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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 10, 2014 23:08:40 GMT
Time for another update, ladies and gentlemen. As I mentioned, I'm working my way through a fair bit of backlog on designs I've been meaning to do, though it's most certainly not helping when a design unrelated to said backlog pops into my head, the way these three did. I've got more ready to be posted, which I'll get to in the next few days, depending on whether or not my new books get here before then; in the meantime, here we go:  Overall Length: 16 1/2" Blade Length: 12" Blade Width: 1" @ base; 1/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3" Guard Width: 1 3/8" Pommel Dimensions: N/A There exists a fairly uncommon variation of the rondel dagger known as the ear dagger. It is called such because the pommel is split in two and flares out, often resembling a human ear; this style of pommel is very common on Turkish yataghans or Caucasian shashqas. On the ear dagger, it allowed the thumb to be rested between them, granting greater force to a stabbing blow. Despite its odd appearance, it was actually quite common among royalty during its day (and, of course, assassins). What does this have to do with my design? Well, I happened to come across one on Google a few days ago and was reminded of the existence of this type of dagger, so I began looking up more examples; one that came up was the design Mikko did some years ago here on SBG. While looking at it, I was beset by a question: how would one of these look if it were made in the modern day? It kept bugging me throughout the day, so I finally sat down and started designing what I think a modernized ear dagger might look like. I borrowed the blade from Mikko's design, because I think it's a very handsome blade, though I darkened it to go with the theme of the design; the grip scales are modeled after those of the Miller Bros. M-9, albeit customized a fair bit, since the original had a pointed pommel section and that didn't fit with the image I saw in my head. Instead, I widened it a bit and scooped out a section of the pommel area to act as a thumb rest; it would also widen laterally to better balance the thumb, though nowhere near the amount as a traditional ear dagger, in keeping with the more minimalist theme. The knife is 100% full tang and the grip scales are secured by three hex rivets, to allow you to remove or change them at will. I call this knife the Ear Tac.  Overall Length: 31 3/4" Blade Length: 24" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 1 13/16" @ profile taper/start of clip point (3" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 1/8" Guard Width: 8" Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 3/4"W Like the Ear Tac (and several other designs I've done in the past couple days), this sword is the product of my curiosity. I was looking for inspiration on complex hilted swords when I came across a smallsword from Lutel of the Czech Republic that I thought was quite attractive, so I saved it for future reference; and since I was there, I decided to see if anything else among their product lines got my creative juices flowing, especially considering one of my proudest feats, the mace end of my Reaper scythe, was drawn from one of their products. As it so happened, I took a liking to one of their grosses messer blades, among a few other things. Well, since my reference images are saved alphabetically by default, the Lutel pieces were all in a row and looking at the smallsword hilt next to the messer blade made me wonder how the two would look as one sword, so that's what I did. I call this sword the Dussack because, well, to be honest, I'm not exactly the most creative when it comes to naming things unrelated to my novels, and I've seen several complex hilted swords by that name, though they generally have a clamshell hilt rather than a more standard shell hilt like this one does. I blued the furniture primarily because it was different and I don't do blued work all that often, while the red grip and scabbard leather were chosen for pretty much the same reason. I was originally going to darken the hilt further so it was closer to a black/blue mix, but I found I liked the (comparatively) brighter shade of blue against the dark red of the grip, so I decided not to and I think it came out better for it.  Overall Length: 30 1/4" Blade Length: 24" Blade Width: 1 5/8" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (4 1/4" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4 1/8" Guard Width: 3" Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/8"L x 2 3/4"W About a month ago, I posted two blades from my latest story; they were the sword of Samara and the knife of Rohan, the protagonists. Samara's sword was based on a US M1860 Naval Cutlass, minus the shell guard, which I'm not overly fond of since I just generally don't care for asymmetrical hilts. One of the quirks of naturally being almost completely ambidextrous, I suppose. Now, first off, I like that sword and this is not a redesign of that sword. This sword came about in a sort of eureka moment: in Shiran, there are six breeds of humans with supernatural powers; these powers give them an advanced healing ability and exceptionally long life. These powers are also not mutually exclusive to each breed, because if two different breeds mate, their offspring will gain both powers, resulting in a person who is more powerful than either. Imagine, if you can, what would happen if a person were to be the offspring of all six breeds. If you can't, no worries, because this concept provides the very foundation of my novel Vanguard. Samara's story details the consequences of what happens when that knowledge becomes widespread. In a way, Samara herself is a consequence of that knowledge. The powers she wields were conceived as a direct counter to the combined powers of all six breeds and, as you can probably guess, are not only exceptionally powerful, but insanely dangerous and destructive. While I don't have a complete outline of her story just yet, from the beginning I've wanted to show her growth as she becomes more familiar with her powers and the myriad ways she uses them. One of these ways is actually based on how the power that inspired her story was used: by coating the edge of her sword to give her an advantage in cutting things. Naturally, because of how destructive her powers, this absolutely destroys her sword the first time she tries, so it occurred to me that she would need another sword, but I didn't want to give her a carbon copy of her previous sword; that would be boring. That's where this sword comes in. I actually first found the inspiration for this sword years ago and I've always loved its simple lines, so I adapted it so that it would fit in with the time period of Samara's story. Rather than being the custom one-of-a-kind sword that most heroes wield, this is actually meant to be a mass produced weapon; something the first shop she walked into happened to have a couple dozen of and was selling off really cheap. I think I achieved what I set out to do and I'm fond of how it came out. That's all for now, folks. Ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 15, 2014 3:50:05 GMT
So, day after my last post, the first of my books arrived; The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. Unfortunately, it was a terrible book. When a book is good and interesting, I can devour it, but when a book is dull and mind-numbing... Well, it took me an hour and a half to slog through 36 pages of The Mirror Empire. Fortunately, my second book, A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan, was much better and I had all 556 pages of it read in about 8 hours, give or take. My third, and final, book of this batch, The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks, should be here tomorrow, but I wouldn't take bets on that, considering it went from Dallas to Austin, bypassing Temple completely... Anyways, since I've nothing better to do, time for more designs!  Overall Length: 11 3/4" Blade Length: 7" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1" @ profile taper (2" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 5 3/4" Guard Width: N/A Pommel Dimensions: N/A During one of my most recent hunts for inspiration, I came across an image containing replicas of about half a dozen different styles of Native American bone knife. Among them was an upswept style that I just really love and it made me want to try my hand at rendering it, but with a steel blade. That is this knife. On original bone knives, I believe the tang section is fairly short and pretty much just fit into a short notch; I couldn't really see that working out too well with a steel blade, so I lengthened the tang to about three quarters length and added two different cutouts similar to what's found on Mora knives, albeit significantly deeper. I figured it would be a pretty sturdy way to resist the lateral forces a cutting blade is subjected to. I call this design Slicer because, seriously, do I really need to point out how much I suck at naming things? :lol: Beyond that, there's nothing to really say about it except that I was aiming for something simple and perhaps a little rustic.  Overall Length: 25 3/4" Blade Length: 20" Blade Width: 2 1/2" @ base; 2" @ belly; 2 1/4" @ profile taper (8 1/8" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 3/8" Guard Width: 3 1/8" Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/4"L x 2"W Here's a design that is actually a year or two in the coming. Now, most tactical gladii are based on the Pompeii blade pattern, with a few (such as Cold Steel's Gladius Machete) being based around the Fulham; I'm rather fond of the Pompeii, less so of the Fulham, but there's so little variety when virtually every single tactical gladius on the market is a Pompeii styling, if that (a fair few are just called gladius despite being nothing of the sort). Plus, I really love the look of a well done Mainz pattern blade, so I've wanted to do a Mainz pattern tactical gladius for the longest time with the blade based off of the Albion Augustus. My first attempt didn't go so well; I'm beginning to think that it was simply a case of the hilt being too small for such a beefy blade. Well, I happened to be ogling some of the Miller Bros. work and saw their M-16, which is effectively a two-handed gladius. What caught my eye was the large ring at the end of the grip and the rather wide guard; it got me thinking that, if you shrank it down to one-handed length while keeping those two elements, it'd make for one helluva tactical gladius hilt. So that's just what I did. And I think it came out awesomely, if I do say so myself. Rather than go all black like most tactical swords, I decided to do something a little different; the grip scales are a deep blue (which would actually blend better at night than all black, but mine was mainly an aesthetic choice), while the blade is left with its natural steel exposed. The screws holding the grip scales on are a flathead type, which I honestly think make a little more sense than hex types, since you could remove them with a coin if needed, which you can't do with a hex screw; especially not one so small. Lastly, the kydex scabbard has plenty of lashing points so you could wear it just about any way you chose. I call this the Tac Gladius for reasons that should be fairly obvious.  Overall Length: 38 1/8" Blade Length: 34" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 1 15/16" @ profile taper/start of yelman (13 5/16" from tip); 1/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4 1/4" Guard Width: 5 1/2" Pommel Dimensions: N/A This is another design that came about because of my curiosity. Some years ago, I came across a group of designs by a man named Iikka Keränen; his work was actually the inspiration for my Cutlass design, as well as Samara's second sword in my previous post. One of his designs was a gorgeous falchion with a yelman that he described as mixing Eastern and Western flavors. I really like the way the blade looked and the other day, I happened to be cleaning out my reference folder and came across it once more; also visible on my screen was the hilt from an antique 1796 Light Cavalry Saber that I saved for whatever design I felt it would work with. Obviously, the gears started ticking in my head and I got the urge to combine the two. This is the result, which I think is quite attractive. I'm especially proud of the way the hilt turned out and the fuller near the base of the blade was a pain in the ass to do, but I think it came out all right; the scabbard perhaps not so much. I call this blade the '96 Yelman as an homage to its heritage. I have six more designs ready to go whenever (at the moment), including a few polearms and some very attractive swords, but for now, that's all, folks. Ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 22, 2014 10:04:43 GMT
