Help with Sailor Saturn STaff?

[Jazzmin-anime]

How the heck do you make that thing?!?!

[Sailor-Jeimi]

There are quite a bit of ways. What's your budget for this? That will determine whether you can even afford to make it at all..


For the staff there's:
dowel or PVC pipe..Or if you REALLY want to, a metal pipe..


For the blade there's:
clay
cardboard
craft foam
insulation foam
wood
expanding spray foam
styrofoam
paper
wire
and a few others probably that I can;t think of at the moment.


All of these will require different amounts of cash.


Then you have to remember: everything will require adheasive (glues and tapes) and paint. Wire will requite not only the wire, but also you will need to fill it with something (batting, spray foam, paper, or anything really), as more then likely paper macheteing the whole thing, then covering it with a sealer like gesso. Craft Foam will need to have an internal structure as well (just like the wire) but doesn't require paper machete (though you can). Insulation foam you HAVE to buy in a huge sheet. The smallest I think are 2'x8' and you will need a 2" thick one to be able to bevel it correctly to look right, which is almost $10-20 on it's own. Purely out of clay, will cost you a crap ton too because you will need a lot of it (paperclay is the best for this but you will need at least 3 packs).


So really, it depends on what you are looking to spend, and what you think you will be able to actually DO yourself.

[LtCommanderRichie]

What's paper machete, and is it anything like a regular machete (used to clear pathways in dense forested areas) 


To be of a bit more help though, I can tell you this- you'll want to start with either a metal or wooden pole, because PVC is always very, very floppy when heavier elements are added to its ends. You'd do well with cut acrylic or MDF for the blade, and paperclay wouldn't be amiss for the flared bottom portion or the decorative join between the staff itself and the blade.


Depending on your propmaking prowess this could be done for anywhere between $80 and $150, and commissioned for about double that price when you factor in labor costs.


You gotta realize, though, that nobody here is going to be able to walk you through every step of the process.

[veraca]

I suggest googling and looking on dA for tutorials for similar type props- like swords, keyblades and some staffs (like Yuna's from FFX). All of them have a dowel or PVC pipe base and list many creative ways to make the prop work.

You could also use foam-core board (it's poster board with something like styrofoam in the middle). It's a bit stiff and can be cut with regular scissors or a box cutter. You also won't need to seal the edges and you don't need any special glue (hot glue and Elmer's can work just fine) if you're deciding to double it up and make it thicker. Since it's paper it can also take paint pretty easily and unlike some other methods doesn't create as large of a mess.

Unless you want the prop to be close to eternal in life, something like a wooden dowel and some styrofoam and some of the foam-core boards might be just what you're looking for. Lots of people will also add on air-dry clays to create more 3D edges and shapes, and some will use just hot glue. There's also 3D paint, but that you have to build up in layers.

There's a huge variety of ways you can make the prop, depending on your skill level, your space to work in, the time and energy you want to invest, and what you want it to be like. If you don't mind it being on the heavier side and harder to travel with, go with wood. If you want it lighter and possibly able to come apart, go with PVC and maybe some wood add-ons. You could even make the staff break in half, so you're essentially making two halves that aren't identical but can slide together, maybe via twist or just pushing (though twisting might be better).

[Sailor-Jeimi]

What's paper machete, and is it anything like a regular machete (used to clear pathways in dense forested areas) 


To be of a bit more help though, I can tell you this- you'll want to start with either a metal or wooden pole, because PVC is always very, very floppy when heavier elements are added to its ends. You'd do well with cut acrylic or MDF for the blade, and paperclay wouldn't be amiss for the flared bottom portion or the decorative join between the staff itself and the blade.


Depending on your propmaking prowess this could be done for anywhere between $80 and $150, and commissioned for about double that price when you factor in labor costs.


You gotta realize, though, that nobody here is going to be able to walk you through every step of the process.

Really? Honest question here..How have you not heard of that? It's where you make a glue/water mixture (some people use flour too, but I don't) and you use newspaper and soak the paper in the glue mix and put it on whatever your doing..Pretty much all schools have you learn paper machete in art time in elementary school..

[LtCommanderRichie]

The joke was actually that you've been spelling paper mache wrong. A machete is a very large knife used by bushmen and survivalists, as well as military personnel, to clear paths in dense underbrush.

[Sailor-Jeimi]

Oh..Stupid phone....Sorry, I usually use my phone for internet. I didn't realize it was doing that..I noticed it would do that on coscom too..I know it's "mache" but for some reason that word isn't in my phone no matter how many times I add it..Just like every word I add..I hate phones lol

[Papa Fox]

For the staff wooden doweling (approximately 1 1/4" thick)
[/size]
[/size]The spear point at the bottom can be carved from EVA foam and attached with a glue gun
[/size]
[/size]The head piece, which reminds me of a Daikatana, can be carved with a Jigsaw, and smoothed with a dremmel.
[/size]
[/size]Various accents found at garage sales to gussy it up like what you find at the end of drapery rods.


[/size]Assembly should take roughly six hours depending on how long you like to spend detailing and polishing, painting and sealing about the same plus wait times to dry (first day paint, second day sealer).
[/size]
[/size]Verdict: Weekend side project.
[/size]
[/size]Fox

[Tomecko]

I cosplay Sailor Saturn, and for my glaive, I went to Lowes and got a long dowel, a couple fancy chair legs that matched the fluted bits at the bottom of the shaft, and a sheet of wood to cut the blade out of. And spraypaint in my chosen colors: A silver for the blade, and a metallic dark gray for the haft.

I drew the blade's shape on the sheet of wood, and cut it out with a dremel tool (a simple one can be bought for about $20-30, and is a prop-maker's best friend). I coated it in spray adhesive and glued two pieces of posterboard I'd cut to the same shape on either side. This was to give it a smooth finish, with no woodgrain showing through. Spraypainted it silver.

For the haft, I cut off the chunks of chair leg I didn't need with a hacksaw. My two chair leg pieces looked something like these. Chair legs have screws at the top, so I used those to screw the two parts into each other (secured further with Gorilla Glue), and then attached them similarly to the long dowel. I cut off a few inches of the dowel, too, so my glaive would be proportional to my height. The whole haft was spraypainted in the dark grey (some people do black, purple, or silver for the haft, it's your choice, really).

My method of attaching the blade to the haft turned out to be crap, so experiment with your own method - it'll need to be sturdy, as that will be a very thin and breakable stress point. No matter what you use to attach the two, that joining can easily be hidden with the almost floral-like silver flounce at the seat of the blade - I made mine out of craft foam, painted silver (tip: spray your foam with clear gloss spraypaint first, to keep it from soaking up the silver color and make it more metallic-looking).