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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 23, 2018 21:46:45 GMT
Overall Length: 15"
Blade Length: 10 7/8"
Blade Width: 1 5/8" @ base; 1 3/8" @ profile taper (2 1/2" from tip); 7/8" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 3 1/2"
Guard Width: 2"
Pommel Dimensions: 3/4"L x 2"W
Finally done with the Elven set, we move onto Glass with the Glass Dagger. Technically not glass, as previous games referred to it as Malachite, which is also the main ingredient in crafting the Glass tier items in Skyrim. With that in mind, I set out to design the weapons with a very stone and bronze age aesthetic. I wanted to achieve a sort of knapped stone/flint/obsidian appearance for the blades, which I managed on at least the Dagger, Sword, and Greatsword.
Overall Length: 28 1/2"
Blade Length: 22"
Blade Width: 2 3/4" @ base; 1 7/8" @ profile taper (8" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4"
Guard Width: 3"
Pommel Dimensions: 7/8"L x 2 1/2"W
Similar to the Dagger, the Glass Sword underwent a major overhaul, from the leaf-bladed solid glass/crystal looking blade to a stone/bronze age aesthetic with a knapped appearance to the blade. For the Sword, I used the Tanum bronze age sword as a basis, which I think worked out pretty well.
Overall Length: 26"
Blade Length: 5 5/8"
Spike Length: 1 1/4"
Head Width: 8 1/4"
Haft Length: 19 7/8"
Endcap Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W
I actually did the Glass War Axe last because I couldn't find a design of axe I liked that would fit the aesthetic and many stone axes are very crude, while bronze age axes aren't all that different from later period axes, so I was in quite the conundrum over what to do here, until I happened across an axe from Runescape of all things that I liked the lines of, albeit without all the extraneous bits hanging off it, so I used that as a basis for the head and I think it turned out quite well.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 23, 2018 22:16:21 GMT
Overall Length: 28"
Head Length: 6 1/8"
Head Width: 6"
Haft Length: 19 3/4"
Endcap Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W
The Glass Mace is another example of Bethesda's "four-bladed axe" approach to maces, so it wasn't hard to make it into something more practical; in this case, I chose a round Polish mace to serve as the base, albeit vastly scaled up, of this vaguely fantasy stone/bronze age theme I was going for. Didn't quite turn out exactly how I'd imagined it, but that's mostly just due to the gradients.
Overall Length: 42"
Blade Length: 32"
Blade Width: 2 1/8" @ base; 1 3/4" @ profile taper (5" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 8"
Guard Width: 6 3/4"
Langet Length: 5 1/2"
Pommel Dimensions: 2"L x 3"W
The Glass Greatsword gave me quite a few headaches, because how do you create a two-handed sword with a bronze-age aesthetic, when such a thing didn't exist and so there's very little basis to go off of? The answer is: you cheat. In this case, I borrowed the rough design of the Atlantean from Conan the Barbarian and mixed it with the pommel from a Petersen Type G viking style pommel, as well as the spine brace running along the blade from my Dagger and Sword designs. I think it turned out pretty damn well, if I do say so myself.
Overall Length: 39 1/8"
Blade Length: 12 1/4"
Head Width: 7 1/8"
Haft Length: 30"
Endcap Dimensions: 2 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W
The Glass Battleaxe was an interesting one, as I borrowed the head from a Persian battleaxe that was slightly asymmetrical and, obviously, all steel, but had an interesting cut out in the center that was filled with gold carvings; it was gorgeously decorated and clearly belonged to someone very rich. I think it worked quite well as a base for a stone/crystal axe head being braced by a metal shell.
That's all for today, folks; should be back with more tomorrow. Ja mata.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 25, 2018 2:03:20 GMT
Overall Length: 37 1/2"
Fore Spike Length: 3 3/8"
Fore Spike Width: 2 3/4"
Aft Spike Length: 2"
Aft Spike Width: 1 7/8" Head Length: 5 1/2"
Head Width: 15 3/8"
Haft Length: 28 7/8"
Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W
The Glass Warhammer is where I kinda ran out of ideas altogether for the Glass set, particularly as it's another one of those vanilla weapons I actually kinda like. No matter how hard I wracked my brain and how many hours I spent searching for some inspiration, I came up with nothing, so in the end, I took the easy way out: I repurposed the original design, but in a simpler, more practical fashion. Instead of having several (I count five, at the least) points to spread the force, I gave it a single, huge spike and justified it to myself that it's crystal/stone, so it's lighter than steel and can get away with a larger size.
