Post 9 pt. b

Post 9 - Red Iron Blade pt.2 - Prototyping b.)

Because of the days in between my processes, for the sake of organization, I decided to split this blog post into two parts. The following is my continuation:

It took a lot of thought to figure out what steps to take from here. I was stuck, rearranging my pieces and trying just about every angle I could think of to join the gap with no fruition.

It was not until I was sat down, examining my shape with a cup of tea, that I thought to myself: "This really just needs that one little piece of material."

And then it hit me.

"What if it did not need to be connected at all? What if I just added that one piece separately?"

This was the first step to solving my problems. A separate piece of paper that I would join with the rest of the shape. I simply took the previous, overlapping back edges, and made them into their own blueprint.

The separate piece resulted in a big success and later became a major turning point in my process. 

Just like the back piece, I now recognized that I can separate my shapes into pieces which through proper craft will produce sleeker, more symmetrical parts with a uniform whole.

The base of my Blade

Second part of the Blade

Third part of the Blade

Fourth Part of my Blade.

After finally figuring out my folding technique, I once again went on to prototyping my figures. 

I recreated each part of my sword carefully and this time, the folding worked. 

One by one, I continued figuring out my folding with each one of the shapes. It worked perfectly. Everything was in order and I was happy with the results.

To overcome my issue with weakness and stray away from using tape, I purchased some Gorilla Glue which enabled me to put my pieces of cardstock together without trouble. The only issue was the slight marks it left here and there, which turned out to be a pro rather than a con! I thought that the stains from the glue gave the sword a little bit of the 'used' look that I actually ended up really liking. I decided that I would allow them to remain in my final if they came to appear.

One by one, my pieces started coming together. Thanks to the boolean difference I used to create fitting space for my parts, my shapes fit together almost perfectly in their designed areas, which would make their combiation easy and straightforward.

Moreover, the back pieces also did their job quite spectacularly. They were able to close the nasty back gaps perfectly and with no trouble added. I was very happy and proud of those results. 

Last but not least, I developed the hilt which came quite easily. All I had to do was unroll the cylinder shape which I will later wrap around in dark-colored paper to create a cloth-like illusion.

Overall, I was quite proud of the progress that I have made this time around. It was a big step forward that prepared me for the finalization of my piece. I am very excited about what is to come, and the appearance of my project in the right color.