Okay, let me tell you about my journey with the Staff of Homa, not in the game, but actually trying to make one. It turned into quite a project.
Getting Started – The Idea
So, I’d been playing Genshin a lot, you know? And the Staff of Homa just looks incredibly cool. Hu Tao’s weapon. That sleek design, the colors. I kept thinking, man, I wish I could actually hold that thing. Looked online, saw some amazing props people made, and thought, hey, maybe I can try that too? Didn’t really know what I was getting into, just thought it’d be a fun thing to do.
Gathering the Junk
First step was figuring out what I needed. I’m no expert prop maker, so I kept it simple. Watched a few videos, read some forum posts. Decided on the main materials:
- A long PVC pipe for the staff shaft. Cheap and easy to find.
- EVA foam floor mats. You know, the puzzle piece kind? Great for carving and shaping.
- Contact cement or some strong glue. Gotta stick things together.
- Plasti Dip or some kind of primer. Heard it helps the paint stick to foam.
- Paints. Mostly red, black, gold, and maybe some silver for details. Acrylic paints seemed like the way to go.
- Tools: Box cutter/utility knife (lots of blades!), a heat gun (borrowed one), sandpaper, paintbrushes.
Finding this stuff wasn’t too bad, just a trip to the hardware store and an art supply shop. The foam was surprisingly cheap.
Building the Thing – Bit by Bit
The Shaft: Started with the PVC pipe. Cut it down to a size that felt right, maybe a bit taller than me. Sanded it down a bit so the paint would grip better later. That part was easy enough.
The Head – Oh Boy: This was the real challenge. Printed out some big pictures of the Staff of Homa head. Tried to sketch the shapes onto the EVA foam. Cutting foam cleanly is harder than it looks! My first few attempts were jagged and uneven. Wasted a bit of foam. Eventually got the basic shapes cut out. Layered them using contact cement – that stuff stinks, by the way, definitely needed ventilation. Used the heat gun to gently curve the foam pieces, make them look less flat. This took ages, lots of trial and error. Trying to get that pointy, almost flame-like shape at the top was tricky.
Putting it Together: Attaching the foam head to the PVC pipe needed some thought. I ended up carving a hole in the base of the foam head and jammed the pipe in there with a ton of glue. Hoped it would hold. Seemed sturdy enough for display, maybe not for swinging around!
Making it Look Good (or Trying To)
Priming: Sprayed the whole thing down with Plasti Dip. Gave it a couple of coats. This actually worked pretty well, sealed the foam and gave a nice even base.
Painting: Now for the fun part, or so I thought. Painting foam is… different. Started with the base colors. Black for the shaft, deep red for the main parts of the head. Then came the gold details. My hand isn’t the steadiest, so getting clean lines was tough. Used masking tape sometimes, but it peeled off paint occasionally. Frustrating. Spent a lot of time touching things up. Tried to add some darker washes to give it depth, make it look less like a toy. It sort of worked?
The End Result?
After everything dried, I stepped back and looked at it. Honestly? It wasn’t perfect. Far from the super polished props you see online. Some lines were wobbly, the foam wasn’t perfectly smooth everywhere, the paint job had its flaws. But you know what? It looked like the Staff of Homa. From a few feet away, it was pretty recognizable.
It took way longer than I expected, and there were definitely moments I wanted to just chuck the whole thing. But I actually made it. Went from just having the idea to holding this physical thing I’d built myself. Learned a lot about working with foam and paint. Mostly learned I need more patience! It’s sitting in the corner of my room now. A cool reminder of the effort, even if it’s a bit rough around the edges. Definitely a process, that’s for sure.
