Naruto Shippuden: Sasuke’s Kusanagi
Motivation
This was my first big 3D modeling project that I decided to tackle. I didn’t really know what I was doing when I was first getting into this project, but I charged full ahead anyways. Determination is key!
Everybody knows the anime Naruto. If not, you’ve been living under a rock. I got inspiration when I took a trip down to LA with my friends. We stopped by a cosplay store in Little Tokyo and they had this mini toy Kusanagi that looked pretty dorky. My first impression was “I can probably make this better” and so from then on, I set off on my journey to make it, but better.
https://qph.fs.quoracdn.net/main-qimg-7d0cdb43f5ac868074bd40dabcff877a
Lightning sword!
Sasuke has an ability that allows him to channel his Chidori jutsu into his Kusanagi, causing it to spark with lightning. I knew immediately I wanted to integrate LED’s into the blade to simulate this effect.
The tricky part was finding out a way to fit LED’s in such a thin blade. There isn’t much room to put an LED strip because I plan to put a wooden dowel along the inside of the blade to keep it straight and supported. Without the wood dowel, the blade would crumble apart. (I know from experience… I went through many many iterations before I was successful)
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/naruto/images/b/bb/ChidoriKatana.png/revision/latest?cb=20151230090504
3D modeling
I started out with the handle and worked my way up. I wanted the handle to split in two pieces so I could access the electronics if anything would go wrong. I designed it to be screwed together using self tapping screws.
The blade is modeled next. I designed a round chamber towards the spine of the blade so that a wooden dowel can be glued in to support the blade. Right under the blade, I modeled out a rectangular cutout that will house the LED strip. I found a side-firing LED strip called the NeoPixel skinny side light which was perfect for my project. It was thin and small enough to fit in the blade!
The sheath of the blade was the easiest part. It was one long extrusion, similar to the handle. I extruded it slightly longer than the blade itself to give myself some wiggle room. In total, the whole sword is just under a meter long.
Electronics
The electronics are really similar to the Guardian Sword++ build. I based this all off of that circuit diagram on Adafruit’s website. The only difference is that the LED strip is the side firing led strip, and a slightly larger battery.
Parts list:
Adafruit Trinket M0
Adafruit Lipo Backpack Charger
NeoPixel side firing skinny LED strip
3.7V 2800mAh Lipo battery
Toggle Power button
Printing and Assembly
I printed the sheath all standing upwards so that the sheath texture would be all even. Luckily, the colors of the blade are all rather muted, so I could print all the parts in their respective color instead of painting it afterwards. Saved me a ton of sanding and painting work!
The entire thing was printed in PLA and held together using super glue. I also used a method of “welding” together some parts using a 3D pen. I can “weld” plastic parts together using a 3D pen by extruding filament all over seams. This adds tons of support to vulnerable parts making it more durable.
I still wouldn’t smack the sword around or anything, but it’s holding up quite well!
Things I would do differently
Oh man since this was my first time tackling a huge project, there are TONS of things I wish I did differently. I wish I used threaded inserts instead of self tapping screws. That way I can take apart the handle without worrying about destroying the plastic.
I also wish I came up with a better way to mount the blade to the handle. It’s held pretty flimsy with one point of contact. One hit to this thing and it would explode.
I also regret putting the power switch in the Uchiha symbol because it’s rather hard to press since it’s seated pretty deep in the logo. I have to press it with my fingernail to turn it on.
I also wish I printed with PETG instead of PLA since PLA is rather brittle and can shatter.
The list of things goes on and on, but you get the point. This was a great project for me to learn from. I do hope to come back to this project someday to redo everything that’s wrong with it!