Posted by Yui on 04-14-2009 - 09:27 AM
By popular request, here is the detailed report on the making of my Way to the Dawn.
First of all, just as always when making any 3D item, I needed a pattern: Since there is not yet an action figure of this version of Riku for dimensional reference, I had only the game directly to work from. The unfortunate thing about KH2 is that the viewing angle distorts as the characters near a close-up...so I spent hours running around the World That Never Was, trying to force Riku into useful camera corners to grab some workable screenshots. I took the best shot into PhotoShop to further tweak the keyblade's perspective, plus then clean-up and enhance the edges to be able to convert the image into (semi-color-coded) outlines.
Then I scaled up this prepped outline image into a life-sized 4-foot template in InDesign. Obviously, in this case it doesn't matter if the rasterized screenshot gets pixelated as it is blown-up...I just needed the general outlines for my pattern. (In the end, my keyblade may be -slightly- smaller than it would be intended in real life. This is because I matched it up to my own hand and arm rather than Riku's somewhat Disney-fied proportions.)
The template was then tile-printed, assembled in order and taped-together. (Nowadays, I could just head over to Kinko's and use the self-service large-format copier for one giant copy and skip this step. Still, it's good to have a back-up old school method...)
Then the pattern was cut out, ready for the outlines to be transfered to the foam sheeting. (This is the same kind of foam I use for just about all of my props & armor.)
Even though my foam is fairly thick, I usually just use regular scissors since I find an exact-o knife usually takes too much time and exact precision isn't needed on the initial cut-out. Also, even though this foam is flexible, an interior support like wire or wood isn't required. At this scale, two pieces hot-glued together is all that's needed for a completely solid end product.
The interior demon wing areas are much thinner than the muscle-veining, so instead of using foam for this part, I cut those pieces from a thick plastic folder (similar to styrene plastic) and then sandwiched the plastic between either sides of the foam exterior. Hot glue is a completely valid adhesive when working with thermo-form foam since it doesn't just stick the sides together, but it actually permanently fuses them...so long as it's a "real" (i.e. high temp) glue gun.
I never actually finish actual structure on anything without starting to paint in the middle of construction. I lose interest really fast unless I can start getting some color on my project. ^_^; I always have multiple layers of contrast, and try to add depth with various under-painting and top-texturing. If I was thinking correctly ahead of time, I would have used my blue foam and blue styrene as a convenient starting base to save a step or two...
Before the painting started, but after the sides were sealed together, I had also beveled the edges of the grey foam with a rotary dremel.(Not pictured in-progress, as I was too busy not inhaling particles and not grinding down my fingertips to photo-document.) The sanding tool was not designed to add a curve to something as soft as foam, thus the edges got a bit chewed up-looking. While the keyblade is basically flat (unlike most other items I make) I didn't need to use a heat gun to form its initial shape...but since the foam -is- heat form-able, I could melt the edges just slightly to smooth down the dremel-cuts.
I then started cutting feather shapes out of ordinary foamie sheets for the angelic areas - and here some bits are actually really overlapped &/or indented, whereas other areas are just implied dimension with more paint layering. Probably just to cause myself more work, I painted the already white foamies a dark grey...before re-painting them white. ^_^;
After the entire piece was painted, I sealed (most) of the paint in multiple coats of FLEXIBLE acrylic varnish. Liquitex makes two different gloss varnishes...one is not flexible and would be good for wood or anything that has absolutely no give to it at all. The flexible one is the only one that is appropriate on foam I've found however, and will not cause cracking or crazing. The more layers of gloss, the wetter and more gooey organic-looking the surface gets - which was great for the main blade and demonic portions. For the two angel wings, however, I wanted it to look softer like actual feathers, so there is no gloss on those sections.
Other details include extra little texture areas (of painted faux-leather strips) on the hilt and handle which build up around the "eye" which itself is an extremely convex acrylic magnifying lens that gives a believable depth to the iris painted behind it. (I've used the same kind of lens for YK YURA's kabuto-ish headpiece and also on Lloyd's Dragon Buster.) Also, since I couldn't find extremely strange links elsewhere, I actually removed some of the decorative hardware from a pair of my pants for the keychain. (Having a real metal chain at least gave it a realistic sound effect!)
In the end, this prop rated as very sturdy and "con-okay." While I don't normally necessarily -plan- my costumes around safe convention use, the keyblade actually follows standard prop regulations around the country : it's exactly 4' long, it's lightweight, soft to the touch and its thinnest areas are not "edged" but blunted. Even so, the most amazing part is that it also is not flimsy in the least, as it has survived multiple attempts at its life. After Ohayocon, it made it all the way down the parking garage til it wrapped its chain to the cartop carrier, slammed into the window and bounced into the slush-filled street...completely intact. Later at AX, we got half a mile away til crossing a bridge...in heavy traffic...where it flew off the top...and got run over by a car...and still remained unscathed (plus didn't cause any accidents luckily.) I think I only had to touch up two paint flecks. Still...the most valuable lesson learned? Do not set your props down on top of a van when packing.
And now I just have to get the thankfully much-less complicated Soul Eater finished some day...
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