So, ladies and gents, time for more uploads, now that I've finished The Broken Eye by Brent Weeks, which was excellent, but damn what an ending; now the interminable wait until the next book begins anew. Anyways, design time, though I feel I should mention that I'm posting them in the order I feel like, which is not necessarily the order they were designed in...  Overall Length: 17 9/16" Blade Length: 12" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1 3/16" @ profile taper (4 3/8" from tip); 7/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 1/2" Guard Width: 3 5/8" Pommel Dimensions: 1 11/16"L x 1 3/8"W Here's a knife I first attempted to design probably some time last year; I don't remember exactly when because it didn't pan out, but it was before I ever began contemplating the start of this new design thread. I found the inspiration in a gritty, anime-styled sketch, where it was featured prominently. I like large knives, I like curved blades, so naturally, I was immediately drawn to it and wanted to try my hand at it. I think it ended up coming out very nicely this time 'round. I call this knife the Savant; a savant was originally just a person of great intelligence and learning, what we'd call a sage today, but I only really chose the word because I liked the way it rolls off the tongue; it just has an eloquent feel, kind of like this knife.  Overall Length: 28 1/4" Blade Length: 22" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 7/8" @ profile taper (3 1/2" from tip); 7/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4" Guard Width: 6" Pommel Dimensions: 1 7/8"D Here's an interesting sword, if only because sword-sized sword breakers are the purview of the fantasy MMO genre. This is actually one of a pair of such swords that belong to Camilla Jaeger, a character from my latest story idea; the same as Samara and Rohan. Camilla is a halfbreed in a time when being such isn't the greatest, but nor is it still a death sentence, so while people on the street may not like her, those with money will pay greatly for her talents. See, Camilla is a professional duelist, meaning that when some pompous dandy of an aristocrat gets challenged to a duel (which aren't yet illegal in her time), but isn't the type to risk his life, he can call on Camilla to act as champion. She is an unusual fighter because she only has a passing familiarity with how to use a smallsword in an age dominated by them, instead opting to use a pair of sword breakers scaled up to shortsword size; her weapons are slightly slower than the smallswords and spadroons she generally faces, but she is skilled enough to overcome that disadvantage. Despite their names, sword breakers weren't meant to actually break swords; swords are generally too sturdy to be broken by the daggers used in place of a more standard main gauche, though, there are tales of smallsword blades snapping, which is plausible, given how slender their blades are, but I wouldn't count on it happening reliably. Sword breakers were, instead, meant to catch and arrest a sword (if only briefly), allowing their user to get in past their opponent's defense and disable them or even disarming their opponent if the user was quick enough by using the teeth and a quick jerk of the arm. Camilla's shortswords are meant to do the same, though their greater heft and length gives them more versatility as a weapon. To give her weapons a bit more of a fantasy feel to them, I designed the hilt more after the medieval style, with a curved Style 1 guard and a Type H pommel, which would feel decidedly out of place during the more mid-19th century feel I'm going for with this story.  Overall Length: 40 1/8" Blade Length: 34" Blade Width: 1 1/4" @ base; 1" @ profile taper (4 1/4" from tip); 9/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4 1/8" Guard Width: 6 1/4" Pommel Dimensions: N/A There's not much to say about this sword, since it's not very important in-universe. Back when I designed Duncan Shaw's Infantry Officer's saber, I wanted to design a couple more to really flesh out the weapons of the setting, since I've already settled on most of the firearms, which are all from the mid- to late-19th century; well, except for the protagonist's firearm, which is early 20th and an experimental prototype in-story, and the antagonists' weapons, which are visually based on early cap-lock muskets, but are a fantasy design I've actually been toying with for years in the event I ever introduced firearms to Shiran. Anyways, I wanted to design a standard issue infantry saber, a standard issue cavalry saber, and a cavalry officer's saber. This particular design is the latter. The hilt is based on the Austrian M1904 Enlisted Cavalry Saber, of which Cold Steel makes a reproduction; I loved the look of the sword's hilt back when it first came out in 2011 and not too long ago, I stumbled across a most excellent drawing of the hilt from a perfect angle for me to reproduce it. However, I just can't bring myself to like pipeback saber blades, so I got rid of it. Believe it or not, the blade is in fact the same one that I used on Samara's 2nd Sword, but slimmed down, lengthened, and the fuller widened until it resembled a more typical cavalry saber blade; the scabbard is actually based on that of Windlass' American Revolution Saber, since I didn't want a metal scabbard in order to really differentiate it from the Infantry Officer's saber. In addition, while the hilt is visually based on that of the M1904, I tweaked it a bit so that it would be more symmetrical, making it ambidextrous, something that only makes sense rather than have a sword that offers inferior protection just because you're a lefty. That said, I'm quite proud of how it turned out and, while I've given up on doing the standard issue infantry and cavalry sabers since they're unimportant to the story, I may actually put this one to use in a small role; I rather like the idea of Kalea Lecuyer, bodyguard/secretary/childhood friend of Vahn de la Garde, wielding one. Anyways, just six more designs until I'm caught up; I think I'll do my polearms next time, but until then, that's all, folks. Ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 30, 2014 18:49:40 GMT
So, I don't really have anything to do today, which means it's time to upload some more designs. As I promised last time, this post is going to consist solely of my most recent polearm designs.  Overall Length: 51 3/16" Blade Length: 21" Blade Width: 1 15/16" @ base; 1 11/16" @ profile taper (10 1/8" from tip); 9/16" @ 1" from tip Haft Length: 48" I trust my regular lurkers know by now that I have an odd fascination with the scythe as a weapon; it's something I'm not even sure I can truly explain. Perhaps it's simply too many video games or something of that ilk. Whatever the reason, I have a small obsession with turning the scythe into a useable weapon. My previous attempts have ranged from the plausible to the fantastic, so with this one, I wanted to go more of a practical route. When considering the scythe as a weapon, there are two main concerns (beyond the fact that the blade is set at a 45 degree angle to the haft): the cutting edge is on the inside of the blade, necessitating a very unique method of use, and the blade being set at 90 degrees to the haft shortens its reach considerably compared to a more conventional polearm of similar size. Each of my previous designs has attempted to fix this issue (excluding my Vengali scythe design, as it was for my novels); this one is no different. The blade is essentially a greatly scaled up Fairbairn Cobra, a combat knife designed by William Fairbairn, who is responsible for several of the most iconic combat knives throughout history, including the Fairbairn-Sykes, the Applegate-Fairbairn, and the Smatchet. I came across a few pictures of the Cobra through Google some time ago and saved them for future reference, as the blade was exactly what I had been looking for for my next scythe design; prior to stumbling across it, I was debating how best to approach designing the blade. The sharpened clip and the point being almost directly 90 degrees from the haft would go a fair ways towards alleviating some of the problems with the scythe as a weapon. The haft is based on an axe haft by a custom smith named Tom Ward, albeit lacking the additional spur at the end, which I felt didn't look right with the blade and, when held near the end, the curve of the haft would present a better angle for cutting. I call this the Tirpan, which is the Turkish word for scythe; it's a plain name I felt appropriate for a more practical scythe.  Overall Length: 54" Blade Length: 12" Blade Width: 1" @ base; 2" @ shoulder; 1 5/8" @ profile taper (4 1/2" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Haft Length: 37 1/8" Butt Cap Length: 4 7/8" This design actually started on a whim while I was cleaning out my unused fittings file; that file's still there, but greatly cleaned up and I instead created additional folders to serve as repositories for my blades, guards, and pommels. That way, when I want to reuse something, I can just go to my repository rather than to a specific design. Anyways, the blade for this spear actually comes from the same image that inspired the pommel on my feather spear. I just loved how sturdy it looked, but I could never figure out how to use it. During the aforementioned cleanup, I decided to make a short spear out of it; while I was working, I decided it needed a butt cap rather than leaving one end bare, but I didn't want to use the spike butt cap I've used before as it didn't seem to fit, so I went looking for other styles. Despite largely ignoring it whenever I come across it, Windlass' Round Butt Cap just seemed to fit. The wrap below the head was something I mainly did on a whim, though the color scheme wasn't. I named this spear Gae Buidhe, which is one of two spears wielded by Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, a famous hero from Irish mythology; the name means "yellow spear", while the purple wrap and its length were inspired by Diarmuid's most recent portrayal in popular culture in the anime Fate/Zero as a Servant of the Lancer class. In Fate/Zero, Gae Buidhe, subtitled The Yellow Rose of Mortality, is one of Diarmuid's two Noble Phantasms, items that serve as a Servant's greatest weapon and greatest weakness. A Noble Phantasm is an item that is so closely entwined with a Heroic Spirit's legend that knowing its identity is tantamount to knowing its owner's identity and, therefore, all their weaknesses (Diarmuid, for instance, was able to deduce from just a momentary glance of its golden radiance that the sword he faced in his first battle was Excalibur and, thus, his opponent was King Arthur). Gae Buidhe is depicted as a golden short spear 140cm in length that is (initially) covered in a binding of purple talisman cloth to conceal Diarmuid's identity, and is capable of creating wounds that will never heal so long as it (the spear) exists in this plane of existence. Despite meeting an end that truly justifies the meme "Being Lancer is suffering", he is one of my favorite characters from Fate/Zero, so its easy to see where the inspiration for this spear came from once I sat down to design it.  Overall Length: 78" Blade Length: 15" Blade Width: 1" @ base; 2 1/2" @ shoulder; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (3" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Haft Length: 58 1/8" Butt Cap Length: 4 7/8" After completing my Gae Buidhe, I knew I wouldn't be content if I didn't design its bigger brother, Gae Dearg, so that's just what I did. Like Gae Buidhe above, this design was primarily inspired by the weapon used by Lancer in the anime Fate/Zero, who was based upon the mythological figure of Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. The blade was actually inspired by an interesting dagger I found on DeviantArt quite some time ago; the tang, which was quite thick, had been forged into a knot, making the blade resemble an overlarge push dagger. I just really liked the lines on it, as I thought they were quite elegant. To make the connection between the two designs more obvious, I gave it the same butt cap and wrap below the blade, but to make it its own design rather than a color swapped carbon copy of Gae Buidhe, I added a second section of wrap near the butt cap, as well as a somewhat ragged tail at the top. Obviously, this is Gae Dearg ("red spear"), the second of two spears wielded by Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, also known as Diarmuid of the Love Spot, for a mystical spot on his face that makes all women who gaze upon it fall in love with him; like Gae Buidhe above, this is inspired by the weapon's appearance in Fate/Zero, where it is known as the Crimson Rose of Exorcism. It is depicted as a 2m long crimson spear (initially) covered in the same purple talisman cloth as Gae Buidhe and is capable of nullifying magical enhancements and piercing magical projections, something Saber (King Arthur) found out in their first battle when attempting to deal him a fatal blow by taking his strike on her summoned armor, only for it to effortlessly pass through her armor (without damaging it) and cutting into her side. Lancer wields both spears with a grace and precision that really must be seen to be believed, which is what made him one of my favorite characters in Fate/Zero. Only three designs left to post and I've saved the best for last; hopefully, I'll remember to get around to them some time this week, but until then, that's all, folks. Ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Oct 9, 2014 18:52:08 GMT
