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Description
OK; first off...

THIS IS NOT THE FINISHED ZANPAKUTOU.

Now that that's been said...

Working ever so lazily on the bankai of Ichigo's hollow (Hollow Ichigo, Ichigo's Inner Hollow, Shirosaki, Hichigo, Ogichi Ikasoruk, whatever you want to call him). By lazily I mean that the only thing I have is about 90% of a sword (maybe less) and his hakama (technically, though, the hakama belongs to my Arturo cosplay, which I'm also being lazy about, but I'll use one for both; no use making more than one since I can't wear two cosplays at once).

The sword existed before, as a not-being-used prop that my friends were stashing, but I reworked it. The blade and tsuka are the same as when I first got the sword. However, I removed the tsuka-ito, which was nothing more than poorly-wound, very thin ribbon (sorry, guys) and took off the tsuba, which was far too large and ill-proportioned. Not that I'm trying to say it sucked; just wanted to re-make the tsuba to be a little more accurate.

Anyway, I re-wrapped the tsuka first in a layer of black electric tape to cover the white that was exposed when I took the ribbon off. I then purchased some thicker, more ito-like cord at my local Jo-Ann Fabrics and proceeded to wrap the tsuka using actual (or at least similar) techniques to actual tsukamaki (the art of tsuka-wrapping).

I say similar because I skipped a helluvah lot of steps. I did not cover the tsuka in ray/shark skin, or anything similar. I did not use rice paste. I did not use paper wedges to help form the triangles; and even the ito is not very properly wrapped. However, I did follow the wrapping pattern fairly well. My only issue is that it doesn't look very neat; perhaps I will base my next attempt on how wraps his tsukas; hooking around each other and doubling back. Seems to look nicer.

However, I'm still pleased with the results of the tsuka-ito. I much prefer actually wrapping the tsukas how you are supposed to. Yeah; it kills your fingers like hell, but it produces a more realistic tsuka, and feels better to actually hold (like an actual sword).

As for the tsuba, it's crap right now. I was experimenting with craft foam. Basically I used :userchioky:'s zanpakutou guard designs to create the Tensa Zangetsu form, then made three separate guards out of it. These I super-glued together to become thicker, and then I put it on the sword. As as final touch I added the habaki (that collar thing), which I like to include because it looks more realistic, and it also helps secure the tsuba. That was just made of four pieces of foam.

Now I say they are crap because you can clearly see where all the spaces are between every layer and stuff. Plus I forgot to add filler between where the tsuba and the sword meet, so it can move around a bit (a bit of foam or model magic would have worked fine).

As for the rest of the sword; I need to make the kashira, which is currently black, white, as it should be, and also add the chain. Then I need to try to rectify the issues with the tsuba and habaki, and finally re-paint the blade, which has some black nicks and scratches. After that it will be fairly well done.

It's mostly temporary, maybe. I'll have it in case I can't finish a completely wooden one, which is partly based on :userchioky:'s tutorial. It's also a bit too short; this is about 4 ft long vs the 6 ft or so that it should be, and technically the same should be a teal color, not black. The blade is also slightly crooked relative to the tsuka, as you can probalby tell in the top two pictures. However, I like how it's coming out, and I really can't be that picky, can I?

Description
OK; first off...

THIS IS NOT THE FINISHED ZANPAKUTOU.

Now that that's been said...

Working ever so lazily on the bankai of Ichigo's hollow (Hollow Ichigo, Ichigo's Inner Hollow, Shirosaki, Hichigo, Ogichi Ikasoruk, whatever you want to call him). By lazily I mean that the only thing I have is about 90% of a sword (maybe less) and his hakama (technically, though, the hakama belongs to my Arturo cosplay, which I'm also being lazy about, but I'll use one for both; no use making more than one since I can't wear two cosplays at once).

The sword existed before, as a not-being-used prop that my friends were stashing, but I reworked it. The blade and tsuka are the same as when I first got the sword. However, I removed the tsuka-ito, which was nothing more than poorly-wound, very thin ribbon (sorry, guys) and took off the tsuba, which was far too large and ill-proportioned. Not that I'm trying to say it sucked; just wanted to re-make the tsuba to be a little more accurate.

Anyway, I re-wrapped the tsuka first in a layer of black electric tape to cover the white that was exposed when I took the ribbon off. I then purchased some thicker, more ito-like cord at my local Jo-Ann Fabrics and proceeded to wrap the tsuka using actual (or at least similar) techniques to actual tsukamaki (the art of tsuka-wrapping).

I say similar because I skipped a helluvah lot of steps. I did not cover the tsuka in ray/shark skin, or anything similar. I did not use rice paste. I did not use paper wedges to help form the triangles; and even the ito is not very properly wrapped. However, I did follow the wrapping pattern fairly well. My only issue is that it doesn't look very neat; perhaps I will base my next attempt on how wraps his tsukas; hooking around each other and doubling back. Seems to look nicer.

However, I'm still pleased with the results of the tsuka-ito. I much prefer actually wrapping the tsukas how you are supposed to. Yeah; it kills your fingers like hell, but it produces a more realistic tsuka, and feels better to actually hold (like an actual sword).

As for the tsuba, it's crap right now. I was experimenting with craft foam. Basically I used :userchioky:'s zanpakutou guard designs to create the Tensa Zangetsu form, then made three separate guards out of it. These I super-glued together to become thicker, and then I put it on the sword. As as final touch I added the habaki (that collar thing), which I like to include because it looks more realistic, and it also helps secure the tsuba. That was just made of four pieces of foam.

Now I say they are crap because you can clearly see where all the spaces are between every layer and stuff. Plus I forgot to add filler between where the tsuba and the sword meet, so it can move around a bit (a bit of foam or model magic would have worked fine).

As for the rest of the sword; I need to make the kashira, which is currently black, white, as it should be, and also add the chain. Then I need to try to rectify the issues with the tsuba and habaki, and finally re-paint the blade, which has some black nicks and scratches. After that it will be fairly well done.

It's mostly temporary, maybe. I'll have it in case I can't finish a completely wooden one, which is partly based on :userchioky:'s tutorial. It's also a bit too short; this is about 4 ft long vs the 6 ft or so that it should be, and technically the same should be a teal color, not black. The blade is also slightly crooked relative to the tsuka, as you can probalby tell in the top two pictures. However, I like how it's coming out, and I really can't be that picky, can I?