11/19/2022 - Projects Update.

During a past visit, my daughter created the 3D print file for a pair of kunai she thought would go well with my latest Mushi sword. At long last, after two moves and considerable time, the kunai are finished! The body was painted the same ice color as the icy hand guard of the Mushi sword and the handles wrapped in matching color.

The kunai are now hanging from the hand guard of the Mushi katana on my new Wall of Swords.

Speaking of handle wrap (ito-wrap), I was finally able to locate this same color and type on Amazon. After the supplier I usually used disappeared from eBay, I found it impossible to locate the stuff, but I kept doing searches over time. I needed two more rolls for the swords I have yet to complete. Then lo-and-behold, success on Amazon! I put in an order immediately, the wait time will be about a month but I am so relieved to finally find what I was looking for.

Meanwhile, since moved into a small one bedroom apartment, I was able to carve out a small shop area to work. It is a fraction of the size I am used to, as a consequence work goes very slowly. Currently I am working on printing and assembling a small number of chakram sets for the character Axel in Kingdom Hearts to sell in my Etsy store (coolmodelguy). The yellow and grey chakram on my work table is one of a pair I am preparing for fine finishing and a full paint job. The blue pair are fully assembled in rough finish, which simply means that the assembly work has been done but no finishing work. The print layer lines and print artifacts need to be sanded, filled with putty or gap filling primer, then painted by the buyer.

To finish up the last of the filament on my last roll of PLA plastic, I printed two sets of Homestuck Gamzee horns, now covered in Bondo glazing putty and calling the print table of the printer home for a little while. These I will finish and paint for my Etsy store.

This is how I am finishing out 2022. The remaining two Mushi katana’s are in need of blade painting and handle wraps. Since all painting will most likely need to be done outdoors, I will have to wait for the “opportune moment” when the weather cooperates. There are some ideas about creating a painting space in our bay window so I can paint indoors, if I can create the proper ventilation I would prefer that.

11/12/2022 - The Five Swords Project. Update.

It has been over six months since my last update. Since that time, we have moved twice and suffered a considerable down-sizing as a consequence of those moves. We are still adjusting and I will tell that tale in an upcoming post.

When I last posted, the Five Sword Project was in the primer and Bondo putty-filler stage. Knowing a move was imminent, progress toward painting was the highest shop priority since I had no idea what our new circumstances would be. As usual, I photo documented my progress but I am going to skip over that section this time around.

The first three photos show the swords after the majority of putty and sanding work had been completed. The swords were assembled to check the fit of the parts and to make sure that no parts fitted too tightly. There has to be a little bit of play in the parts fit at this stage because the color paint would add thickness to the parts.

Photo #4 shows all the swords moved from the dusty shop to my painting “clean room” upstairs. In this room the swords would be disassembled for the painting of separate colors. The airbrush compressor and air tank are on the table in the background.

Photo #5 shows my collection of “Wicked Colors” airbrush paints, thinners, airbrushes and other painting supplies.

Photo #6 is a close up of the Demon Slayer scabbard, painted black with white on both ends. Unfortunately, I was not successful with this prototype scabbard, there was not enough clearance for a painted blade to slide into the scabbard which resulted in scratching the black paint on the sword blade. The scabbard came out looking awesome, later on I will split it open to add material until I can get a fit that will not scratch paint.

Photo #7 shows the first layer of flat white snowflake painted onto one side of both Mushi katana blades. I say the first layer, because these swords will have the snowflakes reapplied after each color layer. I’m continuing to experiment with the Mushi sword color scheme, I am hoping that multiple snowflake applications will add some depth and make them more visible within and against the colors added later.

Photo #8 shows all the parts after painting. I did not have time before our first move to complete the Mushi blades, but I did get all the other parts painted. I did assemble the Jian sword since all those parts were completed, it came out Awesome! After this step, all the sword parts were packed up for the move.

4/17/2022 - The Five Swords Project. Update.

Since the last update: All assembled blades and parts sanded, check.

I’ve moved ahead on this project whenever I have some time. As usual I’ve taken a load of pictures of all the steps along the way, but there is no time right now for the long form presentation. My latest brainwave was to build a scabbard for one of the Demon Slayer swords, for which I needed a pre-paint blade for fitting. This first prototype scabbard was build from balsa wood with a fabric lining to hopefully protect the painted blade. Working with wood takes a long time, but it helps to create understanding of a new concept before designing in 3D modeling software.

Pictures #1 and #2: All five blades and tangs coated with marine grade epoxy, check.

