Building the Idol Pedestal from Raiders...NOW FOR SALE!!!

Pwrsrce

UPDATE 1/12/12 - ALL Done...Check out the new pics in my post below...

Howdy all...

I've been working on assembling some Indy gear for a fan film that is shooting in early January. Thankfully, my good friend Brett offered to help with one of the key components. He sent me this picture earlier today...



Most fan made idol pedestals that I found here on the boards did not include the accurate tapered sides, and I really wanted to make this as close as possible to the original. I think Brett has done a fantastic job so far in nailing the overall look and shape. Once he's finished with the carving, he will hard coat, texture, and ship to me for paint and final weathering.

Measurements came from a thread over at COW...Top tier is approximately 29" wide, tapering out from there...Overall height will be 37 1/2" tall to the top disk.

Thoughts? Comments? Are we getting close?

Jason

Panzer

Very cool! So how did you accomplish the tapering on such a large object? Also is the base made of Styrofoam? Great work I wish I had the space for such a cool piece.

Pwrsrce

Hey Panzer...

Foam is being cut in sections...on a revolving cutting table. This will make it easier to ship and move around as needed. I believe the angle is somewhere between 82 and 84 degrees.

It will be all foam with a hard coating on the outer surface.

I haven't really thought about where it will go after the shoot...Most likely in my office.

Jason

TazVader

That is awesome!!!!

Best
Taz

Adam C.

Looks great so far. Can't wait to see the end result.

Lan Jenn

Each size in the picture is a separate piece of foam. I just sent over to Jason a picture of the base pieces included in the pedestal.

I used a Hotwire Direct Arch-Basecut 5300 table to cut the shapes out of each piece. The thickness of the foam pieces was ordered to size and the package cost $82 total for the foam. I took the square pieces and put them on a turntable on the hotwire cutter and set the angle of my wire to 84 degrees. The rounded parts of the tier that the idol sits on and the base piece were also cut on the table with the wire bent to shape.

The detailed engravings will be achieved using a combination of a hotwire engraver and black spray paint (a trick to melt back the foam using a stencil of the shapes).

The entire project so far (no engraving or hard-coating yet) has taken about 10-15 hours. Add about another 10 hours and it's good to go. The pieces are held together with a 1 inch dowel running down the center of each piece. They can be glued on location with elmer's glue if needed.

PHArchivist

Finally... A thread worth getting excited about...

Pwrsrce

Updated pic...



Brett, you are doing an amazing job bro. I can't wait to start paint/weathering.

Jason

Lan Jenn

lol, the eye in the skull was made by one of my students who rolled up some molding clay into a ball. I put a hole in it with the tip of a pencil.

Looks pretty cool all stacked up!

Pwrsrce

Now with coating layer applied...





Light texturing layer goes on Monday, and then it will be heading my way for final paint, moss, etc...


Jason

Pwrsrce

So...I received the pedestal last Wednesday night, and only had a day and a half to paint/weather/moss it before my film shoot...I am EXTREMELY happy with the results.

Here's some pics...With more info to follow.









I really wanted the paint to show multiple layers and have some depth...Here's what I did, in order:

1. light mist with grey and dark brown primer
2. black wash brushed on (wiped off with old t-shirt)
3. sponge paint dark grey
4. sponge paint light grey
5. sponge paint dark grey (again)
6. brown wash from spray bottle
7. black wash from spray bottle (wiped off with old t-shirt)

I also varied it a little for both the base, and the top disk...The thought was that those pieces may have been carved from different rocks.

Then I wanted the moss area to have a little extra punch as well, so I thought I would replicate short moss that you sometimes see growing on the side of rocks...For that I simply took some green ground cover used in model railroads, along with some spray adhesive, and voila...Turned out pretty cool, and gave a nice base for the spanish moss.

Thoughts? Comments?

Jason

Lan Jenn

Very Cool! Now I need to make another one.