Overall Length: 17"
Blade Length: 12"
Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 2" @ choil; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (3 1/8" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4"
Guard Width: 3 3/8"
Pommel Dimensions: 3/16"L x 1 7/8"W
I've been waiting for this, as I get to start on what became my favorite set of this entire project: Ebony. Which is ironic, as Ebony is another of my least favorite sets in the base game (so much so I use a mod that replaces them, appearance wise, with something far more elegant and befitting of the second highest weapon tier in the base game); part of this comes from the disconnect between the weapons and armor, as the armor looks very knightly, practically the spitting image of a fantasy-themed knight armor, whereas the weapons are just kinda... Bleh, mid-grade fantasy weapons at best. Anyway, starting off the pack is the Ebony Dagger. In the vanilla game, it was this weird single-edged kriss wannabe that just, ugh. No. So I changed it into something more befitting a battlefield, taking inspiration from a particularly fine modern example of a spear-point bowie.
Overall Length: 37"
Blade Length: 30"
Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 1 1/8" @ profile taper (2 1/4" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4"
Guard Width: 6"
Pommel Dimensions: 2 5/8"L x 1 5/8"W
The Ebony Sword is one of only 3 single-edged swords in the base game (a number that only increases to 4 with DLC, which, again, I didn't touch) and I wanted to preserve that, despite how godawful the original design is. Look at that thing. Now look at mine. Back to that thing, now back to mine. Sadly, that thing isn't mine and wishes it could be. Poof! It's now a proper sword. Humor aside, I completely recreated the Wulflund Gothic Falchion, a design I have always loved the lines of, because it just ticks so many boxes for me. In-game, the Ebony weapons are given to tons of lighter and darker greys with subtle gold patterns, which I've tried to recreate with the addition of a very subtle purple overlay atop the metal to really achieve that almost otherworldly feel that I think these weapons should have. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 25, 2018 2:30:43 GMT
Overall Length: 22 1/2"
Blade Length: 7"
Spike Length: 5"
Spike Width: 1 1/4"
Head Width: 11" Grip Length: 5"
Haft Length: 11 7/8"
Endcap Dimensions: 1"L x 1 1/2"W
As far as the Ebony set goes, the Ebony War Axe actually isn't that bad... Though it does still suffer from being over-complicated like the rest. Also, what's with having what amounts to a tiny dagger on the end that's going to be spending a lot of its time near the soft parts of your body? For this one, I borrowed from the Arms & Armor Horseman's Axe and scaled it up a bit for that oversized fantasy feel, while also changing the grip and haft to be somewhat simpler in design.
Overall Length: 26"
Head Length: 7 1/2"
Head Width: 5"
Spike Length: 2"
Grip Length: 5"
Haft Length: 12"
Endcap Dimensions: 1"L x 1 1/2"W
The Ebony Mace, surprisingly, has the correct amount of flanges... Aaaand it's ruined by wonky proportions in the worst spots... This one was a simple matter of taking my aesthetically favorite mace, the Windlass 16th Century German Mace (same basis as my Knightbane design), and adapting it a bit. I wasn't sure how the spike on the top would look when I started, but I think it looks like it belonged there all along, if I do say so myself.
Overall Length: 48"
Blade Length: 37"
Blade Width: 2 1/4" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (7 3/8" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 7 1/2"
Guard Width: 8"
Pommel Dimensions: 3"L x 2"
And my new favorite of the set, the Ebony Greatsword. Which was probably also the worst offender after the Sword in the original game. Now, now it's a thing of beauty; in this case, the inspiration came from a piece of fantasy art I found while on a search prior to even contemplating this project. The original image had a knight in full plate carrying the sword that served as this one's basis, albeit with one feature I couldn't replicate properly (despite quite a bit of trying): a narrowed ricasso akin to an Oakeshott Type XVIIIe, which the knight in the image was gripping in his off hand like one would with a montante's forward grip. Despite that, I think it turned out fantastically. Since I couldn't really make out the hilt all that well, I combined several elements; the guard from my Sentinel Saber (ultimately from the sword of Aragorn from Lord of the Rings), the grip from the sword of Edward III, and the pommel from a replacer mod for the Imperial Sword from Skyrim, but came out looking like a scent stopper with a single scalloped face. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 25, 2018 3:07:33 GMT
Overall Length: 59"
Blade Length: 10 1/2"
Back Spike Length: 5 1/4"
Back Spike Width: 5 1/8"
Top Spike Length: 9" Head Width: 12 3/4"
Haft Length: 37"
Bottom Spike Length: 4 5/8"
Bottom Spike Width: 2"
To call the Ebony Battleaxe "oversized" would be a massive understatement. And not only is it massive, it's overly complex, though I suppose I can't really complain in this instance, as the head I chose, while based on an antique, is almost as complex as the game model, albeit without the (intended to be) gold swirls. However, I think mine is better proportioned, which shouldn't be a surprise, since I based it on a historical example that quite possibly saw actual combat (though it's likely it was more ceremonial, given the intricate curves). In place of the oddly shaped "spike" on the but end, I added one of my own, taken from a Chinese guandao and beefed up a bit to almost be a miniature mace.
