Latex swordmaking... step one

You will need:

To watch the video at ...http://juniorrollespil.dk/gor-det-selv/. Click on the picture that says 'Lave dit eget sværd' and the really nice guy will tell you what to do in Danish. NB if you have bought the 'starter kit' sword, you can skip the first of the three videos.
We'll explain with captions under our photos below, but the most important things he says are:
1. Precision is not too important. What's important is that you're making a sword.
2. Don't use latex indoors unless you have a ventilation system or stand under an open window.
3. Wear old clothes.
4. Silicone spray (at the very end) makes swords watertight. It has the same effect on your lungs if you breathe it in!

You will also need:

• rubber gloves - not latext or they'll melt.
• an adult
• a utility/hobby knife - be careful!
• a readymade sword shaft - unless you make your own as shown in a previous post
• latex with a low amonia content
• black cotton material
• newspaper to cover the table. The Danish guy says the latext peels off the table afterwards but better safe than sorry
• acrylic paint if you want a colourful sword 20% paint mixed with 80% latex
• plastic cups for the latex

Now take a deep breath (before you get anywhere near opening the latex) and here we go... 

The photos below will take you through to the part where you cover the sword in fabric. That was as far as we got then suddenly it was time to leave for a guitar concert featuring the lead guitarist of Fuld Effekt :o).

First lay the sword flat on the table and draw a line where you want
to cut the point. 

Now turn the blade on its side and cut the corner off to form a point.

Like this.

Mind your fingers and ALWAYS CUT DOWN onto an old surface
like our garden table, or CUT AWAY FROM YOU.

This design is not meant to be symmetrical.

Here we are cutting grooves down near the handle, which you
can see poking out of the foam (bottom left).

We had trouble getting a clean cut and resorted to a kitchen knife.
Professionals use a kind of electric saw or mini sander like a dentist has
but we reckon that when it's all covered in  material, the saw marks
won't be too visible. Otherwise we'll paint them to look like a feature.

We sliced away all the square edges at an angle...

...cutting chunks out to give an interesting pattern. Wonder how we'll cover those in fabric...

Then we got to the part where we were going to start cutting out
the material to fit...

...and that's when we ran out of time...

The concert was good though.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Make your own sword...with duct tape

Follow our step-by-step instructions and design your very own sword. 

You will need:

A sleeping mat (liggeunderlag in Danish), some double-sided tape, some duct tape (Gaffa tape - black and grey), a stick or thin plastic tube like we used about 80 cm long,  scissors, 4 sheets of A4 paper, a marker pen and at least a couple of hours until bedtime.

Instructions

Tape the three sheets of A4 paper together.

This is the blade. To get it symmetrical, fold the paper in half lengthways
and draw a line like ours (but a little bit more pointy on the right hand side)

This is the top of the handle (probably has a posh name but I'll edit that in later ;o).
Fold the last sheet of paper in half  and draw a shape like ours. The shape above is quite simple. 

Cut out the handle top and blade.

They fit together like this. We got carried away, as you'll see above, and
added spikey bits but they were hard to cover in tape. Simple shapes are easier. 

Place the shapes (templates) on the mat and draw round them.
It's easier if one person holds the template still and the other draws round it. 

You will need three blades.

Five handle tops and four blobby handle ends (good technical term there ;o).
Yes, there are only three in the picture. Well spotted. 

Put the stick on one of the blades. Making sure to leave room at the tip, draw around it
and then cut out the strip from the middle so the stick lies flush inside the blade.

Tape it in place. 

Cut the stick so that enough of a handle is poking out of the end.

Wrap the end of the stick in tape to stop it eating its way through the finished sword.

It's a good idea to fix the outer blades onto the middle blade using
double-sided sticky tape or  contact glue at this point.

We didn't know that and just duct-taped our three blades together at intervals.

This is the handle (right) and the three blobby end bits.

Wrap the handle round the stick and tape it tight

First in silver and then in black for contrast.

Take the five handle-top moustache shaped bits. Cut a section out of one of them
that is the width of the stick (like we did with the middle blade). And then tape them
around the stick at the base of the blade. 

Use enough tape so it stays put and won't whizzzz off when you swing it round your head
in the heat of battle and chop off an orc's ear. But not so much that you lose the nice contours. 

Cut a stick-width section out of  two of the blobby handle ends
and tape all four of them onto the end of the stick to complete the handle.

One long strip from tip to handle top.

And then one strip down each side. Cut 'feathering' to where the edge of the blade
comes so that the tape follows the curve of the blade edge without rucking up.
Now the other side.

Add black tape details or draw lines and runes on your sword
with a black marker pen. Then challenge your friends to battle!

See also...make a sword with latex

Fun in the forest...junior roleplaying ground rules

Boys and girls, beginners and seasoned warriors are all very welcome, with parents watching from a safe distance, joining in or dropping off at 11 am and collecting at 3:30 pm – on alternate Saturdays in Rude Skov (yes really) north of Copenhagen or alternate Sundays in Fælledparken, Copenhagen. Don’t worry if you don’t speak Danish as the natives are exceptionally friendly and speak English. You can borrow costumes and weapons free once you’ve paid your 100 kr admittance - well worth it for hours of fun. Check http://juniorrollespil.dk for dates, contact details and blue links to photos of where to meet. It may be cancelled in really bad weather. 


