In a thread, all by itself…
Material List
1m of 10mm OD aluminium tube with 1mm sidewall (available in 2m lengths from Mitre 10 Mega for $8)
1 camp mat (Warehouse $8)
ADOS F2 glue (or another contact adhesive)
80mm x 40mm scrap of heavy tough fabric such as canvas
liquid latex (TradeMe $20)
tan/light brown acrylic paint ($5 test pot is ideal)
couple of different (darker) brown artists paint
talcum powder
Instructions
Cut a 20mm wide strip of camp mat 50mm longer than your sword, glue it down the aluminum with 10mm off the bottom and 40mm off the top
Poke a scrap of camp mate in each end of the aluminum tube
Glue the scrap of fabric around the tip, to reduce the risk of punch through by the aluminum tube
Glue a 80mm wide strip of camp mat around the tube, so the front edge is now 3 layers of foam, like a taco (see photo 2 below)
Once dry, shape the foam to roughly an “egg shaped” profile, ensuring extra padding remains on the front edge
Once shaped, curve the aluminium into a gentle curve.
If you want to melt in any decorations, do it now. I used a screw driver heated up with a blow torch, but I think a soldering iron would be better.
Paint the blade with a mixture of 70/30 liquid latex/acrylic paint.
Dry with a hair dryer .
Do 4-5 coats, leave the brush strokes in as they will become wood grain
Put the latex on reasonably thick.
When the last layer is dry-ish, you can begin dry-brushing on the other shades of brown.
I used a medium brown first and a dark brown second, as shown in the second photo below
Once the dry brushing is dry (you can hurry it up with the hair dryer if you want) give the sword a rub down with some talcum powder.
Here are the finished products.