It’s hot and unforgiving in the parking lot behind Sword & Stone. This seems appropriate, given the nature of Tony Swatton’s business. Blacksmithing demands a certain tolerance for extreme temperatures. Yet even so, most of the crew working on the season 2 finale of Man At Arms have taken shelter in whatever shade they can find.
Swatton, the star of Man at Arms, is a blacksmith-self taught, incredibly skilled and, despite his gruff demeanor, something of an artist. He has been a blacksmith for more than 30 years and has worked out of his shop, Sword & Stone, for 15. Tony has created swords, daggers and all sorts of other weapons for a number of productions including, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hunger Games and Teen Wolf.
It’s been a year since Tony began working on Man At Arms, a sleekly produced web series featured on AWEme’s Youtube channel. The series follows Tony as he recreates a variety of iconic weapons: Oddjob’s hat from Goldfinger, Jamie Lannister’s sword from Game of Thrones, and one of Tony’s personal favorites, Raphael’s sais from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
As Tony emerges from the depths of his shop onto the hot asphalt, his crew snaps to attention like a battalion of army cadets. Sword in hand, it’s easy to imagine him as Robert Baratheon surveying his troops.The illusion breaks slightly as I realize the weapon in his hand is actually Sora’s keyblade from Kingdom Hearts.