|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 3, 2012 1:26:32 GMT
Time for that simple Swiss saber I mentioned, though it's really just a two-handed saber. Overall Length: 45" Blade Length: 35 7/8" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1 7/16" @ start of yelman; 1 5/16" @ profile taper (4 3/16" from tip) Grip Length: 6 1/4" Guard Width: 6 7/8" Pommel Length: 2 1/2" (1 3/8" wide) I call it the Roma and I'm not thrilled with it (name or sword), but I've had the urge to do it ever since I saw the single handed saber that Evolution Arms would be selling some time back in the M&V forum. Because of that, I'm going to keep the description of this brief. The pommel is a T5, the guard is a Style 7 variation, and the yelman is sharpened; the sheath was also a pain in the ass to do.
|
|
|
Post by BIGGORILLAINK on Aug 3, 2012 3:37:55 GMT
The Drake is a great design simple but deadly. I also like the detail in the descriptions of your blades really gives them character and depth.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 3, 2012 4:18:46 GMT
Thanks. Most of my swords have some sort of story behind them, if only how they came to be. For those swords that I designed to be a part of one of my novels, I include a little more background about the sword and/or the character that wields it, which is most evident in my original post.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 4, 2012 15:19:24 GMT
So, sometimes I hate my brain. I was trying to get to sleep yesterday morning, trying to get my body to unwind, and through my head flashes an almost fully formed idea for a character to wield Wyrmfell & Drake along with a world, a setting, and the beginnings of a plot. It's actually rather intriguing if I do say so myself. Now if I could just get the other 11 books out of the way (a duet and a planned ennealogy), I'd be golden. Anyways, it's time for one of my newer designs. Overall Length: 46 15/16" Blade Length: 36" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1 1/8" @ profile taper (2 1/2" from tip) Grip Length: 8" Guard Width: 9" Pommel Length: 2 1/2" (1 3/4" wide) The XIX longsword I mentioned last week. I call it Caius, because I got the inspiration for the sword from Caius the Shadow Monarch, a Monster from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, one of 7 who are loosely based on the 7 emperors of Rome; in Roman history, Caius is interchangeable with Gaius, which was the name of several powerful emperors, namely Gaius Gracchus, Gaius Augustus, and, of course, Gaius Julius Caesar (the Monster's original name is Wicked Emperor Gaius, further emphasizing this point). That said, this is clearly not a Roman styled sword, so why that name? Well, Caius the Shadow Monarch is a Dark Monster illustrated in charcoal gray armor with a ragged black cape and it occurred to me that a true Dark Emperor wouldn't opt for the huge evil looking broadsword that's good for nothing more than intimidating the fearful and making us sword guys laugh at the ridiculousness of it. So, I dreamed up this XIX longsword with blackened furniture and a charcoal grey grip. It's simple, it's practical, it's rather elegant, but most importantly of all, it's realistic; it still has some of the flair you see on those "wicked" fantasy swords, but there's not a single ridiculous spike in sight.
|
|
|
Post by Deepbluedave on Aug 4, 2012 21:19:28 GMT
Hey Vince, is this one based of the Gallowglass blade, is very appealing, I kinda like a little spikey goodness once and awhile.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 5, 2012 5:59:04 GMT
I did get the inspiration for an XIX longsword from the Gallowglass, but not quite as extensively as some other inspirational swords.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 9, 2012 3:57:48 GMT
So, I almost forgot about these. A couple of falchions that I used to try out some bow-tie guards; and, surprise surprise, they actually came out pretty decent to my eyes. Overall Length: 29 3/8" Blade Length: 24" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 1 7/8" @ swell; 15/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 3/4" Guard Width: 6" Pommel Length: 1 1/4" (2" wide) Although it lacks the more prominent swell, this is meant to be a simple Conyers style falchion. The guard is a Style 5 while the pommel is a Type B, a much smaller and less common brazil nut style. Other than that, there's really not much else I can think to say about it except that it might be right at home among some archer's equipment. Because it's so simple, I couldn't even think up a decent name for it other than "Falchion". Overall Length: 37 5/16" Blade Length: 29" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 1 7/8" @ swell; 15/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 5 1/2" Guard Width: 7" Pommel Length: 2 1/2" (1 3/4" wide) Here's a well, maybe not so simple, hand-and-a-half falchion I call The Steward. I call it that because it feels more regal than the shorter one I just posted, but not quite kingly or even lordly, really; hence, the Steward, who was commonly the servant in charge of managing his lord's estate. They commonly earned 3 to 4 pounds a year (about 6$ USD today), so they weren't exactly highly paid by our standards, but I imagine that was a lot more than what most earned, so they could probably put some of it aside and perhaps eventually buy a sword.
