Dynasty Warriors is filled with amazing weapons, and I got to build Sun Quan's most detailed sword, The Emperor's Might! This sword is quite a monster, it's around four and a half feet long, a foot wide and it weighs around ten pounds. It is constructed from birch wood, vinyl material (for the handle), various materials for the tassel at the end, and balsa wood for the details.
A paper cut-out of the sword was made, and then transferred to a large sheet of birch wood. This was my first time using my jigsaw, and I loved how easy it made cutting out this stubborn wood! So, after the sword was cut out, all the detailing was next. I used a mix of machinery to sand the blade, the handle and the guard. I used my palm disk sander, my air tool sander, and then finally my Dremel to flatten the blade, shape the handle, curve the guard, and add the blade's golden band. After everything seemed like it should, I covered everything in a thin coat of Spackle before painting on the red, gold and silver. I did this now so I wouldn't have to struggle with painting it after I attached the gold, fiery details. I tried to avoid the places I was planning to adhere the balsa details to, because that would make the glue, contact cement, bond with the paint and not the wood.
The golden blade details were made from a large sheet of balsa cut to the correct shape and height. I hand-carved these details with an Exacto knife and covered them in a thin layer of Spackle before painting.
For the handle, it was a completely different process. I dusted off my sewing machine and cut out a piece of vinyl material to wrap around the handle. I had added a few layers of wood to the handle beforehand so the handle was rounder for a better grip. I sewed some details to the vinyl and I attached it to the sword with small furniture nails, it fit rather snugly! After finishing that part, I attached the painted balsa details so I could hide the ends underneath the wood.
After the sword was assembled, touched up a bit and clear-coated, I started on the tassel. The tassel was bought, and then modified with two bell-shaped metal parts and a small chain. I inserted the larger bell inside the center of the tassel to give it more volume, plus the in-game picture made the tassel look as though it was empty in the middle. Double score! I attached the smaller bell to the top of the tassel for decoration and attached that to the chain. I attached the whole thing to the sword with another furniture nail.
I really enjoyed constructing The Emperor's Might, and I also enjoyed wailing it around like I knew what I was doing after all the work was over!