Because I Like Fight Scenes

Lately I've been developing a LARP, and in my research on LARPs, I discovered this fun video. It's technically an advertisement for museumreplicas.com, but the fight scene is pretty doggone epic, anyways.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Percy's Forge -- The Lance Blade

Technically, this is something that Dana came up with, but I'm putting everything weapons related under the Percy's Forge heading anyways so that things stay orginized.

The lance blade is actually a weapon created by Dana used by the Phinearans, a race of wolf shape shifters from Xystia.

  Elgon turned his attention to the peculiar swords occupying the rack beside him. “With only our knives and the crossbow, would it be permissible for each of us to carry one of these?”

  “Of course. I will provide you with the proper sheathes.” William drew the blade off his own back with a metallic ring.

  Elgon heard the quick sound of metal on leather as Andras flicked a knife into his palm in surprise at the Meerinoran’s action. Jheslin chuckled. Elgon forced his expression to remain the same.

  William showed them the weapon. “Six hands high on the hilt, and the blade slightly longer. The crossguard here is wide enough to block incoming blows. It is meant to wielded dual handed, as we strap our small shields to our arms.”

  Elgon nodded. “Understood.”

  He resheathed his weapon. “We depart in an hour. My Pack will assemble by the South Gate.”
[exerpt from The Land Between Time, Outlander Trilogy Book 1)

After Percy started making all his PVC swords, Dana came up with the dimensions for the lance blade. Both he and Percy made a lance blade while we were at the MacDonald house. Though I knew what they looked like in general -- I sorta had to, considering I included them in my book -- it was still quite impressive to see the weapon in 3D.

Since this is Dana's original weapon,
I convinced him to model with it for me
rather than having Percy do it.

Here are the measurements:

Blade -- 26"

Hilt -- 20"

Crossguard -- 2"

 

So that's the lance blade, an original Xystian weapon created by Dana MacDonald.

 

Dia duit,

~Penny

Percy's Forge - Latest Inventions

Though I have done a miserable job of chronincling it, Percy has certainly not left his forge idle in the past couple of months. Indeed, quite the opposite, I'm excited to say. I always knew he was one for putting things together and so forth, and this PVC weapon making seems to have taken a firm hold of his imagination and creativity.

I bought him the red tassle from Jo-Ann's.

First he made the spear. It's a fairly easy design, which I have given the dimensions for in the post before this one, but cool noentheless. He and I actually started choreographing a fight scene between a spearman and a swordfighter. At present it is far too hot to go outside and continue it, but I'm sure we'll pick up again at a later date.

Then, a little bit ago we watched the 2002 version of The Count of Monte Cristo. I personally really like that version (minus a couple of scenes for obvious reasons). The acting, cinematography, and especially the swordfights are all great. Soon after watching it, Percy decided he wanted to come up with a PVC Rapier design, and spent quite a bit of time contemplating how to do this before we actually went to Home Depot and bought the pieces he'd decided he needed. I must admit the result impressed me more than I thought it would.

Percy's first rapier.



Blue crusader coloring.

Obviously the basket hilt was the only hilt Percy could make using PVC. At least at the moment, with the tools he has. The one in the picture has the one and a half inch rim on the hilt, but he made another one where he sawed that rim off. Unfortunately, that one sufffered an accident (*cough*Seph.*cough*) and cannot make an appearance at the moment.

So! While we were on vacation, Percy taught Dana how to make some of the basic PVC swords, and in the process forged a broadsword. Since none of us really needed another weapon, he decided to have fun with the duct tape design on it. At the same time, Dana got creative with his sword's coloring, as well. However, I haven't gotten pictures of Dana's sword yet (or the Lance-Blade, another sword variant I'll discuss later), but if I can remember, I'll do it tonight.

And now for my favorite. I was browsing pinterest some while ago when I came across a tutorial for how to make a "Brave Little Miss PVC Bow and Arrow." It consisted of a very small, simple bow made of PVC that fired dowel rods tipped with giant wads of foam in the shape of arrowheads. Yeah. I told Percy about it anyways, he did a very brief perusal of the how-to, then went off and came up with his own design. Once again, I confess to not have had as much faith in his abilities as I should have. The bow he made not only looks awesome, but actually fires. I have an awesome little brother.

He's still figuring out how to make arrows that will fly straight, but I've learned my lesson by now and have no doubt he'll have a working prototype soon. There's a video I found on youtube for how to make functioning arrows for a modern recurve, so he's going to look into that. Plus I need to figure out (or ask Lynn to) how to make a quiver for when he learns how to do the arrows.

Have no fear! If and when he makes another bow, I'm GOING to make a tutorial for it because it's too cool for me not to. I'll do the same thing for the rapier, as well. Promise.

