Heavenly Sword - Nariko's Blade Notes

This isn't a full tutorial, but a collection of some notes I took while making this item:

If you're not familiar with the game or character, the weapon I'm trying to create is this:



The main sword breaks into two smaller swords, and I want to try and reproduce that effect if I can. (I'll need a way to connect the two blades together however. Magnets will probably be out due to the weight of the swords. Some kind of metal hook thingie would probably be in order although I have no idea what such a fastener would look like...yet.)



One of the main problems I've been having with this project so far is the reference pictures. Half of them have the sword design reversed. (I can only HOPE I have the sword components facing the right way on the right sides of the blades.) I'm not the only one confused about how the swords are put together. Let's take a look at that reference picture again.



The bottom half of the sword is facing the right way, but the top half has been incorrectly reversed! Taking that part of the picture and rotating it, you can see that the sword curves in the opposite direction of the bottom half of the sword. (After an extensive study of both halves of the sword, I can safely assure you that this is so. See the little round thing on the top half of the sword? That thing goes on the same side of the sword that the red engraving is on.) Here's what that particular side of the sword will look like once it's been put together:



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By the way, I got my magnets in the mail today. I dug out the 20 pairs of weak store-bought magnets that I previously embedded into my Nariko blade and replaced them with 4 pairs of the neodynium magnets. (You only see three pairs in the picture below. I later went with four.)



Each magnet can hold about 9 pounds of weight and 4 sets of them should be more than enough to keep both blades together. (Any more than four sets and I risk ripping the plastic coating of the blades apart as I try and separate them.) After setting the magnets, I took some Apoxie Sculpt and used it to make the curvy handle of the upper sword. I'll be able to give an assessment of the material once it sets...

Boy. Can't wait until I get this finished...Some projects you can just TELL are going to be the NEATEST THING EVAR once you've put them together and this one sure feels like it.

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Wow. This has been the most challenging thing I've had to put together for awhile...



(Right-click and "view Image" to see the photo in its entirety.)



Powerful magnets have been embedded into the blade of the sword (I had to carve up swords and stick additional pairs of magnets into them when the four pairs I embedded already weren't up to the task of holding the blades together. I have seven pairs of magnets embedded in the blades in all.)

I also have a small wirehook on the handle of the Upper Sword, which I use to secure the two swords together. (A person could easily cover this hook with their hand when wielding the Upper Sword by itself.)

Here's what the sword looks like when connected together:



(Right-click and "view Image" to see the photo in its entirety.)



The blades will remain together as the sword is lifted. (They probably can't be swung around wildly when connected, but should be durable enough to pose with.) I need to work on the surface a little more, then I can get more extensive pictures of both sides of the sword...

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First off: thanks to everyone who commented on my Nariko sword below. Oh and as far as my MKR skit goes, I've gone and posted a thread asking for members on the Cosplay.com AD 2008 board. (Unfortunately, I gave the thread a really stupid title that I wish I could change, but there doesn't seem to be any way of doing that. -_-)

Anyway, here's the back side of the Nariko sword:

(Right-click and "view Image" to see the photo in its entirety.)





And a closeup of the design:



And a shot of the two swords connected together:

(Right-click and "view Image" to see the photo in its entirety.)





Have a little more touchup work to do but it's pretty much done. On this side it's hard to tell where one sword leaves off and the other begins, which is why a large pool of reference pictures was crucial to my understanding of it. (Even if those reference pictures tended not to agree with each other half the time...)