Wesley's Weekly HOW TO: Prop Foil
Foils and Sabers are staples of adventure films, whether you're a swashbuckler, a scoundrel pirate, or a Spanish Aristocrat fighting for Californian independence, you'll most likely have one of these at your side. But the real thing can no only be expensive, but dangerous if you're swinging them around on set, so i'm going to show you how to make your own both much cheaper and relatively safer.
I started out with a thin wooden dowel for the blade. You could go with a thicker one if you want a saber-type sword with a thicker less flexible blade, but you'll need to do more shaping, a foil on the otherhand requires minimal shaping, and it bounces around more and I think it looks a little more interesting in a fight.
I went with a much thicker wooden dowel for the handle.
Using a drill bit almost exactly the same thickness as my sword "blade", I drilled a hole into the center of my handle section.
I put a drop of hot glue on the end of my sword and pushed it in. The more snuggly it fits the better, so try to get a drillbit as close to the size of your sword as possible.
I got this screw-on top to a juice bottle, and a bubble top to a milk shake from my local fast food joint.
I drilled a hole in the bottle top using the same drill bit.
I then put more hot glue around the top of the handle.
Then slide the bottle cap onto it.
Then put additional hot glue on top of the bottle cap, and slide the bubble top on top of it to act as the bell guard. Be careful with hot gluing the bubble top directly because the plastic is so think that is can warp or even melt it very quickly.
I then gave it a basic layer of silver paint.
Then I sprayed the entire thing down with some Chrome Spray Paint.
I then got cotten twine and wrapped it around the handle making a cloth grip.
I then sealed the twine with additional hot glue, and painted it gold. Then squeezed on a foam ball on the end to act as the pommel.
I carved into it forming some indentions.
I added some dark paint for detailing, trying to make it look a little battle worn and weathered, scratching into the paint, and hitting it with a darker silver for the crevices and indentions.
And there you go, a pretty strong, but relatively safe prop foil you can make on your own without breaking your budget.
That looks awesome!!
Looks pretty good, but next time you might try a different blade, like that of a small sword or rapier. Foils aren't actually swords they're sports equiptment.
That's So Cool!!
Yea, tomorrow, i'm making a european-type broadsword using a similar method.
wow that really comes through nicely by the end. Could you also do similar articles like this for Katanas or Bowie styled knives?
Good job Wes, this is definitely one of your better builds
A little more expensive, but about as safe as this build... you can get parts at http://www.triplette.com and build a practice foil, sabre or epee... then detail the guard and handle as you see fit for your film. They are about $50ish a piece and will take a beating...cause they're made of steel and specifically made to handle actual combat... it'll still poke your eye out like the wooden one though ;)
http://www.museumreplicas.com has spendier, but much more ornate practice rapiers that look authentic and have non-sharp blades... they can still hurt you too, but so can the wooden dowel. Wear eye protection if you're doing this to start out with... even after you know what you're doing, you can still have a stupid accident that ends up hurting you badly.
Here's my experience in this area: http://www.fencingbooth.com
and the balloons make it silly, but don't make it less painful: http://www.yafiunderground.com/Video/fencing.sm.mov
Wes, once again most excellent sir.
great buld but hase enyone an idee for the milkshke thing by me they have other caps
sweetness
Amzing.
I mean amazing.
Wow. That look really great. Nice one wes!
Incredible job dude. Cheap and effective. Awesome.
COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
That looks amazing and for penny's....
BRAVO Wes!
I mean pennies! lol.
Good job dude, that came out great. I did some voice over work for a guy doing a Zoro film a few weeks ago. He has been asking for this prop!!!
Very cool build, thanks a ton Wes!
That is the coolest cheapest thing ever!!!
Wow, that actually looks really rad. Top notch work as always, Wes.
Thats my favorite prop youve ever done, its brilliantly simple, yet looks amazing.
nice work
You actually made something good!
Excellent job, that looks really realistic and wonderful.
Wow that's really cool! I bet it was only like 2 bucks to make, that's actually really good. The best thing you have built so far! Awesome!!! Thanks!!!
F-ing Awesome. Your stuff is good most of the time, and altho I was disapionted in the flag gun, this made up for all of that and I think it is one of the best props u have ever built
hell yeah! thats freaking awesome wes.
That foil is awesome, nice one Wes