Foam swords

This shows the basis for making a foam Katana. Ithe two halves are held together with two sided carpet tape with a 1/8" plywood core added to it.

The plywood does not have to go the whole length and is used to mount the Tsuba or handguard. It is then sanded to the desired thickness and shaped. Use the coarsest sand paper you can get to start and use finer to finish.

Use wood filler or drywall filler to fill any gaps and cover the whole work with paper use smaller pieces on curves to avoid wrinkles. Use at least two layers. This will help protect the foam from minor bumps.

Sand an fill the whole thing smooth and paint with at least three coats of sand-able latex primer. This will allow you to use a larger variety of paints with out fear of melting the foam.