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Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Making Spears/lances

Probably another of those "I already know that" things but maybe..just maybe, it might be helpfull.
I like to make my spears out of metal for two reasons. It takes paint better than broom bristles and if there is no ring hand (or I can´t create one) they can be heated over a candle and "welded" to the bod. It has a disadvantge in that it´s heavy but as my bods all get based, one way or another it doesn´t bother me.

Firstly the tools. From right to left. Pliers (I forgot to add them in the pic)  fine metal file, hammer, an old pair of scissors, 0.8 florist wire, and a hard surface. I´m lucky cos I´ve got this little anvil..(I pinched it from my son...well..he pinched 2 of the robots I got the other day ...so fair´s fair).
Cut of a length of florists wire..a bit longer than the length the spear will end up. Bash the tip flat, ocassionally turning the wire over so that the "spearhead" will end up more or less central to the shaft.
Snip the basic shape of the spearhead. A pair of old scissors  work fine as the metal should be quite thin after it´s beating.

 Grip the spear with the pliers as close to the head as possible. If you just hold it in your hands the shaft tends to get bent. Firstly file both flat sides of the head, then round the corners to the edges. I like to file the back of the spear head (the part next to the shaft) to to give the appearanve of it being in two parts, head and shaft. Cut the spearshaft to the desired length..finished :-D
Note. These Things are sharp when finished so be carefull
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18 comments:

  1. Anonymous9 March 2011 at 08:12

    Cheers for that Paul

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  2. The Angry Lurker9 March 2011 at 08:46

    I always use metal spears but I buy mine from perry miniatures because of anger issues, good tutorial as usual.

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  3. Dr. Willett's Workshop9 March 2011 at 08:58

    Thta's pretty good, I've never done any work like that in metal.

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  4. Tim Gow9 March 2011 at 09:01

    Thanks Paul - that's very useful. Now all I need is an anvil...

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  5. Ron "La Long Carabine" Hamilton9 March 2011 at 09:12

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Ron "La Long Carabine" Hamilton9 March 2011 at 09:13

    Nicely done, thanks for sharing. Very close to what I do when making spears and swords. My blog may need a new how to... Paul you do excellent stuff.

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  7. DeanM9 March 2011 at 10:23

    Nice work - Don't forget hearing protection. I use cheap foam earplugs; however, listening to music via headphones would probably be even better. Regards, Dean

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  8. Ray Rousell9 March 2011 at 10:38

    Great post Paul, very helpful!!

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  9. Oliver Gölz9 March 2011 at 10:53

    simple and a good idea! looks good for me

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  10. Mr. Bigglesworth9 March 2011 at 11:16

    Really wonderful - this is very helpful. You will be surprised about the extent of what I don't know.

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  11. Porky9 March 2011 at 12:48

    That's really getting into the spirit of things! Doing it yourself in essentially the same way it would be done in reality might be a way of getting a deeper understanding of the setting.

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  12. Beccas9 March 2011 at 13:58

    Thanks for the tutorial.

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  13. Terry9 March 2011 at 14:45

    nice tutorial, very useful stuff florist wire I always have a small stock of it for all sorts of modelling uses .... Ideal for clearing the tops of blocked Vallajo bottles as well

    Terry

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  14. mekelnborg9 March 2011 at 21:51

    It comes out looking great and it really works. I was just reading about the whisk broom method the other day.

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  15. mork696910 March 2011 at 08:23

    Very useful tutorial. Always the small things are the best!

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  16. Paulalba10 March 2011 at 10:59

    Nice 1 Paul,
    I use paper clips for 15mm figures but never done it with any bigger figures so the Florist wire tip is very helpful.
    Cheers
    Paul

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  17. Paul´s Bods10 March 2011 at 12:09

    Thanks :-D
    I forgot to add that the things are bloody sharp when finished...a bit like the real thing
    Cheers
    paul

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  18. peter11 March 2011 at 04:46

    So you're the "blacksmith"? ;-)

    Great tutorial Paul :-D

    PS: I stick on my plastic ones. I've seen your fingers :-)

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