Zelda Giant’s Knife

Zelda Giants Knife Build Tutorial

Zelda, The Ocarina of Time is one of the iconic and loved games of all time. Being the best RPG on Nintendo 64 at its time has cemented its place is people’s memories. In the game, after going through a series of quests, you can purchase the Giant’s knife from a giant Goran for 200 Rupees. The sword is crazy long and has the damage to match, the only problem with this sword is that it breaks after hitting just a few things. The sword breaks in the middle and forms the iconic weapon that I have created. Even though the damage output dramatically drops, you can still beat the game with the broken sword!

Build Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgfYpjuqV_E&t

Materials:

Foam EVA floor mats – Bunnings

PVC pipe – Bunnings

Wooden pucks- Bunnings

Blue spray paint – Bunnings

Gold spray paint- Bunnings

Silver Pray paint- Bunnings

Gloss clear coat spray paint – Bunnings

Black acrylic paint – Craft store

2mm thick EVA foam- Craft shop

Contact adhesive- Bunnings

White cloth – Old T-shirt/ Spotlight

Steps:

Stenciling:

• Using paper, sketch out the shape of the cross guard. A copy of this stencil is available from TethanProps.com.au
• Using one side, trace the shape onto EVA floor mats and flip it over to trace the exact shape on the other side, completing the guard. This is demonstrated in Fig 1.

Fig 1: Tracing the guard

• Repeat this so you have 2 copies of the guard, these will be glued to make the final guard.
• Trace out the shape of the blade and repeat this process, take liberty in shape and size of the blade, in the end its from a Nintendo 64 game so there is no exact way!

Handle:

• The handle is made from a single PVC pipe, this was also measured by eye, overall making the piece 88cm long. Put the guard, blade and handle together to visualise the sizing as seen in Fig 2.

Fig 2: Sizing the blade and handle

• Wrap the handle with EVA foam sheets
• The pummel is made from stacked EVA floor mats, once in a block form the pommel was shaped with a dremel to form the final shape as seen in Fig 3.

Fig 3: Pommel of sword after shaping

• Using EVA foam, add details along the handle, again have freedom in this as there is no right or wrong way. In Fig 4, it shows the details added half way down the handle. A thicker piece of EVA foam was glued to the top of the handle to give a transition to the guard.

Fig 4: Handle with details

Blade:

• The blade shape from stenciling is 1 large piece of foam, we want to put bevels on the blade along with a central ridge.
• Cut the blade exactly down the center from top to bottom, then shape in edges to an angle of around 70˚. The angle does not have to be exact, it just needs to create that central peak in the middle when the two pieces are glued together.
• On the edges of the blade, the bevel is much sharper than the central ridge, meaning that the edge of each piece must be around a 30˚ angle. Again, the angle is not an exact guide, just take of more foam with a dremel until you are happy with the edge the two pieces create together.
• Once happy with the angles that the central ridge and edge bevels make, contact cement them together.

A finished blade can be seen in Fig 5.

Fig 5: Beveled blade

Emblems:

• The emblems were made from wooden pucks that were perfectly in shape. These were picked up from Bunnings for around $5. They had holes in the middle but these were patched up with bondo and smoothed out.
• Once smooth the details were stencilled and drawn on as seen in Fig 6.

Fig 6: Stencils on pucks to become emblems

• Using the markings as a guide, carve the details out. This was done with a hammer and chisel, as seen in Fig 7.

Fig 7: Finished pucks with engraved details

Gluing it all together:

• Once all the parts are ready, perform a test fit and make any adjustments needed
• Firstly, glue the excess top of the handle into the hollow centre of the blade. Extra foam may be needed to make it a snug fit. Glue the handle into the blade leaving sufficient space for the guard between the two pieces.
• Glue one side of the guard onto the handle/blade, again using extra foam for support. Flip the sword over and repeat. The Edges of the guards should perfectly line up and are glued together.
• Carve out a recess for the pucks to go on the blade, this only needs to be a small amount, just to make the pucks sit flush with the guard.
• Glue the pucks in place and use thin EVA foam to add details around the top of the handle and around the pucks as seen in Fig 8.
• Measure and cut 2mm thick EVA foam to place over the end of the blade to cover the hole and glue this in place.
• Using anything you can find, glue false bolts onto the guard of the sword to give extra details

Fig 8: Sword components glued together with contact adhesive

Painting:

• Prior to painting, heat seal the entire sword with a heat gun
• First coat the sword PlastiDip to bind paint to the sword
• Starting off with the guard, mask it off and paint it blue as seen in Fig 9.

Fig 9: Blue painted guard and pommel

• Mask off the emblem and details then paint emblems gold as seen in Fig 10.

Fig 10: Gold painted emblem, details and rings

• Mask off the blade and paint it in silver. Once everything is painted, coat the entire sword in gloss clear coat.

Details:

• Using white cloth, wrap the handle and glue it down as seen in Fig 11.

Fig 11: Cloth wrapped handle

• Using a silver sharpie or silver paint, paint any extra details that were added, for example the rivets on the middle of the guard.

Weathering:

• Now that the sword is complete, it’s time to get weathering. As usual, there is no way to put weathering on, it’s all about just making it look natural!
• Using black and brown acrylic paints, smear them over the entire sword, especially in grooves, then using a damp cloth, wipe away excess paint.
• Using black paint, weather the handle by using a tiny amount of paint on a dry brush and dab it over the handle. Be sure not to put too much on as you cannot remove it from the cloth.
• Once the darks are done, go back over the highlights areas with silver paint/ sharpie. These areas are the high spots on the sword that would be scratched and chipped. On this sword, it is especially relevant for the areas of blue paint, as this would naturally chip and scratch.
• Be sure to paint the details on the emblems black to make them stand out, use common wreathing techniques to give the details a gradient as seen in Fig 12.
• Once done weathering, coat the sword in clear coat to seal in the paint.

Fig 12: Completed sword