Axes

[TwoTonic Knight]

Just various axes that I have carved out of existing weapons, some of which have appeared before. This is mostly to show the various things that can be done to achieve individuality and variation.



These are all from the older poleaxe/halberd, and represent fairly historical designs.

BROWN! These are brown halberds, not black. Though why people seem to think it is more horrible to cut up "untouchable" black halberds that Lego can still reproduce endlessly rather than "Old Brown" never to be made again halberds is beyond me.



The one on the right is a francisca (which inadvertently led to my warhammer). After doing this one I know the changes I have to make to get what I want, but it was close enough to give the idea.

The other three are from the newer large halberd. 2nd from left: this was simply overpowering the natural shape of the weapon to get the dipsy-doodle top shape that appeared on many medieval axes (and led to the one that appears on the brown ones further above). The 3rd from left was an attempt to work with the natural shape to get a non-historical but interesting shaped fantasy axe. The left most one was me pulling back from the overly large previous axe and get a cermonial elite guard axe but lighten it enough to look like it actually might be used.

[LEGOFREAK]

I really really like the leftmost one in the bottom pic.
You said the top pics are fairly historical? Any further details on that? are they from a specific time period, region or something? (Just asking out of curiosity. I like the shapes of them sure enough)



Freak

[TwoTonic Knight]

I really really like the leftmost one in the bottom pic.
You said the top pics are fairly historical? Any further details on that? are they from a specific time period, region or something? (Just asking out of curiosity. I like the shapes of them sure enough)



Freak

...and here I was trying not to blab on for once.

Most of them are patterned after viking axes, but the shapes spread thoughout much of europe, and some lasted through the entire period. The flairs could be pronounced, mild, symmtrical, asymmetrical, wavy topped or bottomed, narrow throated, broadly throated, bearded, and even that funky one of the extreme right. I haven't covered all the combinations of variation with these handful.

If the "bearded" term is unfamiliar, that would be axes 4-6 in the top photo. To narrow the blade and focus the impact to defeat armor, the lower blade would be shortened by a flat cut perpendicular to the blade edge.

The one you like, of course, has nothing to do with any historical axe that I know of. It was just trying to work with what was there rather than against it. The trick was to reduce its overall size, since I'm not a fan of over-sized fantasy weapons.

[footsteps]

Well, that's a fair amount of work all round. Well done.

I particularly like the centre one of the top picture. I will probably try to copy that. Currently I have more weapon types than I have companies to wield them so it may be a while before I can present pictures.

Of the second photo, the second from the left seems the most satisfying visually, though I have a feeling it took a greater amount of work to achieve. About how much time was required for each ax type?

Alan

[TwoTonic Knight]

Well, that's a fair amount of work all round. Well done.

I particularly like the centre one of the top picture. I will probably try to copy that. Currently I have more weapon types than I have companies to wield them so it may be a while before I can present pictures.

Of the second photo, the second from the left seems the most satisfying visually, though I have a feeling it took a greater amount of work to achieve. About how much time was required for each ax type?

Alan

Yes, I like the middle one the best myself - I've always been partial to the look of a bearded axe.

Straight cuts are dirt easy - I just use a set of cutters, and then make a followup slice with a knife to get rid of the compression-caused whitened area. If I'm sure of what I want, those might take all of a minute or two. Curves are trickier - usually I try and do it all with a thin knife blade and only file when absolutely necessary. Yes, the one you site as the most difficult was indeed the most difficult, but I love that dipsy-doodle shape that some medieval axes have. This take five-ten minutes mostly because I'm making shallow, controlled peels to get the curve I want. Trying to do it with one cut is not advisable.

It's the usual thing on time, though - someone else might take twice as long because they haven't built up the experience with the tools. And If I'm trying to duplicate something I've done before, it goes faster because I know what I need to do rather than consider it for a moment. But sometimes I make a more complex version to capture nuances missing earlier - my second warhammer is probably not all that visually different, but it involved more careful shaping.

[Formendacil]

These all look good, and I would say that I like how most of them turned out, but I don't see much need to do it myself. Most of my figs with axes have little or no need for individuality.

[Snoopy]

My soldiers would be ashamed to hold cut-up axes no matter how authentic they look. You do have talent though, I'll grant you that.

[Brickboy]

Snoopy wrote

My soldiers would be ashamed to hold cut-up axes no matter how authentic they look. You do have talent though, I'll grant you that.

Dont listen to him Teutonic! He hates custom jobs. Well anyways. Back to buisness. I love them! Where did you get a large black axe? Did it come in a set, or is it painted.
Alan

[Snoopy]

It comes with Lava; a Robo-Rider (dumb sets). You get 2.

[TwoTonic Knight]

Snoopy wrote

My soldiers would be ashamed to hold cut-up axes no matter how authentic they look. You do have talent though, I'll grant you that.

Dont listen to him Teutonic! He hates custom jobs. Well anyways. Back to buisness. I love them! Where did you get a large black axe? Did it come in a set, or is it painted.
Alan

Actually, those are all brown axes in the upper photo. It was just a combination of dark axes against a light table in bad light that makes them look black in the picture. The halberds also come in black and light gray, and I have a number of them, but I've been experimenting on the brown ones because that's what I have the most of in my spare weapons bin.