European Longsword
The European Longsword, one of the most iconic weapons used by European Knights during the middle ages, as well as the Templar Order during the peak of their military activity. At the time of the middle ages, many European countries were heavily religous and as such incorperated a flat hilt so that the entire weapon was in itself a symbol; a cross. The weapon was most prevelant during the late medieval and Renaissance periods of history.
I am a huge fan of RPG games, most notably Skyrim but I also love Mount and Blade: Warband. I love simple looking swords; they are simple in design but honestly look very cool in terms of aesthetics. After downloading a mod for Mount and Blade: Warband called "1200 AD" I couldn't help but feel the urge to create this blade as it is undoubtly the most iconic weapon for European Knights. The base mesh of the model was created in Maya, then exported over to ZBrush for additional sculpt detail and most importantly texturing. I did not do much in terms of normal mapping; I applied a blank normal map to the weapon to get rid of any visible low poly areas.
What I like most about these weapons is that they have so few colours to them, whilst still looking amazing. With metal objects it is not so much about the geometry or colouring, but about the small details that make metal look like metal. Such as dents, scratches and rust. My favourite part about this particular model is how the entire weapon is steel; save for a few leather straps on the hilt to help the wielder with gripping the blade.
