Not Just a Pretty Chainsword (or, a sneak peek of what we're doing next)

Our current main project close to finishing, we're looking at what to work on next to generate interest and show people what we can do. Huge Space Marine Chainswords are all very well, but with our current expansion we're keen to show Cosplay, Lrp and Re-enactment lovers that we can design and make projects and pieces for them too.

With that in mind, our next project will (of a string of several in the next few months) will be a Set of Plate-mail Gauntlets that we'll be selling on Ebay to help advertise in time with uploading of our website. More to come soon, including the blanks for the gauntlets and the finishing of the chainsword.
H/F

Primed and Ready to go

To start the project we knew that one of the hardest parts of making a Space Marine Chainsword would be painting it. We looked at a series of materials and finishes, including plastic, mild steel, aluminium etc but decided that wood would not only be the best to get good detail from but also be good to work in. 

Our main problem then was how to finish the wood to look like metal, especially the teeth (which have to be a bare metallic colour). We've worked out a solution involving primers, sealers, sanding, grinding and paint layers, and we've started applying the process. With the white primer on it's really coming together...see what you think.

Length of the Sword with teeth in.

Reverse View

The teeth aren't stuck in yet - as seen below - so that we can paint them without paitn overlapping onto the sword.
That would make it look like it was static and stuck, rather than the teeth seeming mobile.

Painting tests.

Primed all over, the Space Marine Chainsword looks much better and more cohesive.

Engine block as painted - much more like a solid piece, and getting towards the gothic/imperial look we're going for.

Almost finished construction

As you can see from the below photos, we've almost finished the construction part of the build. There's a great deal of sanding and smoothing to do, but it's all coming together. Now we're looking at finishes; MDF being hard to get a good sharp finish on, we're experimenting with polishes, wood stains, and primers. Currently we;re leaning towards a sealer, a primer and a silver (probably car paint) colour for the teeth and black with red details/yellow and black danger chevrons.

Blade (minus teeth) as it currently stands

Eagle pommel before detailing

Reverse view of the handle and guard.

Close up of the Activation studs.

Details part 1

More detailing going in today, with activation studs, dials and circular spinals around the engine block. we've cut the pommel to size ready for the start of the eagle, and champhered off the edges of much of the handle.
Next phase is also making the flat surfaces smooth and sharp, so that the wood actually looks like metal overall, using wood filler and wood glues then sanded off.
Looking at finish we're taking onboard Animatronica and Ollie's ideas and probably going with a black main colour, red blood drop and possible aquila, with the odd oil stain/wear make but not too much battle damage.

Pommel ready for eagle detail to the left.

Studs and dials below the engine block.

Pale white is the wood filler used to create a smooth surface finish.

Start of the eagle detail for the pommel and hand guard. we're cutting it down a bit beacuse it was too large for the scale of a Space Marine Hand.

One of our jigs for cutting.

Current look at the Chainsword itself.

You mihgt have noticed we've removed the teeth - this is so that we can look at painting colours and varnishes on the separately from the main blade. Looks more like a Space Marine Power Sword like this....hmm...Idea....

Yet more teeth and a box of sneak previews

After moving things and generally getting everything in order to expand we're back with more pictures and updates on our Space Marine Chainsword this week. Though the original teeth were good, we found that after a few they looks a little bit too small. So we've given them more bite and the results can be seen below.

In style this month, one work bench with work in progress Space Marine Chainsword

Instead of cutting circles of MDF and then quartering them, we've had to go down a more labour intensive route to get the humped-back shape of the teeth right. They are now over an inch long each. We've also started to look at the specific deatiling on the sword as a whole, the eagle mount for the end of the pommel and the metal guard. More coming soon.

More teeth...

An overall view of the Space Marine Chainsword so far.

As you can tell, we're very happy with the teeth, hence the close-up.

Housing block for the teeth to feed into at the bottom of the blade, as seen below.

The teeth will feed in here, but it also serves as a holder for the metal hand guard that will sit underneith it and form the bassis of the guard.

Starting design for the eagle.

Quick sneak-peak of the other details, buttons, cogs and gears we're working on for the final piece.

We're now starting to get into finishing ideas and colours - what does everyone think? classic Ultramarine? Blood Angel? Black Templar? Let us know so we can experiment!
H/F

Space and How to Use It

We've been looking at expanding our current workshop. As it stands, we're well provided to deal with wood and metal, as well as detailing and any finishing we want. But we're expanding to be more versatile with plastics and foam (as well as creating a new home for our brand new table saw :)

With that in mind we're pulling down a shed that we had which was full of random stuff and putting up an extension to the workshop to give us greater workspace for tools and jigs. Pictures soon, and more on our Space Marine Chainsword as the teeth and motor block take shape as well as experiments in finishing.
H/F

Engine Blocks and Pointy Teeth

More blocky-work today, mostly getting the key features of the Space Marine Chainsword in place. The engine block is taking shape, and prototype teeth are on the way. once we've got all that in place we'll start with the incidental bits that make it, like activation stud, hand grip and guard, then its on to finishing and painting.

Start of the engine/motor block.

Basic look for the Motor block, before adding details.

We were looking at different teeth, but they turned out too stubby, so we've lengthen them. It means more work but it will look much more Marine sized this way.