Just a thought on the Glaive...

[Commander George]

Hey y'all!

Is it just me, or could a double-bladed oar (like those used in kayaking) be a possible foundation for a Glaive?

I suppose it would be sturdy enough, and the modifications would have to be: cutting and painting the blades, adding emitter caps and fins, and wrapping the hilt to achieve the look.

Anyway, maybe it's a crazy idea, but what do you think?

Cheers!

[LuciousTalvloinne]

It might work for a basis but I think it might be too long.

[Darth Skellington]

Interesting idea! I agree that it would be sturdy, but I think it might be easier to start from scratch with pipe or some other handle. I suspect that if the hilt isn't too long, the oars might be too short to be blades. Intresting concept though, kinda hard to tell without seeing one in person.

I have some kayak-like oars at my house, but they are different than what you picture and definitely would not work.

[Commander George]

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll experiment with PVC pipe before trying this approach.

I'll keep you posted!

[Commander George]

OK, after much thought I decided to try a traditional approach and went for PVC, a soft foam mat to wrap the hilt and a couple of generic "space swords" for the blades.

I think the final product came out pretty decent. See for yourselves and tell me what you think:

[Darth Skellington]

Very interesting technique! I like the details on the endcaps. What did you make the endcap fins out of? I use some plastic dividers that look similar in shape at work....but they are very thin. I wonder how they would work.

The black mat grip is also a good idea. I picked up some plastic woven placemats last year that resemble carbon-fibre mesh that I'm hoping will work for my grips one day.

[Commander George]

What did you make the endcap fins out of?

OK, that's a funny thing... I made them out of small plastic "tubs" used for birds (sorry for the crude description, but I have no idea what they're called in English). I found them at a street market (many people here in Mexico keep canaries as pets) but I guess a pet store may carry them. The plastic is rigid enough, yet easy to cut. And the "ledge" on the tub gives you a 90 degree angle and a surface to glue the fin to the endcap.

The image below shows what I'm talking about (the ones I used are similar to the blue one in the upper left corner).

As for the mat, I got it at a local supermarket. It was large enough to cover the whole hilt. I taped it along the entire length of the hilt and wrapped it real tight. Then I sewed each overlapping layer with thick plastic thread.

The fin detailing came from the "space swords" I also found at the street market. I cut out the "hand guard", and then used the long blue pieces to complement the endcaps.

So, a bit of scratch-building there!

Cheers!

[LuciousTalvloinne]

Those are actually cool space swords Do they still have them down there

[Commander George]

Those are actually cool space swords Do they still have them down there

In street markets (or some supermarkets) you can find a lot of generic or "knock-off" toys that can work for prop building. For example, I made a DT-12 "Greedo" blaster out of a cheap squirt gun: