Foam Pin Sword - Alice in Wonderland

A few months from now, a small group of my friends are going to an Alice in Wonderland mystery/scavenger hunt event.

One of the costumes I am making is Mallymkun from the 2010 movie. To start, I am making a scaled up version of her pin sword.

The structure of this sword is entirely foam, a mix of EVA and styrofoam was used in making mine.

Caution: since this sword is entirely foam it is not especially durable, particularly if being used to hit things.

15mm foam dowel - cut to desired length (I used a precut 2’ dowel)

Foam ball (I used 2.5” diameter styrofoam)

Acrylic Paint (I used silver and black)

Hot glue gun

Scissors

X-acto or other craft knife

Sandpaper

Position the dowel where you want it to sit, and trace around it with a light colour, I used a yellow highlighter. Then, use the knife to make about a 1/4” indent where the shaft of the pin sword will sit. Once the circle is cut I used the tip of the knife to gently push the foam away from the edges. After that because I used a styrofoam ball I was able to pick out the individual cells of foam. Once you have made the hole insert the dowel to make sure it fits. It should be snug but not too tight. Remove the dowel before going to the next step.

Make a mark roughly centre on one end of the dowel, also mark all the way around the dowel how far you want the taper of the point to go, I ended mine about 1 inch in from the tip. I started by using my x-acto knife to cut out the point but it ended up ripping more than cutting the foam, so I switched to using scissors which worked much better, and made it easier to control where I was cutting. Once you have a rough point cut, then use sandpaper, I had 220 grit, and gently sand any rough patches. I recommend moving the sandpaper in strokes towards the point, rather that starting at the point, I found it easier. The purpose of sanding it is more to blend the imperfections rather than to make it completely smooth. Go back and forth between cutting and sanding until you are satisfied with how the point looks.

I used silver acrylic paint to paint the dowel, and black acrylic paint for the ball. I painted the dowel with 3 coats, allowing ample drying time between coats, and did 2 coats on the ball. Since I was also holding the ball while painting it, it can be tricky to cover the entire surface in one go, so I did about half the ball at a time, and once that dried I held it on the dried paint to cover the other areas. Repeat as many times as necessary to get the desired effect.

Note: depending on the paint you use it will help to stiffen the dowel. I found the dowel curved under its own weight when held in the air from the end, the paint helped to lessen the bending, but did not remove it completely.

Once all the paint is dried cover the flat end of the dowel in a generous amount of hot glue, and firmly press the dowel into the hole in the ball. Wait 10 minutes or so to allow the glue to dry then gently try to pull the ball off the dowel, to ensure they are securely attached.

That’s it! Mine ended up at a length of 26.5 inches.