How to Make a Madoka Crossbow Prop

Hello everyone, I’m back with another tutorial!! Being a fan of Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and a cosplayer of the title character Madoka, I’ve realized that while just having the costume is fun enough and recognizable, it’s always cool to have a prop handy to pose with, so what better than Madoka’s Bow and Arrow that she gains in her magical girl form?  /人◕ ‿‿ ◕人\

This tutorial is easy for beginners and use mostly items you can find around your own house or get at a local craft shop, such as:

-A pack of wooden dowels (you can find these at Michaels for $3-$5)

-Model Magic Air-Dry Clay (Also sold at Michaels or Target in multiple colors for $3-$5 dollars a pack)

-Brown Acrylic Paint

-Pink Acrylic Paint

-Modge Podge Sealant

-White or Brown String

-Hot Glue Gun

-Exacto Knife

-A big fake pink rose

-Foam board/Cardboard/Layered transparent files in red or pink

 

Step 1: The Arrow.

To get the arrow out of the way, look up a reference picture of Madoka’s arrow.

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Draw the image onto your surface or a practice piece of paper and carefully cut it out using sharp scissors or the exact knife (then cut out on the actual foam/cardboard/transparent files using the scissors/exacto knife if you used a practice piece of paper).

Clean the arrow up around the edges and sharp turns of the arrow and then coat it in Modge Podge so it becomes a bit sturdier. After this, take your pink acrylic paint (if you’re using foam board or cardboard for your arrow) and paint your arrow pink before sealing it in another coat of Modge Podge. After this, you have completed your arrow.

Step 2: Starting on the Bow.

Setting the arrow aside, it’s time to start on the bow portion of the prop.
Make sure to get a reference of the bow off of the internet so you know what your end product should more or less look like. Gathering your wooden downs, grab about six or seven and set the others aside.
These dowels usually come in packs of ten.Now cut the ends of the towels at the end at a slight angle. This is so they fit more smoothly into the next dowel and look neater.

Step 3: Hot Glueing

Take your wooden pieces and put two together, hot gluing them at the connecting angled joint. Do this to each end of the bow except for the last end (since there will be nothing to connect it to).

This will make the next step a lot easier.

So far it should look something like this

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Step 4: String

Now take the glued together bow base and make sure it’s the size you want and fits in your hand comfortably. Once you’ve made sure of that, take your string and start wrapping the glued joints in the string. Be gently as to not undo the glue bond. Wrap it and wrap it and wrap the string around the connecting joints to strengthen them so they become sturdy. It’s ok if this looks messy because the next step will hide that.

Step 5: Model Magic

Now take your model magic and wrap the bulky string-bundled joints with the clay. The clay should already be soft and moldable out of the bag but if you need to, a few drops of water can make it easier to mold. Shape the two main joints into diamonds, while the other joints should just be smooth to connect the dowels to each other while still looking like one item. Create ‘thorns’ on the two diagonal branches closest to the top dowel by molding them out of clay and connecting them to the dowels, just like Madoka’s bow has.

Make a little ‘cup’ at the ends of the two dowels with nothing connecting them so you can easily attach the flower and leaves that Madoka has at the beginning and end of her bow. Using your flower, press the bottom of the flower into the clay area at the top of the bow so it creates an indent which will make it easier to glue onto the top of the bow for later. Carefully place your bow aside to let the clay dry. This might take a while.

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Step 6: Gems

While your bow base is drying, you can get a head start on making the gems. Simply take your clay and shape them into diamonds big enough to fit the diamond shaped area you created with your clay on the bow. You’ll need to make four of these; two for each side so they look the same no matter which way you take a picture with it. Once those diamonds dry, paint them pink using your pink acrylic paint and seal them with Modge Podge.

Step 7: Painting

Once your bow is nice and dry, you can start painting. Simply take your brown paint and paint the entire thing brown. You can add a wood like texture with paint if you have more than one shade of brown and let the paint dry.

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Step 8: Flowers and Gems

Once your new bow is all dry, hot glue the gems you created earlier into the areas where they are supposed to go and also glue your flower and leaves to the top and bottom of the bow, respectively.

Step 9: String

Once your whole bow is done, the last step to do is take your string, cut a piece big enough for the height of the bow and tie it to the top and bottom dowels so your bow now has a string. Final step is to hot glue the knots to the dowels so that the string is stable and doesn’t slide around.

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Alternatively, you can go to a craft store like Michaels that has a floral section and pick out a branch that you can modify to fit the bow if that is something you’d prefer to do. An even better alternative if you’re not that crafty is to buy the Madoka Arrow we have right here at Miccostumes!!

Whichever way you go about it, enjoy your new Madoka Archer Bow and have a lovely day!! Thank you for reading my tutorial and I hope you’ve enjoyed it!!

Pictures by http://www.maidoftime.co.vu