So, for the past week or so, I was re-watching a number of anime series as a refresher, since they all had sequels starting this month; five series in all, adding up to 98 episodes in total (109, technically, but one was re-edited into a special edition with two episodes combined into one and new footage added, making each episode about 45 minutes long and that's the version I re-watched), so I've been rather busy. Well, I just finished the show a few hours ago and to kill time until the first episode of its sequel gets subbed, I figured I'd upload the last designs from my latest batch.  Overall Length: 22 3/4" Blade Length: 4 3/4" Head Width: 5 3/8" Haft Length: 22" On the crafts shopping site, Etsy, there's a seller who forges post-apocalyptic style weapons known as Fallen Oak Forge; their merchandise is quite attractive in a rugged sort of way, though I can't speculate on their actual functionality, as their prices are a bit too rich for my blood. Anyways, among their current product line are a small number of axes and one in particular caught my eye, with its aggressive styling and the blade along the upper curve. However, in fitting with the store's aesthetic, it's of a tactical style where the axe is all one piece of steel with grip slabs along roughly half its length. Outside of a few examples, I prefer more traditional looking axes, so I couldn't help but wonder if that same style head could be adapted to a hafted axe. I think my curiosity paid off. The rest of the head and the haft were both inspired by an old (and as far as I can tell, discontinued) Windlass product dubbed the "Danish Hand Axe"; that goes for the color of the haft, as well, which I tried to replicate, because I found it an attractive color. I call this axe Ripper because, while it was an ultimately forgettable film that ruined a classic story, this quote from Beowulf has always stuck with me (despite only having heard it once): "I am Ripper... Tearer... Slasher... Gouger. I am the Teeth in the Darkness, the Talons in the Night. Mine is Strength... and Lust... and Power! I AM BEOWULF!" Overall Length: 25" Blade Length: 20 3/4" Blade Width: 1 9/16" @ base; 1 15/16" @ clip (10 7/8" from tip); 1 3/4" @ profile taper (8 1/8" from tip); 5/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 3/8" Guard Width: 3 9/16" Pommel Dimensions: 2 5/16"L x 1 5/8"W Here's a piece with an interesting story. While looking for inspiration, I came across a Sage Blades sword that had what I can only describe as a sinuous blade. It was a very attractive blade that, unfortunately, lost much of its detail to the (to me) rather garish finish that Sage Blades puts on most of their designs; to me, its a finish that makes the standard Zombie Tools acid etch attractive. Mind, this is just my opinion, but I wanted to design something that would do such a blade justice. Then I came across Peter Lyon's Machaera. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a link to it; it's fashioned after a kopis with numerous fantasy elements to it and make it a very attractive weapon. I was particularly drawn to its hilt, which I felt would be a good match for the blade I wanted to design. However, due to my personal preference, there are a few small details that I didn't care for on the original. I'm from Texas, where it gets really damn hot in summer and I just think a bare metal grip is insanity. Then the down turned quillon, which I'm not overly fond of; it's not as extreme as certain examples, since it's really just the finial, but I still prefer it when they turn towards the blade. I also smoothed out the pommel, because I prefer simplicity in my designs unless I'm specifically aiming for something complex as a test. Small changes, but I think they make quite a difference. In honor of its inspiration, which sported a heron shaped pommel, I named this sword the Falcon's Kiss.  Overall Length: 38 3/4" Blade Length: 32" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1 3/16" @ profile taper (4 3/4" from tip); 9/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 3/4" Guard Width: 5 1/5" Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W This is, perhaps, my favorite design of this batch and so I've saved it for last. Among complex hilts, the mortuary style hilt used by Oliver Cromwell (of which Hanwei makes a very good looking replica) is perhaps my favorite. I'm just drawn to the symmetry of it, as well as how sturdy it looks from one angle, but open and almost as if it wouldn't provide sufficient protection from another; something about that contrast draws me to it. By now, I'm sure most of my lurkers here are aware of my fondness for complex hilted sabers, so it should come as no surprise that I got the desire one day to design a saber with a Cromwell style hilt. While this is my favorite of the batch, it was also an exceptionally complex and time consuming design thanks to the hilt. All those little holes, each of which had to be individually placed (there are 61, in case you were wondering), as well as the different sections of the guard, which had to be designed as a whole and then separate sections added for the gradients to work together to give an impression of depth, and then I missed the section separating the guard from the grip due to the angle of the image I was working on until I noticed a lack of correlation between the numbers I was working off of and the numbers I had... All told, if I had to redesign this hilt from scratch again, I think I'd cry. In the end, though, I think the work paid off immensely to produce an elegant sword. The blade is the same as the one from my second Samara's sword, a style I think better reflects a later period compared to the one I used on my Sentinel's Saber and several others; it's essentially just a slight change to the tip and the length of the fuller, but I really think each represents a different period in time. I based the scabbard around the one provided with the Hanwei replica, though for obvious reasons, the chape had to be changed. I debated giving it a frog like the mortuary hilt scabbards had, but ultimately decided against it, mainly as I felt it would cover up the bottom portion of the locket that I think looks really nice. I call this sword the Cromwell Saber as a nod to its inspiration. That's it for this batch, lurkers; it's also my last designs for awhile, as I haven't found anything that I really feel like designing, so until I find something that clicks for me, that's all, folks. Ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Feb 20, 2015 4:38:36 GMT
So, long time no see, folks. I've got a slew of new designs completed, but since I've kinda been neglecting the new book I bought the other day to do them, I'm only posting the first three; oddly enough, they're all polearms of one kind or another.  Overall Length: 76" Blade Length: 8 1/8" Blade Width: 1 7/8" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (2 3/16" from tip); 1" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 12 1/4" Shaft Length: 60" Buttcap Length: 3 3/4" First up is a spear I call Qiang since that's pretty much what it is. Rather than the sharp leaf shape, flowing red tassel, and pale waxwood shaft that comes to mind when I say "qiang", however, I opted for a slightly more ornate style for this design based on a few different heads I found while following the little white rabbit, er, rather, the links on eBay. Despite being a little more decorated than the kind you can find on just about any martial arts site these days, I kinda feel like this one is more of a war spear than the other kinds. Could be because of the heavier head and the spiked buttcap; beyond that, though, I don't really have much to say about this one.  Overall Length: 106 5/8" Blade Length: 22" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (3 7/16" from tip); 1" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 34 5/8" Hook Length: 5 3/8" Guard Diameter: 3" Shaft Length: 72" While accumulating images of antique weapons for my references folder, I stumbled across a rather interesting piece on Ashoka Arts, a website that deals in antique Asian arms & armor. It was a Thai polearm quite reminiscent of a Japanese naginata due to its shape; it featured a full size dha blade in place of a spearhead as well as an iron (least, I think it was iron...) hook just below the blade. This hook is known as an ankus and, despite how fearsome it looks, was actually a tool to guide and prod an elephant. Considering the prominence of the elephant in Thai culture and history, this makes a fair bit of sense. However, while it is primarily a tool, I have no doubt that it would serve quite weapon as a weapon for hooking limbs or even piercing armor and it is from this tool that this design takes its name.  Overall Length: 96 1/2" Blade Length: 22 1/4" Blade Width: 3 5/16" @ base; 2 11/16" @ profile taper (5 1/8" from tip); 1" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 26" Hook Length: 3 11/16" Langet Length: 18" Rondel Diameter: 3" Shaft Length: 69" Buttcap Length: 1 1/2" So, a while back, I bought the fifth book in John Flanagan's Brotherband Chronicles series, Scorpion Mountain; in it, one of the characters, who wasn't much of a fighter up to that point, is introduced to a voulge and becomes frighteningly skilled with it. Since I couldn't remember exactly what a voulge looked like off the top of my head, it was off to Google Images I went. Well, in the related search section at the top was "voulge-guisarme" and one of the images caught my eye, so I went looking and I found a rather attractive voulge-guisarme that someone on DeviantArt (who goes by the handle MindPsy) had forged out of a piece of sheet metal. I was rather taken by the way the head looked like a big damn knife with a curved spike sticking out the back; it just looked vicious, a sentiment that was somewhat dampened by the fact that there was a massive tassel tied around the shaft below the blade. It made the weapon look ornamental instead of battlefield ready. One thing led to another and the result is what you see before you. I adapted the head somewhat, since I had no idea the attachment method the original creator used, and then adapted the rest of it from the Arms & Armor Knightly Poleaxe, which I've become rather fond of lately, right down to the buttcap. I also added a 16" false edge to the head for more versatility; nothing like "accidentally" missing your opponent and then gutting them on the backswing when they let down their guard. The shaft, like the Knightly's, is rectangular with chamfered edges, which I think would suit a cutting weapon better than a round or even slightly ovular shaft and if there's one thing this weapon wants to do, it's cut. That's it for now, folks; I'll get the rest up once I finish reading my book, so it should be some time in the next day or two, but until then: Ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Feb 23, 2015 7:24:56 GMT
