Pearls Spear from Steven Universe.

First let me ask you to please view the following tutorials/.  I found both of them incredibly helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zmssNqSqv0

The above link made this spear very simple.  His approach to the corkscrew and the end are beautiful.

http://fabrickind.tumblr.com/post/129016897358

Her approach to a translucent spear is excellent.  I will say painting translucent colors is difficult and should not be rushed. Like I did.  Their is a fine line between translucent and opaque.  

Most of my design is based on the thinking that Pearl is wielding a Naganita.  That is debatable.  But I feel that is what she is using.  Just a very fancy one,  with a corkscrew.

But anyway.  I started with the below image.  I scaled Pearl up to 6 foot 4.  because that is how tall I am.  And yikes the spear is huge.

So below are my measurements.  Is it going to be one big prop.

I am not good at free handing,  so I designed the blade end on my computer.  Printed it out,  and used that as a pattern for the spear.

Below is a test spear I made.  I used file folder because I have TONS of those.  I think it looks ok. It is the wrong materials. But I was able to mock it up for free.  I learned alot about doing the corkscrew.  

For the main part of the tube I used an acrylic tube,  6 foot long,  1.5 inch outer diameter and .15 inches wall thickness.  It was very sturdy. And very light.  I really like this prop.  It is very different then anything I have made.  

So I am always nervous.  I try to break things down into tests, or experiments. How much can I do,  where if I fail,  it is flexible.  So  I made a really long spiral pattern.  I cut it out. 

That patern along with the spear head ended up with this.  I like it. 

I realized the spiral I printed out was WAY too long. So I ended up with this long.  I used PETG as the final material.  A clear thermoplastic.  Thermoplastic means you can heat it and shape it. AWESOME. Now this stuff isn't worbla,  you can't do crazy bending.  But you can do a corkscrew.  Now just a heads up.  The below pic.  The spiral is going the wrong direction.  I had to cut it off and flip it.  Argh.  I was hoping for no seams. But I had one. Drat. 

 

 The PETG is real easy to work with.  You heat it up (with a heat gun).  And shape it to what you want.  I will recommend holding it once you have the correct shape.  It will spring back to the wrong shape.  Also when you make the corkscrew,  I recommend adding a lip on the inside of the corkscrew to make for my gluing surface area.  

I also had problems getting the spear head to be smooth.  So I made a tool to go on the inside to smooth it out.  Yes,  behold,  a sock on a stick. 

Now on to the bottom of the spear. I built this very similar to Ozpin's cane.  Everything is on one big screw.  I am not good a freehanding things. So I took some foam. I cut the correct angle in the foam.  I spray glued some sandpaper on it,  60 grit.  And I spun a piece of foam around and around until,  BAM cone.  I am very happy with how the cone came out. I tried to hand carve a cone,  yeah nope.

I then covered the cone in 3 layers of worbla to make a nice strong cone.  

I then removed the foam.  I would love to say it just popped out,  but no. I used a fork and knife to get the foam out.  

Below is the fun part.  I wanted no visible fasteners. I took 2 coupler nut and put then on a long screw.  I placed a piece of blue tape over the end. The tape was to try to keep the screw threads clean.  I then made the little jig below to mount the couplers nuts inside the cone.  I used a bucket,  a bench clamp and some foam board. I spent a long time getting the nut as perpendicular to the cone as  I could.  I then filled the hollow cone with epoxy. And once that cured I filled the rest with fiberglass and more epoxy.  I like epoxy. 

The 'dish' was made the same way as the cone. I cut some foam, glued some sand paper.  And used that to cut a nice little dish.  I covered the entire thing with worbla.  And drilled a hole through the dish.  I took a piece of scrap dowel I drill a hole through the dowel.  And bam. The end is done.  A couple coats of wood glue. A little bit of sanding.  And I had a nice smooth end.  

 I painted the screw part.  I attempted for a translucent paint. I rushed it.  I used too much.  And BAM opaque.  

I used pink spray paint for the bottom half of the tube.   In the pic below you can see a few details I added.  They are made of a PVC tube.  I cut the appropriate shape. And using a rasp I smoothed it down.  

I then screwed the cone onto the thread. I slide the dish down.  I slide the dowel down.  And I screwed the bottom assembly tight.  I wrapper the dowel in a couple layers of duct tape. Well actually I put too many layers,  so I had to take a few layers off. Probably for the best. I ended up with a very tight fit.   And jammed it in the bottom of the tube. AND DONE.