Insane Black Rock Shooter cosplay progress part 4: more on the sword

Hi y'all!  I finally finished my Insane Blade Claw! (what a silly name for a sword.)  Anyways, just to recap (you can find part 1 of this tutorial/progress HERE): I used spray foam to make the structure of my sword, and then I carved it.

My plan was to masking tape the whole thing, and then paper mache it with newspaper and the paper pulp thingie.  Well, I kind of changed my mind >.>

The masking tape process was definitely necessary, considering that the spray foam formed a ton of holes on the sword.  (I forgot to take a picture Q_Q)

I also paper mached my sword with newspaper to make the entire thing smoother and less fragile.  I just went to Home Depot and bought a tub of wallpaper paste and dipped strips of newspaper into it.  Then, instead of using paper pulp mache (which I bought...and needs to be returned >.>), I just mod podged the entire sword three times.

Mod Podge is amazing, it makes the small paper creases smooth!  If you are not very picky (like me), you would be happy with the result of this.  Then I sprayed the entire thing black with matte spray paint.

As you can see, it is not very smooth, but it is good enough for the grungy look I'm going for.

Here's another shot, you can't really tell the traces of newspaper anymore.

Then I dabbed some of the gold 3D fabric paint onto my sword to give it a rusted feel (I have other gold acrylic paint, but they were not nearly as pigmented as the fabric paint for some reason).

The paint also made it a little shiner than the matte spray paint. Not what I was going for, but okay~

Then I used "Delight" paperclay and made a hilt for the sword.  I really didn't think this clay was good enough for the hilt at first because 1). it was super expensive for a 3oz package, and 2). it had a sponge-y feel to it that made me think it was not sturdy enough.  However, after letting it dry for a couple of days, the light and squishy feeling actually made the hilt very comfortable to hold.  You can sand this type of clay, but it doesn't sand nearly as well as stoneclay.

After sanding, I wrapped the handle with electric tape and attached my foot-long chain to it!  Voila!

That's all for now~
Mimi