Overall Length: 47"
Hammer Length: 3 1/4"
Hammer Width: 2 3/4"
Back Spike Length: 4 1/2"
Back Spike Width: 1 1/2"
Top Spike Length: 3 1/4"
Haft Length: 33"
Bottom Spike Length: 4 5/8"
Bottom Spike Width: 2"
To be honest, my only major complaint about the Ebony Warhammer is that it's a little too large. My minor complaints come in the form of the odd spikes at each end that wouldn't serve much purpose and the way it abruptly narrows below the head after the grip wrap. Otherwise, I think the head is quite elegant as is. Still, I redesigned it with a more historical lucerne head as the base for thematic consistency, while adding a proper top spike and the same bottom spike/mini mace from the Battleaxe.
Overall Length: 19"
Blade Length: 13"
Blade Width: 1 7/8" @ base; 1 1/4" @ guthook; 1 7/8" @ profile taper (4 1/2" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 3 1/2"
Guard Width: 4"
Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/4"L x 1 3/4"W
And finally, we begin the Daedric set, the reason this whole project got started in the first place. If there were a "worst fantasy weapon designs" top 10 list, this set could claim the top 7 spots with relative easy. They're chunky, spiky, and just have some really questionable design choices. The Daedric Dagger has some really ugly proportions, with a too large hilt, majorly oversized pommel, horribly designed "serrations", and a backstrap that would interfere with stabbing things. I get it, they're supposed to be "evil"; the Daedra themselves are almost literally demons with the serial numbers filed off and they apparently revel in causing pain and suffering, because of course they do. But considering how easily serrated blades get caught in cloth, to the point a thick jacket could probably bind one up with little, if any, harm to the person wearing it, why would the Daedra use weapons that can't perform their intended duty?
To that end, I opted for a beefy single-edged design (to keep the theme with the single-edged dagger), but instead of serrations, I added a humongous gut hook to the blade just behind the false edge, which would cause a lot of internal damage when ripping the blade out of a target. The crosspiece can now serve its intended purpose thanks to the addition of a rear quillon while the pommel would do a lot better at bashing without having sharp bits jabbing into the tender skin of the wielder's wrist. I kept the style of the grip, though, because I felt it was something of a defining characteristic to the set. And, lastly, in place of the small, directional glows, I went with an ever-present blood red glow across the metal; these weapons are made by mixing an Ebony weapon with a Daedra heart, after all, they should look like they're glowing with power.
That's all for today, folks; should finish up the series tomorrow. Ja mata.
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 27, 2018 0:20:02 GMT
Overall Length: 33 3/4"
Blade Length: 27"
Blade Width: 1 5/8" @ base; 2 1/8" @ choil; 2 1/4" @ profile taper (7 3/4" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4"
Guard Width: 5 1/4"
Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/4"L x 2"W
The Daedric Sword is almost as bad as the dagger. Proportionally, it's better, but the actual design elements are just horrible. I actually had a fair amount of trouble with this one, as I couldn't find anything that really got the creative juices flowing, nothing that really made me say "yeah, that's it" until I decided to check some of Jody Samson's work; he made quite a few unusual fantasy designs with aggressive profiles in his day and a lot of them seemed to really click for me for the Daedric set, so it was just a matter of picking which one felt the most right. In this case, I think I actually used two different works from Samson, one for the blade, another for the guard, to maintain that curved sword with a vaguely S-shaped guard. The grip and pommel are the same design as on the dagger to keep the theme.
Overall Length: 28"
Blade Length: 9"
Spike Length: 3 5/8"
Head Width: 10 1/4"
Grip Length: 5 7/8"
Haft Length: 12 5/8"
Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 2 3/8"W
The Daedric War Axe has plenty wrong with it, such as the dual spikes pointing in opposing directions, the blade that seemingly splits and then passes around the haft near the grip, the stupid pommel... This one was actually more difficult than the sword, as I wanted something more angular for the blade and spike, but I couldn't find anything that really worked for me; I finally came across a cheap wallhanger "axe" that had a decent looking blade and I think it turned out not bad. The scent-stopper pommel seemed more... Fitting, is the only word I can think of, on the hafted weapons than the pommel I put on the Dagger, Sword, and Greatsword, but anything would have been better than the original.