Finished my book the other day; it's titled Blood Song by Anthony Ryan. It's a really good book with an interesting style of storytelling. I could best describe it as the reverse of Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicles, wherein the present day is framed in the limited third person while the main story, the past, is framed in first person. Anyway, I'd recommend it. Now, I'm back with a few more of my designs before I get too distracted in the new manga I came across the other day.  Overall Length: 17 3/4" Blade Length: 13" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (5 3/4" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 2 3/8" Guard Width: 1 3/4" Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/16"L x 1 5/8"W This is a dirk. Now that I've got the bleedin' obvious out of the way, it's based on a reproduction I happened across, though unfortunately I couldn't tell you who made the original as it was grouped with a number of other reproductions of Scottish weapons, including several rather fine basket hilts. I've recently taken an interest in dirks, partially because of my Scottish heritage, but mainly because I've taken an interest in medieval daggers as a whole, be they rondels, baselards, what have you. They each have their charms, so when I came across the reproduction dirk, I decided to take a crack at it, albeit with some minor changes to make it my own. I simplified the blade while giving it a false edge to help penetration, browned the steel of the fittings, and gave it a rosewood grip, which I think is a nice contrast. Makes it look like an old blade cleaned up and I like that.  Overall Length: 16 7/16" Blade Length: 12" Blade Width: 1 1/8" @ base; 1 1/2" @ past choil; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (3" from tip); 11/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4 1/16" Guard Width: 2 1/8" Pommel Dimensions: 3/4"L x 1 1/2"W I designed this blade on something of a whim; I didn't actually set out to design this knife, but I'd been wanting to do something with that hilt, though I couldn't decide what. Then, while scrolling through my reference folder, I came across a wicked tactical style bowie knife that I believe I found here on SBG, but I sadly can't remember who made it, otherwise their name would be here. Speaking of, the hilt is inspired by a piece I found on DeviantArt by an artist named Airborne Leaf, albeit with a vastly different style of blade. Anyway, I saw the two together and figured "what the hell?" The result is as you see above. I gave it a simple steel scabbard with a belt hook so you could just slide it through your belt and go; I felt it suited the militaristic feel of the blade. Due to that, I decided to call this knife the Trench Terror. It may lack the brass knuckles or spikes of traditional trench knives, but damn if you'd want to meet this beast in the confines of a trench.  Overall Length: 44 1/4" Blade Length: 36" Blade Width: 1 1/4" @ base; 3/4" @ profile taper (5 3/8" from tip); 3/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 5 7/8" Guard Width: 8" Pommel Dimensions: 2"L x 1 5/8"W Here's a sword I've been wanting to do for some time, but never really had any idea how to go about: the Estoc. The other day, I was looking through some older designs for something and came across my Saber design that was based off of Nathan Robinson's PMC bastard sword and it kinda clicked. The blade is based off a piece by Peter Johnsson that I think one of our members posted about some years back; I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. My memory gets a bit fuzzy with where I find things half the time, especially when I've had a particular image for a couple years. Anyway, the piece in question was inspired by Peter's 15th Century German Longsword on his website, itself inspired by a museum piece dated to about 1480. I think the two, hilt and blade, came together really nicely to make a rather attractive sword. The scabbard, by comparison, is pretty simple as I don't usually lavish much effort on the scabbards of swords not related to my novels, but in this instance, that was more due to how tired I was when I designed this piece than anything; I actually wanted to give it a more elaborate scabbard, but I was exhausted and couldn't figure out how to do it, so I gave it something simpler. Well, that's all for now, folks. I still have three more designs to post, which I'll get around to sometime this week, so until then, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Feb 24, 2015 13:33:01 GMT
Well, since I caught up with the manga I was reading a few minutes ago and now have nothing to do at the moment, I figured it was time to update with my last batch of designs. As usual, I've saved the best (or at least my favorites) for last. So, without further gilding the lily and with no further ado, here they are:  Overall Length: 21 3/16" Blade Length: 6 3/8" Blade Width: 1 9/16" @ base; 5/8" @ 1" from tip Head Width: 10 13/16" Haft Length: 20 7/8" So, a week or two ago, I was trolling Google Images for reference material and inspiration when I came across a rather small image of an antique tomahawk that was very unusual; my interest aroused, I hunted down a larger image of the hawk and came across the inspiration for this design. See, this hawk was a peace pipe style, but the head was curved like a sickle, reminiscent of a double edged kama. My regular readers know my fascination with the scythe as a weapon and, to a certain degree, that extends to shorter versions like the kama as well. Anyway, the antique had a pretty hefty patina and some nicks, as well as a tip blunted by age or use, I'm not sure, so it wasn't the best reference image, but I've worked with worse. However, I wasn't overly fond of the haft, which actually look like the last few inches might have been broken off, but I didn't want to just give it a plain straight haft, so I started searching my materials again and came across a pair of peace pipe style hawks by knifemaker Joe Szilaski; funnily, I actually saved the image ages ago because one of the pair is an odd spike with a square cross-section, similar to what might be found on medieval war hammers, which was so unusual it caught my eye. Well, anyway, they had a really nice haft to them that were out of the norm, so I felt they'd be perfect for the design. Since I could think of what to name this hawk, or rather, since what I was going to name it didn't pan out, I just call it Spike.  Overall Length: 87 3/4" Head Length: 13" Head Width: 10 1/8" Blade Length: 10 5/8" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1" @ belly; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (1 11/16" from tip); 7/8" @ 1" from tip Side Blade Length: 4 3/8" Side Blade Width: 1 1/8" @ base; 1 3/16" @ profile taper (1/2" from tip) Haft Length: 72" Pommel Dimensions: 2 3/4"L x 1 5/8"W You've all seen my Chidori Jumonji Yari design by now, right? If not, it's on page 5 of this thread so you can go check it out. I'll wait. Back? Now, of all the different types of yari, my favorite is the jumonji yari and all its varied permutations (this, of course, includes the chidori jumonji yari); and when I say varied, I mean varied. I've come across at least a dozen different shapes for the cross blades, some short, some long, some straight, some curved, some broad, some narrow, but all definitely jumonji yari. Anyway, awhile back, I stumbled across a small archive of ancient Japanese weapons, one of which was a jumonji yari from the Jokyo period signed by Kanenori of the Echizen Shimosaka group (their founder, Echizen Yasutsugu, was apparently a favored swordsmith of Tokugawa Ieyasu). However, what was pictured was just the head, nothing attached (and I know someone who'd pay a pretty penny for that!), so I really wanted to see it mounted. Not wanting to give it the same furniture as my chidori jumonji yari, I searched around a bit for yari fittings and came across some fairly simple ones as part of a diagram detailing the parts of the yari, but I wasn't really feeling the plain ishizuki (buttcap), so I kept looking before eventually deciding to go with one similar to what is more commonly found on naginata. Surprisingly, I think it works quite well.  Overall Length: 27 7/16" Blade Length: 21" Blade Width: 1 7/8" @ base; 1 13/16" @ profile taper (3 1/8" from tip); 7/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4 11/16" Haft Length: 52 9/16" Ring Diameter: 4" Ring Thickness: 3/16" Now here's a design I've been meaning to do for, huh, only five months; feels longer. Anyway, I don't know why, but I've become rather fond of socket knives ever since I redesigned my Sylvyn Knife, perhaps it's the ability to go from close quarters to (relative) long range pretty much at the drop of a hat. TheMu showing what he made out of Windlass' Hewing Spearhead probably didn't help, either. Well, awhile back during one of my hunts for material, I came across a post on Cold Steel's forums about a find the person had made while in Greece. It was an old Collins machete, almost black thanks to the patina and lighting, made of a single piece of steel with a socket; the people in the thread dubbed it the Bushman Magnum since the blade was, I think, about 20" long (I decided the length for this design based on what I wanted for it), and the wheels started turning, but I never really got around to it. I finally decided to rectify that the other day. Originally, I was just going to give it a plain stick for a haft, then I thought that this design deserved something a bit fancier and I knew just what I was going to do. The Khakkhara, more commonly known as the shakujo or monk's staff, is a Buddhist tool and weapon originating in India; it's also that jangling staff carried by basically every single monk in anime. It seems to be a law of anime that if they're not carrying a shakujo, they're not a real monk... Guess Miroku never got the message. Ahem. The noise of a shakujo's rings can be used to alert others that there is a monk in need of alms or to war small beings such as insects to move away from the sound lest they be accidentally crushed; as a weapon, well, it's basically as if a staff and a mace had a love child, so no need to explain that aspect. Traditionally, there are three numbers of rings found on a shakujo: four, six, and twelve to represent the Four Noble Truths, Six Perfections, and the Twelvefold Chain of Cause and Effect in Buddhism; I chose to give this design four rings for a much simpler reason in that four is death in Japanese (they share the same pronunciation, so it's equivalent to 13 in the West) and putting the blade on it turns it into a lethal weapon. A little morbid, but I figured it was rather appropriate. The staff has two interchangeable ferrules, a spike and rubber, for different terrains, though I designed them so that the staff could be slid into the blade's socket without removing either one. The socket is covered in green paracord with a pair of Turk's head knots to act as a guard & pommel of sorts, though I'd appreciate it if you didn't look too closely at those; they pass muster finely from a distance, but up close, you can see the gaps I left thanks to my unfamiliarity with rendering them. The scabbard is just a bit of soft leather with a brass frog so it can be stuck through the belt or even down the waistband of your pants. That's it for now, folks; I have a couple more designs in mind, but until then, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 13, 2015 16:18:41 GMT
