I finally got a good bite on a commission to build this super unique and amazing dagger from Skyrim! I made sure to take the time and do all of the necessary research (i.e. playing Skyrim all day until I had acquired the dagger in question). Since I played on a PS3, I grabbed my reference images the old fashioned way, by pointing my DSLR at the TV screen and snapping some shots!
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I drew up the whole shooting match in Inkscape, piece by piece. The plan is to cast this thing in parts, so I exploded it.
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The handle was lathed from a cylinder of polyurethane plastic resin. The rectangles at the top of the handle were cut from a strip of styrene, which was heated and wrapped around the handle. The wing-a-ling pommel parts were made from PVC and stryene that was filled with Apoxie Sculpt.
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This middle hilt piece of the dagger has to receive the crystal blade and attach to the handle. It was a bit of a bear to figure out in real space since they cheated a bit on the computer model to save on polygons. The center layer was cut from PVC and the skeleton bits were cut and formed from styrene.
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I did the same thing for the crystal blade.
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The empty space between the styrene skeleton bits was filled in with Bondo. So. Much. Bondo. Also the circular bit on the hilt was lathed from plastic resin and cast with a push mold for both sides.
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This tiny forest of plastic trees is actually the spikey things that stick out of the side of the dagger. They will be molded and cast for each side.
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The side pieces of the dagger were also roughed out with styrene and filled with Bondo (Noticing a trend?).
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And here is the dagger as it stands today. It is very nearly ready for molding and I hope I get there later today if I bust my ass. The plan is to cast the crystal from a clear resin, tinted aqua colored and to cold cast the rest of the dagger in a bronze.
![]()
I drew up the whole shooting match in Inkscape, piece by piece. The plan is to cast this thing in parts, so I exploded it.
The handle was lathed from a cylinder of polyurethane plastic resin. The rectangles at the top of the handle were cut from a strip of styrene, which was heated and wrapped around the handle. The wing-a-ling pommel parts were made from PVC and stryene that was filled with Apoxie Sculpt.
This middle hilt piece of the dagger has to receive the crystal blade and attach to the handle. It was a bit of a bear to figure out in real space since they cheated a bit on the computer model to save on polygons. The center layer was cut from PVC and the skeleton bits were cut and formed from styrene.
I did the same thing for the crystal blade.
The empty space between the styrene skeleton bits was filled in with Bondo. So. Much. Bondo. Also the circular bit on the hilt was lathed from plastic resin and cast with a push mold for both sides.
This tiny forest of plastic trees is actually the spikey things that stick out of the side of the dagger. They will be molded and cast for each side.
The side pieces of the dagger were also roughed out with styrene and filled with Bondo (Noticing a trend?).
And here is the dagger as it stands today. It is very nearly ready for molding and I hope I get there later today if I bust my ass. The plan is to cast the crystal from a clear resin, tinted aqua colored and to cold cast the rest of the dagger in a bronze.
