Hanwei Saxon

I preordered Hanwei Saxon about a month ago from KoA, and few days ago it arrived at last. I will let the pictures do most of the talking, but I just want to say that while it certainly is pattern welded and the core is made of three damascened rods plus edges, the steels used seem to be very similar or same so they used some dark compound and "painted" it over one steel and not over the other to achieve the effect that would in period be achieved with etching and different steels or iron reacting differently when etched. Handling is not the best as the sword is quite heavy and most of the heaviness comes from the very thick blade with not much distal taper. Sword is wieldable because it's relatively short but it could use some distal taper for more agility. Overall I am pleased with the sword because KoA's price is really low compared to others and with this piece I wasn't going for a high performance sword and it looks very nice, pattern is beautiful (the photos don't do it justice, they are taken with my phone) although achieved with a bit unconventional method. The hilt isn't really great but it does look like more or less typical type L but I will probably rehilt the blade with nicer and more historically accurate fittings. Full review will come when we completely switch to the new forum and I get some time to do the cutting tests.