Picture #3: All the blades were sanded down until the epoxy layers were flattened out and smoothed. For the Jian sword, this round mailing tube segment helped sand the concave surfaces.

Picture #4: With the epoxy surfaces sanded down, all five blades were sprayed with primer paint. After the primer cured for a few days, Bondo glazing putty is applied over the entire blade surfaces of the swords. Glazing putty was also applied to the hand guards, handles and all of the smaller parts.

Picture #5: One of the Demon Slayer blades was selected to be fully sanded and prepared for use as a pattern for a scabbard.

Picture #6: Balsa wood patterns were cut out in the shape of both the upper and lower angled sides of the blade. The wood patterns were cut oversize in width to give the blade room to move inside the scabbard.

Picture #7: The patterns were used to cut out parts for both sides of the scabbard. The upper and lower parts were glued together while pinching the fabric into the glue joint. This was a bit dodgy on the first try as all new things are and the second try worked pretty well. The parts and the cloth were initially fitted over the blade to set the correct angle.

Picture #8: The two sides were joined with balsa strips on the top and bottom. Once I made sure that the sword blade fit without binding, I glued sheets and strips of balsa wood around the outside of the original sides to build up thickness. After building up the wood thickness, I sanded down the exterior to a oval shape along the length of the scabbard.

Picture #9: The blade guard and spacer in front of the hand guard are a different shape than the sword blade, so I built up specific wood fittings for the front of the scabbard for them. You can see the line in the wood where I glues this front section on, then sanded it to match the oval shape of the rest of the scabbard.

Picture #10: The wood construction of the scabbard is now completed, so now the entire outer surface is getting a coating of marine grade epoxy to harden up the skin.

4/24/2022 - The Five Swords Project. Update.

Sanding. Lots and lots of sanding. Red powder everywhere. Good thing my Honey loves me!

Picture #1: Plastic tub full of smaller parts for the five swords, all sanded and ready for their first coat of primer paint.

Picture #2: I had sanded down one sword blade and the guard parts for scabbard fitting, but there are four more blades to go and a newly epoxy coated scabbard to sand.

Pictures #3 and #4: The modified Mushi sword before and after sanding down the Bondo putty coating. The sandpaper used for this step was 180 grit.

Picture #5: Three blades sanded, two more to go.

Pictures #6 and #7: All of the smaller parts, the handles, the hand guards and the pair of kunai all laid out on cardboard, shown before and after the grey primer paint was applied.

Pictures #8 and #9: All five sword blades, fully sanded and laid out on a strong sheet of cardboard for primer painting.

Picture #10: These three hand guards needed repeat coating of Bondo putty and sanding before they were ready for primer paint.

1/22/2022 - The Five Swords Project. Update.

Happy New Year to everyone. The four sword project has been expanded to five. There will be two Demon Slayer katana’s instead of one, one finished as its namesake sword and the other as a traditional katana.

The theme of this update is sanding. Sanding. More sanding. Sanding is boring, non-stop, relentless and absolutely required. With five swords worth of parts, I have a lot of sanding to do. Three of the five blades have been processed through the sanding of surfaces and the opening up of the slots for tabs to fit into. (Picture #1). For the larger parts I have made it easier on myself by gluing a full sheet of 60 grit sandpaper to a bit of 3/4 inch plywood, then clamping the wood onto my work table. That is what Picture #2 shows, the classic Mushi katana hand guard having its broad sides sanded on the table.

While the flat sandpaper works well on flat blade sides, the Jian has only concave curved blade sections, For that sword, it is all hand sanding.

Picture #3 shows the Mushi katana hand guard from the side, where all of the outer edges, slots and angles must have the overhanging plastic flash removed from both the upper and lower surfaces. I do this with rough and fine jewelry files of various shapes, so I can hit every interior and exterior short vertical wall on the hand guard.

Picture #4 shows the slot and tab on the ends of each blade piece, The tab prints out normally, the slot requires support material so the blade body is not printed out onto thin air. Here the slot has been cleared, so it is easy to see how the parts are meant to fit together. On the left side of Picture #5 the support material is still on the blade part, on the right side the support material has been removed with a pair of pliers. The inside of the slot will need to be cleaned up with a Dremel sporting a 1/8″ mill end cutter, flattening out that plastic spaghetti.

Over the holidays my daughter came to visit. She had just completed a design course for school and came prepared to add some features to this project. Picture #6 shows two kunai as accessory weapons for Mushi, and three additional tsuba hand guards for the Demon Slayer katana. She designed the kunai and the Kikka Gata (chrysanthemum shaped) with the rounded petals. I designed the kikka gata with the flat petals and the four point Itomaki Gata tsuba. Pictures #7, #8 and #9 show closer views of these parts. I am going to finish all of the hand guards for the Demon Slayer sword, though I think I will find a new name for the second katana in order to differentiate them from each other.

