The Chainsword of Warhammer 40K is a weapon in which they marry a chainsaw and a sword, making for a really powerful weapon. The weapon can cut through armor and vehicles with ease and looks cool as well. In 2018, I had an idea of making a human sized chainsword and started sketching and coming up with a foam weapon idea of a 2 food long chainsword.
My original idea, as seen on the left, had some extra designs and they were ideas I had previously, but then I decided to stick with something simple, to match my experience. I started with a wooden dowel and then used that as the internal structure of this sword. I used EVA floor tiles and started to cut the main shape out, with 2 sides. I glued the two sides together and made sure to put the dowel on the inside.
This chainsword idea was quick to make and required very little close work. I cut triangle pieces out of foam and glued each one into the spot, between the two sides. I took a toothpick and cut it in half, stuck one side into the base of the triangle piece and then glued the other side into the sword blade. This helped them stay into place more and didn't make me feel like they would rip or fall off. I started with taking some pieces of thinner craft foam and cutting strips for borders and decorations and such. I glued those on and then found some insignia online, printed it off and then glued it on directly along with some random computer bits. I wanted to play with this and make it fun.
It was fun to do and I made something that I was proud of, which is a fantastic thing, when you are just starting anything new.
One year later...
In 2019, Steven, from SKS Props, released his version of the Warhammer 40K chainsword, with a pattern and a video on youtube.
I decided that it would be fun to tackle this chainsword and while I am at it, I could practice using some new tools and techniques. The making of this sword was the first time that I primarily used contact cement and would even sand down paint coats. As a heads up: Steven, went to art school and has years of experience knowing how to paint things correctly. I decided in 2018 to start painting things and that is all of my experience. The last time I had painted anything, was way back in '95 when I tried to paint some Warhammer figurines and they looked.... okay.
So, Steven has a simple way of making the sword: You print out the template in the .pdf format, cut out the foam pieces, and contact cement or super glue them to each other. Then you paint and it is all done! Whether I am sabotaging myself or just thinking that I can't be that good, I decided to take things into smaller steps.
When you have the the piece printed out, I recommend that you take some paper and place it on top of it. You then use the blank paper to trace the smaller pieces out so you can then cut them out of foam and attach them. Since this sword is essentially made by layering foam pieces on top of one another, it is easier to do when you know the shapes of all of the pieces. Steven also used a card board tube, for his internal structure and I used another piece of carbon fiber fishing pole. That gave me a lighter and stronger base piece.
I was using up the last of my EVA floor tiles for this, since after buying them, I thought that I should use them up for something, instead of throwing them out. Like my jewelry business, I slowly upgraded to better stuff. Or, like my character in Skyrim, I started off with the simple leather armor and then as I found better equipment, I used it to then get better equipment and so on. The picture on the left shows how I started to layer and use the foam. I was then able to use Spray 77, to skin the whole sword with a thin layer of 2mm HD foam, from SKS Props.
Steven made his chainsword in the style of the Blood Angels, because Ultramarines suck; (and I agree with him.) But, I think the Blood Angels suck as well, so a new army needs this. I used to play with Dark Angels and I found it interesting that their color and painting scheme suggested that all weapons be red and contain a feather as an accessory with a green, white and red color scheme as well. I used that idea and color concept, to work on making this chainsword in that style. I used Steven's drawing to come up with and pattern most of the shapes on the sword and used contact cement and spray 77 to attached the foam. I do have to say that the foam worked very easily to what I had wanted, but I will have more on that later. The feather was made using a shape cut out of an Evil Ted pattern for a dome, and then I used a scissors to snip randomly and closely on either side or it.
What is actually quite exciting for me, is how this looked. His example was above, with way more layers and designs of foam and I finished with something more simple and close. Upon closer inspection, you can see how some of cuts are a bit more rough and some things don't look entirely level, but look at this and then scroll up to that chainsword I did a year earlier and you will see a world of difference in the crafting.
I used some red plastidip spray paint to seal everything up and then went back, sanded any drips or bad areas and started a long process of painting with my Liquitex paints. I can admit, that my painting doesn't look as good as Steven or as good as a blindfolded Steven, but I think that it looks pretty good. The finished chainsword is about 4 feet long, weighs about a pound and is sturdy and fun to just hold.
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