ACParadise Forums

I'm a newbie I guess at cosplaying, and I was wondering what is the easiest and cheapest thing to make weapon props out of? If anyone says wood they will feel my doomy wrath of pinkness

depends on the weapon style. sometimes you can just get a "Samurai Ninja" sword for 500 tickets at Chucky Cheese. Or maybe for $20 get a blow up. That's if you go BASTARD DIRT CHEAP.

Try a halloween store and paint or mod it yourself.

XD Bastard dirt cheap.. Anywho, thanks for the tip, I'll try some halloween stores.

Try some cardboard too! That's dirt cheap too!

If you can go cardboard, break the 12.00$ bank on some ghetto sheet foam and spraypaint. It may look awful, but come on, it's better than cardboard .

Lmao btw my sig is true. email me if you want a pic of some of my early constructions with duct-tape and cardboard gundams.

if you use the foam, place a plastic coat over it like contact paper, $10 but it looks better than a dead man's face.

The dirt cheapiest (It's a word, I swear >_>; ) thing you can make weapons out of is exactly that... Dirt!

Ok, ok, how about having someone lay black fiberglass over a wooden base, I think it'd look pretty cool. Almost any high-end car audio installer can lay fiberglass, although they might look at you funny if you ask how much it'll be for a fiberglass sword (Make sure you indicate you want it painted)

You can lay fiberglass yourself, but if you haven't done it before.. I'd highly reccomend not laying it yourself, it's difficult and frustrating to say the least.

How much does that cost?

A huge variance according to where you go. For a car audio box (3 12" subs, for instance) could be 200-300 USD, unpainted. You could paint it youself because they'd usually charge like, an even grand for a painted glass'd box

I can see about getting a discount because I know almost all of the people that own or work in car audio/car performance shops in Pensacola.
(Steve's Car Tunes, Circuit City crew, Performance Mobile, and I know the owners of Notorious Motorsports, V&T Performance, and Technical Tricks)

Damn... you might as well resin cast for $100.00 and have it look better

Well, it's $200 for a significatly larger item. Large enough to house 3 12 inch subs, or 3 15 inch subs, as well as having air space for them, room for the amplifies, power capaciters, etc. Something smaller like a sword/staff/etc shouldn't be nearly as much.

I just made a wax Tetseiga... than it broke

I'm thinking maybe layerd plexiglass might work.

Fiberglass layering followed by an epoxy job works quite well. Use a sheet foam base or rigid insulation, you can get it at lumber yards or some hardware stores. The epoxy seals the fiberglass matting you would need to use and provides a firm base for painting. Spray the main sword (Post sanding epoxy!!) with a metallic coat and do a shinier paint on the sword edge for a neat effect. Slash it a little maybe for some realism if the character your cosplaying uses an active weapon.

Another option is ultra-cal 30 which is an extremely durable, hard and almost no shrinkage compound for molding. This method isn't cheap though, if you ahve any questions email it to me.

The first method with the fiberglass might run you say 50$ for a medium-large weapon ? Depends how much you shop around and the detail required. For High detail I suggest casting a foam base that has been wrapped in plastic and using a release. I try to carve hilts out of either wood or really strong foam and etch in the details with a thin knife and a pattern or in the case of wood with a wood burner and some post-varnish or paint.

Should be something like that. If you know how to lay your own fiberglass, it'd be much cheaper than a shop doing it. Most car audio installers hate doing fiberglass jobs because it's a pain to do, that's why they're able to mark it up so much.

Fiberglass isn't bad if you wear gloves, work safely, work outside and buy good materials. It's not as scary as some people think.

Alchem wrote:Fiberglass isn't bad if you wear gloves, work safely, work outside and buy good materials. It's not as scary as some people think.

I have scars from laying it down, I spilled honey on fresh fiberglass, and it bonded to my skin.

so I had to rip the flesh off and tape it till an ambulance could arive.

... I'm never using fiberglass after hearing that... XD

Don't let Sterling scare you ;p all you have to do is buy some good gloves and work carefully. Also, wear goggles... pull back your hair or wear a hat, wear a mask and COVER your hands. Can't stress that enough. If you protect your body it will turn out alright.

Yea, I've used fiberglass plenty of times. Just don't be an idiot like Sterling and have some common sense.

Seriously, using honey... Everyone knows you should spill glue and 2-ply epoxy on your skin before you stick your arm in fresh fiberglass : \

For me, common sense requires buying a $40 fumes mask if you're going to be working with a lot of fiberglass or resin.

I also don't know where you guys are shopping for fiberglass supplies. 5 sq/ft cloth $4.95, resin $15 a pint at Wal-Mart. I'm still looking for a ABS source that won't eat me out of house and costume though.

Dark_Tiger wrote:I'm still looking for a ABS source that won't eat me out of house and costume though.

Most cars have Anti-Lock Brakes from the factory.

(J/k, DT ^^)

Fiberglass is dare i say.... fun? It's just so easy to do and when it dries its soooo easy to carve and paint.

yup, I'm a dumbass.

Nah, you just made a mistake.

If nobody made mistakes.. well, we can't ALL be Asian : \