How to Make a Sword in Blender

The finished sword.

Modeling in Blender is very easy, once you figure out the basics. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to create a low-poly sword, of a quality good enough to use in a video game.

Things You'll Need

• Blender (download at http://www.blender.org/)
• A three-button mouse
• An image of a sword (I'm using the one at http://www.a2armory.com/quandarsetme.html)

Instructions

1. 

   Open the Blender program. If you've never used it before, you may find the interface intimidating. Read through the Blender Quickstart guide to get up to speed (found at http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Reference/QuickStart).

2. 

   Add your image to the background of the 3D window, for reference. Click 'View' on the header at the bottom of the 3D window, and select 'Background Image...' from the menu. Click 'Use', and then 'Load', and select your reference image in the file browser. Adjust the size and offset so that the sword is centered and about 8 blenderunits tall.

3. 

   Right click on the cube to select it, if it isn't already selected, and press Tab to enter edit mode. Press 'B' to use the loop select tool, and highlight the uppermost edge of the cube. Drag on the arrows of the move widget to stretch the edge to line up with the end of the sword. Do the same with the other sides of the cube to stretch it to the approximate dimensions of the sword (press '1' on the numeric keypad to see the side of the cube and adjust the vertical dimensions).

4. 

   Switch to edge select mode (Ctrl-Tab-2). Loop-select the long edges, press the 'W' key to bring up the Specials panel, and click 'Subdivide'. Press 'A' to deselect all edges, select the newly-created edges in the middle of the cube, and drag them to a point on the sword where the shape changes---the crossbar, the taper of the blade, etc. Repeat this step until there is a horizontal line at each such point along the sword.

5. 

   Select each of horizontal edges, one loop at a time, and scale them to match the size of the sword at that point, by pressing 'S' and dragging. Clicking the middle mouse button will constrain the motion to a single axis. Once you've got an edge to the length you want, left-click to set it. Scale the tip of the sword down to a single point (hold down Ctrl for greater accuracy), press 'W' again, and choose 'Remove Doubles' to get rid of unnecessary vertices.

6. 

   Now extrude the crosspiece. Switch to side view ('3' on the keypad) and select the entire cube-shaped area where the crosspiece will be. Press 'E', and then left-click without moving the mouse. This duplicates all the vertices selected. Immediately press 'S' and click-drag the middle mouse button to only scale vertically. Stretch the box until it is as thick as you want the crosspiece to be. Switch back to top-view (keypad '7'). Select only the right side of the future crosspiece. Press 'E', then 'S', and constrain scaling to the horizontal plane, extending the right quillion to its full length. Repeat for the left side. Adjust vertices as desired, to get quillions that bend forward or back.

7. 

   Select all the horizontal edges of the main body of the sword (not the quillions), and subdivide them. Select the edges of the blade, switch to front view, and shrink them to form a sharp-edged blade. Shrink the edges of the handle to make it more rounded. Taper other edges as desired.

8. 

   Press 'Ctrl-W' to save your sword. Press 'F12' and render the finished work!

References

• Download Blender
• Sword Image
• Blender Quickstart