Sword Making Guide.

Latexing.

Before you start latexing the first thing to do is to make sure you have got somewhere to put the weapon to dry once you have latexed it. Make a wire hook that wraps around the hand grip of the weapon than can be used to hang the weapon up on a washing line or other support. [I've got an old clamp stand that was being thrown out of a chemistry lab which is ideal for holding weapons while they dry.]

Latexing.

When latexing work in a well ventilated area. The mixture of vapour given off by the latex and the paints can be pretty noxious. Be careful to avoid leaving brush strokes on the weapon if at all possible, on areas like the blade make sure all brush strokes run lengthways and this should help to minimise problems.

don't use brushes which are too big. I find that the paint brushes meant for small children are about the right size for most things but you might want a slightly bigger brush (a half inch paint brush) for larger areas.

To start give the weapon four coats of clear latex covering the entire weapon apart from the handle leaving each coat to dry fully before applying the next. Take care to make sure you cover the edges of the blade and try to avoid latex building up in cracks like where the blade joins the hilt. For these coats you might want to colour the latex using poster colour. This isn't essential but it makes it easier to see where you have been. If you are making more than one weapon be very careful that they do not touch each other between coats of they may become permanently bonded together!

Next apply 2 more coats of coloured latex to the whole weapon. I tend to use a pale grey for these coats.

The next stage is to apply 2 more coats. This is where you may have to start latexing the blade and hilt separately depending on what colour you want them to be. These coats should be a rough approximation to what you want the final colour to be. An exact match isn't important but having an approximate colour makes getting the final coats to cover properly a lot easier. I tend to use grey on areas that will eventually be silver or black and brown on areas that will eventually be gold, bronze, copper or brown (wood effect).

The final three coats are need to be the colour of the finished surface. This will generally be silver for the blade and may be any of a range of colours for the hilt and pommel. If you are using 2 or more colours apply the lighter colours first and overlap them onto the areas that will be covered with the darker colours. The reason for this is that the overlap will ensure that you don't end up with a bare line showing through at the join where the 2 colours didn't meet up and darker colours cover lighter colours much better than light colours cover darker ones.

Colouring Latex.

Latex Colourants.

Colourants are available especially for colouring latex. They are mixed directly into the latex using about 5% colorant to obtain quite a rich colour. These are great if they happen to come in the colours you want but as of yet I haven't found any metallic colourants.

Paints.

Any water soluble paint can be used to colour latex. Paints which are fairly runny such as poster colour can be mixed directly into the latex. Thicker paints such as artists acrylics must be mixed with a small amount of ammonia first or they won't disperse properly in the latex.

Artists Acrylics.

Artists acrylics work quite well in my experience. The metallic colours tend not to be quite as good as some of the others though.

Flexithane.

This is a specially formulated paint that is designed to give a flexible polymer coating. It is not mixed with latex but can be painted straight onto the latex. The silver gives an excellent metallic finish but I don't know about other colours. If you think about using this stuff work outside as it stinks of some really foul cocktail of organic solvents which is pretty noxious. The main drawback is that it is supplied in 1l tins.

Liquitex.

This is a somewhat specialised paint that can be found in art shops. I have never used it myself but I have heard people say it gives excellent colours.

Miniature Paints.

I find that Miniature paints are quite good for metallic colours and quite a few people use them although personally I don't. The best known brand is probably Citadel Miniatures.

Other Acrylics.

Any other paint that you can find that is water based is worth a try. It might be a disaster but it might be great.

Poster paint.

This is generally only useful for colouring the base layers of latex. It can be used for convenience so that you can see where you have been

Stretchi Paint.

This is a specially formulated water based paint that is not mixed with latex but is designed to be painted straight onto the surface of the latex. I have tried this recently and it gives a nice finish. Colours include Gold, Bronze and Black and the Gold and Bronze avoid the problem of cuprous pigments which is described below. (There isn't a Silver in this range to my knowledge.

A Word of Warning About Pigments.

Avoid any paint which contains a cuprous based pigment as cuprous based pigments rot latex. Paints should list the pigments on the side of them so its not too difficult to spot the ones which could give trouble. As a general rule the colours likely to contain the offending pigments are Gold, Copper, Bronze, Brass and any similar colours. Paints can be found in these colours which don't contain cuprous pigments but they tend to be the exception rather than the rule.

Latex Thickener?

Personally I don't use thickener as I find it tends to leave brush strokes in the latex but some people use it. Thickener will reduce the number of coats that are needed but I find a few more thinner coats gives a better finish than less thicker ones do.

Highlighting.

If you have an airbrush (or have access to one) you can use this to highlight the weapon. Many people use black to highlight but it looks much better if you use a very dark silver (a mixture of black and silver). Just use the paint alone to highlight rather than mixing it with the latex. Latex is very difficult to airbrush with (and even worse to clear out when it blocks the nozzle). Latex can be sprayed but it requires an industrial sprayer.

Varnish.

Some people varnish weapons. This helps to stop the finish rubbing off but I find that it gives a very "plastic" look to the weapons which I don't like as it is too shiny but if you have airbrushed highlights on you will need to give it at least one coat of varnish. If you do varnish weapons only use a thin coat. I have seen heavily varnished weapons where the varnish is so thick and inflexible that it cracks to form a lovely cobweb pattern when a thumb is pressed against the side of the blade.

An alternative to varnish is clear Flexithane. This gives a flexible finish so doesn't have the cracking problems associated with varnish and it doesn't look as shiny either. I have started using this recently and it is the best solution I have discovered so far.

Another finish which is often used is Isoflex. Isoflex Special Primer (not the paint) can be obtained from larger hardware stores. I haven't used this personally but it gives a hard wearing very glossy finish.

Both Flexithane and Isoflex give off very noxious fumes so work outside.

Cleaning Brushes.

Latex is insoluble in water once it is dry so it is important to clean brushes immediately after use. Rinse the brush in warn (but not hot) water and use plenty of detergent to remove the latex. Even so brushes will slowly become clogged with latex. In order to remove the more stubborn build ups soak the brushes overnight in "PolyClens" brush cleaner. The PolyClens appears to rot the latex and causes it to swell. It can then be removed by using a wire brush. Once you have done this wash the brush very thoughrally using plenty of detergent as it is important to remove all the PolyClens and small fragments of latex that will be remaining.

Flexithane is virtually impossible to shift from brushes. Water, detergent, Brush Cleaners, Turpentine, Petrol and Paraffin all seem to fail. Soaking overnight in PolyClens and the wire brushing as above will make the brush usable again (even if it is a few less bristles now). Isoflex is equally unfriendly to your brushes.

Return to Sword Making Guide Index..

Back to Making the Hand Grip.

Forward to Finishing Touches.