Overall Length: 27"
Head Length: 7 1/8"
Head Width: 4"
Haft Length: 16 3/4"
Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 2 3/8"W
Again, we see that odd four-bladed axe on the Daedric Mace, though proportionally, I don't think it's too bad. I wanted to keep a bit of the original's aesthetic, with its unique open top design and I found an old stone mace head that reminded me of the original, with the addition of several spikes in between the flanges which, honestly, fit the Daedric aesthetic so well, I'm surprised they weren't present on the in-game model. Of course, if they had been, they probably would have been sticking out of the grip or something silly like that. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 27, 2018 0:42:06 GMT
Overall Length: 47 1/8"
Blade Length: 36"
Blade Width: 2" @ base; 1 1/2" @ profile taper (5 3/4" from tip); 3/8" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 8 1/8"
Guard Width: 6"
Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/4"L x 2"
The Daedric Greatsword is probably the dumbest weapon of the set, what with it's two points (only one of which can actually stab anything, the way they curve towards the center), its chunky and stubby guard that's more or less worthless, and its ridiculous pommel that's clearly two of the other weapons' pommels fused together. Also, with its shape, can anyone say "boat oar"? Once again, Jody Samson provided the inspiration for the redesign, as I felt the angular, undulating blade he did was perfect for the greatsword.
Overall Length: 41"
Blade Length: 10 1/4"
Aft Blade Length: 4 1/2"
Head Width: 10 1/4"
Haft Length: 32 3/4"
Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 2 3/8"W
The Daedric Battleaxe is in much the same situation as the War Axe, thanks to its blade splitting around the haft near the grip (which also greatly limits the amount of haft one can easily use), the top point on the rear blade ain't stabbing anything, its lower "beard" looks too fragile compared to the rest to be used for anything, and of course, that stupid pommel thing. It is now a much simpler, more effective weapon that still retains some of the original's character of having two blades, one larger than the other. As for this one's inspiration, I honestly don't remember where I found it, as I came across it years ago, but I kinda want to say right here on SBG. Don't quote me on that, though.
Overall Length: 42"
Head Length: 5 1/4"
Top Spike Length: 4"
Aft Spike Length: 5"
Head Width: 12"
Haft Length: 31 3/8"
Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 2 3/8"W
The Daedric Warhammer, I think, has surprisingly few issues, compared to the rest of the set, and I actually kinda like it, for some strange reason, so I really just streamlined the design instead of redesigning it altogether; the stupid pommel's been replaced, the little spikes/scales/serrations/things have been removed, the top spike lengthened some, and the little hockey puck in the center of the hammer face removed, while the tips of the face were thickened to reinforce them. It's still a high fantasy piece, but maybe now it'd be more useful. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Dec 27, 2018 1:18:05 GMT
Overall Length: 22"
Blade Length: 16"
Blade Width: 1 7/8" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (5 1/2" from tip); 7/8" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 4 5/8"
Guard Width: 4 3/4"
Pommel Dimensions: 1"L x 1 3/4"W
Here's a thing I've wanted to do for quite some time now and just never got around to: a khopesh bayonet; I thought it'd be a neat concept and a way to get a wicked chopper in a compact package, as well as turning a rifle into an axe as well as a spear. Originally, I'd planned on modeling the hilt after the US M9 bayonet handle, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't like it, mostly because a blade this size is just out of place with how relatively small modern bayonets are, so I replaced it with the hilt from a US M1915 bayonet and I think it looks much better like this. I obviously didn't make a scabbard for this one, seeing as I really couldn't figure out how to do it without it just being an ugly, shapeless blob.
Overall Length: 42"
Blade Length: 32"
Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1 1/4" @ profile taper (5 1/4" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 7 3/4"
Guard Width: 7"
Pommel Dimensions: 2 3/4"L x 1 1/2"W
This is just something I did to round out the three of this post and so I could finally do something with this hilt, which has been sitting in my unused fittings file for I don't even know how long. The blade started life as a simple, triangular cross-section blade like what's on my Sentinel Saber, but I decided to modify it a bit by sharpening the point, adding a false edge, and experimenting with the terminal of the fuller. I like how it came out, but ultimately, there's really nothing special about this; it doesn't even really have a name, just a description: fantasy saber.
