Making Maya: Glowing Cosplay Sword Process

When I bring my glowing cosplay sword to a convention, many “oohs and ahhs” follow the sight of this incredible prop. Because I made the prop sword myself, and figured out a lot of techniques, I am delighted to share how I made it. This is my version of the Mayalaran Shardblade, inspired by “The Stormlight Archive” book series written by Brandon Sanderson.

Summary:

• The blade is Plexiglass.

• The sword has a PVC Core with EVA Foam on top,

• I made custom resin crystals for the blade and hilt.

• The LEDs are run by an Ardino microcontroller, and the battery is in the hilt.

If you love details just as much as I do, here’s a full crafting rundown from beginning to end:

1. First, I started with a scale drawing of my Mayalaran Shardblade. I had an 18-inch-wide roll of paper that I used to sketch out the sword and get the scale right.

   1. I thought about the different components (blade, spine, hilt and pummel) to get a visual balance I liked. For me, figuring out the overall dimensions is a critical part of cosplay prop making.

2. From there, I purchased PVC pipe and connectors to create the core of the prop sword. This required a decent amount of rummaging around at the hardware store, but I found components that would work. I used schedule 40 PVC.

3. As I was designing my version of Mayalaran, I made the prop so it could be disconnected into two halves so I could fit it into a suitcase.

   1. An important structural feature of this cosplay prop build is a hidden zip tie between the two pieces of Plexiglass that create the blade. This keeps the prop aligned and it cannot come out of the PVC connectors.

   2. I did use strong magnets mounted in epoxy here too, but the zip tie seemed like its strong enough. If I was making this again, I would probably opt for the threaded bottle and cap method to attach the pipes together instead of using magnets.

4. I glued the LEDs along the length of the PVC core of the sword so it would light up. Contact cement worked well for this.

   1. I also added some quick connectors to help run the wires to my LEDs down the shaft of the prop. This way, I could break down the prop and access the battery and still run power to the pummel.

5. Then, for a very time-consuming step, I cut out pebble texture Plexiglass using a power jig saw. This part was slow because I wanted to cut the Plexiglass rather than melt it.

   1. During this step, I actually snapped the Plexiglass in the wrong spot by accident. Regular super glue did a good job repairing that crack.

   2. I also hid the crack by coloring some silver accent lines on the Plexiglass blade with a paint pen. These silver lines ended up looking really neat. Hiding mistakes in plain sight for the win!

   3. I also sanded the edge of the Plexiglass to allow the light to diffuse on the end of the sword. I used a Dremel tool and painters tape to protect the Plexiglass as I was sanding along the edge.

6. To create the round cut out hear the hilt, I used my drill and a hole saw for doorknobs! It worked really well!

7. To attach the Plexiglass to the sword, I drilled holes in the Plexiglass and used zip ties to hold the Plexiglass on edge with the LEDs that were glued to the PVC pipe. This way the lights diffuse through the Plexiglass and look super cool.

   1. Near the tip of the blade, I flattened out the PVC pipe using my heat gun to warm it up so I could compress it. I wanted to make a more streamlined transition for the end of the blade.

   2. But FYI, flattening the pipe also made the PVC longer. I ended making my sword several inches longer than anticipated. (Oops. Yes, I did have to buy a new suitcase.)

8. As I progressed, I wanted to add more LEDs to the tip of the blade. I ran more lights up so the end of the sword would glow nicely.

9. To build the body of the sword, I built up the transition from Plexiglass to PVC with EVA foam.

   1. Contact cement didn’t want to stick to the Plexiglass, so I used super glue when attaching EVA foam to Plexiglass.

   2. EVA to EVA I always used contact cement, but I added hot glue as well to fill gaps and add stability.

   3. It was kind of tricky to get a smooth transition over the zip ties with EVA foam pieces, but it worked okay in the end. I wish I would have drilled holes into the PVC so I could have hidden the heads of the zip ties inside rather than looping around the sword, but it’s plenty strong this way.

10. I knew that my battery was going to be hidden in the hilt, but I needed some way to have access to the USP port on my chip so I could program it,

    1. I aligned the Ardunio chip with the edge of the base of the sword blade just above the hilt. This way I can plug it in and update the programming if I want.

    2. I put the switch on the side of the sword. However, I think that I would have rather put it in a less conspicuous spot, but it turned out fine.

11. I added more EVA foam to create the base for the glowing crystals that look as if they are growing out of the back of the sword.

    1. This served as the main skeleton for the section of the sword lined with crystals.

    2. I ran 3 more strips of LEDs here so they would glow and light up with the animation on my Arduino card once the crystals were added on top.

12. For the crystals, I made them out of 2 part pour casting resin. I colored these with Tim Holtz alcohol inks and cast them in crystal shaped silicone molds. I the colors I used were green, blue and purple.

    1. I also used metal foil, and small metallic chips along with mica powders to get translucent effects in my resin crystals.

13. To secure the crystals, I carefully cut the ends flat and attached them using hot glue. Then I covered the glue and base of the crystals with EVA foam clay.

14. Along the sides of the sword, I used some natural quartz and amethyst crystal beads as well.

    1. While the hot glue was still warm, I poured some small glass beads (without holes) over the glue to hide the transition from EVA foam to crystals more. I thought it make it look the crystals look more natural, like they were growing out of rock.

15. For the hilt, I attached the crystals in the same way with hot glue. Then I added EVA foam clay. There are LEDs under the crystals on the pummel of the Shardblade as well. I think it looks extra awesome to have the pummel glowing too.

16. The battery is hidden in an EVA foam sleeve with a slit in the base of the hilt. I close this off with Velcro and wrap the base of the hilt with braided cord and a ribbon to hide the seam.

17. After that, it was time to smooth everything out with EVA Foam, filling any gaps and cracks. I made sure to let that dry.

18. I heat sealed the EVA with my heat gun, and I was ready for priming!

19. I used EVA foam primer and paints by Plaid FX in silver, teal, and iridescent blue for the paint job.

    1. Because I wanted more decoration on the sides of the sword, I drew a swirling calligraphy design with some artist’s pens.

    2. I scanned the image and turned it into an SVG file on my computer so I could cut the design out of paper using my Silhouette machine.

    3. Then I attached the paper onto the sword with several layers of paint to make the calligraphy look embossed. Aww yeah!

20. After the paint job was finished, I chose to do a clear coat with ModPodge gloss spray.

21. Lastly, I wrapped the grip of the sword in brown leather strips. Contact cement worked perfectly for this.

22. I did have to repair an electronic connection or two, but this prop has been delightful. It’s incredibly beautiful and I love how it turned out. I hope you enjoy my Mayalaran Shardblade as well.

Stats:

• This cosplay prop is just under 5 feet long.

• It weighs seven pounds including the battery.

• It took me 65 hours over 6 weeks to make.

• With a 2.5 amp/hour battery on full brightness, I can get about 7 hours of battery life for this prop. I am very pleased by that output.