Katana WIP

[B3D00]

Myke,

How did you model the handle wrap? Did you extrude circles around or did you use Array and Curve modifiers to a curve?
This is how real japanese sword handle wraps are made.
http://pages.prodigy.net/tlbuck/tsuka/tsuka.htm

[B3D00]

I think I got it.
I just need to extrude planes and then subsurf.

Attachments

tsukatry.blend (159 KB)

[B3D00]

I’ve started modeling the handle wrap:

The style I’m using it’s the easiest, "Tachi Tsukagashira Kake maki" (page 5)
I’ll take a break now.

[Krayon]

Hmmm, nice to see your going for something thats as close to the real thing as possible. I commend you, most people will just make something from another culture just because it looks cool. There aren’t many who will actually research what they are modelling and try to create it as close to the reality as possible. This in itself is a form of honouring that which you model. That you try to get the process of creating the katana correct honours it and is like a homage to the greatest creation in swordsmithing. Keep it up, you’re doing great.

[Myke]

Ah yes, seems to be good work on the wrapping. I used the same wrapping-style, by the way.
(My description of how I did it wouldn’t help you anyway - I just used a cylinder, deformed it so that I’m able to repeat it along the handle and simply used methods of subsurfmodeling to get the shape right…)

Once again about the blade - well, if you compare yours to the one in the picture of Wikipedia you’ll see a difference. I think yours is okay and didn’t want to say it’s not like a real one, but I just don’t like it when someone uses the word “perfect” (because no-one is).

Anyway, you have some fine progress, keep at it.

[B3D00]

Krayon, thanks. I think katanas are the greatest swords in the world… I just don’t model them because they look cool.
Myke, there are many types of blades, and blade parts (including the point), that have their pros and cons. Not all katana blades have exactly the same shape.
I actually used a real katana blade picture as reference.
Thanks for replying
…

Edit: What do you think of how the handle looks in side view?
Has anyone seen a real katana, even better, a Tachi, that looks like this on side view?
I’m using the old “Tachi” wrapping technique, because it’s a lot easier. (It looks different from the normal one)

Attachments

[Krayon]

Alright, the difference? The wrapping done in real life would have the wrapper pulling the wraps into place with a lot of force. They wrap it tightly in other words. You haven’t wrapped it tightly, probably should use more vertices.

[B3D00]

Krayon, more verticles wouldn’t work (There are several hundreds of thousands already!). I think I should use a different technique, using a subdivided cylinder, position the verticles to form the handle, delete some and extrude and scale.
Thanks for replying.

[GaretEliot]

My bro loves swords. He owns a few katanas.

[B3D00]

Cool. Here’s a website I found googling that sells real Japanese design swords (they ain’t made in Japan, as far as I know :p). He might be interested. It has also alot of info on Japanese swords care…
From the “Philosophy” page:

@Walter Sorrells Blades

First, a good blade should be durable. If a blade breaks, it’s not just an embarrassment to the sword maker, it’s a potentially lethal problem.

                     Second, a blade should feel                          good.  This is a very subjective matter.                           Different sword schools emphasize different techniques;                          different body types require different sizes and weights                          of sword.  All I know is that I have                          ideas about what I like that are based on day-in-day-out                          practice with swords.
                     Third, a blade should be sharp.                           I own a gunto (war-era Japanese blade), and frankly I                          have pliers that stay sharp better.
                     Fourth, a blade should be                          beautiful.  To me beauty has two components.                           One is just plain-old vanilla esthetics. You can train                          your eye to see ungainliness, awkwardness, lack of                          proportion, lack of symmetry and so on.  As somebody who grew up                          around art, who draws and paints, I think I have a                          decent eye for what's butt-ugly and what's not.  I                          try to avoid butt-ugly in my work.
                     But beauty is more than                          esthetics.  Swords are as classic an example as you                          can find that practical things are almost always                          attractive.  Form follows function.
                                              <i>The worst of the factory blades are simply dangerous                          crap.</i>  They're easy to hate.  But the best of                          them, while adequate for use by serious martial artists,                          are a little soulless. 
                     My swords, on the other hand,                          are made by me on a one-off basis.  I design them,                          I forge them, I plunge them into the water to heat treat                          them, I polish them, I test them, I sharpen                          them.  When you get one of my swords -- for good or                          ill -- you get a                          piece of me.
                     Which, in this world of mass                          market plastic same-ol'-same-ol' shlock, is a beautiful                          thing.  
                     Finally, I want to deliver bang                          for the buck.  You can buy cheaper swords than                          mine.  But you get what you pay for.  I try to                          make my swords with the best quality                          materials...consistent with a reasonable price. 