Long time no see, folks. I've been having a bit of a dry spell for the past couple of months despite hunting up new material whenever I had a free moment; must be because I've had my nose buried in one book or another since late March. Anyway, I finally managed to break that dry spell to a degree ,so here are three new designs:  Overall Length: 36" Blade Length: 8 1/8" Secondary Blade Length: 2 13/16" Head Width: 8 3/4" Haft Length: 34 1/2" I first came across the unmounted head for this piece either through Google Images or Pinterest, I'm no longer sure which. Regardless, the complex grind, bearded fore edge, and smaller, half-moon rear edge of the design just kinda tickled me pink, so to speak. I've had the original inspiration for this piece sitting in my references folder for quite some time, just waiting to be used, but I honestly kept forgetting about it because, well, I had some 1,400 images in that folder; I spent most of a day sorting them into relevant sub-folders (Axes, Knives, Scythes, and Spears, the latter of which actually encompasses all polearms except scythes) before I had a clear enough picture of all the material I had. Now that I could just browse a single folder of axes, I found the head this piece was based on again and set out to do something with it... Which was actually a lot easier said than done, as it turned out. As those who read this thread probably know, I'm not overly fond of plain axe/spear hafts; they just look unfinished, so I often go out of my way to make them look better. This particular haft comes from an axe our very own Saito made (or, at least, was selling in the classifieds; it's been awhile since I saw it) that I liked the shape and color of, so I saved it for future reference. I call this piece the Tempest Hog for its two-fold original designers: Anders Hogstrom, the knifemaker who originally designed the head, and Tom Ward, who modified, forged, and ground it, and has a website called Tempest Craft.  Overall Length: 101 1/8" Blade Length: 19 9/16" Blade Width: 1 5/8" base; 2 13/16" @ bottom point; 2 3/8" @ belly; 4" @ upper point Head Length: 25 1/8" Spike Length: 6 1/8" Langet Length: 15" Shaft Length: 72" Buttcap Length: 4 1/16" Now, my regular readers will know of my fascination with the scythe as a weapon, despite its almost utter unsuitability as such in its standard configuration (primarily, that the edge points towards the wielder); while I prefer to try and design a weapon that looks like a scythe, but is better suited to being a weapon, I came across some Polish illustrations depicting the process by which a gardening scythe goes from a tool to a weapon and one of those blades looked so fearsome, I decided I wanted to design a more "traditional" war scythe. This is that blade. I was going to call it simply the "War Scythe", but since that would have been a little redundant with how I name my files (it would have been "scythe_war-scythe", for the record), I instead decided to call it the War Hound, a) because the name sounds badass, and b) this thing looks like it'll take a real nasty bite out of anything it hits.  Overall Length: 42" Blade Length: 33" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1" @ profile taper (10 3/4" from tip); 1/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 6" Guard Width: 9" Pommel Dimensions: 2 5/16"L x 2 1/2"W Every so often, I come across an antique piece that so captures my attention that I have to completely recreate it to the best of my abilities; this is one of those. The original piece is an early 15th century XVa blade with a Style 8 crosspiece and Type K pommel, all of which show severe pitting. The black leather grip, which as far as I can tell is the original, has an unusual style of cord binding that give the grip a ridged look that I liked. Funnily enough, this sword took far longer than it should have to complete because, even as relatively complex as the guard is, it's still quite easy, but once I got to the scabbard... Well, I figure, I'll do something fancy with the chape and a matching locket, only the style I tried to make for it really needs a much wider-tipped blade than a XVa can give it, so I ended up with the simple affair you see above. I call this piece the Howler, because it's in green and purple, favorite colors of our very own Sean (Shadowhowler). I've got a few more designs in the wings that I'll post in a couple days, but for now, I've been neglecting the book I'm reading for far too long; until then, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 16, 2015 23:16:54 GMT
So, I finished my latest book the other day and, since I didn't read the Amazon page for it beyond what was necessary to add it to my Wish List, I didn't realize it was the last in the series. There's always something a little saddening about the end of a series, no matter how good, because you have no new adventures with all your favorite characters to look forward to. But, the great thing about books is you can re-read them whenever you wish, effortlessly diving back into their worlds at the turn of a page. Now, time for my most recent designs.  Overall Length: 43" Blade Length: 6" Blade Width: 1 1/8" @ base; 7/8" @ profile taper (1 1/2" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 6 7/8" Shaft Length: 33" Buttcap Length: 3 1/8" For me, the design process often goes a little something like this: I'll be browsing Google Images or Pinterest, find something that really catches my eye, and save it to my reference folder for later use. This particular piece is no exception. While I'm not overly fond of the Japanese sword anymore, Japanese polearms on the other hand have always tickled my fancy. For those of you who have been with me since very near the beginning, this should be obvious (and also, thanks for sticking around so long!) due to the series of unusual yari designs I did in that most infamous October of 2011. That aside, I came across a nice antique yari that had a somewhat longer than usual shirasaya haft; from what I've seen, the haft is usually only a little longer than the tang, whereas this one was quite possibly about three feet in length. Something about it clicked and I decided to do a short yari design with it. Despite it being a relatively simple design, it was a nightmare to do thanks to the near lack of photographs or illustrations depicting yari koshirae. I spent close to three hours looking for something I liked before eventually settling on using the koshirae from a piece I'd saved previously, with a few simplifications (mainly, trying to do the same wrap near the head would have taken longer than I wanted to spend). I call it the Makura Yari after the style of short yari that was kept near the bedside for nighttime defense.  Overall Length: 37 1/8" Blade Length: 27" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 1 5/8" @ profile taper (2 1/4" from tip); 1 1/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 6 1/2" Guard Width: 3" Pommel Dimensions: 2 5/8"L x 2 1/4"W Funny story about this piece: shortly after I re-designed Guts' sword from the manga Berserk, I designed Wyrmfell & Drake, the two swords that would inspire an entire world, which would become the setting for my novel, Dragon Fall. Since then, it has exploded with the swords, weapons, characters, dragon species, and other fauna I've designed for it. One of those characters is Altan Solak, a young swordsman who idolizes the protagonists. This was actually the design I wanted for his sword until I realized that it just didn't fit with the aesthetic I was going for and would have felt out of place, so it has languished in my reference folder ever since. I'd actually honestly forgotten all about it until the cleanup the other day. I decided to take a proper shot at rendering it and I think I did a pretty decent job of it. Despite the overall vaguely Chinese aesthetic, the chape on the scabbard was actually inspired by an antique aikuchi tanto. I call it the Ring Hilt because, again, I kinda tend to suck at naming things unrelated to my novels.  Overall Length: 36 1/4" Blade Length: 30" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 3/8" @ profile taper (3" from tip); 1" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4" Guard Width: 7" Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/4"L x 1 3/4"W Now here's a sword that has both an interesting history and a design I never thought I'd touch again (but now that I have, I'm glad I did). I started using Inkscape in late September 2011 and the first batch of designs I did were all related to my novels; that's why I started designing swords in the first place, so it only makes sense. Anyway, one of those first swords was the Endycion, named for the race of conquerors in my novel (tentatively titled) Children of Conquest; it was pretty good for my earlier works, but I eventually redesigned it a few times into the sword you can see here (the third sword). Well, I was looking for something I felt like designing and, since I still have most of my old works in a folder specifically for them, I came across that old design once more and, for the hell of it, decided to give it a face lift with the skills I've honed in the near four years since I originally designed it. This is the result. The blade is a Type XIIIb, only this time I actually managed to get the fuller the proper width, where previously it had a very X-ish fuller (a problem with almost all my early fullers); the guard is a Style 10 with octagonal arms, where previously they were supposed to be octagonal, but thanks to my inexperience, came out kinda square with an oddly colored face. The pommel is a Type P and features a much more rounded base as opposed to the almost flat base it had before (or pointed on my last rendition of this sword with this pommel). I originally chose this combination because I wanted the sword to look a bit out of place historically, but still be far more realistic than what is typically found in fantasy stories. The XIIIb was prominent from the mid-13th to mid-14th centuries, where the Style 10 crosspiece was popular in the 15th and 16th centuries; the pommel is exceedingly rare, with no surviving examples and only a single example in art, on a statue at a church in Nuremburg, Germany, so it very well could have ended up on a XIIIb. Beyond the blade-guard-pommel combination, I also recreated it with the same shade of brown for the grip, as well as the same number and placement of grip risers. And, since I didn't start doing scabbards for my swords until October 2011, I added a scabbard in a darker brown with a relatively simple chape inspired by Christian Fletcher's Knight Chape. Now it actually looks like your average soldier's sword, which I'm quite proud of. I call this piece the Rinascita, which is the Italian word for "rebirth", something this sword has most definitely done. That's all for now, folks; ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 19, 2015 23:15:42 GMT
Good news, everyone (by which I mean just Dave)! Thanks to all the reading I've been doing lately (I stuck my nose in a book mid-April and haven't really pulled it out until the other day), my creative juices have begun flowing again and I've slowly started writing once more; I say "slowly" because, due to the multiple restructuring I've done, it's all new material from here and will be for quite some time. Still, the journey of a thousand miles and all that. Well, the other day, I was thinking about cleaning out the folder with all my drafts in it and came across one of my more recent drafts (recent here meaning about 2010) for the novel I had tentatively titled Children of Conquest. That got me looking in the folder where I'd stowed all the photo references I had for the work and came across the old knives I'd planned on using for the various tribes that more or less became the basis for this particular novel. To put it bluntly, I was no longer satisfied with my old choices and decided to design some new ones and, while I was at it, I figured I'd design their axes, as well; then, I figured since I was going to do the thing, I might as well go the whole hog and do the thing proper, so I designed some spears for them. Seeing as that's three weapons a tribe for six tribes, I'm a bit overdone. The six tribes are Atlana, Banaeos, Ibasona, Latsai, Tyrison, and Vyndea and I'll be posting them in that order over the next week or so during my downtime from writing. With that said, let's get to it.  