Hi, everyone. This is Lomi, and today we're looking at the process of how I made Rune's sword.
I'm not very good at sculpting, so I decided to try 3D printing.
I created a model of his sword using Blender and had it printed by Shapeways.
It's a little rough, since I'd never done 3D modeling before, so the print will need
a lot of finishing work done by hand.
The surface had a lot of texture, so the first step was smoothing it out.
I didn't want to risk losing any shape or detail, so I decided to cover the whole sword
with Bondo putty and then sand it down smooth.
The process of coating and sanding took several weeks, especially since each coat of primer
put on the sword had to be sanded smooth as well.
Once I was happy with the surface, I made a few adjustments to the hilt with epoxy clay
and used a drill and knives to carve settings for the rubies.
I messed up one, which put me back to the filling and sanding part, which took a few
more weeks.
I originally planned to paint the sword using black gloss and chrome automotive lacquer spray paints.
The chrome paint was beautiful, but impossible to handle, even though it gave lovely results.
Touching the paint after it was fully dried resulted in the metallic surface turning gray,
and trying to put a clear sealant on it did the same thing.
So instead of a pretty reflective chrome surface, it was dull and blotchy.
An alternate method was recommended by someone on Den of Angels, so I decided to give it a try.
I started by re-coating the hilt with black paint, using Testors one coat lacquer.
It really does cover in one coat, but these lacquers are a metallic flake color, and I
only wanted that for part of the hilt.
The rest was supposed to be plain black.
So I masked off that part and then gently sanded the rest to create a surface texture
that acrylic paints could adhere to.
Most people will tell you not to mix different types of paint, but it can be done if you
work in a specific order.
Lacquer paints should go on first, then enamel paints on top of lacquer, and acrylic goes on last.
This lets all the paints dry properly without cracking or peeling.
Once the hilt was dry and sprayed with clear gloss, I heated pieces of chrome vinyl for
automotive wraps with a hair dryer and applied them to the blade.
I thought I might need to use a card or squeegee to apply the vinyl without bubbles, but it
was so easy to work with I was able to do it using just my fingers.
I stretched the vinyl to fit as well as I could, then used a hobby knife to cut the extra.
It adheres better if you can fold the edges under, but on this object, I had no way to do that.
We'll wait and see how well it holds up.
Unlike the chrome paint, the vinyl takes well to sealants and the manufacturer recommended
using different types to achieve different looks and increase durability.
I sprayed both matte and gloss sealants on some scraps to decide what I wanted to do.
On the left of the strips, I sprayed Testors Dullcote, and on the right, I sprayed Testors gloss.
On the top strip, I used one coat of each.
On the bottom strip, I sprayed gloss over the Dullcote to restore a little shine and
make a nice brushed metal look, while I sprayed 3 coats of gloss to discover they didn't increase
clouding or reduce reflectiveness of the vinyl through multiple coats.
I decided to spray the sword's blade with a light misting of gloss to add tooth to the surface.
Then I added a dusting of blue pearl pigment to give the blade a hint of a blue iridescent sheen.
It's not easily visible on camera, but looks beautiful in person.
It doesn't really change the color, but it adds a shimmer in sunlight.
Once that was sealed, the last thing to do was add the stones.
I put E-6000 glue into the settings with a pin, then pressed the stones in place.
I used lab-created rubies, which were surprisingly inexpensive.
Most of them were between 50 cents and a dollar a piece.
For the pommel, I used a star ruby, which is an item of importance in the story I've
written for this character.
And here's how his sword looks in the end.
It required a ton of patience and a lot of experimentation in the months it took to make,
but I think the end result is pretty neat.
That means all that's left for his customization project is creating the scabbard.
Then he'll finally be done.
That's all for this week.
Thank you for joining me again, and see you again soon!