Squall’s Gunblade has been made into a real world weapon thanks to the efforts of the fine folks at Man at Arms.
While Final Fantasy VII‘s Buster Sword pretty much broke the mold when it came to ridiculous weaponry, Final Fantasy VIII provided its own contender with Squall’s iconic Gunblade. The lovechild of a sword and a revolver, it was awesome, silly and beloved by the game’s many fans. In turn, the stupendous sword-smiths at the team finally fulfilled in its most recent video. Beginning with a 3D rendering, they then used a computerized plasma cutter to cut the weapon out 3/16″ chromoly steel. With the fantasy blade now given rough form they used a Bader belt sander to smooth out the metal’s finish. Following that, they again returned to the computer to create a stencil for Squall’s famous Griever symbol which was then transposed onto the Gunblade itself with a Bridgeport CNC mill. This was followed up by giving the weapon an actual edge and heat treating it.
With the main blade portion of the weapon completed, the smiths then took to creating the gun portion of it. This involved creating several other custom pieces including a cylinder and hammer which were added on to the sword portion. The final touch was to create a Griever pendant to hang off of the sword just like in the game. Needless to say, the end result was just as spot on as the team’s previous projects. Granted, it doesn’t actually fire bullets like the game version, but it’s probably still the most realistic replica we’re going to get without someone exploding a finger or two.
Source: AWE me
