Highlander: Kurgan Sword

"I have something to say! It's better to burn out than to fade away!" - The Kurgan (Highlander)

When the YouTube series Film Riot announced their new "Monday Challenge" (scene remake), I got excited. I wanted to do a shot for shot remake of the final fight from one of my favorite movies... Highlander. I already had a replica of Connors katana (a birthday present to myself), but I needed the sword of one of the greatest villains ever put onto a screen; The Kurgan. You can view the final video here. Lets begin!

(Note: this will not be an exact replica, I just made it to look as close to the movies as possible for the video.)

I started with the basic sword. I found a leftover wooden stake from a haunted house I did on Halloween (Video Here). I took it in and measured it to make sure it was the right size... and it was PERFECT! From what I hear the entire sword is 4ft long and thats what the wooden stake is! Using a reference photo I drew the shape of the tip onto the wood and cut it with a saw.

I took a wooden dowel and traced it on the bottom foot of the stake. I then cut out the the traced area so that it was the same diameter of the dowel. Then I cut the dowel down the middle and glues it on with hot glue; and if thats not enough I also DUCT TAPED THE CRAP OUT OF IT! Tape it! The real handle of the sword has black leather as a grip, for that take some small rubber electrical tape and bring it all up and to the end. Do this Twice to give it an "x" pattern. I then cut off the extra wood thats on the bottom of the handle. For the little ball on the bottom, I took the end of a curtain rod and spray painted it silver glue that to the end and you're done with the handle.

For the cross guard I printed out a screenshot and traced it onto a piece of cardboard. I made two cutouts and added reinforcement in between the two pieces. I glued it between the handle and the blade. Using light cardboard, like a cereal box, I filled the space between the halves.

Take apart a Clothespin. Cut both halves of the wood so they have a point. Put silver duct tape on them. Done.

Its hard to explain this part. So this is the video I found that made me do it this way. Do the same to the Hilt and you now have a very metal looking sword!

I Just cut a spot in the top of the Cross Guard and glued it in.

Done! Not bad for a one day build! I will upload the video when its ready! I hope you like this instructable! If you have any suggestions on how I could make it better, comment below. If you want to see more replicas, follow me. More Builds to Come!

These are some pictures we took while we were making the video.

Final Video