3/05/2022 - The Five Swords Project. Update.

Before starting on the swords, there is history to catch up on. I’m feeling fine now, fully recovered. Since the last time I posted, I had major dental issues and have now been fitted with dentures. Not fun. Also during this time, I was deeply bitten on my left wrist by one of my own cats. Swelled up both my left hand and lower arm. Also not fun. Between these two events, I was laid up and out of commission. Not content, the universe struck again. Our rental house is being put onto the market ASAP. Many of you are probably familiar with the rental market right now, it is a disaster for renters. We have no idea where we are going to end up. Our criteria is to stay in California, keep our cats safe and have some space for me to do project work. Given the prices and credit requirements, this is a real challenge. We are a very rare kind of folk, we don’t use credit at all, so finding a place is proving very difficult because most landlords will not accept anyone without a credit report. The future is hazy.

Now, on to the five swords. Given what has happened, I cannot photo document all the steps as I have done in the past. Simon Says, get the sword blades assembled pronto. Assembly requires a large flat table, whereas the remaining steps can get by without the table, so getting the swords built is top priority.

Blade sections are printed in two halves. All half sections were glued together. The first picture shows sections being joined with Five Minute Epoxy. The wood post at the top of the picture is the straight edge used on the sharp side of the Mushi katana blade segments to keep alignment. The balsa wood sheet marked with the numbers 3, 4, and 5, is curved alignment tool I made for the Demon Slayer katana’s. The top edge of the Demon Slayer blade sections are pressed against the alignment tool until the epoxy sets.

Picture #2 is a close up of my staging area, filled at this time with pairs of joined blade sections.

Picture #3 shows my entire work table. The epoxy section is in the foreground, with my large sanding block clamped to the table end. With this setup, I could pre-fit sections, sanding to make adjustments to blade thickness before joining the parts. The staging area is on the far side of the table, creating a lane in the center of the table that is crowded with parts and supplies. And of course, one of my cats is curled up asleep on my work stool at the far right.

Picture #4 is a view of the entire staging area as I started fitting larger sections together.

Picture #5 is a plastic tub with all of the smaller sword parts after their surfaces have been sanded for the first time.

Picture #6 is the Jian blade fully assembled, and put together straight this time! My first Jian has an unfortunate alignment problem at the tip, I was very careful this time to get the correct alignment (can’t use alignment tools with the Jian).

Picture #7 shows larger sections being joined. The classic Mushi katana is at the top of the image, one of the Demon Slayer katana’s in the foreground.

Picture #8 is a larger view with the staging area in the foreground. At this point, two of the swords are fully assembled and the other three are about to be.

Pictures #9 and #10 show all five sword blades fully assembled. The Jian is closest to the edge of the table, next to the pair of Demon Slayer swords, then the Classic Mushi katana and finally my modified Mushi katana.

12/17/2021 - New Sword Wall Display and new Four Sword Project.

I’m trying something new! Well, not exactly new, but since I am considered by many to be an old fart now, and you know how much us old farts detest change . . . . this is all going to be new to me. Making Videos.

To bring forth this new thing, I had need to bring all three of the computers I use into the same space. There would also be a need for fitting backdrop, in case I needed it.

Hence was born my new wall display. The wall area was cleaned up and painted. Mounts for my three swords were installed. The picture was painted by my sister in 2015, it is titled “Tunnel Vision”. The painting is flanked by my daughters Chakrams from Kingdom Hearts, which fortunately for me, she forgot to pick up last time she had the chance!

So here is the way I figure it, I can get a lot more information and imagery into video than I can with photos. Plus it helps a lot that I’ve received a really cool new phone earlier in the year and had time now to get used to using it. Now I can dump the old SLR camera, because the phone camera and video is far superior (all you young’uns already know all about that, but I kept my old Star Trek flip phone for a reason damn-it, it was cool!).

The new project is going to be called “Four Swords”. The 3D printing stage has been completed, covering seventeen days since Thankgiving. I will be building a Classic Mushi Katana from MSA Hellbent, the Demon Slayer Katana, a Chinese Jian, and my modified Mushi Katana Version-4 (the one I have not come up with a snappy name for yet).

I have a pair introductory videos in the can, which I will post shortly. The first is a short video about the end results of one of my “Lockdown Projects”. That one is a surprise. The second video is about the beginnings of the Four Sword Project and what I am looking to accomplish this time.