Overall Length: 44 1/4"
Blade Length: 34"
Blade Width: 2 1/4" @ base; 1 3/8" @ profile taper (9 1/2" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip
Grip Length: 5 7/8"
Guard Width: 8"
Pommel Dimensions: 3 3/4"L x 2 5/8"W
Now here's an interesting piece and probably the most surprising of the lot, because I didn't actually create this design. The original concept for this sword came from a member on DeviantArt who goes by the handle "MultiRandomness21", who contacted me back in September about taking on a commission to help him design this sword. Since I didn't really have anything better to do (and was blindsided by the fact that someone was willing to pay for something like this), I accepted and got to work. This sword, called Winter Song, is obviously inspired by Game of Thrones and is meant to allude to the common theory that Jon Snow is not the bastard of Ned Stark and some mysterious woman, but actually the legitimate issue of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, which was confirmed in the TV show, though it remains to be seen if that will hold true in the books. Stylistically, the sword is meant to feel very cold, containing lots of whites and grays, with only a few splashes of color, notable in the wolf's garnet eyes, the dragonglass gem on the guard, and the brass frame on the scabbard.
That's all for now, folks; ja mata.
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Post by Lukas MG (chenessfan) on Dec 27, 2018 20:06:57 GMT
Wow, can't believe this is still going... you are persistent!!
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jun 14, 2019 4:22:21 GMT
This post is a little painful for me to make, especially after six months away, but it had to be done for my own peace of mind. With that said, the more I looked at a few of the designs I did for my Weapons of Skyrim project, the more I just... Hated them. So I finally sucked it up and redid them.  Overall Length: 36" Face Width: 2 5/8" Head Width: 8 1/2" Haft Length: 32 1/2" Endcap Dimensions: 1 1/4"L x 1 1/2"W The Dwarven Warhammer was one of those I kinda liked the original version of and tried to recapture that in my redesign; while I was happy with it at first, it just kept bugging me and just not looking quite right. It took awhile for me to find something that I liked better while still retaining that flat-faced design and I eventually stumbled across a design from Archangel Swords that I liked, so I scaled it up to give it that appropriately fantasy oversized feel. The slightly more complicated facing of the hammer also makes it look a little more finished compared to my first iteration.  Overall Length: 28" Head Length: 6" Head Width: 4" Haft Length: 18 7/8" Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W The Glass Mace largely didn't work for me because the gradients refused to really cooperate and the more I looked at it, the more I just saw "beach ball on a stick" and it drove me nuts. After a couple weeks of on-off searching, I finally came across something rather startling: an actual medieval styled mace with a stone head. You better believe I snatched that image up faster than a sugar-addicted klepto in a candy store. It's still oversized, of course, but it kinda has to be to fit with the high fantasy theme of the project, though it's far better than the previous version.  Overall Length: 37 1/2" Fore Spike Length: 3 3/4" Fore Spike Width: 2 5/8" Aft Spike Length: 3 1/2" Aft Spike Width: 2 1/2" Head Length: 5 1/2" Head Width: 11 1/4" Haft Length: 28 7/8" Endcap Dimensions: 3 1/8"L x 1 5/8"W The Glass Warhammer seemed to mock me every time I looked at my redesign, with its stupidly large head, but I honestly couldn't find anything better, so I resorted to taking actual (and some other fantasy) warhammers and adapting them so I could stick a great big stone in the head. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, but I doubt I'll ever be, so I'm at least content that this version looks a bit more realistic than the first. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Jun 14, 2019 4:55:00 GMT
With that bit of unpleasantness out of the way, here's some different designs; they never made it into this thread for one reason or another. Amusingly, it only took me about an hour to do all three, despite two having to be redone pretty much from the ground up.  Overall Length: 12" Blade Length: 7 7/8" Blade Width: 1" @ base; 1 1/4" @ choil; 1 1/8" @ profile taper (2" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4" Guard Width: 1 5/8" Pommel Dimensions: N/A A couple years ago, one of our members who did some smithing held a design contest with the only stipulation being that the design had to fit into a 12"x1" strip of steel, as that's what he had to work with; I submitted several designs and, because of a few goofs, one of them actually won. However, after several months of working together on the piece (by which I mean, he consulted me regularly on everything that was happening), family emergencies forced him from SBG and the piece never materialized, which I'm more than fine with; family comes first. Anyways, I never did anything further with that design until I was checking something in one of my folders and came across it again. I decided to spruce it up, change the dimensions a bit, and give it the finish it deserved. During the process, I experimented with making the blade longer now that I wasn't restricted by needing to fit it into a 12" overall length, but I found I actually liked it better with the original length, though I widened it a bit, in part to make it more comfortable to hold, though that was really all that changed. I gave it a sheath and some gradients to finish it up and named it the Pocket Saber, a name I take no credit for, by the way; it was a name mentioned in the contest thread and it kinda stuck with me.  