Sterling wrote:BTW: I have plenty of beeds if anyone wants to earn them at Otakon!
Herein I believe is the reason why you'll be cosplaying Miroku.
Anyhow, onto the staff.
History lesson:
Buddhist staffs such as the one Miroku carries are traditionally made of bronze, usually gilded. From archeological research, we find that the some of the staffs had a stylized picture as the center post to the staff head, although staffs similar to Miroku's are not uncommon.
What does this mean to you? Well, it means that there's a wealth of design knowledge out there so mistakes aren't as understandable but design is easier.
Building the thing:
You probably don't want to cast this in bronze. I'm building the foundry and stuff to do so, but that's on the back burner for me, and it's not a cheap thing to do. You'll probably want to make a clay model, create a latex or silicone mold off of that, and then make a resin casting.
As far as design goes, the staff head should not be more than 4 or 5 inches wide. One of my pet peeves are those huge arse 10 to 14 inch staffs that everyone seems to make. The outer circle should have an edge forward square shaped cross section with diamond shapes at 45 degrees from the central pillar. The inner pillar should be shaped as follows:
Top
Tear shaped bead;
a chalice shape ending on the circle;
The outer circle;
a round bead;
a round bead;
a round bead;
a crescent bead pointed up;
a crescent bead pointed down;
a round bead;
a round bead;
a chalice shape with base ending in;
a chalice shape with its base running through outer circle;
the wooden staff.
I'd just use a broom handle as the staff itself. For paint, I'd suggest going with imitation gold leaf or if the budget won't stretch that far, just some metallic gold spray paint.
