After about two years of letting this project sit and evolve, I finally found the motivation (thanks, Halloween) to finish it once and for all. This is a trophy of arms composed of two Colossal Greatswords and the Erdtree Greatshield from Elden Ring. I started by 3D-modeling, printing, and assembling a single sword. I then asked this community whether the scale was correct and whether it would be frowned upon to bring to the Ren faire. The overwhelming and obvious answer to the latter was “yes, it’s too big to bring anywhere, numbskull.” I took that feedback and made a smaller iteration, which I have yet to finish, but I decided to complete the larger (true-scale) version and hang it on the wall. My front room has tall walls, though, and a lone sword would look rather plain, so I went for a trophy/coat-of-arms display. Swords I modeled the swords myself in SolidWorks. With some reference photos, they came out to 10 ft long. Once I committed to the trophy display, I modeled the second sword as a mounting point to the base, with the first sword nesting into it so the display wouldn’t stand off the wall by a ridiculous amount - also allowing me to remove it for photo-ops. Printing: 3 walls at 5% infill. Each sword took about 10-12 kg of filament, which was a good excuse to purge old spools. Structure: Reinforced with aluminum tubing, with the seams plastic-welded. Surface prep: After a few rounds of Bondo and sanding, I dabbed the entire surface with Liquitex modeling paste using a sponge, then sanded the high points down to create a rusty, pitted texture. Paint: Filler primer, a coat of gloss black, then a light coat of Behr Soft Iron spray paint. I had intended to use graphite powder, but the paint did a much better job than expected. Weathering: After a clear coat, I brushed on a rust-like mix (burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and black) to fill the pitted sections. Edges: I took a belt sander to the edges for a fresh hone. This gave a good ground edge and pushed material up to create a clean partition between the bright metal and the aged, rusted surface. I hit that edge with silver Rub ‘n Buff, then lightly buffed most of the other exposed edges with the residue. Finish: Another coat of clear, then roughed-up 1" straps and hot-glued into place. Shield I bought this model from TheSTLSmith, since organic modeling isn’t my strong suit. I scaled it to 4 ft in diameter, then cut and keyed it in Solidworks (after a couple of hours waiting for the import, it was easy to handle). I also sliced the handle off and added threaded heat-insert holes, both for mounting to the assembly and so the handle can be reattached if desired. FYI, I also ended up redoing the shield as I did not use keys for the original assembly and the seams were horrendous (you can see in the unfinished photo). Smoothing: UV-curing resin did the bulk of the work, then a large soft pad on a random orbital sander knocked down the high points. Color: After filler primer, I tested a range of golds and brasses and settled on Behr gloss gold. I loved the antique brass, but it didn’t represent the game’s aesthetic well, so I had to coat over a full layer of it. Aging: A black and brown wash. I tried Rub ‘n Buff highlights but couldn’t find a tone I liked, so I scrapped that idea. Finish: Satin clear coat. Wall Mount The mount is made from three 48"x48" sheets of 3/4" plywood. One was CNC’d to mount and route the electronics and to hold the standoffs for the shield. The other two were CNC’d for weight reduction and sword mounting locations. I laminated them together and edgebanded the result, then dyed the exposed faces with India ink and sanded to bring out the grain. For lighting, I mounted a Govee light strip for backlighting. The panel is recessed 1" to hide it. I then ran flexible metal conduit up to the mounting location to power the lights (to our local and NEC code, before you go asking). Install Mounting went perfectly according to plan. I owe my brother a lot of gratitude for helping me get everything on the wall. Now I just have to patch up the drywall. My wife thinks it looks way better than I described it early on, and I find that both I and our guests will stand in the front room staring at it for minutes at a time.   submitted by   /u/dethaniel [link]   [comments]