The Dragonslayer

The Dragonslayer from start to finish.
Made for a commission in 2009. The blade alone on this thing is five feet long with a foot long hilt. I felt pretty badass running around my backyard with this thing.
The Dragonslayer is constantly described as a hunk of iron, and it doesn't exactly look like Guts has been taking care of it, so I took care to scratch the crap out of the blade to make it look as if this had been through years of deflecting attacks and causing general gore and destruction. When I painted it, I highlighted the damage by using a light and dark silver, then brushing red on everything and using a scrap of linen to wipe it off. The effect gave it a very aged look with tarnish and stains. When I was planning this prop, I noticed in the reference pictures that the dark part of the blade was constantly portrayed with cross hatching or speckles, making me think that there needed to be a texture there. So, I got some acrylic texture glass beads and mixed the paste with acrylic paint and after a few layers, the dark portion had the look and texture of sandpaper, and gave it a really nice effect.
I'm super proud of this gorgeous thing, and the commissioner loved it. A good experience overall for making a prop I loved.
Made from insulation foam, paper clay, polyurethane, wooden dowels, Styrofoam, linen, acrylics, plastic beads, and glue.
BTW, I actually have no idea who that is holding my sword. My client sent it to me a while back...