Naginata/Glaive

Discussion of custom parts made for the Castle Theme
Post Reply
User avatar
TwoTonic Knight
TwoTonic of Many Colors
Posts: 1815
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm
Location: The Lowest Pit of Megablocks

Naginata/Glaive

Post by TwoTonic Knight »

First, sorry for the iffy photo - I usually try to either light it better or shoot it during the day, but I'm just hacking (so to speak) this one out during the Lakers/Spurs halftime.

The European Glaive and the Japanese Naginata are somewhat similiar weapons - basically a curved blade on a pole, so this was killing two birds with one stone.

The usual approach is to simply stick a Katana on some kind of pole with a connecting piece. There's a variety of connectors that work, but I settled on a "technic pin 1/2" (to use the BrickLink designation). It's available in light and dark gray, but not black so far as I can tell, and it gave a firm connection at both ends. The thing about the technic pin connectors is that different styles produced wildly different results depending on the part that you are trying to connect to - the one I used here works well for the parts noted, but don't assume that it is best for a spear or umbrella stand, for example.

Forgive the unmatched colors. I simply grabbed what I had handy - the massed order is not here yet.

Image

The fig on the left is from standard unmodified pieces. A Naginata is anywhere from 6-12 feet long, the blade constituting 1-3 feet of that. Their length was usually customized for the user - women used them, too, which probably accounts for the shorter ones. So, this unmodified one falls into the long end of the scale, but the blade is really too long (it's really too long for a katana, but considering that this is one of the more accurate Lego weapons, it seems a bit picky to slight it).

Which leads into the middle fig, which uses an antenna ("bathroom plunger" style), the aforementioned technic pin, and a katana cut down so that its blade is about the same length as the standard Castles sword. This serves two functions, actually: I can always use the cut-down sword as the smaller of the two traditional Samurai swords, the wakizashi. The antenna leaves something of a bulge in the middle, but gives an otherwise pleasing proportion that I like.

The point on both a glaive and a naginata is actually more like the cutlass than a katana (both can curve more, but you can't have everything). So, taking a cue from the "Legolas" conversion done earlier, I hacked off the hand guard and this actually gives a pretty good rendition. I used a slightly shorter but less bulky wand/light sabre blade just to show how that works, but it is virtually the same length as the middle version if it is placed on the antenna piece. A Glaive is pretty much in the same range as the Naginata, 8-12 feet depending on location and era.
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/corsair/C ... ippler.jpg[/img]
User avatar
JPinoy
Knight Bannerett
Posts: 2476
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:04 pm
Location: Rockefeller Center LEGO Store
Contact:

Post by JPinoy »

I also use that for the Chinese Kwan-Dao which are used by a particular Chinese sub-faction's cavalry. But I put red 1x1 round bricks as the red plumage you find in many Chinese combat weapons.

Although the Scimitar looks more "correct" I think it looks unweidly. Maybe I'll change it from the katana to the scimitar when I get home.... :wink:

Like this....
Image
Last edited by JPinoy on Wed May 12, 2004 12:28 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Peoples_General, master of the vast LEGO armies!
[url]http://www.bricklink.com/aboutMe.asp?u=Peoples_General[/url]
Behold! The mighty armies of my ORIGIN theme!
[url]http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.c ... lesGeneral[/url]
User avatar
forester3291
Merchant
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:18 pm

Post by forester3291 »

Cool TwoTonic. I really like the last one. The First ons is pretty cool too. I just don't like the middle one because of the bulge
Space rocks.
User avatar
cracker nate
Peasant
Posts: 69
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 9:53 pm
Location: Madison, IN

weapons

Post by cracker nate »

I've been doing this for a while with unmodified katanas, and have been really happy with the results. While it does look a little long if the minifig is holding it one handed, it looks great if the fig is holding it two-handed, across the body.

While using the antenna does look a little bulky, the colored half-peg reminds me of a cord tied around the base of the blade for decoration.
User avatar
TwoTonic Knight
TwoTonic of Many Colors
Posts: 1815
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm
Location: The Lowest Pit of Megablocks

Post by TwoTonic Knight »

JPinoy wrote:I also use that for the Chinese Kwan-Dao which are used by a particular Chinese sub-faction's cavalry. But I put red 1x1 round bricks as the red plumage you find in many Chinese combat weapons.

Although the Scimitar looks more "correct" I think it looks unweidly. Maybe I'll change it from the katana to the scimitar when I get home.... :wink:
Hmmmm, well (looking at that grossly oversized scimitar on a wand)...the business end on the Kwan Dao is kinda oversized itself, so it isn't that horrible.

But looking at it, if I don't mind an overly long blade, I can trim the guards off the scimitar, and cut the back of the blade so that it is one smooth curve rather than a double-concave, and I have the more pronounced curve of some naginatas. I think purists can leave what's there, though, without trimming, and call it a naginata or Kwan Dao as they see fit. There's enough variation in European pole arms that you could toss it in there for variety.
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/corsair/C ... ippler.jpg[/img]
User avatar
TwoTonic Knight
TwoTonic of Many Colors
Posts: 1815
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm
Location: The Lowest Pit of Megablocks

Re: weapons

Post by TwoTonic Knight »

cracker nate wrote:I've been doing this for a while with unmodified katanas, and have been really happy with the results. While it does look a little long if the minifig is holding it one handed, it looks great if the fig is holding it two-handed, across the body.

While using the antenna does look a little bulky, the colored half-peg reminds me of a cord tied around the base of the blade for decoration.

