Is this even possible?

D

Danny1118

Joined
Jan 19, 2016
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Hey everyone I'm new here and this might be somewhat nerdy and/or childish but it's something that I have been wondering for a long time. In the video game Devil May Cry, Vergil wields a katana. What's special about this katana appearance-wise is how the hilt looks and I have been looking and wondering for years if this is even a wrap style and if it's even possible to do. I'll put up a photo for reference.

[video]http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/e/e9/Yamato_DMC4.png/revision/latest?cb=20150508044746[/video]
 
That is one teeny, tiny picture. Nothing wrong with being nerdy, but there are tons of anime swords all over the net and they are 99.9% junk. The ones that aren't are expensive custom one-offs or are really close to an actual sword and only need slight modification. But a bigger picture is going to be required if you want opinions worth anything.
 
I dug around the Webbernetz and did not quickly find a shot from the game that showed the wrap clearly enough to be sure what's going on, but it is not the standard style of wrap. But, I've seen some paracord braiding patterns that look similar, so it should be do-able. I have no idea what that type of braid is called, but if you do some digging you should be able to turn it up.

All of the sword-like-objects for sale based on the video game sword that I've seen have the more standard tsuka-ito.
 
I suspect the wrap on that sword (as best I can tell from the pic) is more likely related to the fact that tsuka-ito is not easy to draw, and would be even harder to render in a moving digital format. I've never seen one with anything but a synthetic traditional wrap.
 
I'm not sure what happened to the picture but if any of you want to see it the sword is called Yamato. So just search "Devil May Cry Yamato" in Google Images and you should find a better picture. Unless this picture works.

tz47wd8.jpg
 
from that picture, it looks like it's the sewing seam of the single piece of leather or ray skin that's wrapped around the handle.
 
Ed E said:
from that picture, it looks like it's the sewing seam of the single piece of leather or ray skin that's wrapped around the handle.
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From what I've seen the black is the ray skin and the white is the wrapping on top of it.
 
Looks to me like there's got to be holes drilled through the handle that the cord wrap goes through. Since it doesn't touch, I'd guess there's no way to do that otherwise. But if there's a skeletonized tang, that could probably be duplicated.
 
crimsonfalcon07 said:
Looks to me like there's got to be holes drilled through the handle that the cord wrap goes through. Since it doesn't touch, I'd guess there's no way to do that otherwise. But if there's a skeletonized tang, that could probably be duplicated.
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What is a skeletonized tang? I've never heard of that before.
 
Possible? Yes, probably. Functional? I highly doubt it. It doesn't appear to be the common cotton or traditional silk, like someone else mentioned it looks like leather. If you were even able to get something similar with leather wrapping I doubt it would hold up to any use. Only thing I can think of to actually get the handle to resemble such a wrapping is to have it made of injection molded plastic or just as rigid but even that would be murder on the hands.

You have to understand most weapons you see in anime and movies would not be functional in the real world and would at best be regulated to something you hang on your wall to look at. These weapons choose fashion over function and usually don't take things such as engineering and physics into account so usually no real swordsman would use one in their right mind.

Skeletonized tang mean sections of the full tang are cut out, google becker tang for a better description.
 
Aleous said:
Possible? Yes, probably. Functional? I highly doubt it. It doesn't appear to be the common cotton or traditional silk, like someone else mentioned it looks like leather. If you were even able to get something similar with leather wrapping I doubt it would hold up to any use. Only thing I can think of to actually get the handle to resemble such a wrapping is to have it made of injection molded plastic or just as rigid but even that would be murder on the hands.

You have to understand most weapons you see in anime and movies would not be functional in the real world and would at best be regulated to something you hang on your wall to look at. These weapons choose fashion over function and usually don't take things such as engineering and physics into account so usually no real swordsman would use one in their right mind.

Skeletonized tang mean sections of the full tang are cut out, google becker tang for a better description.
Click to expand...

Well I only wanted to know if there was any style of wrapping that resembled that and the guy who wields it, Vergil, does wear gloves so there's that and yeah I figured most weapons in anime, movies and video games would never be functional in the real world.
 
Admittedly, it's a pretty thing. I wouldn't think this would be terribly impossible if a custom three piece wrap were used.You'd need two black center pieces, with holes cut slightly offset, and the white cotton or silk wrap cord. You'd start at the bottom (kinda like tightening shoelaces) and work your way up. It's not impossible, although it would be "custom work" and that means money. I think if done properly it would be perfectly functional. You'd have to figure the tsuka would need reconfigured as well so the entire handle isn't oversized. I doubt ray skin would have the holding power needed to keep it together, so the two black center sections would need to be of a stronger material.

It's sorta like a chinese finger trap.
 
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kaotikross said:
Admittedly, it's a pretty thing. I wouldn't think this would be terribly impossible if a custom three piece wrap were used.You'd need two black center pieces, with holes cut slightly offset, and the white cotton or silk wrap cord. You'd start at the bottom (kinda like tightening shoelaces) and work your way up. It's not impossible, although it would be "custom work" and that means money. I think if done properly it would be perfectly functional. You'd have to figure the tsuka would need reconfigured as well so the entire handle isn't oversized. I doubt ray skin would have the holding power needed to keep it together, so the two black center sections would need to be of a stronger material.

It's sorta like a chinese finger trap.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. By the way, I'm going to ask it here to avoid making a whole new thread. Anyone know where I can find an unsharpened practice katana?
 
Funny, I had plans to do that wrap for a hilt on a project on another forum at the end of last year. I was going to use the method Kaoticross mentioned. It's the only way to do it without drilling holes everywhere. To address the stability issue I was going to soak the finished hilt in resin/epoxy. If I actually get some spare time to work on it I'll post pics here when it's done. But you never know someone may beat me to it since it is taking me forever to work on it :p
Unsharpened katana....can't help with that.
 
Danny1118 said:
Thanks for the input. By the way, I'm going to ask it here to avoid making a whole new thread. Anyone know where I can find an unsharpened practice katana?
Click to expand...

Invest in a good bokken. Avoid the whippy one from Cold Steel. Some folks on here warned me, but noooo..had to try it. Makes a nice toy for my nephew but not much else. You can get unsharpened on request for Iaido if you search the web, i'm fairly certain.
 
Danny1118 said:
Thanks for the input. By the way, I'm going to ask it here to avoid making a whole new thread. Anyone know where I can find an unsharpened practice katana?
Click to expand...

Bokken = wood training sword
Iaito = metal, unsharpened training sword.

Bokken if you just want to swing it around. Iaito if you want to practice drawing and swinging.
 
the wrap on (that) yamato is meant to a solid thing that echoes the scales on the DMC crew's demon bodies. It only resembles a cord wrap, because that what we expect to see.
It's worth noting that in DmC, it has a standard wrap. It's also less monstrously huge.
 
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