d.gray man katana
april 2007
D.Gray-man is a Japanese manga and anime series set in the 19th century. It tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order.
D.Gray-man is a Japanese manga and anime series set in the 19th century. It tells the story of a young Allen Walker, who joins an organization of exorcists named the Black Order.
My sister is a big anime fan so I decided to make a replica of this sword from D. Gray-Man for her birthday.
To make this sword safe for conventions and Cosplay events I decided to make the blade out of wood. I used a 3′ x 1/4″ x 3″ piece of Red Oak and cut the beveled edge on the table saw. I figured out the angle I needed and cut a slot into a piece of MDF. The wood was put into the slot and the edge could be cut perfectly on each side!
The tip of the blade was shaped on a belt sander.
To remove the grain in the wood, I sealed it with shellac, primered and sanded.
The blade was painted with a Krylon semi-gloss black. The black was then masked off to expose the edge so that it could be painted silver.
The hilt was constructed out of 1/4″ MDF as a box. The center channel was cut out with the table saw and cleaned up with X-acto knife and files.
The hilt was sealed with shellac. Seams and larger holes were covered over with wallboard joint compound and sanded smooth.
The trim was cut out of .040 strip styrene and CA glued to the MDF. I used a strip of half-round styrene for this band.
The scabbard was also made with 1/4″ MDF.
To protect the blade’s paint as it slid in and out, I lined the interior of the scabbard with a fake suede called mole-skin. It’s soft like suede but ultra thin.
Once the two halves were glued together, I rounded the edge with a router.
The end was plugged with a small piece of MDF and then rounded with a router.
To make the opening a little nicer, I contact cemented a loop of mole skin around the opening….
I used two bands of .040 styrene to make the collar of the scabbard.
The final sword.
Hilt detail.
Sword in scabbard.