Overall Length: 26" Blade Length: 21" Blade Width: 2" @ base; 2 5/8" @ profile taper (1" from tip); 2 1/2" @ tip Grip Length: 3 1/8" Guard Width: 3 1/2" Pommel Dimensions: 1 1/2"D This next design is so old you can't actually find pictures of it in my archive thread, since it was only hosted on Photobucket; the original was posted on October 1, 2011, which makes it almost 8 years old. semprini, have I really been designing swords that long? Anyway, its original purpose was as a sword/machete hybrid for a character in one of my books that had a crippled hand. It was originally supposed to be a messer, but those are handed and the character's a southpaw while both of the sword's previous owners would have been righties, which would have led to a bit of a "wait.. What?" moment. That character's hand was no longer crippled as of, like, 5 or 6 drafts ago, rendering the whole thing moot, even if that was long after this design was forgotten to history. At least, until I came across it the other day and decided to take another whack at it. Which is saying something, as I actually don't have the original SVG file anymore, so I had to redo it pretty much from scratch. Despite that, very little of the design changed, pretty much just the proportions of the hilt, which were pretty terrible on the original, as it had a 2" diameter sphere pommel from back before I knew just how much weight a sphere adds over a disc. I also shortened the grip considerably to lock the hand into a hammer grip, as this is a pure hacking weapon, reflected in its name: Tashel (տաշել), an Armenian word meaning "hack".  Overall Length: 60" Blade Length: 30" Blade Width: 2 1/2" @ base; 1 3/4" @ belly; 2 1/4" @ profile taper (8" from tip); 1/2" @ 1" from tip Haft Length: 24 7/8" Guard Width: 6" Endcap Dimensions: 3"L x 1 1/2"W Lastly, yet another design so old I no longer have the SVG file for it and can't be found online; more to the point, this isn't actually one of my original designs, but one another member designed way back when that I then redid in Inkscape for them not long after I started. I was actually really proud of how it came out originally, because this was before I learned how to do proper spherical gradients on objects, so I had to improvise with linear gradients and I thought it came out well. Other than that, the only thing I really changed was to slim down the blade a considerable amount, as its original size was just overpowering on such a narrow haft. It never really had a name, so I just always called it what it is: Swordstaff. That's all for now, folks; ja mata. |
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Post by Silent on Jun 14, 2019 5:51:19 GMT
Congrats on this nice work
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 23, 2019 5:16:28 GMT
So, I've actually had the majority of these done for a couple weeks now, but I was waiting to finish the final one before doing a batch upload (since long time lurkers know I prefer to do things in groups of three and it makes 15) and I was really procrastinating on it; particularly because I couldn't figure out what I really wanted to do with the hilt. With that said, here's more Weapons of Skyrim.  Overall Length: 13" Blade Length: 8 7/8" Blade Width: 1 3/8" @ base; 1 3/4" @ profile taper (2 5/8" from tip); 1" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 2 7/8" Guard Width: 2" Pommel Dimensions: 3/4"L x 1"W Originally, the Ancient Nord/Draugr/Nord Hero set, whatever you want to call it, only consisted of a sword, axe, battleaxe, and greatsword, which is the main reason I didn't redo it originally when I did the rest last year. For whatever reason, I got the urge to redesign the remaining two base game sets and expand them into full sets. So here's my interpretation of the Ancient Nord/Nord Hero dagger; the two sets are identical in virtually every respect, with the Nord Hero having a slightly lighter color scheme and slightly higher stats, so I just did both in a single image. The idea behind the set is to evoke the feel of ancient Celt and Norse weapons, while still retaining a fantasy element to them.  Overall Length: 33" Blade Length: 27 1/4" Blade Width: 1 3/4" @ base; 2 3/8" @ profile taper (13" from tip); 1/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 1/8" Guard Width: 3 1/8" Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/4"L x 1 7/8"W The original Draugr sword is kinda hideous: skinny grip, chunky, illogical guard, and a blade that can't make up its mind about what it wants to be. Is it a straight sword? A backsword? A pseudo-leaf blade? I did away with basically every aspect of the sword and started from scratch, going for a scaled up broken back seax look; specifically a take on the Honey Lane seax. The hilt furniture were inspired by some iron age Celtic finds, particularly the pommel, which has just such a unique shape I couldn't pass it up.  Overall Length: 24" Blade Length: 7 1/4" Head Width: 7 3/8" Haft Length: 21 3/4" Strictly speaking, there's not much wrong with the Draugr Axe as it exists in the game, beyond being oddly angular and with a crooked haft, though I suppose the latter is meant to evoke the weapon's age. For my redesign, I went with a curved haft to retain that element while also going with an oversized bearded head to remain true to the general lines of the original yet in a more realistic manner. Other than that, there's not much to say about it. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 23, 2019 5:35:46 GMT