|
|
|
Post by MOK on Aug 9, 2012 13:09:18 GMT
Nice! The brazil nut pommel fits surprisingly well. Although I would like to see a longer, less abrupt curve to the edge, and a more pointed tip (even the Conyers is likely to have been somewhat pointier originally than it is in its current condition). Er, not quite. The pound sterling is called a pound because it was originally an accounting unit worth one pound of silver (or 240 silver pennies, or 20 shillings, or 120 Arabic dirhams). And then, silver used to be much more valuable, peaking at an estimated $1,200 per ounce in the early 1400s. The tower pound that the pound sterling was based on equalled 11.25 Troy ounces, which would mean that your common Steward's annual pay would actually have been closer to something around $40,000 - before you adjust for inflation and an entirely different economy.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 9, 2012 14:47:17 GMT
Well, ya learn something new every day. That's good to know, Mikko. I'll keep the rest in mind if I do a Conyers style falchion again.
|
|
|
Post by MOK on Aug 9, 2012 16:04:40 GMT
The Conyers falchion is a really interesting sword, with surprising complexity in the blade design. The edge is actually recurved, for one - it starts out almost straight, the forte of the blade being more or less symmetrical in profile, then gradually curves forward before turning back towards the point. The spine itself is also curved slightly forward. It's almost like a weird sort of understated, point-heavy kopis shape. According to some sources there are also signs that it may have originally been one of those falchions with a suddenly narrowing point section that has since snapped and been reshaped; I wouldn't know, but it certainly does show its age and at least some use. Here's a nice photo with a very clear view of the profile shape: And here's one in context, being actually held by a person, just to put the sheer size of the damn thing in perspective:
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 13, 2012 23:21:12 GMT
Okay, so, somehow, I completely forgot all about posting this design; I've had it uploaded for days, but I just completely spaced posting it. And it's one Saito oughta like, as well. Anyways, here it is: Overall Length: 48" Blade Length: 37 9/16"; Cutting Edge: 37" Blade Width: 1" @ guard; 2" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (7" from point); 3/8" @ 1" from point Grip Length: 8" Guard Width: 10" Pommel Length: 2" (1 3/8" wide) Some time ago (7 months, to be exact), Saito asked if I could come up with a more realistic interpretation of the claymores used by the Silver-eyed Witches from the manga & anime, Claymore. Well, I did... Only, it wasn't that great; it wasn't terrible, I think, but it was, well, there was just something off about the design I came up with. So, I was bored last week or so and came across it again, figured I'd redo it completely into something more aesthetically pleasing. And that's exactly what I did. As you can see, the design changed almost completely, but I think it also looks fairly similar to the original in the series; I looked up full color images of the Claymores and found the hilts were generally brass or bronze colored rather than the dull steel I used previously, while the grips were a much richer blue. The guard was partially inspired by the one on Zachary Luna's Sword of Kings design, albeit less detailed and with a broader cross-section, similar to what's found on a Style 7 guard. The pommel is something I found before deciding to redo this sword, but I felt it fit with the original styling present in the manga. The blade now has a much narrower profile taper, similar to that of a relatively wide XVIIIb and I think it's much better off for it. Last but not least, I named this interpretation of the Claymore "Miria", after my favorite character from the manga, No. 6 - Phantom Miria, whose insignia I used on the blade, rather than the much more well known one of No. 47 - Claire's that I used previously.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 15, 2012 3:32:26 GMT
Alright, guys, I'm about to go way against the grain with this next one, if only because it's so different than just about every interpretation out there. With that said, this is my interpretation of Anduril, Flame of the West, from Lord of the Rings. Overall Length: 40" Blade Length: 32" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (3 1/2" from tip) Grip Length: 4 1/4" Guard Width: 7" Pommel Length: 2 13/16" (1 7/8" wide) Now, here me out before you get the pitchforks ready. :lol: In Two Towers (the novel), Aragorn uses a shield from Theoden's armory at the Battle of the Hornburg and, in Fellowship, it's stated his sword is similar to Boromir's, who uses a shield consistently. Could any of you conceivably use the movie version of Anduril with a shield comfortably? If you were ridiculously strong, perhaps, but for most people, I couldn't see them wielding a 5lb sword one handed for an extended period of time. Further, Tolkien generally compared Middle-earth war gear to that of Dark