What? What is all this?
Ethan is casting a rock. Why is Ethan casting a rock? Any guesses? 😉
In other news, a new sword passes the reading test! As if we had any doubts that it would. Heehee!
Tag: Cassandra Clare
What’s on Ethan’s Table This Week?
A new design? Yes it is! Does it look familiar? Hopefully it does! It’s based on Isabelle’s two-hander from The Mortal Instruments movie. It’s currently sitting at a 180 grit polish and should be finished either by the end of this week, or early next week. Woohoo!
That’s all for now. Stay tuned for more goodies from the Studio. Got lots of back-to-back orders in the queue for you to see as I bring them from the drawing board to glowing, angelic life.
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The Wolf Sword
Sorry I’ve been quiet lately! I’ve been a bit busy. I’d like to take a moment to share with you the sword I shipped out this week. It was an absolute joy to work on and let me put my skills to the test.
The pommel and crossguard are made from a polymer clay called Premo Sculpy.
This clay is sculpted, baked in the oven, and affixed to the sword with a combination of contact cement and matte Modge Podge. Then, it gets sanded, carved with the Dremel tool, sanded again, and finally, painted.
The Shadowhunter who requested this blade asked that it be made to look old, as though it had been handed down in a family line. To achieve this effect, I gave the paint on the wolf portions a tarnished look with dry-brushing.
The leather began as a simple dark brown: a perfect base colour to build upon. I painted it with scarlet leather paint and then added some darker colours where the grip meets the pommel and crossguard. This gives the impression that dirt and grime over the years has become packed in that seam where it is difficult to clean properly.
I then took a lighter rusty colour and added some “stains” where the acidic adrenaline-saturated sweat from previous Shadowhunters’ hands would affect the dye of the leather, bleaching it little by little over the years.
The Shadowhunter requested a frosted blade both for the shorter crafting time and the brightness of the finished product. I think her choice was spot-on for this blade.
I loved working on this and I very much hope that the Shadowhunter who ordered it enjoys it for many years.
Two of the things I learned from the creation of this sword: using a smaller LED allows me to make a more slender handle and is just as bright as the large LEDs.
The other thing was that the snaps I had were nice and robust with no danger of coming off the leather the way the Velcro tends to do … but they’re a little bulky. So I bought smaller snaps that will hopefully lie flatter against the grip.
Thank you very much to this Shadowhunter for the commission, for her patience, and her excellent feedback.
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What’s On Ethan’s Table This Week?
Yes, I know it’s Wednesday. I’ve been busy sculpting this beauty. I’ve always loved wolves and I’m absolutely stoked by this project! Â This week is devoted to the final stages of polishing and painting the polymer clay and leather. What colour will it be? You’ll have to wait and find out!
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What’s on Ethan’s Table This Week?
Once again, I tease you with the mystery project! Hmm, what do we know so far? It has nothing to do with Shadowhunters and it’s a science fiction weapon. It’s bright and shiny, crystal clear, and has designs on the blade.
What else am I doing this week? I can’t be engraving ALL week.
A sneak preview of things to come. WHAT? Ethan can sculpt? Yes. Yes I can. Give you any ideas? Hmmmm? Hehe. Well that’s all from me for now. Time to get back in the Studio.
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Frosted Blades
Some of my customers order “frosted” blades, but what does that mean? And why is it cheaper than the crystal clear blades? Today, I will share with you the  answers to these questions and more. Stand back everyone! It’s about to get nerdy in here… as we discuss the secrets behind the movie magic.
First, let’s start with my signature crystal clear acrylic swords.
This lovely Jahoel model short sword takes five hours of wet sanding to bring it to this level of clarity. Longswords like Azrael can take as long as seven straight hours of polishing! When placed on an open book, you can easily read through this blade.
This clarity comes at a price, and I don’t just mean money.
Here is an Azrael sword lit up in pitch darkness. Do you see the swath of darkness up the middle? Why doesn’t it light up evenly? Hang onto your hats guys, it’s time for science!
The beam of a flash light shines straight and true, illuminating the space you shine it on. The protective glass, or plastic protecting the light bulb inside is polished to 100% clarity to make sure all of that light goes where you want it to.
But you want a sword, not a flash light! How can we make the sword glow and not just let all that light pass directly through? We need to give the light something to reflect off of. That is why the edges of Azrael are so bright in the image. The curved surfaces of the sword meet in points and ridges and it is here that the light bounces off the acrylic in a way you can see it.
