Introduction: Skyrim Chillrend Prop Sword Made of Epoxy Resin

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About: Project Manager by day, Maker by Night. Based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I make things based on the Geeky things I like.

This project combines our last few, creating a cast out of a 3d print and epoxy resin. Chillrend the unique sword from Skyrim is the first entry to our armory.

For all our other projects, Check out our latest Instructables or head over to our youtube channel!

Supplies

Amazon Affiliate Links to tools used in this build. Using these links don't cost you any extra, they just help us feed the cats and leave the lights on:

Step 1: Pull the 3d Model From the Game

  • Open bae, then navigate to your Skyrim installation folder.
    • Drag and drop the file "Skyrim - Meshes1.bsa" to the bae window.
    • Select and extract only "glassswordchillrend.nif"

Step 2: Alter the 3D Model for Printing

  • Download the program NifSkope, it's another commonly used free modding program.
  • Export to a .obj
    • Run NifSkope and open the file you just extracted glassswordchillrend.nif
    • Orient the sword so you can see the sheath, we need to remove that.
    • Right Click on the sheath hover over "Block" and then click "Remove", the sheath will be removed.
    • Click on file, hover over "Export" and click on "Export.obj", click ok to the popup and then save the .obj.
  • Size and convert to .stl
    • Open the .obj in a 3D file editor, it can be as simple a program as the windows built-in 3D Builder.
    • Size the model to the size you want, we made ours 36 inches (~92 cm) long.
    • The model is thin so increasing the z-axis will be necessary, we increased ours by 165%.
    • Save as a .stl file.

Step 3: Make the File Something That Can Fit on the Printer

  • Using the same program chop the file up into pieces that will fit your printer, for us on the Creality CR-10 we only needed to cut the model into 4 pieces but printers with smaller print beds may need smaller pieces.
  • To assist in assembly you can add registration keys, we did this by adding a triangle shape to one side of the piece and subtracting the same shape from the joining side on the other piece.
  • If you add a registration key make sure to increase the subtracted shape size by 5%-7% as this will account for dimensional inaccuracy in the print.

Step 4: Print the Files

On the CR-10 we printed using the default PLA Normal setting on Cura with a cubic infill.

  • Of course, different printers may need different settings but the main thing is to keep the print strong.
  • We don’t have to print with extremely high detail as we will be filling in the layer lines with other methods later.

Step 5: Sand, Gloop, and Sand the Model

  • Using 120 grit sandpaper, lightly sand the rough 3d prints.
  • While wearing a mask, use 3M AcrylaGreen Spot Putty and some Rubber Gloves to apply the spot putty.
    • This spot putty does magic to remove the 3d print layer lines from the model.
  • After waiting an hour, and while wearing your mask still, use a 240 grit piece of sandpaper and smooth out the 3M acrylagreen Spot Putty

Step 6: Glue Together and Prime

  • Glue the model together with super glue
    • We needed to cut down the registration keys a bit to make the pieces fit properly. This can be avoided by increasing the subtracted key shape on the model before printing.
  • Go to a well-ventilated area and spray the model with Filler primer Spray paint
  • Sand down any additional areas as needed after prime has dried

Step 7: Attached the Blade Details to the Sword Model

The 3d models did not include the texture on the sword so we laser cut out a thin acrylic piece and attached it to the model of the sword.

  • We used reference images online to just trace out the pattern.
  • You will need to come back after with carving tools to make this look more 'game accurate'.
  • If we were better with 3d modeling software, we would have embedded this piece into the model itself.

Step 8: Hot Glue the Model Into a Mold Form

  • Make a rough mold for the model to be glued into. We used two layers of XPS 1” foam from Lowes.
    • Trace a rough shape of the sword on the foam and cut it with a hot wire cutter.
    • Apply Tape to the seams so molding doesn't leak through the layers.
  • After the two mold pieces were cut, hot glue them down to a board and hot glued down the sword.

Step 9: Mix and Pour the Silicone Mold Over the Model

Using three trial size packages of Oomoo 30 and while wearing gloves, mix and pour over the sword model following the package directions.

  • If you have access to a full-size version of Oomoo, that would be more ideal. On Amazon, for roughly the same costs, I could get next day shipping on the trial size containers rather than waiting over a week from a vendor for the larger size.

