Inside the workshop where Game of Thrones swords are made

Natalia Lee is an armourer and sword designer on movies and TV shows including Game of Thrones and the forthcoming Amazon series Jack Ryan. Game of Thrones takes her around the world building, maintaining and transporting lethal kit from daggers and swords to crossbows and even giant trebuchet siege weapons.

Take a look inside her workshop to see the creative process that goes into iconic weaponry such as the fan favourite sword Heartsbane.

Inside the Game of Thrones workshop, where new weapons are designed and modelled. It's also an archive of the weapons used by the show's many, many now-deceased characters.

Different versions of each weapon must be built. "Hero" models might be made of real metal so they look good in close-ups, but the team must also 3D-print identical soft versions to safely execute action scenes.

Lee begins the process by researching historical references and sketching out ideas.

In Thrones-world, weapons offer insight into the character who wields them. Euron Greyjoy's nautical background suggested an image of a sea monster.

And here we see the ax adorned with a stylised image of a Kraken.

Sketching in the workshop, Lee can break out callipers to measure materials, speeding up the design and fabrication process. Here's the Heartsbane sword being designed.

And the finished product. Heartsbane is decorated with hunting motifs to reflect the background of the Tarly family.

Sketches of Ellaria Sand's wrist dagger from Game of Thrones. 

Ellaria's dagger was 3D-printed and painted to look as if it was made of metal.