Age Europe and the Bayeux Tapestry, which suggests that the swords used in the novels are actually one handed swords rather than longswords as seen in the films. For my part, I'm rather fond of the movie version, however, so I struck a compromise: a bastard sword. My interpretation of Anduril features a Type Xa blade, a fantasy-styled Type T3 pommel, and a fantasy Style 8 guard (though it has a thicker cross-section reminiscent of a Style 6), so it's not exactly historically accurate; but I wasn't going for that in the first place. The guard & pommel combination are actually from my Numenorean & Dunedain, which I felt rather fitting, since they were inspired by Lord of the Rings in the first place, albeit I added an extra ring to the hilt to set it apart from them. By the way, without choking up on the grip, the pommel allows a total 6 5/8" of grip space to the point where it flares out; if you choke up on it, you have 7" to where the pommel flares out, making it a nice little bastard. The inscription on the blade is pretty much the same that's been used for every interpretation of this sword since the films: - Nányë Andúril i né Narsil i macil Elendilo. Lercuvanten i máli Mordórëo.- I am Anduril who was Narsil, sword of Elendil. Let the thralls of Mordor flee me. As for the scabbard, the locket & chape are pretty much the same as what's on the film scabbard, just adapted to this sword; mainly just because I like how they look and they add a kingly feeling to the scabbard. The scabbard is described as having a tracery of flowers and leaves, in addition to Elvish runes that spell out the sword's name & history (the only thing I omitted, given that they're already on the blade). For the flowers & leaves, I chose a combination of Ivy & a Lily, primarily because I love lilies and ivy always makes me think of a quote that I've always loved: "True friends, like ivy and the wall, Both stand together, and together fall."Indeed, in the language of flowers, ivy stands for endurance while (scarlet) lilies stand for high-souled aspirations; pretty appropriate for a man who would be king, no?
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 18, 2012 20:07:36 GMT
Here's a sword with an interesting tale; I've become rather fond of it since designing it (in fact, I think I did an excellent job on it, if I do say so, myself), but it is actually something of a cast-off. It started life as my Anduril design, which you can see above. The design I started working on for Anduril, however, was completely different than both. When I did a bit of research, though, and learned that Anduril (and, by extension, Narsil) was likely meant to be one-handed rather than a two-handed sword of war as it was portrayed in the movies, I started a completely new design for it, leaving this one rather lonely. Well, I though it'd be a waste to dispose of all the work I'd done on it up to then (I had the final shape of the sword and the base colors done), so I renamed it, polished it up, and finished it. With that, I present Lan'fael: Overall Length: 42" Blade Length: 33" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (8" from tip) Grip Length: 4" Guard Width: 8" Pommel Length: 4 1/2" (1 7/8") I think this may be one of my favorite designs to date that is unrelated to my novels; my Numenorean, Hailene, and Reclaimer designs top it, but only slightly. Anyways, about the design. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, this design started life as Anduril, but when I decided to go a different direction, this was kinda left blowing in the wind. Rather than waste the work I'd put into it, I finished it up, though I did change the color scheme slightly (the grip & jewel insert in the pommel were originally slated to be red, but I wasn't feeling it, so I changed it to blue). I think the blue causes the gold & brown to pop all the more than it would have if it were red. The pommel, by the way, as well as the grip spacer behind the guard, afford a total of 7 1/8" grip space; and that's without grasping the end of the pommel. Funnily enough, rather than from an actual sword, the original inspiration for the pommel came from a LARP sword a sword site was selling ages ago; Medieval Collectibles, I think it was? I don't actually remember. It just caught my eye and I saved it for future reference. The guard is, obviously, the same one from Mé'aré, just recolored. As to the name, it is a conglomerate formed from two Sindarin words "lanc" and "fael"; the former translates to "edge (not of a tool)" while the latter translates to something along the lines of "the glittering of the sun". So, the name means "the glittering of the sun off the edge (of its blade)", more or less. It's likely very grammatically incorrect, but I was more worried about something that rolled off the tongue. Plus, the fact that it sounds similar to Lanfear, Daughter of the Night, and one of the more prominent members of the Thirteen Forsaken, right behind Ishamael, helps, too. As a bit of a P.S., I have several more designs in the wings, including two from Dragon Fall, the novel that forced itself on my mind like a brick to the face (not that I'm complaining now that I've had the chance to review and expand upon the idea), which Wyrmfell & Drake appear in. Speaking of those two, I added them to the OP of this thread alongside some general information about them and their part in the story. These next two ought to prove quite interesting to those who like unusual swords.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 20, 2012 22:22:36 GMT
