Marth's Sword — Blind Squirrel Props

I was commissioned to make Marth’s sword and scabbard from the video game Super Smash Bros Brawl. Timing was short so there were a few short cuts.

I started with the blade by cutting a groove through two sheets of 1/4″ poplar to house a 5/16″ steel rod.

I glued the wood together around the blade.

I cut the outer layer of the blade from two more pieces of poplar, including the inner slot.

I glued the outer layers around the inner layers.

Here you can see how the layers fit together.

With some tricky table saw work, I was able to cut the bevels on the blade leaving a 1/8 edge. And I still have all my fingers!

The drawings show the sword with a flat diamond at the tip but that would’ve made the point much stubbier. I decided to keep the profile accurate and bevel the tip.

I lathed the grip from a pine dowel.

The cross guard was cut from several thicknesses of MDF.

The MDF was shaped with belt sander, dremel and file to get the appropriate facets.

I cut the pommel piece from two layers of MDF and a channel for the rod. The facets were shaped on a belt sander.

I used my mini-vacformer to shape .09 plastic around each half.

I then cut the raised trim from the plastic shells.

The finished pommel, all puttied and coated in primer.

Since I didn’t have time for drying, I painted the sword with acrylic paints. I found a great gold that looks as good as the enamel metallics!

For the pommel gems, I cut the shapes from 1/4″ green acrylic.

I shaped it into a dome with the belt sander and Dremel…

…until finally buffing the gem to a glossy shine!

I used the same process for the large hilt gem, making it from laminated red acrylic.

Here are all the primer coated pieces together for a test fit. Obviously this was before the painting, but it didn’t make sense to reveal it earlier.

With the sword done, I could start on the scabbard. I cut the outer shape from MDF, leaving room for a lining, and glued the walls.

I used the scrap pieces from cutting the blade angle to make the inside fit better.

The box lid with the edges rounded with a router.

The tip of the scabbard was made from 1/8 MDF glued in place.

Time allowing, I might have made the design inset but glueing thin plastic to the surface had nearly the same appearance.

I heat formed thick plastic bands around the opening.

More heat formed details.

Since the scabbard need to be wearable, I needed a metal “belt loop”. I had an old hard drive sled that would work.

I cut off a piece that had the right shape.

A bit of wresting over a vise and I’ve got a 1-1/2″ loop! It was attached with 1/4″ screw posts.

Here is is in place on the back of the scabbard.

With the bracket glued in, I glued in the black felt lining. The box could then be glued together and assembled.

Here is the final scabbard. The blue and gold details were cut out of thin plastic.

The final sword

Later, I was commissioned to make another Marth sword, so I was able to make a few refinements to the design. Instead of vacforming a shell over the pommel, I decided to build the bands from strips of styrene.