I think the basic unmodified katana works. I just have to tinker with things - I sacrifice my pieces so the rest of you can decide if you want to bother. :D

But I did want some wakizashis anyway, so I have no great problem in experimenting, and I have cutlasses coming out my ears. Idunno about chopping the scimitar up yet - I don't have a lot, and they are rarer (read: more expensive). Balanced against that is that I find them useless because they are so oversized (ahhhh, I love Jeff's Little Armory versions). So the knife will probably flash once I log off.

One version I didn't show was the cut-cutlass/pin/umbrella-stand. Virtually the same length as the full katana/pin/antenna. Sometimes the best thing to do is compare the construct with the standard Lego weapons (halbard, funky multi-bladed Adventurer pole arm, spear, etc.) and see what works, regardless of how "realistic" it might look otherwise.
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/corsair/C ... ippler.jpg[/img]
User avatar
Daimyo
Squire
Posts: 682
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 11:43 pm
Location: Paragould, Arkansas

Post by Daimyo »

JPinoy wrote:I also use that for the Chinese Kwan-Dao which are used by a particular Chinese sub-faction's cavalry. But I put red 1x1 round bricks as the red plumage you find in many Chinese combat weapons.

Although the Scimitar looks more "correct" I think it looks unweidly. Maybe I'll change it from the katana to the scimitar when I get home.... :wink:

Like this....
Image
Actually, that would be a Middle ages Indian weapon, the Bhuj, or Indian Pole-Axe.
"Alright Kif, let's show these freaks what a bloated, runaway military budget can do"
User avatar
TwoTonic Knight
TwoTonic of Many Colors
Posts: 1815
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm
Location: The Lowest Pit of Megablocks

Post by TwoTonic Knight »

Daimyo wrote:
Actually, that would be a Middle ages Indian weapon, the Bhuj, or Indian Pole-Axe.
It looks similiar in some ways, but the Kwan Dao is a pole arm, and the Bhuj is a short single-handed weapon (boy, if I didn't have my Stone's Glossary for all these eastern weapons, I'd be clueless about these esoteric arguments). 8)
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/corsair/C ... ippler.jpg[/img]
User avatar
Brickboy
Steward
Posts: 536
Joined: Tue Apr 27, 2004 1:20 am
Location: Kent, Washington

Post by Brickboy »

Those weapons look great!
Alan
good times
User avatar
TwoTonic Knight
TwoTonic of Many Colors
Posts: 1815
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm
Location: The Lowest Pit of Megablocks

Post by TwoTonic Knight »

And here is the hacked up scimitar as Naginata in formation. Pity that the umbrella stand long version with cutlass is obscured, but this is really to show the former off. The blade is too long and too wide but the shape is pretty good. I can always narrow the blade further with patience - anyway, once again I have destroyed my weapons so that you don't have to! 8)

Image
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/corsair/C ... ippler.jpg[/img]
User avatar
Rubberchickenknight
Squire
Posts: 626
Joined: Sun Apr 18, 2004 8:49 am
Location: Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

Post by Rubberchickenknight »

I like them but i would never modify a scimatar or catana 'cause i only got 3 scimatars and 4 catanas
"When you are wrestling for possession of a sword, the man with the handle always wins." - Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash
User avatar
JPinoy
Knight Bannerett
Posts: 2476
Joined: Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:04 pm
Location: Rockefeller Center LEGO Store
Contact:

Post by JPinoy »

Daimyo wrote: Actually, that would be a Middle ages Indian weapon, the Bhuj, or Indian Pole-Axe.
Umm.... I typed in "Kwan Dao" in google images and that came up. Besides many forms of eastern/Asian/Asiatic weapons are similar to one another.
Peoples_General, master of the vast LEGO armies!
[url]http://www.bricklink.com/aboutMe.asp?u=Peoples_General[/url]
Behold! The mighty armies of my ORIGIN theme!
[url]http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.c ... lesGeneral[/url]
User avatar
forester3291
Merchant
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:18 pm

Post by forester3291 »

Wow TwoTonic :shock: That schimitar Kwan Dao looks great. I might ahve to go buy a bunch of schimitar off Bricklink now(I don't have any,same with katanas :cry: ). But I probably won't. You know the story. Cnat buy any legos right now....... I thought you would get the point :wink:
Space rocks.
User avatar
TwoTonic Knight
TwoTonic of Many Colors
Posts: 1815
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2003 11:33 pm
Location: The Lowest Pit of Megablocks

Post by TwoTonic Knight »

forester3291 wrote:Wow TwoTonic :shock: That schimitar Kwan Dao looks great. I might ahve to go buy a bunch of schimitar off Bricklink now(I don't have any,same with katanas :cry: ). But I probably won't. You know the story. Cnat buy any legos right now....... I thought you would get the point :wink:

An untrimmed scimitar kinda works as a Kwan Dao, but the trimmed one I show above is a Naginata - though the proportions aren't right, the shape is. From the European standpoint, I can't say that I have seen a Glaive with that much curvature in the blade, but I have seen Fauchards that are closer. Those are very similiar to a Glaive, but usually have some kind of backspike or other projection. Before I took the photo, I had left on the backside of the handguard to indicate that very thing.
Redwine the Ribald: Stare long enough into the abyss...
Two-Tonic Tippler: ...and you spit into it.

[img]http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/corsair/C ... ippler.jpg[/img]
User avatar
forester3291
Merchant
Posts: 1397
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2004 8:18 pm

Post by forester3291 »

Oh. I'm not good with anciant weaponry and all so I am kinda ignoran to that type of stuff :wink: Thanks for the correctoin :D
Space rocks.
Post Reply