I was considering putting these up yesterday, but I was seriously lacking sleep (I'd had, I think, 11 hours total since Thursday), so I put it off since I've not had a little too much sleep. Well, either way, these two ought to be interesting. Overall Length: 34" Blade Length: 27 7/8" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (4" from tip) Grip Length: 3 5/8" Guard Width: 5 3/8" Pommel Length: 1 5/8" (2 3/8" wide) Here's a sword that shouldn't look that unusual at first glance, but when you start looking closely, that's when it makes it clear that's it's not your average Viking style sword. The hilt is a Type AE, but the slightly shorter than usual blade is a Type XII. Why? Well, I wanted something different, but not so different that it was obviously a fantasy sword; I also wanted something that would exude age, but also the care that would be necessary for an old sword to still be serviceable without resorting to magic as an explanation, because there is NO magic whatsoever in the world of Dragon Fall. In the world of Terra, in which it takes place, there's little different from approximately the 9th-10th century of our world, albeit with significantly different cultures and the obvious addition of dragons (of which I have four unique breeds fleshed out, though only one named). The runes along the blade have been engraved and then filled with gold (and re-filled whenever age or use deem it necessary) read: Lo, he that holds me is the Kinwrij.Due to this, this sword, while technically unnamed in the story, is called Cynwrig (spelled Kinwrij above because the Elder Futhark have no C, Y, or G) for convenience, an ancient Celtic name that is derived from the Welsh "Cyn" meaning "Chief" and "Gwr", meaning "Hero", as well as the suffix "-ig", meaning "has the quality of", so the person who holds the sword is one who has the qualities of being a hero chief; the fact that the sword has been passed down along a single family line for 400 years means the son or daughter who inherits the sword has quite a bit to live up to, particularly since the family it belongs to lives within striking distance of a few dragon dens. The current owner, as well as a true Cynwrig, is Astor King, known as the Golden Hawk for his long blonde hair and his fierce tendencies in combat; though less prone to leading his men physically into combat, he's still got the nobility of spirit that leads his people to love him. Now for the next sword: Overall Length: 38 1/2" Blade Length: 30" Blade Width: 2 1/2" @ base; 1 1/2" @ narrowest; 1 5/8" @ widest; 1" @ 4" from tip Grip Length: 5 3/4" Guard Width: 8 3/8" Pommel Length: 2 1/4" (1 5/8" wide) This rather unique looking sword is visually based on the German Bastard Sword from Windlass, albeit with some notable differences, such as the different pommel, the lack of side rings, the slightly more complex guard stye, and the leaf shaped blade. The idea for this sword came about when I was deciding on the general length of swords in Dragon Fall, which is generally about 24-25", making Cynwrig a longsword, despite being a short arming sword by our standards; in fact, this sword is actually famous around parts of Terra for being the longest sword in the world... At least until they see Wyrmfell. Before I get too much into the history of the sword itself, I'd best get into the technical aspects of it: the pommel is a Type T5, the guard a Style 10 with corkscrew arms, and the leather is a dark maroon. Both the leather of the grip and the bronze furniture have been made as dark as I could without making them too dark so as to best portray the age of the sword. I named this sword Skülkivér, a fanciful word I made up to be pseudo-Celtic (if only because that's what I'm calling it) that means "Skull Cleaver" for reasons that should be obvious. This is the sword of Darius Hall, something of a neighboring lord to Astor King; a river and slightly treacherous banks on the northern side, Darius' side, separate them. This is actually lucky for the citizens of Darius' village, since the dragons in Dragon Fall have an oddly specific form of aquaphobia, wherein they are deathly afraid of any body of water they cannot see the bottom of; they refuse to fly over it and will actually fly for hours until they find a source that is clear enough to see the bottom of if they need a drink. Strangely, though, they have no problems bathing in subterranean waterfalls. Anyways, because the river between their villages is too deep to see the bottom, Darius' people are safe from dragon threats for the most part. Skülkivér is about 600 years old, meaning the Halls have been taking very good care of it for it to look as good as it does, despite the signs of age on the hilt & scabbard.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 25, 2012 9:47:00 GMT