Overall Length: 14" Blade Length: 9" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 2 13/16" @ secondary tip (3 5/16" from tip); 1 7/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 1/2" Guard Width: N/A Pommel Dimensions: N/A First up is the knife of the Atlana tribe from Drakonis. Previously, this knife was a medieval hunting trousse like the one Windlass Steelcrafts used to make, but I grew bored with it because, in the end, it was just a large straight knife; I wanted something a little more interesting to look at and, if I'm honest, a bit more intimidating, as well. The piece this was based on, by Hatcher Knives, certainly fits the bill. I also wanted something that could be used to butcher a carcass as the representative member of the Atlana I created was envisioned as a professional butcher who had turned his skills on his conquerors; I wanted something that was almost hatchet-like in appearance. The scabbard on my piece is a simple wood case with a jute wrap to strengthen the area near the opening. With such a wide blade, there's not much else you can do and, for a workman's tool, why would you? ![]()  Overall Length: 16" Blade Length: 5" Head Width: 5 3/4" Haft Length: 13 3/4" Following the knife is the axe of the Atlana Drakoneans. This was based on a butcher's hatchet, again continuing that seemingly brutal and intimidating appearance to their weapons; specifically, this was based on a butchers axe by Auntie Tools that I came across on Google Images some time ago. I liked the way the picture I found gleamed and looked particularly vicious despite the relatively small package (mine is actually smaller, by the way). For the Atlana, I wanted an axe that looked more like a tool than a weapon while still being intimidating and I think I succeeded at that.  Overall Length: 68" Blade Length: 11 7/8" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1/2" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 17 1/4" Shaft Length: 58" Buttcap Length: 2 3/4" Lastly is the Atlana spear and this is an interesting case, because most Drakoneans don't actually use them; their conquerors, whom my most recent draft name Cetons (which I think is as fine a name as any, and certainly better than "Endycion"), don't exactly forbid them spears the way they do swords and bows, the latter of which they disparage as not being a true weapon, but can't deny its effectiveness as such, but they do tend to watch any Drakonean carrying a spear very closely, so many find it's not worth the trouble. However, they do still use them on occasion. Keeping in mind the hunter theme for the Atlana, I based their spear on an antique spatoon I came across a month or so ago, mainly because I took a liking to it, but also because it's reminiscent of old boar spears and I had a real hard time not just going with one of those. In the end, I went with the spatoon instead as it was different and you really don't see them very often. That's it for now, folks. Up next will be the Banaeos weapons, but until then, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 20, 2015 22:18:40 GMT
So, I didn't think I'd be posting my next update so soon, but I figured that if I don't set some kind of regular schedule for these updates, I'm liable to forget about them entirely until I go to upload some new design in the future; I've done it in the past, after all, particularly when I focus on something to the exclusion of all else. With that in mind, here are the Banaeos weapons:  Overall Length: 14" Blade Length: 9" Blade Width: 1 1/4" @ base; 1 1/8" @ profile taper (2" from tip); 15/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4" Guard Width: N/A Pommel Dimensions: N/A First up is the knife of the Banaeos, which was previously inspired by a saxe forged by JT Palikko; it's still a very nice knife, but no longer really fits the image I'm aiming for. That said, the idea of specialties among the tribes is a very recent one and is, more than anything else, simply an excuse to use their weapons as a handy shorthand to differentiate them in the story. I also felt it would be a small in-joke about them being able to tell one another while the Cetons are blind to their differences. Anyway, because of that, I don't really have a specialty in mind for the Banaeos beyond agriculture, maybe; the representative character I designed years back was a Ceton/Drakonean half-blood and was mainly drawn into the conflict to make peace, torn between her dual blood ties. I pictured her mainly as being something of a city girl, so I always figured that, for the Banaeos, their knife should be plain and simple, a tool for everyday life rather than something that looked like it could be turned into a weapon at any moment. The Steel Will Druid, a production knife I happened across on Knife Center, really fit the bill with its long, straight blade and drop point. The checkered synthetic grip and complicated looking sheath were easily swapped out for well worn wood and a simpler stitched sheath with belt stud.  Overall Length: 16" Blade Length: 3" Spike Length: 2 1/4" Head Width: 7 1/2" Haft Length: 14" As if in contradiction of the plainness of their knife, the axe of the Banaeos is one definitely meant for combat, despite its small size. The darkened steel head is actually based on an antique, its head nearly black, that I came across on Google and just really found myself liking the proportions of it. Despite being second in the order I've decided to post them, the Banaeos axe was the last one I did, which should partially explain the simplistic nature of the haft, something I've said a few times I'm not overly fond of. Still, it has a pretty decent taper and the dark color of the wood compliments the dark head quite nicely; and since the head is rather complex itself, I find the simple haft doesn't detract from the overall appearance.  Overall Length: 58" Blade Length: 5" Blade Width: 3/4" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (4" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 7 1/8" Shaft Length: 47 /78" Buttcap Length: 3" And lastly, their spear. Owing to their potentially more urban or agricultural roots, I didn't want something overly fancy for the Banaeos spear; I wanted something that looked more like a walking staff with a blade on one end, which I think I succeeded at. The head is the same as the one I used for my interpretation of the Wheel of Time's Dragon Scepter, a 15th-16th century German design, only instead of the gold socket, I opted for simpler bronze this time. Likewise, the buttcap, which is actually inspired by the one from Ollin Sword's interpretation of the Spear of Anoch Sun, a mythical weapon from Peter V. Brett's The Demon Cycle, although greatly simplified. Of the six spears I designed for the six tribes, the Banaeos is the one least likely to appear in the story, but I simply couldn't exclude it when I was doing ones for the others. Tomorrow, I'll do the Ibasona weapons, with which I'll also be including the in story regulations the Drakonean weapons are subjected to... Mainly because the Ibasona push them for all they're worth. After that, I hope to do one per day so that I don't get too wrapped up in my work and forget all about them, but until then, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 22, 2015 15:39:05 GMT
So, I'll bet you're thinking I forgot yesterday, right? I didn't, but funny story: I've mentioned that I can get so focused on something that I ignore pretty much everything else, but what I didn't mention is that I can also get distracted by some thought pretty easily, only to focus on that to the exclusion of all else. That's what I happened yesterday morning; I brought up the draft of my novel and was thinking about what I wanted to write when a thought popped into my head regarding the past of of one of my characters. Before, he just talked about it and I didn't get real detailed... Then how his past should play out drifted into mind and I simply had to write it out lest I forget it. For five hours (approximately three of which I should have been asleep for), all I could do was write with brief intermissions here and there to look up weapons so I could describe them properly. After I finished at about 10am, I went to bed and didn't wake up until about 4-5 hours ago. And so, since I kinda slept through most of yesterday, I'll be posting both the Ibasona and Latsai weapons to makeup for it.  Overall Length: 19" Blade Length: 13 5/8" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 2 1/2" @ profile taper (5" from tip); 11/16" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 7/16" Guard Width: 2 11/16" Pommel Dimensions: N/A Previously, the knife of the Ibasona tribe was a simple Filipino punyal, which would have been a good knife, but it just no longer fit with my vision of the people who would use it. And that vision is that they're, well, perhaps not exactly "rule-breakers" but the kind of people who push their boundaries, the kind who inadvertently cause trouble by seeing how far they can press things. I mentioned previously that I'd explain why that is so and so I shall: the Ceton definition of a knife is "a single-edge weapon lacking a guard with a blade not much longer than the forearm". My forearm, which I used as the basis, is 11.5" from wrist to the end of my elbow. The spirit of the law may be that the blade be no longer than the forearm, but the letter is quite clear and an inch and a half is certainly "not much". "But wait!" you say, "Doesn't that knife also have a guard?" True, it may act in that function, but it is, first and foremost, part of the tang and so doesn't really qualify as a guard by the letter of the law. As for the false edge, well, you're starting to see a pattern here, aren't you? To the Cetons, it's really only an edge if it runs the full length of the blade, which this one doesn't. Similar to the Atlana piece, this design was inspired by one of Hatcher Knives' gorgeous, yet functional, designs that was undoubtedly a knife, yet easily stretched the definition of the term; exactly what I was looking for for the Ibasona.  Overall Length: 24" Blade Length: 10 7/16" Head Width: 5 1/2" Haft Length: 16 11/16" The Ceton law regarding axes is a fair bit looser, only really stipulating a size limit, which is two feet in length; you'll notice that this axe is exactly two feet in length overall, but the blade is relatively huge. Once again, the Ibasona push things as far as they can, because while the Ceton mean an axe 2ft in length with a fairly normal sized head similar to the previous two, the Ibasona have twisted it in their favor, sticking a much larger head on a shorter, tomahawk sized haft and generally get away with it because they're breaking no laws. This particular axe was inspired by two separate Arms & Armor pieces, their Hungarian Axe for the blade and the Nordland Axe for the haft, a combination partially inspired by something Skallagrim did with his own Hungarian Axe and showed off on his Youtube channel awhile back (though his haft more closely resembled something you'd likely find on a boarding axe).  Overall Length: 89" Blade Length: 7 3/8" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1" @ profile taper (5"~ from tip); 3/8" @ 1" from tip Spike Length: 13 3/4" Spike Width: 1" @ base; 1/4" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 27" Head Width: 16" Shaft Length: 60" Buttcap Length: 2" Now here's where the Ibasona just get ridiculously blatant in flouting the laws. The Ceton definition of a spear is a hafted weapon with a single blade and a haft no higher than the chin. Once again, I used myself as the basis and from the ground to my chin is 60", the exact amount of exposed haft on the Ibasona spear. "Well, what about the three blades it has?" you might ask; what three blades? Oh, you mean the unsharpened spike and the single continuous sickle blade mounted to the head like an axe? Like I said, the Ibasona strictly follow the letter of the law while blatantly thumbing their noses at the spirit, which obviously meant something along the lines of the Banaeos spear I posted the other day. That said, this is an interesting piece, because the Cetons are actually willing to look the other way in this case, as the Ibasona region is riddled with tigers, who are not known to distinguish between Ceton and Drakonean on the occasions they attack. As such, this piece was based on an antique Chinese tiger fork I came across online because it seemed the perfect thing for the Ibasona to use to flout the laws while providing a reason for why they get away with it. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 22, 2015 16:44:08 GMT
