Codex Cosplay - how to build the staff

I love Felicia Day and The Guild. And I have wanted to build her staff for a long time, it is beautiful. I ended of course up with making the entire costume for a Codex cosplay though, as always. 

There is already a really good build guide featuring Felicia herself: Greg Aronowitz. But I still want to show my somewhat simpler build. 

Photo: carddit.com

I started off with a 28 mm broomstick and painted it white. But close to the end I ruined this one and had to use my backup which were a bit thinner, so the overall effect is a little unproportional :(

For the gold details on the handle I cut out four 2 cm pieces from a 30 mm PVC pipe and added a 0,5 cm cardboard ring outside it (as guidance for the clay) 

Next up I added clad and sanded them smooth. 

The finished rings are spray painted gold. 

One of the rings will be on top and will have to add the "wings" which are made from 3 layers of cardboard glued together. Add a layer of filler to make it smooth and spray paint gold. Since the rings are made of paper clay it is easy to cut out the creases where the wings go. 

Glue the wings to the ring and fill them with filler. Paint gold. Here they are together with an early stage of my Vi pauldrons. 

The middle of the wings are hand painted red with acrylic paint. 

The end piece of the staff is made from a 4 cm PVC pipe (D30) inside a 5 cm (D40) pipe. (the top of a hairspray bottle works) In the picture under I tested with cardboard pipes, but they were not sturdy enough. 

Glue the small pipe in the middle of the large one and fill the gap with paper clay. Make the edges 

Cut of another 4 cm (D30) PVC pipe and use a Dremel to carve out two crescents on one end. This piece will stand perpendicular to the end piece. No photo here, sorry. 

For the Two red half spheres i cut a rubber ball in two, painted them red and glued the on the ends. 

Then you have the green sphere on top. I ordered a transparent acrylic ball online, but it ended up being too big (oh well). I could still use it. I think the diameter was 18 cm (D18). It was painted green on the inside. 

To attach it to the wood staff I used a Dremel and made a small hole to out a screw through. I screw the screw it self into the wood and took each of the half spheres and glued together over it. 

Last step was to add a brown faux leather to the handle and a thin rope above it. 

This is how I made the staff, easier than Greg Aronowitz, but not as perfect.

But wait there will be more!
Sometimes accidents happen, so there will be a bonus post about how to fix broken props, because my staff fell over and shattered. I just have to find the energy to actually do it.