Overall Length: 40" Blade Length: 34" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1" @ profile taper (7" from tip) Grip Length: 3 3/4" Guard Width: 7" Pommel Length: 2" (1 5/8" wide) Here's my interpretation of Nightblood, the sentient sword from Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson, although it's not as strictly based on it as my usual fantasy interpretations are and I'll explain why in a bit. Nightblood is described as being a long, slender blade in a silver sheath with a pure black hilt. Obviously, my design deviates from that a bit, though the primary reason for that was an artistic choice; an all black hilt against a silver sheath just strikes me as boring, particularly when I made the decision to make the blade black. The color of the blade is not actually stated in the book, but is instead said to give off a black smoke when the clasp on the scabbard is undone, so it made sense to me that the blade should be black, as well. For that reason, I decided on a bright silvery color for the hilt furniture, to better stand out against all the black. I chose a hollow-ground XVIIId styled blade to fit the long & slender aspect of the sword without going into the rapier or side-sword styled blades, primarily because the scabbards of those swords on extend up to the end of the guard, not covering the entire blade, a fact that is drawn to several times throughout the book. I did, however, attempt to effect a later period styling; slightly more elaborate than the plain cruciform, but nowhere near the level of most renaissance swords. The cross was modeled after that of Agefon, a design from Crockett that I've always had an eye for, and I thought the way it looped around the blade was perfect for the design, as it gave me a way to make a latch that could cover the entire blade, but expose a small part of it if it ever came undone without resorting to some sort of retention strap type setup. The pommel is a faceted teardrop shape that I think fits in quite nicely with the sword, significantly better than my first choice (which I don't actually remember, so that should tell you how poor a choice it was). The scabbard was originally black in my mind with a lot of silver accents and a flat base similar to a katana's saya, just to really stick out, but then I remembered that Nightblood often makes others kill themselves by being stabbed with the sheath, so I decided to go a slightly more conventional route with something that looked like it could be used as a weapon in its own right. All in all, it's not a 100% accurate interpretation, but I think it gains a little something in aesthetics in return.
|
|
|
Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Aug 25, 2012 12:17:22 GMT
I first thought the top pic was the sword in the scabbard Anyway, nice work, I really like coming here and going through your designs every once in a while. Apart from the beautiful swords, it's also quite helpful when trying out proportions and being too lazy to actually draw them :lol:
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Aug 30, 2012 16:23:48 GMT
It means a lot to hear that, CF. I'd like to say I'm bringing y'all a new design, but for now, it's just an overhaul of Mé'aré that is, at once, minor, yet massive. Even though it looks virtually the same, I think it's an entirely new sword now. Overall Length: 43" Blade Length: 33" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (7" from tip); 3/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 7" Guard Width: 8 1/2" Pommel Length: 2 1/2" (1 7/8" wide) For the longest time, I've been basing this sword's physical dimensions on the the H/T Fullered Bastard, give or take the barest of inches for furniture differences. I figured it was the best way to have some idea as to the handling without actually having the sword in my possession; I even estimated about how much it would have likely cost to customize an H/T Bastard into Mé'aré (about 6-700$, give or take). Well, despite all that, I changed it, quite significantly, yet almost not at all. It's a rather odd tale how this came about. Basically, the inscription was no longer up to my standards, as it looked rather ham-fisted and cramped, so I decided to rework the script it was written in; this led to me realizing a few unfortunate things about the design that I hadn't honestly noticed until now. Primarily, the fuller was a bit too wide and a full inch too long for the sword. Nothing real serious, truth be told, but I'm somewhat OCD regarding details, so this led to an overhaul of the whole sword, even the scabbard. Funny how these things happen, eh? Anyways, as you can tell from the specs above, there's very little different about the sword overall; an eighth of an inch here, a quarter inch there, a half inch at the guard, etc. Minor alterations, but it looks very different. I think the changes give it a much more proportional feel, as well as making it feel like a