Practical advice

1. Roleplaying is mainly for kids aged about 8-13.

2. Parents are welcome i.e. get painted up like an orc and join  in (gently). 

3. Put full names and telephone numbers on any weapons etc.

4. Put a contact telephone on your kid in case they need to contact you.

5. Stuff is the owner’s responsibility. Give your kid a bag to keep stuff in. If you lose stuff, ask an adult but it’s better to look after it, check near the leaders’ car or not bring more than you can keep track of in the first place.

6. Bring a packed lunch and enough to DRINK. Puffing about in a forest in full armour is thirsty work.

7. If you arrive with weapons, they will be checked. So don’t be surprised if swords with broken tips are set aside and you are given a safer weapon  instead.

Ground rules

Each player has two Hit Points to start with. Wearing nice armour will get you up to three extra Hit Points, as decided by the organisers when you arrive at the game.

If you get hit by a weapon, you lose one Hit Point. When you have no Hit Points left, you MUST fall down and play dead.

1. NEVER hit a player on the head or in the groin area (family jewels, soft bits or whatever you want to call them). If this happens by accident, give him/her space to recover, say sorry and be nice to them.

2. NEVER tell another player "You have been hit." The adults are the only ones who can tell people that they have been hit.

3. NEVER complain during the game. All whining must be done after the game.

4. NEVER run away from the game and hide. Keep within sight of your team leader at all times if at all possible. (That’s a rule I’ve added, Helen ;o)

Roleplayers play for fun and it's all about having a good day together. So play nicely!

Death

If you lose all your Hit Points in combat, you MUST fall down and remain “dead” until the match is over. Then stand up, put one hand on your head to show that you are out of the game and go to your team leader. When the team is assembled, the team leader will make sure everyone gets revived. So, the smartest option is to stay close to your team leader.

Game objects

Because people bring treasured personal items, you can only take the following items from other players if you defeat them or trade with them:

- Banners

- Play Money (distributed by team officials before the game starts).

- Magical objects (the magical items and their effects will be presented before the games begin – they also give extra Hit Points).

Remember: All other things (e.g. Weapons) are personal property.

Remember: To deliver ALL game items after the game!

Search

You can search a person who is lying down injured. Pretend that you are examining him while HE counts to 30. When he has finished counting, he will give you all his game items. You can still get killed while searching, so do not do it during battle!

Magic

The game takes place in the magical world of Jarkwelt, where some have chosen to master magic powers instead of swords. If you want to play as a magician, talk to one of the adults before we get started. Sorcerers have only one Hit Point, but they have a magic bullet that only they can touch. Touching others with it means the opponent loses a point. Wizards can throw their magic bullets. If the wizard has a wand, he can hold it in front of him/her with both hands and by standing still can remain invulnerable and cannot be harmed. If a magician points a wand at you and says "Stand" (Sounds like ‘Stow’ or ‘Stow stiller’ in Danish) – you mustn’t move your feet for as long as he/she is pointing at you. You can move your arms.

Off game

If you have to retreat from the game for a while, put one hand on your head. Players with their hands on their head are not in the game. You cannot attack them.

Adults

There are quite a few adults with the Junior Role Playing Games. They are there to ensure that the kids have fun and to answer questions. So if you have questions, ask them. The adults also have roles in the game, but you can never be entirely sure that they only have two Hit Points.

E is for...

I guess if your little ones like elephants, they might like another poem for bedtime from the Teddies' ABC

E is for Elsie, who's so elegant
Riding up high on a cute elephant
Look, Aunty Em. Hey what do you know...
I can twiddle and twirl on just one tippy toe!
Wise Aunty Em thinks the tricks are too risky
But Elsie just laughs - she loves being frisky.
She's been lucky so far, to tell you the truth.
But I'm sure before long she'll have chipped a front tooth!

Watch Copenhagen Zoo's baby elephant grow up...

CLICK HERE and then scroll down to see the cute baby elephant on video

Photo: Frank Rønsholt

If you can't get to Copenhagen Zoo, don't worry. You can still watch the baby elephant grow up by following this link.

A day at the Zoo

Here's the cutest baby elephant I've ever seen.

Can you see him in this picture hiding behind his mum?

Here's a clever sea lion taking his ball back to the zookeeper.

Up on his nose...

...and he gets a tasty fish.  You can't see it, because it's already in his tummy.

These mummy monkeys had a smart way of keeping their babies out of mischief.
They hung on to their tails as they combed through their fur to find interesting nits and pieces.

This little monkey has got a home really. But he learned a
lot  from reading the displays in the monkey house. 

And here's our happy sea lion at the end of the day,
bathing  in the sunshine with his mates.

Happy Easter Monday...

Happy Easter from Samson!

Naughty Carlos likes to sit up on the roof. When we arrived, he surfed down to meet
us on a cushion of loose reeds poking out from under the window, and accompanied us on our trip round.

Here's Henny the rather shy chicken. Not many chickens  are as old as her (10)
 - or have such fluffy petticoats to keep out the cold.

This little lamb has a curly coat like Watson the dog. 

Real cowboys!

"When's the better weather coming?"

And this is what the farm looks like in summer.

Smidstrup Farmen, Jydebjergvej 32, Smidstrup, Gilleleje; tickets 90kr, children 60kr, under-2s free adm;
+45 2126 6699; www.smidstrup-farmen.dk