It's rather funny that, even with having to make up for yesterday, I'm posting the Latsai weapons today as today's my birthday and the Latsai are really at the heart of the entire story of Children of Conquest; the protagonist, Lat'Teruya de Kagen, is originally from Latsai and, in many ways, his homecoming is what really kicks off the plot and has been even from the half-formed dream that inspired the book in the first place. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch to say that, of the six tribes of Drakonis, the Latsai are the closest to my heart.  Overall Length: 16 1/16" Blade Length: 11 1/4" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1 1/8" @ profile taper (2 1/16" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 5 1/8" Guard Width: 1 7/8" Pommel Dimensions: 1/2"L x 1 5/8"W Previously, the Latsai knife has been many different things as, being my protagonist's tribe, I've focused on them the most and, during one of my drafts, I even got their capital city in the narrative and managed to describe it, which I hadn't really been able to do before or since, seeing as I scrapped the work not long after that before eventually coming back to it when I figured out I could merge its world with another without having to change much beyond a few mechanics. Life's kinda funny like that, I guess. Anyway, while the idea of specialties for the tribes is something of a recent creation, it's always been a part of the story that the Latsai would have an inordinately high number of families that had been nobility and aristocrats before the conquest; that's actually part of why Kagen leaves home. As such, I wanted their knife to look a little more finely crafted than the others. I based it on the David Brodziak Damascus Fighter owned by our very own Deepbluedave, a knife I've always had a bit of a soft spot for for looking like some kind of awesome cross between a tanto and a saxe, though I had to guess a bit at the proportions when designing it, mostly working off the Buck 110 he had pictured beside it. As for the scabbard, I tried to make it look a bit fancy, but mostly serviceable, so I based the chape off an antique wakizashi kojiri.  Overall Length: 18 3/4" Blade Length: 2 1/4" Head Width: 6 1/2" Haft Length: 17 1/2" Of all the axes, this was actually the hardest to design; not because it was complex or anything, though it was, a bit, but because I really just couldn't decide on a single style that I liked for them. There must have been half a dozen that I thought would work, though none of them really seemed right, so I eventually settled on on that hadn't originally been part of the deliberation, but I've always rather liked: the Hanwei Pipe Hawk. I have the Cold Steel version, which is more than twice the weight with twice the cutting edge, but I wanted something that would be lighter and a bit more ornate and the Hanwei version fit the bill. However, since this version isn't actually a pipe, the bowl is solid like the Cold Steel version (though smaller and narrower), and I replaced the mouthpiece with a simple endcap like I've seen on a few hawks online. That said, I left the ramrod, now part of another endcap, because I liked the way it looked on the Hanwei.  Overall Length: 46" Blade Length: 5 3/4" Blade Width: 7/8" @ base; 1 5/8" @ profile taper (4 7/8" from tip); 1 7/8" @ swell; 7/8" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 9 1/2" Wrap Length: 6" Shaft Length: 34" Buttcap Length: 2 1/2" I don't know how many of you saw it, but about a year or two ago, Kult of Athena stocked a rochin from an unnamed manufacturer; a rochin is a short spear used in Okinawan kobudo somewhat longer than the forearm and used in conjunction with a small shield. This particular one was being sold with the Hanwei Viking Leaf Spear for a head, which might explain why Kult of Athena stopped offering it all of a sudden. Well, while they offered it, it caught my eye and it gave me a new appreciation for the Hanwei Viking Leaf Spear, which I had always discounted because it was non-functional. When I decided to design spears for the Drakonean tribes, I decided on something very much like it for the Latsai, whom I wanted to have a short spear that was more a spear than a long hilted dagger, so to speak. I took that old rochin, doubled the haft length, and added a buttcap (taken from my recent Makura Yari design); as a nod to its origins, I gave it a braided jute cord wrap around the exact middle of the haft where the balance would be on the real thing and where you'd want to hold it for best usage. That's all for now, folks; tomorrow will be the Tyrison weapons, which I'm rather looking forward to, as I put quite a bit of effort into them, as well, particularly their spears. Until then, though, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 23, 2015 19:50:22 GMT
Time for the Tyrison weapons, which I have honestly been looking forward to the most, if only because of how much I think these weapons truly speak about the people who wield them. Also, I'm very proud of the job I did on their spears. Well, without further gilding the lily and with no more ado, I present Sir Ulrich von Licht-- Oops, wrong movie. Let's just get on with it, shall we?  Overall Length: 17" Blade Length: 11 7/16" Blade Width: 1" @ choil; 1 3/8" @ base; 1 11/16" @ false edge (7 7/16" from tip); 1 3/4" @ profile taper (3 5/8" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4" Guard Width: 2 3/8" Pommel Dimensions: N/A Funny story: of the original five knives I chose for the Drakonean tribes, the one for the Tyrison has changed the least. It has almost always been a kukri, as I have envisioned the Tyrison as fighters since their conception and, when I was younger, I heard stories about how feared the Gurkha regiments were because of their knives, so I couldn't really picture another large knife that would be so perfectly suited to the Tyrison. Previously, I was modeling their kukri off that of the Traditional Filipino Weapons piece which, at the time, was quite new and more talked about here on the forums than dedicated kukri vendors like The Khukuri House. Now, a standard kukri would still be an excellent weapon for the Tyrison, but kukris are getting a lot more time in the limelight among the general population, so I decided I wanted something different. Well, some time ago, I came across a pair of images from someone's screenshot'd cellphone showing a chukri, which is basically a kukri with a clip point. I saved it for reference and promptly forgot about it until the recent cleanup I mentioned a few posts back. This chukri actually turned out to be the Scourge Kukri offered by the aforementioned Khukuri House and, here's a real amusing tidbit, when I designed mine, I actually made it smaller. The Scourge has a 13" blade whereas I made mine just about 11.5", something I was set on from the start because I wanted the Tyrison to be vicious in close fighters, the kind of fighting where you're so close to the other guy, you can tell what he had for breakfast two days ago from his breath. To give it less of a modern "tactical" feel, I dropped off the exposed tang/window breaker and lanyard hole that extended past the grip, as well as made the finger groove quite a bit smaller. I gave it a more Western-style sheath, with a belt stud as opposed to the normal kukri setup and a more Western-style chape. Similar to the Ibasona, the Tyrison knife also pushes at the Ceton regulations a bit, with a long false edge (sharpened, of course) and something resembling a guard (though it's completely full tang), but because they often provide unasked for and unpaid security for merchant trains coming and going from the country in the south, protecting them from bandits, the Cetons are more than willing to look the other way in this.  Overall Length: 14" Blade Length: 4 7/8" Spike Length: 2 1/2" Head Width: 8 5/8" Haft Length: 12 1/8" Wrap Length: 5 11/16" I debated long and hard over what kind of axe best suited the Tyrison and eventually came on a rather surprising prospect, one I didn't quite expect. Quick show of hands: how many of you have seen the United Cutlery M48 Tomahawk, that "tactical" hawk that shows a number of good ideas, but (if reviews are anything to go by) falls a bit short of its ambitions? If you haven't, go look, I'll wait. Seen it? Well, like all widespread things, even these have their knock-offs; it's also a rare case of, in my opinion, the knock-off looking cooler than the original. Some months ago, Kult of Athena started stocking the Doomsday Axe by Phantom Cutlery (whom I've never heard of and haven't been able to find any kind of website for). Similar in shape, if a bit more vicious looking, and a little more compact, you could call the Phantom Cutlery Doomsday Axe the redheaded step-cousin the United Cutlery M48, but you know what? Redheads can be hot. Such is the case here. The Doomsday Axe had a sinuously curved haft with a cord wrap around its bottom half and an absolutely wicked head that looked similar to the M48, but also more dynamic and bat-like. There were a few things I didn't like, obviously; nothing can be perfect. First of all, the little protrusions above the grip wrap looked stupid and would interfere with a quick grip change to choke up on the haft, so they went, as did the lanyard hole. I also modified the head to be a socket type, though the haft doesn't come all the way through the eye, as I felt that messed with the dynamic look of the head. I also got rid of all the cutouts that seem to be popular on a lot of low-end "tactical" blades for reasons I've yet to figure out; lastly, I didn't really pay attention to the measurements listed on Kult of Athena, so mine ended up being a bit bigger. Still, without the cutouts lightening the blade a fair bit, I think this thing would hit with authority despite its small size and the numerous edges for ripping and cutting would make for one brutal little hawk, perfectly suited to the Tyrison.  Overall Length: 36" Blade Length: 7" Blade Width: 1/2" @ base; 1" @ flare (6 3/8" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 8 3/4" Shaft Length: 23 1/4" Buttcap Length: 4" Lastly, what I consider my crowning achievement for the Drakonean weapons: the Tyrison spears. The question was, how do you give a people renowned for their close-in fighting a spear without completely contradicting that reputation? For quite some time, I couldn't satisfactorily answer that question, but I kept coming back to one possibility inspired by my own growing interest in the weapon: the jarid. The jarid is a Persian javelin that are often carried in their own scabbards in twos and threes, but on occasion, they'll be paired up with a straight bladed sword in the same scabbard. One such combination is what brought the weapon to my attention. In history, javelins were often used to soften up an enemy before the battle could be joined, serving much the same purpose as the bow & arrow; indeed, as far as I can tell, they were used before the bow came to prominence. The way I pictured it, each Tyrison fighter would carry a case with three javelins either on their belt or back according to personal preference and use them to soften up their target before they get there and, if their targets were carrying shields, it would temporarily take the shields out of the fight as they're quite a bit heavier than a couple arrows; not that they really need the help, since the aggressive beard on their axes would allow them to hook a shield out of the way. I also figured that, while not ideal, in a pinch, the javelins could be used as a short, handheld spear (hold it just above the weighted endcap for maximum reach) or even a parrying stick; again, not really ideal, particularly given the 7/8" diameter of the javelins, but better than taking a sword in the gut, right? Although greatly simplified, I based these on a pair of Turkish jarid from the late-18th/early-19th century I came across on Oriental-Arms.com, a great place to find anything from African to Japanese antiques and everything in between. The originals featured the typical scroll-work patterns common to the area, with blades of a hollow-ground square cross-section, and housed in a wood case covered in blue velvet. Save the scroll-work, I tried to replicate everything I could in these because the originals are quite beautiful. The one decoration I did my best to replicate was the spiral sphere just below the blades on the heads and I'm quite proud of how they came out. Tomorrow, I'll do the Vyndea, last of the tribes and, sadly, probably the least of them, too. They're the newest, so it can't be helped much, but I feel that after the Tyrison, they may just seem more so. Well, until then, ja mata. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on May 24, 2015 23:32:25 GMT