sword that would be equally at home in the city as on the battlefield, whereas the previous version was primarily a civilian sword. The fuller is now much more proportional to the sword and, thanks to my new script, it doesn't look quite so cluttered. Speaking of the script, it may not be readily obvious until you compare the two versions closely, but I re-oriented it so that the beginning end of the inscription is now by the guard, rather than the fuller, which I believe is the more historically correct way to do it; yes, it's a fantasy sword, but I'm trying to keep it as grounded in reality as I can. Last, but not least: the scabbard. I flipped the suspension system, changed the buckles slightly to make them just a bit more detailed, and, while it's only even noticeable if you look at the original SVG, I smoothed out the cross strap. Then, of course, there's the chape, which changed entirely. Before, it was a simple shape with cutouts in the shape of a rising sun, referencing its name, which means "To Light the Day". The problem is, a rising sun can also be a setting sun, the only difference being the side of the world it's on; on a sword, which has no real East or West, something like that is vague and a setting sun is counterproductive to the thoughts that went into the sword's forging. So it now has a much more detailed cutout in the shape of a full, tribal-styled sun. Otherwise, the chape is still undecorated.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 4, 2012 21:42:37 GMT
Here's an interesting design. It's new, yet it's not at the same time; the concept for it is particularly old. Way back on the first page of this thread, in the OP, is a design called Vakha'Eket, which loosely means "Guardian Saber". Guardians were what I called a group of rangers whose duties encompassed a variety of things that led to them traversing much of the world before I re-dubbed them Sentinels; Guardians became a police force in major cities, tasked with guarding the peace, with their own jurisdictions. Anyways, because of that, I decided I needed to come up with a proper weapon for the Sentinels and, for whatever reason, that weapon has always presented itself in my mind as a bastard saber. SwordOverall Length: 35 1/4" Blade Length: 29" (28 7/8" where it emerges from the guard) Blade Width: 2 1/4" @ base; 1 7/8" @ profile taper (4 1/2" from tip) Grip Length: 3 1/4" (5 1/8" at the pommel swell) Guard Width: 6" Pommel Length: 2 1/2" (1 3/4" wide) BauernwehrOverall Length: 15" Blade Length: 10 3/4" Blade Width: 1 1/4" @ base; 1 5/16" @ profile taper (1 15/16" from tip) Grip Length: 3 3/8" (3 15/16" including bolster) I actually struggled with this sword for quite a bit, to be honest, before pinning down the design. I tried several straight sword designs at first, none of which looked right (among the designs were an XIIa, XIVa, and XVIa that were proportionally similar to Skülkivér, which, in retrospect, is probably why I didn't choose any of them). Eventually, I settled on this, which is a combination of my Reclaimer and Iustitia designs, something that came out of my desire for the Sentinel sword to be a curved blade, as well as primarily a one-handed sword, yet easily capable of being wielded in two, something I felt would be in keeping with the Sentinel's need for versatility. Mind, the grip may seem small for some of those with meathooks *cough*Sean*cough*, but I tend to picture most of my characters as being of roughly average height and hand size, like myself; and, like myself, this hilt configuration would allow me to get a solid two handed grip, minus a pinky, perhaps. The color scheme of each Order is their color + gold/bronze; as such, the color for the Sentinels is a rich sapphire blue with gold (their uniform features a sapphire blue tunic with gold trimming). Reflecting that, the leather on this saber is a rich blue while the furniture is a darker gold/lighter bronze (I seem to be using that combination a lot, lately, don't I?). Being that the furniture is from Reclaimer, the guard is a heavily upturned Style 9 cross, though it could also be a Style 7 with a pronounced ecusion, while the pommel is a modified fishtail. The scabbard is a simple wood and leather with a plain chape, fitted mouth, and a two point suspension system. Lastly, the bauernwehr (peasant's weapon) that rides alongside it. Visually and, roughly, proportionally, it was based upon the one by Tod's Stuff in the UK owned by Nathan Robinson of MyArmoury; I just think it's a very good looking blade with a certain intimidating elegance about, even though it's meant to be more of a rough hacking weapon than anything. As seen by the specs above, it's about 3" shorter than Nathan's, which is a good thing, because I don't think anything larger could conceivably piggyback such a short sword as the Sentinel. Primarily, the Sentinel's bauernwehr functions as an all-purpose utility knife to prepare game, chop wood, clear brush, and other general camp chores, but, if necessary, it could also function quite well as a weapon in its own right, particularly as an off-hand weapon.
