After much internal debate, I’ve decided to go with two different sets of katanas for my Ryo costume. It’s sort of based on what I hear they do for movies – standard blades for regular use, and “hero” blades for closeups.
In this case, it means that I’ll have one set of blades that fit in my scabbards, which I can (hopefully) draw while in costume, and a second set, which are larger and look better in close-ups for while I walk around conventions.
So, I’m making more molds for casting… guess I’ll need to take two sets of each (total 8 swords) in case of breakage. Maybe just 2 hero sets, since the others are just for masquerade…