Only the most anime protagonist will be able to gather the shattered pieces of the Elden Ring
I've been sinking more hours into ELden Ring than I have any other game in recent memory and it has already inspired a couple of modeling projects that I will be working on in-between design commissions. To start things off, I decided to model this extremely beautiful Katana. While the actual process of designing the Katana represented some unique design challenges, the biggest challenge ended up being my poor computer trying to model all the individual gems on the Katana blade. It doesn't really effect the file size so no worries for anyone else trying to print it. Without further ado lets talk about the actual design decisions that went into this magical blade.
Major Features
"Build your own Katana"
This model comes with multiple options for the blades, handle and guard.
The entire blade comes out to around 5ft. If that sounds big, what do you expect, its a FromSoftware game.
For the blade, you can choose to print all the pieces with the gem included into the blade or print the blade and gem inserts separately. By printing the Gem's separately, this opens the door to some fun possibilities. The Gems can be more easily painted to be a separate color than the blade (if that's what you want), or you could even cast the gem's in resin before attaching them to the blade for that wow factor. Additionally the Gem's are sliced along more natural boundaries which will help cover up the seams on the blades when you finally assemble the blade.
Similar to the blade, the guard comes with an option to print with the Gems or without
Lastly, the handle comes with an option for both wrapped and unwrapped. This allows you to wrap you handle yourself with actual cord for that more authentic feel. There are plenty of easy, quick YouTube tutorials out there for those who are curious on how to do this. (This is why the handle without the wrap has a hole at the base, it is needed for wrapping)
Optimized for Assembly
Each piece of the katana comes with a way to fit into another piece. Additionally if that is not possible, easy to connect, oval-shaped pegs are perfectly toleranced for easy/accurate assembly. Additionally all peg cavities are coned to ensure that no extra supports are required for these internal volumes.
The foregrip utilizes a simple, friction based design, matched with built-in geometry to allow the foregrip to rest at its natural deployed angle, as well as a compact, in-line position.
Builds
I have not had the time to build this Katana myself as I am currently busy with a whole backlog of design commissions for helmets/props.
If you have a personal build and would like some recognition, go ahead and send me some pics!
What Next?
If you are looking to create you own models like this one feel free to checkout all of my tutorials on 3D modeling and prop making techniques.
If you are looking to purchase the model so that you can print your own you can find it in the store.
Lastly, make sure to check back in every once in a while to see what I've been working on
Thank you for your time