|
|
|
Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 6, 2012 20:40:43 GMT
I've got a pair of new designs, both of a Viking style, something I don't really do often enough; one, however, is a fantasy sword redesign. Overall Length: 35 3/4" Blade Length: 29 3/4" Blade Width: 2 3/8" @ base; 1 3/8" @ profile taper (3 3/8" from tip) Grip Length: 3 1/2" Guard Width: 4 3/8" Pommel Length: 1 5/8" (3 3/8" wide) I call this sword the Geibig because the primary inspiration for the sword was the Geibig Type 8 blade it wears, albeit the dimensions of the blade aren't exactly historically accurate. But, then again, this sword was designed more to be aesthetically pleasing and a representation than hysterically accurate (case in point, the Petersen Type Z hilt it wears fell out of use a full century before the Geibig Type 8 came into style). That said, aside from Wyrmfell & Drake, which aren't strictly Viking swords so much as Viking styled, this is perhaps the favorite of my few Viking designs to date. Funnily enough, I didn't notice until I was finished and looking at the exported picture for any potential defects I missed in Inkscape (a standard practice of mine), but this sword wears the same style hilt and leather color as Hailene, my first foray into my created type, the XIVc; granted, the pommel is significantly different and the guard of a slightly different shape. I based the scabbard's suspension system and chape on examples I found through Googling "Viking Scabbard" and Viking Chape". The chape features cutouts to give the impression of a Nordic style bird carving, which is much simplified from the original inspiration; the original featured a greater deal of carving on the chape to actually show the bird, though I prefer the more simplistic style that I ended up putting on the scabbard. The suspension system is based, in part, on historical sketches, as well as one that Christian Fletcher did (both of which were instrumental in figuring out where to put everything). And while it's really not noticeable unless you're looking for it, there's a small cutout near the button on the bottom strap, through which you can see the backside of the strap; my OCD just wouldn't let me skip it. Overall Length: 33 1/4" Blade Length: 27 1/2" Blade Width: 1 7/8" @ base; 1 3/8" @ profile taper (2 3/8" from tip) Grip Length: 3 3/8" Guard Width: 3 7/8" Pommel Length: 1 15/16" (2 7/8" wide) This, as I'm sure anyone can tell, is the Sword of Godric Gryffindor from Harry Potter. Descriptions of this sword in the novels are vague, except that it's (obviously) the sword of Godric Gryffindor, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, that it has a silver blade and hilt adorned with egg-sized rubies. On the American dust-jacket for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry is depicted with a vaguely fencing foil like sword, with a cup-hilt guard; the illustration for Chapter 18 of the same version shows a sword with a curved blade, much like a scimitar, which, frankly, makes no sense. Here's the little we know about Godric Gryffindor: he, along with three others, founded a school of magic c.993, meaning he was likely born about 30-40 years earlier, smack dab in the middle of the 10th century. His birthplace, which would later become known as Godric's Hollow, is located in the West Country of England; given his red and gold colors and the appearance of a Lion Rampant on his crest, he may have been related to the Cornish royal family, who had a similar crest. From this information, I inferred that he had a Viking style sword appropriate for the early- to mid-10th century. While it wasn't at the forefront of my mind to make it seemingly large and intimidating, I absolutely loathe that piece of trash toy from the movies and I wanted something that looked like it had been forged for a wizard and swordsman in the prime of his life, not an underfed 12-year old; especially when you look at official promotional work of Gryffindor, who looks like a massively built Viking himself. As a result, I chose a Geibig Type 2 B-variant blade (these are lighter and slimmer than the A-variant, so it wouldn't be that unbelievable for a 12-year old to swing it), which is significantly more substantial than that twig from the films. Now the blade looks like it could actually kill something or break something. The hilt is a Petersen Type S, which would have been in vogue, so to speak, throughout much of Gryffindor's life (from approximately the 925-ish to turn of the century). The entire hilt assembly is darkened silver, with the grip being textured for better purchase, though I accented it with some bright silver wire between the lobes. Lastly, the major decision I made about this design that none of the media mention is the actual size of the rubies; Rowling just states that they're the size of eggs. However, a chicken egg is huge (about 2 1/2" long) and you want to decorate an entire hilt with that? No chance. So, I went with rubies the size of hummingbird eggs. They're just large enough to be noticeable, but not big enough that they interfere with the sword's handling and rather tasteful, if I do say so myself. And, of course, "Godric Gryffindor" is engraved on the blade just below the hilt in vaguely rune-ish lettering, though I opted for the horizontal rather than the vertical as in the films, simply because it takes up less space.
|
|
|
Post by MOK on Sept 7, 2012 13:28:48 GMT
Coming kinda late, but I really like that Anduril.
Gryffindor's sword looks good, too, although I think the rubies would fit better on the lobes of the pommel than on the grip.
|
|