jumbo popsicle sticks
They'll make up the main body and
the bow part of the crossbow
Here I'm marking a 3.5 inch section
on one of these popsicle sticks
This is going to be the body or like the
gun part of the crossbow
Now I'm drawing 2 horizontal lines to make the barrel
part of the body. The barrel will be
about a quarter of an inch thick
And now I'm sketching out some details to form the
shape of the body
I just looked up some reference pictures
on google images and try to copy that shape
It doesn't have to be perfect
This is just for aesthetics and it won't
affect the functionality of the bow
One detail you definitely want to include
though is the slit I'm making in the barrel
It's where the elastic will
eventually pass through so you
definitely need that
It's about an inch long
This is the preliminary shape that you'll
want to achieve. Feel free to pause this
video so you can copy it or print it or
trace it
Whichever works for you
Next you'll want to cut out that shape
I'm adding some extra detail here but
that's optional. Again I'm just using
images from the show as reference
I then cut out those details
Next, you'll want to glue this piece to
another popsicle stick to give the body
some thickness and some strength
I just clamp it with some binder clips and let
that dry
We need to cut off the excess wood
so that matches the first piece
and sand it so that looks neat and pretty
To make the bow part I'm just soaking some
popsicle sticks and hot water for a few hours
You just need one stick
but I soaked a few just in case
I broke the first one
Luckily I didn't. I just gently curved
the wood and secure it with an elastic
Here I'm making a stencil using painter's tape
so I know what shape to cut out
for the bow
basically it's a 4-inch by half an inch
rectangle with a small cut in the center
and 2 cutouts on each end
We're going to cut out that stencil
Place that stencil on the bow and cut it out
I'm filing the ends to round them off
just a little bit. When gluing the bow
to the body, you want to make sure that
the barrel is just under the middle cut
in the bow
This is where the arrow will pass
Using just a few scrap pieces of wood
I'm reinforcing that joint
Next I mark a small hole next to the end cutout
We need to drill through it with a mini hand drill
and just to make the hole little
bigger I'm just pushing a small
screwdriver through it
For the bowstring, I'm just using a hair elastic
These things are super handy
You want to cut it open and run it through
the crossbow. I start with passing the
elastic through one of the newly made
holes and tie a knot just to prevent it
from slipping
Then I pass it through the slit in the barrel
The cut on the other end of the bow*
Pull it around to hook on the body
and then do the same on the other side
but in reverse. So through the cut then the slit
then the new hole
And tie a knot
This is another optional detail. I'm just
creating the crossbow's 'stirrup" (not really sure
why it's called that) with some 20 gauge jewelry wire
And this is the basic shape that
we're going for
Drill some tiny holes in the front of the bow
and stick that stirrup
right up in there
Here I'm just gluing on some additional
pieces like the trigger just to make the
final product look a little nicer
Snip off the excess elastic and add some
super glue so the knots don't unravel
Add some black acrylic paint and you're done!
Oh just a small tip: you'll want to use
black nail polish for the wire parts
since acrylic paint does not stick well to metal
For the arrows i'm just using some
toothpicks but you can use something
stronger like a needle if you're feeling deadly
Here I'm just shaping the
toothpick so that there's a visible
distinction between the arrowhead and
the arrow shaft
Next I'm shortening and
flattening out the other end. The flat side
will just make it easier to glue on our
next piece
Using a wooden coffee stirrer
I just make 2 triangular cuts to form
this sort of shape right here
I just glue it on with some wood glue
and then paint it with some nail polish
You could totally use regular paint
It doesn't make a difference and that's it
That was the final step!
Now let's shoot this thing! ...as soon as
this dries..
I hope you guys enjoyed this video
Let me know in the comments below
what else you want to see. Bye!