The stack of PVC weaponry in the corner of the boys' chambers is growing in both number and diversity. When we move back up to Illinois near the forest preserve, we are going to have a full arsenal for our Imagination Games.

I can't wait.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Percy's Forge -- Sword Variant Dimensions

So, yeah, I've done an awful job keeping up with chronicling Percy's inventions. But at any rate, here are the dimensions for the sword variants that can be made using the tutorial I posted up here a while ago.

Claymore

Blade - 39"

Hilt - 1'

Crossguard - 6" each

Wanderblade

(large arming sword)

Blade - 32" or 33"

Hilt - 9"

Crossguard - 3" each

Straight Sword

Blade - 26"

Hilt - 5"

Crossguard - 3" each

Short Sword

Blade - 18"

Hilt - 5"

Crossguard - 3" each

Spear

(can be made the same way as a sword)

Blade - 1'

Handle - 5'

Crossguard 2" each

I'll have pictures of the spear in my next post, as well as pictures of some of Percy's latest weaponry inventions.

Dia duit,

~Penny



Follow the Sound of Steel

I've been attempting to research European Martial Arts (swordfighting; specifically, Italian longsword) and today I looked up videos on youtube. After searching for a little while, and finally typing in "Fiore di Liberi", I got a result. Here's the video. It shows forms, how they work in actual practice, and then some sparring near the end. It's not an instructional video, but I found it helpful and intriguing in getitng the general idea of what proper swordfighting looks like. And by 'proper' I mean pretty much anything that's better than the blind hacking we do in the backyard with our PVC swords.

Maybe I should have a designated Medieval sword/swordfighting day. Hm....

Dia duit,
~Penny

Thursday Legend Post #2 -- Excalibur's Sheath

One of my brothers, Joseph Armstrong, has always loved the legend of King Arthur, and wants to write his own version of the story someday. However, he's always had a slight dislike for King Arthur's use of the magic sheath that didn't allow him to be killed in battle. "That's cheating," He'd say.

So, finally, I decided to look it up. Let's see what the real deal is with this magic sheath.

Now as they rode thus through the forest together, Merlin said to the King: "Lord, which wouldst thou rather have, Excalibur, or the sheath that holds him?" To which King Arthur replied, "Ten thousand times would I rather have Excalibur than his sheath." "In that thou art wrong, my Lord," said Merlin, "for let me tell thee, that though Excalibur is of so great a temper that he may cut in twain either a feather or a bar of iron, yet is his sheath of such a sort that he who wears it can suffer no wound in battle, neither may he lose a single drop of blood. In witness whereof, thou mayst remember that, in thy late battle with King Pellinore, thou didst suffer no wound, neither didst thou lose any blood."

Okay, so my brother's right. So far it looks like the legend version of a video game cheat code. So....does that make King Arthur a cowardly cheat, now?

Then King Arthur directed a countenance of great displeasure upon his companion and he said, "Now, Merlin, I do declare that thou hast taken from me the entire glory of that battle which I have lately fought. For what credit may there be to any knight who fights his enemy by means of enchantment such as thou tellest me of? And, indeed, I am minded to take this glorious sword back to that magic lake and to cast it therein where it belongeth; for I believe that a knight should fight by means of his own strength, and not by means of magic."

Score! King Arthur isn't a cheat afterall! I must say Arthur's response made me grin. Certainly he is no coward.

But wait, he keeps the sheath in the end. Wha?

"My Lord," said Merlin, "assuredly thou art entirely right in what thou holdest. But thou must bear in mind that thou art not as an ordinary errant knight, but that thou art a King, and that thy life belongeth not unto thee, but unto thy people. Accordingly thou hast no right to imperil it, but shouldst do all that lieth in thy power for to preserve it. Wherefore thou shouldst keep that sword so that it may safeguard thy life."

Ah, the wise Merlin speaks. Surely his powers lie in sagacity rather than magic. Very truly he reminds the great king that his life does not belong solely to himself, but that he must first think of the good of his people before he throws himself into danger. He reminds King Arthur of restraint, and self control; imperiling his own life, no matter how gloriously, will do the people he's sworn to protect no benefit at all. Thus, he says, "keep that sword."

You're up, Arthur.

Then King Arthur meditated that saying for a long while in silence; and when he spake it was in this wise: "Merlin, thou art right in what thou sayest, and, for the sake of my people, I will keep both Excalibur for to fight for them, and likewise his sheath for to preserve my life for their sake. Ne'theless, I will never use him again saving in serious battle." And King Arthur held to that saying, so that thereafter he did no battle in sport excepting with lance and a-horseback.
[All exerpts taken from http://www.2020site.org/kingarthur/calibur.html]

Well, what better reply could you ask for? Arthur keeps Excalibur, the life guarding sheath, and his courageous and noble character all together. He withstands my scrutiny, and I am most satisfied. I may yet revisit his legend in another area sometime. We'll see how he holds up then, but for now, King Arthur requires no remolding, for him in his legend has yet to disappoint.