Jedifyfe

That is beautiful...I just wish you had a better idol to sit on top.

Pwrsrce

Thanks Brad...I've actually followed your awesome idol histories/comparisons for some time.

I really wanted to source a Gobler idol for this particular shoot, but the Sideshow one was a better fit for our budget...Perhaps a future upgrade is in order though.

And Brett...You should seriously consider doing a small run of these...Like maybe 10 or less. I have a feeling you would probably get some takers.

Jason

Jedifyfe

No worries. THe Sideshow idol is actually a very beautiful idol. The color, weight and look of it is very nice. More than likely people would prefer to look at the Sideshow rather than the Gobler because of the pretty gold color.

Your pedestal is most likely the best that I have seen. It's really a great job you have done!

Pwrsrce

Thanks man...I appreciate the kind words.


Jason

vaderdarth

That pedestal looks perfect!!!!

Pwrsrce

Glad you like it!

I'm trying to decide where it's going to end up now...With the 40" diameter base, it has quite a footprint.

Jason

howlingwind13

This is Fantastic! Love it.

mike

Skaar

I need this in my life so I can reenact the first scene over and over every morning!

Amazing job!

DL4567

Very nice! I really like what you did with the railroad ground cover. For mine, I was never really happy with the moss available in the craft stores.
Anyway, you don't see enough of these, so this thread is most enjoyable. Post more pics if you like.

megazone27

that is a wonderful piece. I don't want to sound critical, but I thought all the stone in the temple scenes had a green coloration to them. giving them a patina that didn't look grey.

Nexus6

Bravo, sir. The paint job/weathering really makes it POP.

gobler

Wow!!! This is one of the best fan made idol pedestals I have seen to date. Very well thought out and executed.

Brad, what's wrong with my gold...??? You hurt my feeling... <sniff> btw, I heard back today with some very good news...

Cheers,
Jeff


Sent from somewhere in space & time...

Pwrsrce

Wow...I really appreciate the feedback.

I know that I don't post a whole lot, but I have learned a TON on this board over the years...It's just nice to have something to contribute every now and then.

I totally understand what you are saying about the color Mega...When I was researching this thing, I looked for every pic I could find of the original prop (both screengrabs and BTS shots)...And I came to the conclusion that what you are seeing on screen has a lot to do with the on-set lighting. On several of the BTS shots from the set, the pedestal definitely looks more greyish...

Look at this pic...

However...I didn't want to the whole thing to be a big grey blob, so I used multiple colors of grey (as well as some brown and black) to give it a more tonal look. The predominant grey used during the sponge painting process had a green tint to it, which really helped give it the look I was hoping for.

I personally don't think the pics do it justice. The final finish has a lot of personality up close.



While studying all the other pedestals that people have built, there were several things that I really wanted to do differently...But please understand that this isn't a knock against someone else's work, it's just my opinion.

First...Tapered sides...I know that several people had created pedestals that made each tier a little larger from top to bottom...But the sides were still straight. I wanted to see if we could get the accurate taper.

Second...Retain the hand-made look of the original. Having a background in R2Building, I know how easy it is to get caught up in a search for perfection, while sacrificing some of the hand-made wonkiness and character of the original. I really wanted the etched designs to have a varied "chiseled by hand" look.



Finally...I wanted the finish work and weathering to really have an "aged" feel to it. Besides the aforementioned short moss (which was really easy, and definitely added to the piece), this would mean trying something different with the Spanish Moss as well.

Anyone that has tried to work with one of these knows that Spanish Moss straight out of the bag is...well...poofy...So what I did, was wet it down a LOT with a water bottle after gluing it in place...The water soaking in tamed down the moss and helped it "droop" better over the sides and stuff. I also used two different colors of moss to break it up a bit. A good spray bottle is your best friend...hehe...

I will get some more pics up later today...I've also had some over at the COW ask about a full tutorial, so that's something I will try to work on over the weekend.

Jason