Gogo Progress: Tanto

Despite the massive amount of screenglare today, I ventured outside to pick up a new roll of worbla from the awesome guys at Tap Plastics! Seriously, if you're in the area, I highly recommend swinging by. They're friendly, supportive and really helpful.
Ran past Lowes on the way home to pick up a few more supplies and then got to work on the scabbard and haft of Gogo's tanto.
I fitted a thin sheet of EVA foam around the tanto blade I'd already made (see the blog post titled New Project = New Pictures) and cut it so it would fit snugly. Then I used contact cement to fuse the seams of the foam sheet and slid the blade in to make sure it would fit.

I traced the bottom of the foam sheath on a smaller piece of EVA, cut it out and glued it to the end to create a cap. My cutting skills are far from perfect, so I sanded it down a bit with some 80 and then 320 grit sandpaper.

Using the same process as fitting the foam to the blade, I coated the EVA with worbla and then trimmed it and lightly pressed down the seam. I haven't read much about sanding down worbla before it's been primed. This, I assume, is mostly because worbla is heat-reactive and sanding=friction=heat. That could end up a pretty gooey mess. But I tried it anyway, starting with 40 grit and working my way back up to 320. It looks a little chalky in the photo, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked out. It really smoothed out the seam! Please ignore the random styrofoam ball in the picture. I was experimenting.

 

After the seam was sanded down to my satisfaction, I took some extra worbla scraps (as always, SAVE ALL THE WORBLA!) and molded the kurigata (sheath's loop-thing) and pressed it onto the scabbard. While it was cooling, I cut out a rough piece of EVA foam for the tsuba (handguard) and fitted it haphazardly onto the handle of the blade. I also elongated the handle a little with another square of worbla-coated wood after I realized it looked a little too short.

I'm guessing anyone looking at step-by-step cosplay progress will have come across many more well-known cosplayers and their instructions for how to sandwich foam and worbla, but I'll put it down here on the off chance anyway.
Two pieces of worbla, both glossy side up. Foam in between. Heat them up, line them up, sandwich the foam, cut the worbla where you want the piece to end, and use a needle to puncture any air bubbles. If you do get air bubbles, press them from the outside of the bubble in toward the needle-hole.

Ta da!