Dia duit,
~Penny

Hot Stuff

Gotta love Pinterest. I was searching around for something suitably epic and sword related to pin to either my Land Between Time board or my Lore board, and I stumbled upon this video of A Different Spin's Fire Swordfight.

Aside from being just plain cool to watch, I found it even more interesting when I could discern some of the fighting stances they used. I've been reading through a book called Sword in Two Hands: A Full Color Modern Training Guide Base on the Fior de Battaglia of Fiore dei Liberi. It's a fascinating book and while I don't pretend to be any sort of expert at all on the subject, it's nice to have a little understanding as opposed to none.

 I'm reminded of this book because in that choreographed fight I recognized some of the guards (stances) they used from having read about them. For instance, the rooftop guard, the full irongate, the plow guard, and one of my favorites, the ox guard, were all shown briefly in the above video. Pretty neat!

By the way..... doing your own slo-mo in a real fight? Yeah. Bad idea. Looks awesome for entertainment, though.

Fighting with flaming swords = epic. Just sayin'.

Dia duit,
~Penny

From Percy's Forge -- PVC Broadsword Pt. 2

Okey-doke, here's part two to making a PVC Broadsword. It's been 24hrs., and your sword has set completely. So now what?

Duct tape time!

Materials:
~Silver duct tape
~Colored duct tape (purple, red, pink, green, blue.... whatever color you want/can find.)
~Batting tape

Tools:
~Knife

Step One -- The Tip

Snip an approximately two inch long strip of duct tape from the roll, and stick it to the end of the blade sectio of your sword. Percy has a specific way of taping the caps on the sword, and it's used for all four of the caps on the sword, so remember it.

Step Two -- The Blade Pt. 1

For the blade you'll use strips of duct tape that are approximately six inches in length. Start at the tip, taping around the edges of the cap as seen below.



Now you'll duct tape along the blade, working your way downwards towards the crossguard. Percy overlaps the duct tape a little bit, as well.

Percy's Tip: "In order to have a smoother blade, all of the parts of the sword where the duct tape will be wrinkly should be done before the area is covered. Those places are around the four way connector and the end caps. Afterwards, you can go over the wrinkled parts."

Accidental wrinkles in the duct tape can also be covered over with duct tape, not just the ones that result from taping the parts of the sword that are at odd angles. In the end, you'll have three layers of duct tape along the blade (not the cap), so you have a little leeway there.

Step Three -- Middle Crossguard

As you can see, Percy gets most of the way down the blade, then pauses to start the crossguard. The crossguard is the part that gets the most wrinkled duct tape because of all the angles. Percy's managed to figure out how to keep the wrinkles to a minimum, as mentioned above, so make sure you follow his advice and duct tape all the angles first so that you can cover as much wrinkled duct tape with the duct tape that will be used on the smoother areas. It's a little difficult to explain, but if you give it a shot, it makes a little more sense.

For the middle of the crossguard, you use two inch strip of duct tape and stick it lengthwise against the center of the four way connector. Press it into all the grooves, then get out your knife. Make a slit in each of the corners. This will make the duct tape lay as flat as possible.

Do this on both the front and the back. Afterwards, use slightly smaller strips to cover the corner sides. You will not cut these.

Step Four -- Blade Pt. 2 and Crossguard

Now at this point you'll finish the rest of the blade, staring beneath the middle section of the crossguard you just did. After that, you'll proceed to duct tape both caps on either side of the crossguard in the same way you duct taped the cap on the tip of the blade.

As you can see, you cap the ends, and also cover the end of the four way connector in duct tape first, and then wrap the middle. The left half of the crossguard is finished, and the right is only missing the final middle strip. See the order there?

Step Five -- The Hilt

Colored duct tape time! Take the color you've chosen and cap the end of the hilt with it. This will be your gem. After that, tape the rest of the way down the hilt with silver.

Percy's Tip: "I find that after a time, the jewel will get partially scraped away, revealing the white PVC pipe underneath. For this reason I like to double the colored duct tape for the jewel."

Obviously, this can be done for all of the caps, if you so wish.

Okay, for the next step, you are going to need the batting tape. If you've ever seen the handle of a baseball bat, you know exactly what you're meant to do. Wind the tape from the gem end of the hilt -- starting right under the cap -- all the way up to the four way connector.

Step Six -- The Blade Pt. 3

Finally! Almost done. This is where those two extra layers of duct tape on the blade come in. Using the silver duct tape, cut a strip that runs the length of the blade, starting beneath the cap on the tip of the blade and running all the way to the four way connector. You'll need four strips -- one for each side, twice. Run it once, then run another strip exactly opposite it. This will cover the blade around as well as along. Then tape the blade again, except this time, tape it so that the crease where the two strips you just taped meet runs along the center of the strips you're putting on.