Here is a method for getting the sword to be brighter, though. Let’s take a look at Jace’s sword from The Mortal Instruments movie.
You will quickly notice that the edge of this sword is frosted, unlike the rest of it which is crystal clear. Why did the movie’s prop team do this? To properly explain, we must see the blade in action.
Yes, I know, we all need a moment to drool over Jamie Bower …
Okay! Moving right along. This sword has no light in it. So how is it glowing? Look carefully at where the shadows are on the actor’s body. He’s lit from underneath. By frosting the blade’s edge, the prop team cleverly gave the appearance of an inner glow by giving the light something to reflect off of! Pretty genius huh?
So what would it look like if the whole blade were frosted?
Hands up everybody who recognizes this image! Yeah, I knew you would. This is a blade from the Shadowhunters TV show. The props team decided to opt for a handle that you can’t see through in order to hide a light inside. The style has definitely grown on me. There’s a lot of room to customize a sword just by its wrapping.
Ah but enough of my chatter about handles. It’s the blade we’re interested in here. Why is the frosted blade so much brighter? “Frosted” pretty much means “millions of tiny abrasions all over the surface” and it’s these tiny scratches that the light bounces off. Sometimes this effect is achieved by spraying a matte finish all over the sword, but this is not how I do it. Because my frosting effect is part of the blade itself, it cannot be rubbed off with wear.
Now, I mentioned that my frosted blades are cheaper than the crystal clear ones. This is because the frosted blades require only two to three hours of polishing.
If you don’t care about being able to read through the blade, then not only can I cut the polishing hours in half, but I can also use a smaller LED like the one you see here. You wouldn’t think that it would make a big impression, being so tiny but …
It sure does. With the light bouncing off millions of tiny abrasions all over the surface of the blade, it illuminates the pommel (butt end) of the sword even though the LED is pointed in the opposite direction!
Is there a difference in the smoothness of the sword? Yes. The crystal clear blades have a texture like satin, or glass. It’s a sort of liquid smoothness. The frosted blades feel more like silk or steel. Still quite smooth. The difference is a small one.
Any questions or comments about frosted blades? Scribble it in the comments and I will be happy to answer. I have a question for you, fellow Shadowhunter fans! Do you like the TV or movie blades better? And why?
I like the TV show blades better, personally. I love working with leather wrapped hilts!
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What’s on Ethan’s Table This Week?
From left to right, we have an up-sized Jahoel, a mystery blade, a Tzoriel dagger, and a Zaapiel ring-sword. All polished up to 180 grit.
From here, I continue polishing Jahoel while the other three get treated to some engraving on the blade. I like to have those engravings done before the final polishing because it’s less of a headache to fix if the Dremel slips and scratches something. That’s okay! I was going to polish that anyway!
The mystery blade will also get its polymer clay hilt fitted in place. The design is sci-fi in nature so I don’t have to hide the screws. *gasp!* I think I gave another hint! Hmmm what could it be?
Stay tuned folks, there’s a lot of brand new stuff coming from the Studio shortly.
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What’s on Ethan’s Table This Week?
This week, we have an up-sized Jahoel with an LED in the making. (Far right) It’s going to be a VERY special project and I’m super excited to bring it to life. Â It will be something you’ve never seen before from the Studio!
The blade with the white handle is still a mystery project. Anyone care to guess what it is? I’ll give you a hint: it has nothing to do with Shadowhunters. Don’t worry. There’ll be plenty more opportunities to figure it out!
The ring sword and leaf blade have received their first polish and are looking very lovely. The rings have to be removed for the polishing process so their colour plating won’t be damaged. You’ll see them again, promise.
The site continues to undergo renovations. Thanks everyone for being patient!
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Engraving in Leather
I’ve had some questions about engraving runes into the grip of the sword. The most frequently asked one is: what does it look like?
Here’s my most recent Azrael style sword with runes for your viewing pleasure.
Anyone want to guess which runes those are? C’mon, put on a Fearless rune and shout ’em out!
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Updated Seraph Blade Tutorial
At long last, I have updated my tutorial on how to make Seraph Blades. Now you can see precisely how I make my creations. If you’ve got the tools and the tenacity, you too can play the part of an Iron Sister!
Hey This IS My Job 