Forged Against the Dark
The Greatsword of Artorias is the iconic symbol of the legendary Knight Artorias, the Abysswalker, champion of Gwyn. With his loyal companion Sif, the so-called Wolf Knight led the campaign against the Dark with this mighty sword, imbued with the divine light of Anor Londo to repel the creatures of the Abyss. This powerful weapon requires both immense strength and dexterity and uniquely, an unshakeable faith and the cunning of the wolf.
Despite his many victories, this ancient hero fell to the Dark and was defeated in the land of Oolacile. In this age, the legendary Greatsword of Artorias marks the hero’s grave and is wielded by the Great Grey Wolf in defense against trespassers. Until now.
I decided it was time to cash in the Soul of Sif in early 2019, and reforge the epic blade and ruined armor of Knight Artorias.
“My advice true, forget this! The legend of Artorias art none but a fabrication…”
– Alvina of the Darkroot Wood
Making the Greatsword of Artorias
The sword is cast using two box molds: one for the hilt, another for the blade. My goal was to make the Greatsword of Artorias as true to in game proportions as possible which meant careful planning for storage and safe travel.
The master positive of the hilt consists of PVC pipe, XPS foam, Apoxie Sculpt, and Paperclay. Before assembling the final positive, I created two other molds, one for the cross guard, and one for the hilt’s face plate. The mold for the hilt requires three pieces in order to keep a hollow center for the sword to slide into. The blade was carved using XPS foam, and a third mold was used to duplicate the details on the blade.
The final box molds took nearly three gallons of MoldMax 29NV to create and positives are cast with Epoxacoat Gray hand-brushed in to each mold and backed with fiberglass cloth for stability. The finished Greatsword of Artorias measures 65 inches (1.65 meters) long, and weighs less than 5 pounds (2.2kg). A limited run of cast copies are now available on my Etsy shop.