I used one of his pictures for the shape of my blade.

The new method is alot faster and it’s easy to make a handle wrap just like in katanas.

[GaretEliot]

He payed a few thousand dollars for his. Their 100% authentic. He also has this crazy hand held scythe he got from paris.

[Krayon]

haha! That guys a sword nut although I have to admit he still doesn’t quite cut it Katana style =). They look like they can cut but they lack the artwork that adorns the blade of a katana.
Good idea B3D00, I’m not sure how you’ll do you’re design but I would like to see how you go about it.

[B3D00]

Krayon, thanks. Could you please use proper grammar? It’s kind of confusing when you use you’re instead of your. And when you say guys (like it’s plural) instead of guy’s…
Cut it katana style? Or do you mean “his swords don’t cut katana style”?

As far as I know, most Japanese blades don’t have much artwork on the blade, but mostly on the Tsuba, on the Kashira, sometimes on the Fuchi, SOME times on the habaki. But not on the blade.
AND decoration in the blade has nothing to do with how it cuts

The only Japanese swords that I know have decoration in the blade are Hatori Hanzo’s, but neither he nor the swords are real (they’re made of stainless steel/allumimium alloy) nor Hatori Hanzo exists. Nor the swords can cut an apple in two

[B3D00]

It’s almost done, I’m rendering a BIG render, about 5000*1000.

[Regono (Ryan Maggs)]

looks very cool.

[B3D00]

Used AngMap with the “ref” button ticked in “add” mode.
The handle wrap it’s much more detailed now! Thanks to Myke for giving me the idea.
The render it’s so big that I’m posting a link.
Click Here

[Krayon]

@B3D00

Krayon, thanks. Could you please use proper grammar? It’s kind of confusing when you use you’re instead of your. And when you say guys (like it’s plural) instead of guy’s…
Cut it katana style? Or do you mean “his swords don’t cut katana style”?

As far as I know, most Japanese blades don’t have much artwork on the blade, but mostly on the Tsuba, on the Kashira, sometimes on the Fuchi, SOME times on the habaki. But not on the blade.
AND decoration in the blade has nothing to do with how it cuts

The only Japanese swords that I know have decoration in the blade are Hatori Hanzo’s, but neither he nor the swords are real (they’re made of stainless steel/allumimium alloy) nor Hatori Hanzo exists. Nor the swords can cut an apple in two

Sorry, grammer doesn’t usually pop up for me, must’ve been because I was tired, heck I got 98/100 for english last year. Will watch my grammer better in the future. Consider me chastised.
Enough of grammer, what I meant was that many of his blades often have that variation on the blade, ummm swirly line thingo, forgive my lack of vocab, that, from memory was not on authentic japanese blades. Those had a reserved wavey line going down the blade that was uniform the whole way and didn’t cross onto the actual cutting edge. Also they somehow lack a sense of complete deadliness that those authentic ones did. Everything else though was superb. As to actually cutting, unless it can cut a cloth that has been dropped on it… no it does not cut it Katana style ;).

[B3D00]

Ok, whatever… Is it the hamon?
Lol, I got like 85%, and 65% on writing. I forgot what adjectives are! I learned English reading and writing! Same with my first language.
I think adjetive was something added to something, like blue shirt?
Back on topic, does the tsuka-ito look right for you?

[Krayon]

Yeah the hamon, though I note it does cross the blade a bit on a refresher. I suppose it differs as per technique.
Hmm, ok its too dark so I can’t see the wrapping details, and I don’t recall the sama hada looking like a dried out sponge =). Or was it the menuki, or the menuki nakago, darn it’s hard to tell. One way or another the part under the menuki needs a bit of work.
Also the wrapping generally tighter then what you have there. Although thats a variable thing.
The rest is excellent though.

[B3D00]

I haven’t done a menuki, just a menuki nakago (the little bamboo thing that keeps everything together?)
I think the menuki is just decoration? So I haven’t done it yet.
Maybe I should remove bumpmap value from the sama hada so it doesn’t look like a “dried out sponge”…
BTW, I got 95% on the math state test