That's it! You're done.

That's an awful picture, but it was all I had time to take before we came inside. It was beginning to get dark by the time Percy finished, as we started a little late in the afternoon. This sword is called Creator of Worlds, and was crafted by Percy to be given to Siani Delaney, or PenWielder, to the PenKnights.

I still have yet one more post to do on the subject of PVC Pipe swords. Percy has two other types of swords he makes, and also some minor customizations he does during the taping process that I'll include. For now, I'm done.

Dia duit,
~Penny

From Percy's Forge -- PVC Pipe Broadsword Pt. 1

I guess I should introduce Percy, first. Percival Drake is my younger brother by a couple years, and has a particular interest in creating practical, useable weapons for our 'games'. Lately we've discovered PVC Pipe swords. For the past few weeks, Percy's been making enough swords to arm a battillion. Since we absolutely adore theses swords, I figured I'd make a tutorial for them.

First of all, they're proving to be extremely durable. Me, Percy, and my other brother, Ben Fletcher, who's younger than both Percy and I, have been dueling with our own respective PVC weapons for a while now. They've held up very well, and believe me, Percy and Ben don't pull punches when it comes to fighting with swords, especially with each other. PVC works far better than wood does because of the slight flexibility that will absorb the shock of impacts and not dent, shatter, or snap. Obviously these things aren't invincible, but we have yet to find out how to break them in combat. If/when we do, I'll be sure to post and say how it happened.

Okay, so here are the tools and materials needed to make a PVC Pipe Broadsword.

Materials:
~One 53" (or more) length of Charlotte Pipe 3/4" PVC
~Four PVC Pipe caps
~One four way connector
~Cement, and cement primer
(You also need silver duct tape, black duct tape, and batting tape, but the process that includes those will be covered in a later post.)

Tools:
~Hack saw
~Measuring tape
~Permanent marker

Step One

Measuring and Marking

The dimensions for a Broadsword are thus:

Blade: 3'

Hilt: 9.5"

Crossguard: 9"

First, measure from one end of the PVC to three feet down its length, and make a mark with the marker. This will be the blade.

Now, starting from the mark you just made, measure out 9.5" for the hilt.
The crossguard is a little trickier to explain. Each half of the crossguard will be 4" in length, so you can either measure four and four, or else measure eight, and just make a mark at the halfway mark, however you want to do it. Now, I'm not that good at math, but I do know that four plus four equels eight and not nine. So why does the dimensions have the crossguard at nine inches? Well, the four way connector used to attach both halves of the crossguard to the rest of the sword adds about an inch. Eight plus one is nine. Aha!

Step Two

Cutting

The next step is easy. Hacksaw! Now, here's a tip from Percy... Do not saw beginning from the middle and working your way down. That will make it much harder for you. Begin from the end, and saw on every line you marked out on the PVC. Don't try to saw the crossguard in half after you've cut it out. Attempt to cut as straight as possible.

Because we do not have a very good hack saw, Percy had to use the wood saw you see pictured in the first photo after starting with the little red pipsqueak pictured here. Another tip? Get a good hack saw.

Step Three

Capping and Priming

 Time to stick it all together! Here we have all the pieces that you've cut out, plus the four way connector, and the caps. There's the blade on the far right, then the hilt and the connector, then the caps, and then the two halves of the crossguard.

First of all, put the caps on the end of each of your sword pieces.

Once you've done that, get your cement primer out and put primer on the inside rim of each hole in the four way connector...

.....and around the outside rim of each of the non-capped ends of the blade, hilt, and crossguard halves.

Step Four

Cementing

Let the primer dry (which takes about five or so minutes), and then get out the cement. The cement is going to go on each place where you put primer, but this time instead of applying the cement all at once, you'll do each section one at a time. Percy does it in this order: crossguard half, crossguard half, hilt, blade. Cover the inside hole of the four way connector on the proper side (depending on which section you're doing), then apply cement to the outside of the respective section, then insert the section into the connector. Make sure you get the section all the way into the connector, tapping it on the ground if you have to. Do the same thing for every section until youv'e gotten them all in, and try not to drip cement everywhere.

Step Five

Waiting

Now you have a lovely almost finished broadsword. This is the end of Pt. 1. The cement holding your new weapon together must be left to set for 24 hrs. Leave it somewhere where your little siblings won't be tempted to give it a go and either whack something important, or pull the sword apart before the cement takes hold. That would be bad. Yeah.

Percy's going to duct tape bind one of my sisters' swords tonight, and I'll take pictures of it, so Pt.2 should be up soon. Forge away!

Dia duit,
~Penny