Well, swords were the only things I was ever decent at. I'd recommend you take a look at the tutorials I wrote for it, as the basic technique is decent, and I've seen others do more with it than I ever could.
Sword Tutorial
and if you use Wings 3D, there's a happy little UV mapping add on for it:
UV Mapping Tutorial
It's all basics, but theoretically could be of some use to you. You'll probably notice that you'll seriously want to tweak the proportions on the sword made with the tutorial. I just recommend if you like the technique, take it, run with it, and make it your own. Would love to see what, if anything, you could accomplish with it. If you have any questions just ask, hope I can be somewhat useful around here for once
Getting between me and my morning coffee is suicide...