/cgl/ - Cosplay & EGL

Hey,
Just wondering if anyone had some advice on how I could go about making the Dragonslayer sword from Berserk for a cosplay. I figure I'm gonna need a lot of foam board, then put it together using hot glue, fill the inside with foam blocks and filler but just wondering if anyone who's a bit more knowledgeable has any advice.

How would you guys go about making Guts' dragonslayer? Or his Band of the Hawk sword, for that matter? My boyfriend is a spitting image for Guts and wants to cosplay him but he's dead set on making the sword from wood, which I know is going to turn out awfully heavy. He's against foam because he's convinced it won't look like metal and instead will look like it's obviously foam. What can we do to combat that? are there any examples of ginormous sword props that look metal that I can use to show him that foam will work?