Hellboy 2004 - Professor Bruttenholm's Rosary

[Torolf]

So last big update on this project. Over the weekend I finished the crucifix and sculpted a tiny Virgin Mary figure. I made molds for both and did a test cast.

After that I cast both pieces in cold cast bronze. For the crucifix I epoxied a piece of brass to the back and several small "rivet heads". I then weathered the piece.

I received the new howlite beads and cut small brass tubing for the spacer sections. I then assembled the main body of the rosary and section that goes between the crucifix and centerpiece.

I also received the bronze centerpiece that I had planned on modifying. I decided it wouldn't work so I started making my own from scratch. I cut a piece of thick brass to shape with my dremel then cleaned it up with files. I then epoxied the tiny Mary figure to the front and the M/cross cut out of styrene. I used Rub N Buff to get everything to match and then weathered the piece. Last was final assembly.

I'm not super happy with the crucifix or centerpiece and I see a few other parts that need some work but it's a start.

 

[Krats]

I've really enjoyed Torolf's thread and I appreciate the research he's done on this item. I too have wanted an accurate Hellboy rosary but getting parts in the UK has proven tricky. The other day I stumbled across a bag of antique rosary pieces on Etsy.

What immediately caught my eye was the rosary in the top left: White beads with a brass miraculous medal that looks exactly right and... well, I couldn't resist.

Overall I'm really happy with it. I still need to find an accurate crucifix from somewhere, and I will have to consider whether to accurise the decades (although at the moment I'm leaning towards not). The remaining rosaries I'll keep for my "Broom's Box" which I'm hoping to start some time this year.

 

[Torolf]

I've really enjoyed Torolf's thread and I appreciate the research he's done on this item. I too have wanted an accurate Hellboy rosary but getting parts in the UK has proven tricky. The other day I stumbled across a bag of antique rosary pieces on Etsy.

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What immediately caught my eye was the rosary in the top left: White beads with a brass miraculous medal that looks exactly right and... well, I couldn't resist.

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Overall I'm really happy with it. I still need to find an accurate crucifix from somewhere, and I will have to consider whether to accurise the decades (although at the moment I'm leaning towards not). The remaining rosaries I'll keep for my "Broom's Box" which I'm hoping to start some time this year.

What a great find. That center does look spot on. I was actually looking at my rosary the other day and my solutions to the center and crucifix were still bugging me. I think I'm going to have another look to see if I can find any better options (now that I know the perfect piece is out there) and if not try a second time to make something more accurate. I'll keep the thread updated if I make any headway.

 

[Torolf]

Well I already found two antique rosaries with parts that are really close so that's a good sign.

I'm going to keep looking but if anyone's interested in the crucifix here's the link. Vintage Catholic Rosary Black Beads Our Lady of Lourdes Pilgrimage Souvenir | eBay

 

[Torolf]

I've got a bit more information to share today. In the past I thought the entire crucifix was metal but after looking at all the references and vintage rosaries I've changed my mind. I'm now sure the main base of the cross is bronze or brass with a wood slab mounted on top with the "corpus" and "INRI plaque" riveted on top.

 

[Torolf]

Another update which will hopefully be helpful to anyone else trying to make one.

I found a few more vintage rosaries with the inverted miraculous medal centers. One of the sellers had some back story on them and from there I found out all the rosaries with those centerpieces were made by the French company Briare. Most of their rosaries are marked "France" somewhere but some were made for a German mission and instead are marked "Andenken Mission Germany". If you search for any of those terms they should show up, but they are quite rare. This same maker also seems to use the little metal tubes in place of some of the chain segments on a lot of rosaries. I'm assuming the prop department took that idea and the centerpiece and put them together with a crucifix from another vintage French rosary.

I also found out the crucifix with the wood inlays and riveted together were a French design. A search for "vintage french rosary" "lourdes rosary" or "wood inlay crucifix" should bring them up.

There are a few styles of these crucifix though. The most accurate are on slightly newer rosaries but are more expensive and harder to find. They have a solid metal back plate like in the reference, triangular "halo" behind the corpus, separately riveted "INRI plaque" and forward facing loop at the top, they also lack the flower shaped washer behind the center rivet on the back as seen on many of the similar style crucifix. Some of these are missing the INRI plaque but one could be added later if you wanted.

The other styles of wood inlay crucifix are pretty close and could be modified to match the prop. They're also quite common and go for pretty cheap so that may be a good option.

 

[Torolf]

So about a week ago I bought a vintage rosary with the exact crucifix. I also picked up two other rosaries with inverted centerpieces but they both turned out to be too small.

Over the weekend I took a second attempt at making my own centerpiece and I think it turned out much better. The shape and size of the heart are spot on as far as I can tell. The Mary figure is another that I cast with brass powder and the back "M" detail and two hearts are cut from brass sheet and soldered on. It's obviously missing a few details like the 12 starts and I may try to add those later. What I think I may try though is sculpting a front and back piece with all the details, cast them in resin with the brass powder and just epoxy them to a base cut from brass sheet in the heart shape.

Yesterday I took my new centerpiece and crucifix and put together the "standard form" rosary that is seen being held by Hellboy at the funeral procession and also at the crime scene. It's about 90% accurate at this point by my estimation but I still hope to make it perfect. I've also got a second crucifix that's only missing the "INRI" scroll so I'll start working on the longer version too. Anyway here are some pictures of what I've got so far.

 

[Torolf]

I bought another vintage french rosary on etsy a couple weeks ago with an accurate centerpiece and another mostly accurate crucifix. The centerpiece was the wrong metal and super thin so I used it as a master for casting. I molded the front and back and cast them in resin with brass powder then glued them to a piece of brass that was cut into the heart shape.

The first one I made is a little rough so I'll probably make another that's cleaner and get the castings thinner.