 Overall Length: 24" Head Length: 4 1/2" Head Width: 5" Haft Length: 14" Endcap Dimensions: 4" Similar to the dagger, the Draugr set had no mace, and I honestly had zero idea of how to design this one as, well, there's only so many ways you can design a mace (especially if you want it to look rather ancient) and I think I've gone through almost all of them. In the end, I actually found my inspiration while looking up something completely different and stumbled across a post on Reddit about a guy who'd made a d20 scepter for his Dungeons & Dragons DM; since I had no ideas and the image just made me laugh, I used that as a basis and came up with what you see about. I actually rather like how it came out, since it's not all that different from some actual cast iron maces.  Overall Length: 42" Blade Length: 31" Blade Width: 2 1/4" @ base; 1 3/4" @ profile taper (5 1/4" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 8" Guard Width: 6" Pommel Dimensions: 3"L x 2 1/2"W The Draugr Greatsword, much like the sword, has a number of problems, though fewer than its little brother. The hilt is a bit of a mess, but altogether not terrible, as far as fantasy swords go, while the blade is just... Ugh. Ultimately, though, I had even less ideas about how to tackle this one than I did the mace, since two-handed swords just plain didn't exist until about the 1200s, so trying to get inspiration for something that looked appropriate for the iron age just wasn't working out. In the end, I took heavy inspiration from another weapon mod for Skyrim, a sword that's been included in the vastly popular Immersive Weapons mod under the name Tombstone Greatsword. I reused the sword's pommel to keep it on theme and added a Petersen Type Y guard to round things out.  Overall Length: 42" Blade Length: 12" Head Width: 7 1/4" Haft Length: 29 3/4" Endcap Dimensions: 4" The Draugr Battleaxe has surprisingly little wrong with it, from a functional standpoint; aesthetically, I think it's a bit of a dumpster fire, but that's just me. I wanted to keep it roughly similar to the one-handed axe, so I went with a Sparth axe head; it's waaaaay out of date, being about 15th-16th century, but I think it fits pretty well. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 23, 2019 6:04:18 GMT
 Overall Length: 42" Head Length: 1 3/4" Head Width: 3 3/4" Spike Length: 8 3/4" Haft Length: 36 1/8" Endcap Dimensions: 4" Last of the new Draugr set, the Warhammer was almost as much of a pain as the mace and greatsword, since warhammers didn't really exist in the iron age (or, if they did, they were indistinguishable form maces). I searched for hours trying to find a warhammer that had the look I was aiming for and finally found it in an old Polish example from, amusingly, the 19th century. So pretty much the exact opposite of what I was after, but it was different and looked somewhat crude, so it worked.  Overall Length: 17 1/2" Blade Length: 11 3/4" Blade Width: 1 5/8" @ base; 7/8" @ profile taper (2" from tip); 5/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3" Guard Width: 2" Pommel Dimensions: 1 1/4"L x 2"W The Silver set in game consists of only two weapons: the sword and greatsword. Which is why I didn't bother with it previously, but fleshing it out was actually what prompted this new round of redesigns. And with that, I present the new Silver Dagger. This one actually changed the most in the redesign process from what I started out aiming for, but it ended up being for the best, because my initial idea was actually kinda stupid. What I ended up with, which I like far better, was inspired by a dagger from a sketch of various Muslim daggers (incidentally, my Companion dagger design came from the same sketch); it reminds me of a mix between a baselard and a rondel and just looks cool.  Overall Length: 33" Blade Length: 27 1/4" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 1 1/8" @ profile taper (2 1/2" from tip); 3/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 3 1/2" Guard Width: 6 1/2" Pommel Dimensions: 1 3/4"L x 1 3/8"W The original Silver Sword doesn't look too bad, but also doesn't really look, well, silvery. Which is kinda important. Funny story with this one: when I first imagined its redesign, I pictured a Type XIX blade, but when I went to actually start the redesign, I began with a Type XXII, because I thought the cinquedea-esque blade would look better, but it ended up not working, so I went with the XIX and it worked just fine. The guard is a Style 4, while the pommel is a rounded Type T. Other than its color, it's not really much of a fantasy sword, is it? But I think it works since the blade style is so radically different than everything else I've done for this project. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 23, 2019 6:26:31 GMT
