Give the beveled edge a coat of shiny silver acrylic paint for more added realism. This will give the blade more depth, and make it look "used". Once the blade is dry, mix a small amount of silver acrylic craft paint with a small drop of black, and dry brush streaks perpendicular to the edge of the blade. Flip the blade and repeat for the other side. Give the primer at least an hour or two to dry and then spray a couple coats of silver paint.
Wait for it to dry, then flip it over and repeat for the other side. Give the blade a few good coats of brown or rust colored primer. Wrench, pliers or other tool with a blunt metal edge.Spray paint (silver and tan or light brown).Test fit the blade into the shaft and remove more material as necessary until you get a good snug fit. Then use a small chisel and rasp if necessary to clean it up. Use a jigsaw, scroll saw, coping saw, or whatever works to safely remove the material between the two holes. It may be difficult to drill the holes straight through the center using only a hand drill.
If you have access to a drill press, that would be ideal for this. Then use a ½” bit, or a bit the same size as your blade width to drill out the pilot holes. Measure and mark out where you want the blade to penetrate the shaft, then drill small pilot holes on each end and make sure they are centered. We don’t exactly want this to look like a square piece of lumber when it’s finished. I hope you didn’t put the sander away because now you are going to need it to smooth out the entire shaft. And since our Grimm Reaper actor will be 8 feet tall (on stilts), I had to splice the 2” x 2” with another to extend it an additional foot and a half. Where I live, I couldn’t find any 2” x 2” ‘s longer than 8 feet. You can make your scythe as long as you want. They might even sell it cheap, so be sure to ask for a discount. Go to your local lumber yard and select the most bowed 2” x 2” you can find.
Drill press or electric drill with 1/2" drill bit. There's no need to make it sharp, we just want to give the appearance of an edge. If you're going for realism, you will also want to sand down a bevel for the blade’s edge. Just be careful not to sand through the top layer of the plywood. Next, since we are wanting this to look like metal, use a power sander to get the blade as smooth as possible, Start with a coarse 120 grit sand paper and work your way down to a 220, and then even finer if you want. Remember, (as Norm Abrams would say) "there is no more important shop safety rule than to wear your safety glasses". Once you are happy with the shape and design, cut it out with a jigsaw, band saw or scroll saw. My blade ended up at 3-1/2 - 4 feet long, but you can really do any size or design you want, just make sure to leave the blade’s tang long enough so it can be attached to the shaft. For me, this was one of the more difficult parts of the project, but maybe that's because I'm a perfectionist. You can see from the photos, it took me a few tries before I was finally happy with the design. Use a pencil to draw the blade shape onto a scrap piece of 1/2” plywood. Electric sander with 120 and 220 grit sandpaper. They thought I was just a decoration! I tried not to scare the littlest kids but one kid about eight years old started hitting me with his candy bag yelling “You’re not real!” The best was when some too-old-to-be-trick-or-treating Jr. When trick-or-treaters turned around from getting their candy I moved and they freaked out. I stood still with my eyes and mouth closed next to our front door. I used a much longer PVC pipe for a scythe which helped me stay up on my home-made stilts. It’s nothing too elaborate but it’s quick, cheap, and easy and you’ll get lots of compliments.Īnother year I did the same costume but on stilts. Hint: applying cold cream or lotion to your face before painting helps the makeup smooth on better and it’s easier to get off later.įor the scythe I cut a sickle shape of cardboard and covered it with aluminum foil and duct-taped it to a piece of leftover PVC pipe. I used a Q-tip to blend the black and white makeup for shading. I painted teeth across my lips and tried to make the skull as realistic as possible. When they were closed they looked like empty sockets. I painted my eyelids black and even put on eyeliner (first) to completely cover my eyes. I pulled out my anatomy book to help me paint my face like a skull. A big piece of black fabric, a brooch to pin it on, some makeup and black clothes make for a great last-minute Grim reaper costume.
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