Halo Energy Sword

in this instructable i will be showing you how to make an energy sword from the halo series.

Tools
.hot wire cutter
.carving knife
.wet and dry emery paper (230grit)
.pencil
.paintbrush
Materials
.acrylic paints
.25mm Styrofoam
.newspaper

open a cad drawing program that allows you to draw over an image (I used the Corel suite). Collect a flat image of the energy sword and copy and paste it into the program. Use the tools within the program to draw over the different sections of the sword (2 blades and a handle). Group these items together and scale the size to suit your height.  You then need to print these off so that you can trace them onto the Styrofoam. Once printed use masking tape to stick the stencils to the foam and use a pencil to trace the stencil through leaving an indent to follow. Remove the stencils once traced.

now that you have traced the design through you can use a hot wire cutter to cut out the shape. You can also use a craft knife to cut it out if you do not own a hot wire cutter. Do not worry if the shape is uneven as you can sand it at a later stage. Once cut check the cut outs in comparison to the stencils to check that they roughly match. If there are any areas that are completely off you can cut some foam off to make it correct or if need be re-cut the part.

now that you have the cut outs you can now sand them to smooth out any imperfections on the pieces. I used 230 grit wet and dry emery paper to smooth of edges and to even out the faces of the foam. This is done as it is easier to carve a flat surface than a bumpy one. Keep sanding until you are happy with the finish.

now you need to draw some rough lines to help you carve the edges to keep accuracy. These do not need to be the same as mine as I was not sure of the exact angle for the blades and the handle. Once you have used the carving knife to shape the pieces you can use the emery paper to smooth off the cut edges. Do this until you are happy with the finish.

now that you have all of the pieces carved you can use wooden sticks (I got them from ice lollies) to attach the blades to the handle. To do this you need to choose the position that looks correct on your model and make holes just smaller than the sticks so that there is some friction to ensure a good hold. Now take out the sticks and you are ready for paint.

mix up the acrylic paints to the correct colours and paint the foam pieces. You can do several layers if need be. Leave the pieces to dry fully before moving on. Once the coats have dried you can use a dry brushing technique if you want to add a rough used look to the prop (I did not do this as this was a quick project).

now you are ready for construction. You need to use a hot glue gun to glue the wooden sticks into the pieces. You do this by adding some glue to the top of the hole on the piece and pushing the stick down and that will give you a solid hold. Additional glue can be used but you should be careful not to ruin the finish and look of the prop.BE CAREFUL THAT YOUR GLUE GUN IS NOT TOO HOT AS IT CAN MELT THE STYROFOAM.

now that you have constructed your fine weapon you can show it off to your friends and play around with it as you wish. Enjoy your new toy and wall decoration.