Manjimaru's Sword

I was commissioned to make the sword and scabbard of Sengoku Manjimaru from the Tengai Makyou II video game.



I started by cutting the blade halves from 1/4" poplar, cutting a channel inside each for a steel support rod and glueing the wood together.



I sanded an edge on the blade then sealed the wood with shellac.



I made the blade collar from black styrene plastic.



I cut hilt halves from 3/4" MDF, cutting a channel for the steel support rod and blade collar.



By the client's request, I painted the blade red.



I shaped the hilt using a Dremel sander.



I made the scabbard with MDF with 1/4" poplar fins



I lined the scabbard with soft cloth to protect the finish on the blade.



I glued the scabbard closed and rounded the edges on the router table.



I carved some belly scales into the scabbard using chisels and utility knives.



I cut channels for the steel support rod in MDF grip halves.



I glued the gip parts together and carved out areas for the scale insets and gems.



I cut parts for the face out of 1/4" and 1/8" MDF.



The face parts glued on.



I cut eyes from 1/4" red acrylic that fit into the eye socket.



I puttied up the gaps between the face parts and the scabbard.



I glued on 1/4" antlers to the dragon's head.



I made stamps for scales out of hardboard and dowels.



I rolled out a long sheet of clay and stamped scales into the surface.



I poured plastic resin into the mold and removed a sheet of scales!



I used a heat gun to soften the scale sheet to it would wrap around the dragon's body.



I used the same technique to cast resin whiskers.



The de-molded whiskers.



I used a heat gun to soften each whisker and wrapped it around the body.



I painted the scabbard with brass paint.



I attached rings to the dragon's back so it could be worn.



I cast red resin gems for the pommel and grip.



The final sword and scabbard!



The sword in the scabbard.



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