Flying Dragon Katana

Hey look! ANOTHER KATANA! 8D

Hahaha...yeah... Anyways, this is a katana I made for a independent study school project. I was working with a mentor on how to make props and this katana was what we decided to focus around. Unlike most of my other props, this isn't made mainly from wood. The blade and handle is aspen, but all the other little pieces are things I made in wood, molded in silicone, then cast in resin.

Since, I wanted this to be the most detailed thing I had created so far, I designed it to revolve around a theme. The theme was "A Dragon Flying Through The Sky." So, I designed the habaki, the collar piece closest to the blade, to be like a dragon head. The tsuba, the handguard, is the sky with clouds swirling around. The seppa, or spacers, were designed to add to the tsuba design by also being clouds. The Fuchi and Kashira, the two caps on the handle have a scale designed etched onto them to represent the body of the dragon. The menuki, the handle charm, is designed as a pair of wings on the body of the dragon. The wave design on the blade, with it's jagged edges, was also to represent teeth or flame.

Woo! That was long! Anyway, enjoy.

Edit: I uploaded the original sketches and plans I made for this katana here.
And I also uploaded a picture of the separate fittings before paint here.