Kratos’ Leviathan Axe

A Step-by-Step Look at Building a Foam Cosplay Prop

Panda Lilly

This weapon is based on the axe that Kratos, the God of War, wields in the latest installment of the game series of which outlines the life of a man [Kratos] turned God and revenge turned empathy. Although the design is intricate, not too many materials went into this creation and it was fun and easy to make!

The Axe design was freehand as I am a hands-on artist that likes to add my own little spin to things. Cutting out designs are quick and easy for me sense used the Industrial 6″ Hot Knife from Hot Wire Foam Factory. Play with your heat, see what works for you. **Work in a well ventilated area or with a respirator**

One of the fun parts of crafting with XPS foam is that it’s very easy to carve and sand. After I’ve traced the designs for the head and pommel, I get to work sanding in the shape and depth.

The shape is done and an axe is born! On to the next fun part, the finer details!

The axe has a lot of fun intricacies designs that you can play with because we can’t all be crafty blue Dwarves. The designs was traced on both sides of the axe blade and pommel with a permanent marker. Once I had the desired effect, I used the Precision Engraver from HWFF and again got to work!

YOKATTA! The gold “bolts??? are simply paper fasteners!

In the game, Kratos can actually find gems for his weapon and gear on his journey, so I thought it would be a nice touch to add gems! The Gems were pirate booty plastic gems from amazon and have been cut, sanded and melted to my liking. Once I knew how I wanted the gems placed, I artistically sloppily added engravings in various patterns.

At this point it is very exciting and I get messy when I’m excited so it was a relief when I got the Bounce Rubberizer from HWFF, you can go wild. This seals the foam and allows you to preserve the fine details, make sure you coat the grooves! I worked in sections, head, pommel and then handle.

The whole axe was sprayed black as a base layer and the gems were permanently fastened in with StyroGoo from HWFF. Everyone has their own painting techniques but what I did was use acrylics! Burnt Umber brown blended with dabs of gold to give it a highlighted touch. Again, everyone has their own painting techniques but black washing is your friend!