Overview on making the Warhammer of Zillyhoo:

The business-end of Zillyhoo is basically hollow, wooden boxes. I used some PVC pipe for the handle, and for the back, I made the base shape out of carved, pink insulation foam, and then glued strips of caulk saver on top to create that rainbow… texture. Thing. And the guy at the end is paper clay over a foam ball. All primed with autobody spray primer, and finished with all the acrylics.

To scale props, first I always print a reference picture of the object, as well as the character I’m cosplaying. Usually I measure my arms, then the arms of the character I’m cosplaying, and establish a ratio by which to judge how large I want the prop to be. 

For this hammer, I decided the total height should be about 24 inches, so since the reference picture i printed was about 8 inches high, I just measured everything on the reference pic, multiplied it by three, and drew out a large schematic of the full-sized hammer on a roll of paper. 

Supplies are usually acquired at Lowe’s, Home Depot, or any other big hardware store. Also, the wood-shop in my dad’s basement where I work has a lot of scraps lying around. 

To construct the box, I used wood glue and a nail-gun. The plywood was only ¼ inch thick, so other small nails should work. To even out the finish, I apply wood-filler, and sand until shiny smooth. I also apply a few coats of spray primer (and sand it) before the final colors.

(Note: I primed the hammer in grey, which was a horrible idea because the bright acrylic colors I finished it with didn’t want to show up right on the grey background. So white would have been much better. I had to paint white under all the yellow spots for it to show up).

To glue the insulation foam together before carving out the swoosh at the back, I used gorilla glue. Tough stuff. I used a jigsaw to cut it (but a small hand-saw would work) and an automatic sander to finish the shape (but sandpaper would carve it too). The star and face at the ends are paperclay covering foam (so they aren’t too heavy).

More questions are welcome!