Making Loki's daggers

Hey everyone. My best friend is dressing as Loki for the cons we're going to next year, so I want to make her his daggers from Thor Ragnarok as a present. It's my first time making props like this so I'm starting early so I have time to get them looking good before I need to give them to her.

I'm trying to figure out the best way to make them at this point. There are two sets, one about a foot long and the other about half that size. The options I'm looking at are either 3d printing them or using craft foam. I'm leaning towards the foam, because I have easier access to it. So I'm looking for opinions on the two different options. My main worry on foam is breakage on the blade with that deep groove in it, especially on the smaller set. I've included a picture of the larger set. The smaller set is the same shape, but the blade is blue.

[URL="https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/fr/cp0/e15/q65/40330319_1931559083556622_7525840677591056384_o.jpg?_nc_cat=0&efg=eyJpIjoidCJ9&oh=1930e57b14e34d84c62453b4e85f9de0&oe=5BF9A63F"]Loki's Daggers[/URL]

Honestly? I'd go with a foam and wood approach for that. The nice thing is that the design is relatively simple in terms of shapes and whatnot. The handle would be a piece of wood, maybe a thick dowel or closet rod milled down and given the "grip" look with the grooves cut in. You'd have a small dowel rod that slides into the smaller of the blades to hold the whole thing together, and I'd probably make the blades themselves out of EVA foam or L380. The catch would be making sure the blades get a proper seal and shine, which so far is something that eludes me.

[QUOTE=walkerofdarknes;5068343]Honestly? I'd go with a foam and wood approach for that. The nice thing is that the design is relatively simple in terms of shapes and whatnot. The handle would be a piece of wood, maybe a thick dowel or closet rod milled down and given the "grip" look with the grooves cut in. You'd have a small dowel rod that slides into the smaller of the blades to hold the whole thing together, and I'd probably make the blades themselves out of EVA foam or L380. The catch would be making sure the blades get a proper seal and shine, which so far is something that eludes me.[/QUOTE]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. It's really helpful. I don't have any way to mill the grooves except by hand, though. Buying a lathe to mill them is a bit out of my budget and I don't otherwise have access to one. I'm getting a dremmal, but I worry about making such thin straight lines with it. Do you have any suggestions on making the handles without milling them? Thanks again for your help.

Oh, for the finish on them, I've actually found metallic spray paint with a clear coat sealer works great. I walk with a cane and I was using my grandmother's. It has flowers on it, which is not my style. So I got some rustolium metallic blue spray paint, and painted over the plastic coating. It looks identical to the shine and finish on the hilt of those knives. A clear coat sealer gives the extra shine to make it look more like metal. I hope that helps you some with the finish on your projects. ^_^

Honestly? Hit up etsy and buy an unfinished kit and customize it. That way you'll end up with a sturdy, accurate, prop. It shouldn't run you more than $50 for two.