Step 10: Remove the 3d Print and Paint in the Pigment Powder (Note Why Our Hilt Looks Different Due to the Pigment Powder)

  • After waiting for the silicone to cure, remove the mold from the form and clean up any loose bits. An xacto knife works well to remove and loose silicone and alcohol cleans up the mold.
  • From the photos, you will see pigment powder in the mold on the hilt.
    • This can be done by just brushing on pigment powder. I used a mixture of Gold, Black and Green powders to get a more rustic gold.
    • If you have to do any sanding after the fact, extra paint will need to be applied,
  • Pour the resin and repeat
    • Using Epoxy Resin, and following the mixing directions on the container, mix dark blue Pigment Powder and blue Alcohol Ink.
      • Go easy with the colors as you want the sword to be transparent.
        • Too much pigment powder can darken the mold.
    • If we would make this again we would use Clear Smooth-On 325 as it cures much faster and would stay much stiffer.

Step 11: Clean Up the Model

  • Using a xacto blade, clean up any over pour on the model
  • Using the original silicone mold as a straightening guide, UV resin the pieces together.
    • The UV resin acts as a transparent glue and cures in 15 minutes if put out in the sun.

Step 12: Trace the Carving Details and Start Carving

  • Using a rotary tool and various carving bits carve the detail into the hilt, pommel and blade.
    • We used Diamond Burr Bits from Amazon, nothing special.
  • Go slow and steady with a reference image close by. Don’t be afraid to swap bits frequently to get the best carving.

Step 13: Sand Through the Grits and Polish

  • Use Wet Dry sandpaper to polish the piece.
    • 600 grit sandpaper is a good place to start, work up to 1500 grit then switch to Novus 3-2-1 plastic polish.
  • A smooth finish is all we are looking for at this point, don’t try to get a glossy clear finish yet.

Step 14: Mask and Paint the Hilt

  • Mask the carved hilt section, the blade near the hilt and the pommel.
  • Paint the hilt and handle the same color with metallic model paints.
    • A good color was created by mixing mainly Vallejo Gold with some Vallejo silver and a bit of black and green paint.
  • Drybrush Vallejo silver paint to add highlights.
  • After the paint is dry apply a dark wash to the painted sections, this will bring out dimensionality and detail, also add realism. We used an Army Painter Dark tone wash for this.
  • After the wash is dry, spray on a clear finish to give a protective coat.
    • Any Clear Glossy acrylic spray paint will do.

Step 15: Remove the Mask and Apply UV Resin to the Entire Model

  • Apply UV resin to the carved hilt section, the carved pommel section, and the blade. This UV resin addition add all the shine to the piece.
  • Only apply as much as is needed to keep the area “wet”.
    • You do not want to flood the sword with resin and change the shape nor do we want to stretch the resin so that it pulls and creates uneven texture.

Step 16: Laser Engrave the Sign and 3D Print the Wall Mount

  • 3d Print the wall mount from the provided file.
    • The mount is a structural piece so we want to give it 2-3 shells and 15%+ infill.
    • Also, print this at a higher quality as we won't do nearly as much post-processing.
    • Use the filler primer to prime the piece.
    • Paint with Rustoleum hammered silver(get actual paint name) or something similar.
  • Laser Engrave the sign.
    • Spray paint the board to be engraved black.
    • Once dry mask the board with masking tape.
    • Engrave the stats sign from the file provided.
    • Before removing the mask, paint the engraved words and border white.
    • Remove the mask and cleanup any bleed-through, Black paint markers work very well for this.
    • Spray the sign with an acrylic spray paint topcoat.
  • Glue the stats sign to the 3d print in the area designated for the board to go.

Attachments

Step 17: Mount to the Wall

  • We went a bit overkill and used toggle bolts to attach this to a wall because we weren’t near a stud.
    • If you can find a stud standard wood screws will work.
  • If you don’t want to screw into a wall, a few heavy-duty 3M stickies should do the trick.

In total, this project takes honestly around 3 weeks of work. In the end, you get one heck of a showpiece though. it's chunky and beautiful. We love it and are going to use it as a prop sword going forward.

Have fun and go make something awesome!

Nicole C. - WhenGeeksCraft

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