This is normally where I'd say "last, but not least", only I fear that'd be a lie; when I originally conceived the story of Children of Conquest, there were only five tribes, which lead to a rather amusing realization during what little worldbuilding I'd done, as I'd inadvertently put the number five everywhere. Well, among my worlds, multiples of three are everywhere, even seen as sacred, so to continue the theme, I created a sixth tribe for the Drakonean peoples when I integrated their world with Alterra. Vyndea is that tribe, so I have next to nothing in terms of information for them. Of course, I've actually been known, behind the scenes, to spontaneously invent the information while writing these descriptions, so that's not quite the handicap it would seem. Let's see what I come up with this time, shall we?  Overall Length: 11 3/4" Blade Length: 7 1/8" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 2" @ belly; 1 3/4" @ profile taper (2 11/16" from tip); 1" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 3/16" Guard Width: N/A Pommel Dimensions: 1 1/2"L x 1 3/8"W Since I created the Vyndea very recently, they didn't have a knife to be redesigned, so this is their original knife and I think it works for two-fold reasons: first, it's noticeably shorter than the rest, which could be a nod to how much lesser, in terms of information, they are compared to the other tribes. Second, it's also noticeably different in design thanks to the ring, giving it an almost karambit like design; the scabbard is also a fair bit different, with a somewhat Western feel to it, which I felt would go towards setting the Vyndea apart from the others. I've thought that, perhaps, they could be a relatively recent tribe in-story, having only come into being since the conquest (some 2-300 years ago; I've never had concrete numbers like some of my other stories thanks to scrapping the story for several years), being born when a splinter of Banaeos and Tyrison merged in the aftermath. It would certainly go a ways towards explaining how their weapons ended up being halfway between the two; the upswept knife would be good for a number of chores, while the ring would provide numerous gripping options for fighting, compared to the almost strictly utility knife of the Banaeos and the fighting oriented, but still utility-capable knife of the Tyrison. Hm. I rather like that, to be honest. That aside, this knife was inspired by another Hatcher Knives creation that I happened across while at a loss for what I wanted to use for this newest of tribes; unlike the others, I didn't have any prior blade to demonstrate what I did or didn't want for the people, so I was a bit adrift until I came across it while browsing the Hatcher Knives website. I'm rather glad I found this one, as it feels more right now that I can put it together with what I just wrote above.  Overall Length: 19" Blade Length: 4 1/4" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 3/4" @ belly; 1 5/8" @ swell; 7/8" @ 1" from tip Spike Length: 2 1/2" Head Width: 8 1/2" Haft Length: 17 5/16" Wrap Length: 6 3/4" Following on that idea, their tomahawk, which is of a spontoon design, is almost strictly oriented towards fighting; while the others can do chores if needed, it'd be quite difficult to do much besides kill with a spontoon design, at least as far as I can tell. Like the Tyrison, it has a grip wrap, and like the Banaeos, it has a blunt back spike (being a hexagon in cross-section, as opposed to the edged spike of the Tyrison), and unlike both, is often quite decorated, as I could see a people who came from the merging of two different tribes and without a long history to have a fierce pride in themselves to compensate. Interesting how, by placing a small design on a whim, can so easily play into something I'm more or less making up on the spot. But then, if I wasn't very good at spinning stories, I wouldn't be a very good writer, now would I? Their axe was based on a modern spontoon axe I came across on Etsy, I think, though I don't remember exactly where I found it originally. I saved the head because it was different, almost looking like someone had taken a knife blade or spearhead and re-purposed it into an axe head, which just tickles me. Looking at the shape of the Banaeos spearhead once more, I'm definitely glad I chose this design, as they're just similar enough that I could work it into the story that the first Vyndea hawks were actually reforged spearheads.  Overall Length: 85" Blade Length: 18 1/2" Blade Width: 5/8" @ socket; 2 1/4" @ base; 1 3/4" @ profile taper (5 1/2" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Head Length: 25" Shaft Length: 60" Wrap Length: 8 5/8" Well now, perhaps the Vyndea have a bit of Ibasona in them, as well, seeing as their spear quite frankly pushes the boundaries of Ceton regulations; it'd be rather appropriate, that, seeing as this is more or less the spear I originally had in mind for the Ibasona before deciding on the tiger fork, which I feel fits them far better, what with their pushing the bounds of legality. Despite that, it actually does manage to show a bit of both Banaeos and Tyrison thought to my eyes. It's fairly simple, with minor decorations (the wrap from my Gae Buidhe/Dearg designs), like the Banaeos design, yet is very clearly dedicated towards fighting, like the Tyrison javelins, but a fair bit bigger, separating the Vyndea from either one, as I imagine a fiercely proud people descendent from another might wish to make it clear at every opportunity that they are different. This spear was based on the Windlass Hewing Spearhead and actually inspired by a picture I came across of a viking re-enactor holding a spear of similar proportions. In fact, that picture was what brought me to the stipulation that the shaft of a spear couldn't be more than chin height, as this re-enactor's spear shaft ended at his chin, but because of the long blade of his spearhead, the whole was actually about a half head taller than him, which I thought was kinda cool. And with that, I am finished posting the Drakonean weapons and that's all for now, folks; I have a few more designs floating around in the old noggin, but until I get around to putting them, well, not to paper, but to Inkscape: ja mata! |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jun 12, 2015 9:38:37 GMT
Funny story: I actually designed these a couple weeks ago at the end of May when we were having some wicked storms here and I didn't want to work on my novel in case of a power outage, which would likely cause me to lose all my progress; I've been working on it off and on for about 12 years now, so I'm very careful with it. Anyway, I needed to kill time and I didn't want to risk working on anything important, so I did these to satisfy my curiosity, only to forget about them until about an hour ago. Well, let's get too 'em, shall we?  Overall Length: 6" Overall Width: 3 9/16" Blade Length: 6" Blade Width: 3/8" @ base; 7/8" @ 1" from tips; 2 9/16" @ center Grip Length: 4" Here's an interesting little knife I've had in the back of my mind since before I joined SBG, but I kept forgetting about it until I came across the blade that inspired me to sit down and design this knife. As should be obvious, this knife is based on the ulu, a type of knife used by Inuit, Yup'ik, and Aleut women (ulu translates to "woman's knife"), which serves as a general purpose knife; ulus come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from 2" blades all the way up to 12" monsters. Mine, based on a piece I found on one knife forum or another, is a more general purpose 6" blade. The grip is inspired by the grips of old timer knives, specifically the gimmicky ones that can be opened partway as push daggers; it seemed appropriate and I liked the look. Anyway. When I first came across the ulu years ago, my first thought was that it would make one hell of a beastly push dagger and it was an idea that just wouldn't let go, nagging me every now and then like a sore tooth. A couple years ago, Spike's Deadliest Warrior had an episode featuring Roman gladiators and one of the weapons used was called the "scissor", which was basically a steel sleeve with a blade on the end, like an Indian pata, but shorter and rounded, almost like a butcher's knife; the damage it did to a pig carcass was pretty damn impressive, if I do say so myself. This knife could be seen as that "scissor", but with the size and utility of a regular ulu; wield 'em in pairs with a small knowledge of boxing and you'd be right terrifying in a fight. To honor that spirit, I call this design the Pugulu, a portmanteau of ulu and pugilist (an old name for a boxer).  Overall Length: 49 3/4" Blade Length: 37" Blade Width: 2 1/4" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (5 13/16" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 8 3/8" Guard Width: 11" Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 3/4"W I was trying to count how many designs I've done to date (260 or thereabouts) when I came across the Type XX entry into my redesigned Oakeshott Series; as it happened, I was Kult of Athena's page for the Hanwei Scottish Claymore open in my browser at the same time and looking at the two more or less side by side got me wondering how the XX would look with a claymore style hilt. Pretty good, actually, as it turns out. I don't actually have too much to say about it beyond that, though the chape on the scabbard was based on the one for my Type XIX entry in the redesigned Oakeshott Series.  Overall Length: 51 3/4" Blade Length: 39" (10 1/4" false edge) Blade Width: 2 3/8" @ base; 1 7/8" @ profile taper (4 1/2" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 8 3/8" Guard Width: 11" Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 3/4"W Another funny story: a couple months ago, I came across a bit of anime fanart that featured a realistic European style sword in it, more or less a fairly bog-standard bidenhander. However, from the rather small thumbnail that prompted me to open up the full image, it actually looked more fantasy, more like a claymore with a curved blade which, given my proclivity for sticking curved blades on hilts traditionally used on straight bladed swords, tickled me all kinds of pink. I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't claymore-hilted saber, but I still saved the image just to remind me of the idea; good thing, too, as when I first looked at the image again, I couldn't remember why I'd saved it, but eventually it clicked. I designed this directly after my XX Claymore above, so I just reused the hilt wholesale, though to make it a bit different, I blackened it instead of leaving it in plain steel. I also added a grip ring and made the grip a light brown/orange, which I've previously used on my Sword of Tesni design, and I think it looks quite nice. To keep the blade from looking too plain, I added a false edge, a shorter secondary fuller, and gave the main fuller an uneven, concave termination like you see on some styles of katana. I don't actually remember who did the original chape I based mine off, as I found it on Pinterest, I think, but I feel pretty sure it was either Christian Fletcher or Triton Works. That's all for now, folks; ja mata! |
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Jul 9, 2015 7:22:08 GMT
some very nice designs there  |
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Post by aussie-rabbit on Jul 9, 2015 7:30:45 GMT
would you consider drawing some designs for this story sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/44063/storyDal is primarily a bow-man so needs an arming sword, something wasp-waisted would be nice, Artos on the other hand is a big powerful guy who is a good bow-man but loves to hew evil things to bits with his sword.  |
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Post by Cos on Jul 11, 2015 1:55:49 GMT
would you consider drawing some designs for this story sbg-sword-forum.forums.net/thread/44063/storyDal is primarily a bow-man so needs an arming sword, something wasp-waisted would be nice, Artos on the other hand is a big powerful guy who is a good bow-man but loves to hew evil things to bits with his sword. :D This is gonna be neat! From what I gather, most archers were big, powerful men, usually among the strongest in the field. I hadn't really given thought to a sword although I did have a small passage where Artos uses a dirk. |
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