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Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Spotlight on: Foamsmith Tournament from QoH XXIV

[Editor's Note: scroll down to see photos of each entry and commentary from some of the team armorers. All photos by View Staff.]

Team Jack - Tony Quintana (Razmith)
**WINNER **

So the main aspects of the weapon can be divided into two parts, the blade and the handle.
Knowing I was making an axe, I chose to do a split pipe handle because when making an
edged weapon, edge alignment is important, and to help as a counter balance. I
wrapped the handle in leathers and used tennis grip tape.

The blade of the weapon is made of three layers of camp foam for axe blades, with pipe foam for the "sword" as well as the edges of the axe blades. The overlays are craft foam. All of the foam is
held to the core and together with DAP contact cement. After assembling the blade I
coated the blade with Plasti-dip, which is a non-latex rubber coating, and then a Rust-Oleum coat. And then a clear coat of Plasti-dip. (Do the handle wrapping after the bladed portion). 
                                                                                                                      - Tony Quintana


Double-bladed head

Overlay detail

Blade detail

Smooth edges

Wrapped split-pipe handle

Handle decorative detail


Team Saegan - Ben Greene (Sir K)


Overview of the blade

Weapon side view

Carved stag detail

Blade edge detail (plasti-dip)

Stag design mirrored on each side, meeting in back

Handle detail




Team Iste - Kevin Legace (Cronon)

My axe was made with a bamboo core. The blade was made with camp foam for shape and squishy foam for safety. The sock was a pair of black leggings. To make the leggings take the shape of the axe head I used a small amount of rubber string to tie to the base of the head and then sewed the remainder to the bottom of the squishy foam. The handle was simple rope and covered in electric tape. - Kevin Legace

Axe head with sock



Team Piper - Paul Tilton (Grindin)

Like a lot of Team Piper, the foamsmith entry came together mostly at the last minute, so I got hurried through a lot of the construction process. First off I only had the materials from a half-built 4’6”, so I knew I wouldn’t hit the 5’ mark, but as a 1-path I was infinitely okay with that aspect of the weapon’s construction. 

 Starting with a partially finished weapon posed a new issue with using Plastidip, however- it was already all taped up. When I’ve constructed plastidip weapons in the past, I’ve dapped the seam shut rather than covering it with tape as I would with a socked weapon. I decided to see how the coverage was, rather than losing part of the foam by ripping the tape off- and I was actually surprised that there really wasn’t a tremendous difference. I would suggest dapping the seam, but packing tape will apparently do in a pinch with enough layers. 

When making the axe-head, I knew that I didn’t want the majority of the hitting surface to be camp foam, so I wanted an edge of squishy foam- and that was probably the biggest learning experience. The squishy foam adhered extremely well to the camp foam with dap… and then I covered it in plasti-dip. Not only was the coverage not spectacular due to the nooks and crannies, it also turned it into sandpaper. A hint for future foamsmiths- DON’T COVER SQUISHY FOAM IN PLASTIDIP. It was the most common complaint I got on the scorecards, and I knew that it wasn’t what I wanted when I entered it, but didn’t have time to re-try. 

Some of the positive feedback that I’d like to share was the burned-in icons on the axe-head. With a little time and a woodburner (or soldering iron) you can make some amazing patterns in foam, that really can make a weapon stand out. Additionally, a few layers of different browns and then dry-brushing a lighter layer can create a quick wood-grain pattern, which the judges seemed to appreciate.
 - Paul Tilton


Axe head with burned and painted designs

Squishy foam detail, with "wood-grain" painted handle

Close-up of burned-in star on the back of the head