 Overall Length: 25" Blade Length: 5 3/4" Head Width: 7" Haft Length: 21 1/4" Endcap Dimensions: 4 5/8" The Silver Axe was inspired by some hunting axes you can find on the market, primarily for the imagery it evokes; these are meant to hunt down and chop up undead monsters, so you want something that can do that job and do it well. It also has a bit of a hammer on the reverse side for the obvious utility of hammering stakes into vampires, even though that's not really how vampires work in Skyrim. But it looks cool, dammit! Beyond that, though, there's a bit of silver decoration on the haft to make it look a little more visually distinct, the inspiration of which came off a really nice axe I found a year or two ago.  Overall Length: 26" Head Length: 7" Head Width: 6" Grip Length: 7 5/8" Haft Length: 17 11/16" Endcap Dimensions: 1 5/16"L x 1 5/16"W The Silver mace is, honestly, probably one of the more boring weapons in the new set, as it's really just a bog standard flanged mace. It's just silver. I gave it a silver wire wrap around the grip section and a slightly fancy endcap, but that's about it. Not much more to say. If you wanna bash some undead skulls in, I don't think you could go wrong with it.  Overall Length: 43 1/2" Blade Length: 33 1/4" Blade Width: 2 1/2" @ base; 2 1/4" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 6 1/2" Guard Width: 7 1/2" Pommel Dimensions: 2 1/2"L x 1 5/8"W Now for my favorite weapon of the set. The original Silver Greatsword is literally just a scaled up Silver Sword, making it even more disappointing than the Silver weapons are already in the game (they can't be upgraded and the silver enchantment is kinda weak in vanilla Skyrim; the only good part is that it doesn't interfere with adding more enchantments to the weapon). This, however, is the weapon that brought about this batch of redesigns. I love the idea of an executioner's sword for the Silver Greatsword. I was tempted to put "rest in peace" in the fuller in Dovahzuul or Daedric to really drive home that this weapon is for putting down monsters, but felt it'd be a bit over the top, so I left it out. The guard is a Style 5 and the pommel a Type T4, which I don't know why, but the latter was just as much a part of my original concept for this weapon as the executioner's blade. |
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Post by Vincent Dolan on Sept 23, 2019 6:50:42 GMT
 Overall Length: 40" Blade Length: 12 1/4" Head Width: 6 1/8" Haft Length: 28" Endcap Dimensions: 4 5/8" The Silver Battleaxe was inspired by an example of an 18th century executioner's axe I found online years ago, so I have no idea to its actual authenticity. That said, I don't really care, since this is, in the end, a fantasy weapon and the theme is more important than whether or not the inspiration was historically accurate. I was going for a huge axe that looked like it was built solely to decapitate anything that got in its way and I think I succeeded in that respect. The accents along the haft are the exact same as on its little brother to keep the theme.  Overall Length: 38" Head Length: 2" Head Width: 9" Spike Length: 5 3/4" Grip Length: 21 3/8" Haft Length: 34 3/4" Endcap Dimensions: 1 5/16"L x 1 5/16"W I wasn't entirely sure what I wanted to do for the Silver Warhammer, so I just kinda ambled about on Google Images until I came across something I like which, amusingly, was also Polish in origin. In this case, a horseman's pick with a twisted steel haft. In fact, it's actually what you find if you look up "horseman's pick" on Wikipedia, which is where I've always seen it until I finally had the opportunity to use it. The haft, obviously, is scaled up from the mace for the sake of the theme.  Overall Length: 18" Blade Length: 12 5/8" Blade Width: 1 1/2" @ base; 2" @ swell; 5/8" @ 1" from tip Grip Length: 4 1/4" Guard Width: 3" Pommel Dimensions: N/A And, at long last, we reach the final weapon in this project, the Dragon Priest Dagger. The original version didn't have a ton wrong with it, outside of the grip that kinks in two different directions and the pommel that has pointy bits pointed directly at your tender wrist. The blade could use some smoothing of its curves, but otherwise is a fantasy inspired khopesh, which I dig. I wanted to retain as much of the feel of the original as I could, which is really why this one took so long... Well, that and procrastination. Lots and lots of procrastination. The blade started life as that of The Archer, one of Brendan Olszowy's designs from quite a few years ago, which I felt was pretty much perfect to capture the look I was going for. The guard came from a bowie I found online, albeit heavily modified, as the original was a gentle S-curve and I wanted something upturned. Lastly, the grip and pommel, which took ages. I initially started with the hilt being kindjal/jambiya like, but that didn't look right, so I tried something else and that didn't look right, so I ended up taking a break for a week or two before coming back and knocking it out in an afternoon, using the hilt from a fancy art-knife I'd saved years ago that I liked the look of. I think it captures the original's rough lines, while being far more refined. That's all for now, folks. Ja mata~ |
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Post by Caladan on Oct 2, 2019 15:24:37 GMT
Howdy Vincent! So, I was actually a member of this forum years ago, however I haven't actually posted anything in a solid half decade. I remember admiring your creations once upon a time. Now, this long-winded introduction is all in service of my asking if you would like to render some of the swords and other weapons from a book I've been working on. It would be interesting to see them outside of my head for once.
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