• The Man At Arms is Back!


    About half a year ago we featured an awesome video showing Man At Arms, Tony Swatton, forging a real life Buster Sword. Well, blacksmith enthusiasts, he's back! This time he's taking on Sephiroth's iconic sword; Masamune. Over 7ft of pure death.

    Be sure to check out his other videos featuring other popular video game weapons such as the Keyblade, along with weapons seen in feature films!


    This article was originally published in forum thread: The Man At Arms is Back! started by Aulayna View original post
    Comments 15 Comments
    1. Shauna's Avatar
      Shauna -
      Man at Arms is great. I love his work.
    1. noxious.sunshine's Avatar
      noxious.sunshine -
      That's awesome.
    1. Sephiroth's Avatar
      Sephiroth -
      Over seven feet?

      Masamune is not that long. It is about 2 metres long.
    1. Aulayna's Avatar
      Aulayna -
      7 foot is about 2.1 meters
    1. Slothy's Avatar
      Slothy -
      God I love this guy and his work. I've watched every episode since you posted that Buster Sword episode.

      I can't believe he was grinding that thing for 8 hours though. Well, I can believe it, it's just insane.
    1. Sephiroth's Avatar
      Sephiroth -
      Quote Originally Posted by Aulayna View Post
      7 foot is about 2.1 meters
      Right and that is longer than Masamune is, especially as it says "over 7ft". Sephiroth is 1,85m and his blade is about 1,75-1,80m while the rest fills up to about 2m. His official action figure is very accurate about the body to sword ratio. Masamune and his hair are longer in Kingdom Hearts though.

      Quote Originally Posted by Vivi22 View Post
      I'm not sure why anyone would expect perfect accuracy when making a replica of an non-existent and completely absurd weapon for fun. That it was bigger only makes it more awesome, not less.
      Because it is no replica then and normally people care about accuracy when making something like this for real. Also Masamune is real, just not this Odachi.
    1. Aulayna's Avatar
      Aulayna -
      Heaven forbid someone doing something cool for entertainment isn't 100% accurate.
    1. Shauna's Avatar
      Shauna -
      He should be ashamed that he made this mistake, and leave the internet forever. :3
    1. Dat Matt's Avatar
      Dat Matt -
      Quote Originally Posted by Sephiroth View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by Aulayna View Post
      7 foot is about 2.1 meters
      Right and that is longer than Masamune is, especially as it says "over 7ft". Sephiroth is 1,85m and his blade is about 1,75-1,80m while the rest fills up to about 2m. His official action figure is very accurate about the body to sword ratio. Masamune and his hair are longer in Kingdom Hearts though.
      Wow.
    1. VeloZer0's Avatar
      VeloZer0 -
      Aw, it wasn't even differentially hardened. Though with that amount of flex in the blade it doesn't surprise me.
    1. Slothy's Avatar
      Slothy -
      I'm not sure why anyone would expect perfect accuracy when making a replica of an non-existent and completely absurd weapon for fun. That it was bigger only makes it more awesome, not less.

      I noticed the flex in the blade too, but I can't fault him for not hardening it some more when it's clearly ridiculous. I wonder if it would become too brittle under it's own weight if it were hardened. The thing couldn't have been light.
    1. VeloZer0's Avatar
      VeloZer0 -
      The differential hardening process makes the blade extremely susceptible to taking a set, so chances are after those 'cuts' it be bent completely out of shape. Spring tempered as it is it's no problem.

      That said it's going to spend it's life sitting on a wall so might as well get a sweet looking hamon on the blade!
    1. Skyblade's Avatar
      Skyblade -
      Quote Originally Posted by VeloZer0 View Post
      Aw, it wasn't even differentially hardened. Though with that amount of flex in the blade it doesn't surprise me.
      Thank you! I was wondering if I was the only one complaining about the absence of techniques in how he made the blade.

      I agree that the size might not perfect, but I really don't care. I do care about proper crafting, though, and I get irked when I see corners cut.

      Granted, this is admittedly a replica piece, not intended to be at all combat worthy (if, hypothetically, it could be wielded), but you could at least try to forge it properly. Fold the steel, don't just bang out a bar. Differentially harden it, the way most Japanese blades were, to ensure a stiff spine and a sharp edge.

      The end result is cool, but it still makes me twitch to see it done improperly.
    1. VeloZer0's Avatar
      VeloZer0 -
      I'm a little meh on the folding, as it doesn't add anything to modern steel aside from aesthetics, however from more detailed FMVs you can see that the original is DH.

      That said, good on them for actually making something instead of just sitting around on the internet talking about it.
    1. Slothy's Avatar
      Slothy -
      Honestly, when you're already spending 8+ hours just grinding out the shape of the blade and this isn't even your day job that pays the bills, I have a hard time blaming them for cutting a corner here or there on a weapon that's already absurd and barely functional when done right.
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