Today I want to share a tutorial of the process I used to create a Steampunk Axe out of Craft Foam. This axe was made to look like a broken gear fused with a wrench. It is wrapped with railroad ties, metal ties that hold train cars shut.
1. I started with a thick craft foam sheet and plastic pole. I found a picture of a gear on then internet, enlarged it and then traced it onto the craft foam.
2. I cut out the shape of a broken gear. I also cut out six wrench shaped pieces.
3. I glued the gear piece to my plastic pole. I glued three pieces of foam wrench together, leaving the center piece shorter sandwiched between to longer pieces. On each side of the center of the foam-gear, and at the top of the plastic-pole, I glued the foam-wrench top piece.
4. Next, I added the lower-wrench pieces, and then put foam rectangles over the edges where the plastic-pole met the foam wrench pieces.
5. I felt the axe needed more stability, so I added a smaller piece of purple foam on both sides of the foam-gear.
6. Next I added some brads to the foam rectangles. This looks like rivets. Then I used bras spraypaint to paint the plastic pole and axe top.
7. When the spray paint was dry, I added metal leaf. Metal leafing is a process where you put down a glue base and when it is tacky you cover the glue with sheets of metal. I used copper and gold leaf, making the wrench and gear pieces look like different metals.
8. Using Acrylic paint, I covered the entire piece and then wiped it with a damp cloth. This leaves black grime in the cracks, crevices and grooves.
9. I also wrapped part of the gear in copper wire to add to the make-shift weapon look.
The final Axe has rail-car ties wrapped around the base of the wrench part. So, now the Steampunk Axe is complete! See how the gear grooves look like they’ve been sharpened into blades.
This craft foam weapon is fairly easy to make, and hopefully you can use these techniques to build your own foam weapons. The axe is not a long-lasting piece, being made of craft foam, but it is fairly sturdy and did not take any damage during the photo-shoot where it was wielded which you can see here.
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