My all-steel Mjolnir build (from Thor: The Dark World)

[Dope]

This weekend's update.

Hammer body is nearly complete, with some finishing touches/weathering to do along with cutting in the four accent lines. After that it's on to the handle and the pommel...

Pics with the Lager Toys Mjolnir for comparison:

Think I might be close in the next month.

Dope

 

[StarLordGoG]

Have to ask how much does it weight?

Oh Fabulous work by the way!

 

[Dope]

Thank you! It's right around 25lbs. It doesn't seem like much but it is insane to hold and balance in one hand. Two hands is okay.

Dope

 

[JaedenIronwolf]

Which fits the Mjolnir from the myths, as it was intended to be two handed, but shenanigans by Loki cause it's haft to be short.

 

[Dope]

No update this week despite the long holiday weekend. Three failed pommel attempts and several failed attempts at the rings around the handle is about all I have to show. On the bright side I think I figured out the rings and should have them done next weekend. And I have a fourth pommel half-completed that I think might be the one. So maybe real progress next weekend!

Dope

 

[AntarcticFrost]

Just asking here but if you were to say make a second and sell it, what would its potential price be? (for...."research purposes"....)

 

[Dope]

Just asking here but if you were to say make a second and sell it, what would its potential price be? (for...."research purposes"....)

Honestly I'm not sure, I'm guessing 1500-2000 range. The amount of work and materials expense has been insane and I'm not even done yet!

Dope

 

[Dope]

So I've rough cut all the handle rings out, they aren't finely sanded/polished yet (or even attached) but here they are:

Oh and for giggles, here is pommel attempt #4 (etching failure this time)

There's a slight chance it might be salvageable but I will probably just work on making yet another pommel next weekend.

Dope

 

[Dope]

11th weekend of work update below. I only had Saturday since I spent today fixing my father's truck. Alas.

Pile of handle rings that were filed, sanded and fitted to the handle (pic of that at the bottom):

Attempt #5 at making a pommel is off to a good start. I have the basic shape and basic etching done, next weekend will be cutting out the rest of the shape and the fine details around the celtic knot design. Also have to weld the top onto this piece (you can see it in the final picture, the unattached rough-shaped top cap).

And finally a quick mockup (the rings are all welded on, I was trying to make sure the pommel looked correct before I continued shaping it).

The rings don't quite have the dramatic "V" of the original but otherwise are pretty close. It was extremely tough to cut these out on the bandsaw and I just didn't quite have the turning radius to make that little extra-long dip in each ring.


Dope

 

[EKF5]

Great progress since the last time I checked. Keep it up.

 

[Dope]

Spent the whole weekend on the pommel and it's basically done (just needs a little detailing and weathering but that will come at the very end).

It threads onto the handle for strap replacement/removal if needed:

It's coming together!

Next weekend will be the four lines cut/ground into the hammer body and possibly leatherwork on the handle. Then just to sand and clean up the whole thing and weather it a bit. Probably two weeks-ish?

Dope

 

[BROTHERFOSTER]

Amazing!!!

 

[Mike J.]

Right in time for Halloween!

 

[Dope]

Hmmm, as I near completion I'm pondering what sort of finish I leave on the hammer. A dull or a shiny silver?

If you watch the video on the making of the actual hammer, it's clearly a very shiny silver base with some weathering done to it:

(start at about 1:00 to see what I mean)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByToQuIJpvk

But any shots from the movies show it to be very very dull (but with shiny rings on the handle still, which makes sense):

I'm thinking of going with the dull look for the body of the hammer, since that seems to be accurate to the movies. I'm guessing maybe they redid the paint after the video was made, because there's definitely not a ton of black around the runes as shown in the video either. Any thoughts?

Dope

 

[Dope]

Well, one more weekend to go, it's nearly done.

Need to finish weathering the head and then do the pommel. Also need to clean up the rings (they are covered in leather glue). I think I'm going to dye the leather wrist strap too, it's a little light compared to the handle leather. Just a few more details and I can call it complete I think.

Dope

 

[Mike J.]

But any shots from the movies show it to be very very dull (but with shiny rings on the handle still, which makes sense) ... I'm guessing maybe they redid the paint after the video was made, because there's definitely not a ton of black around the runes as shown in the video either. Any thoughts?

Me, personally, I'm inclined to go for what things look like on screen versus reality. Do you have any after filming shots of the hammer to examine? Auction photos? It is entirely possible the hammer(s) were repainted on set, for any number of reasons. It's possible they were getting distracting glare or reflections off them, for example.

 

[BROTHERFOSTER]

Well, one more weekend to go, it's nearly done.

http://i.imgur.com/FSZSBnT.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/yTN5n43.jpg

Need to finish weathering the head and then do the pommel. Also need to clean up the rings (they are covered in leather glue). I think I'm going to dye the leather wrist strap too, it's a little light compared to the handle leather. Just a few more details and I can call it complete I think.

Dope

 

[Dope]

Whelp, 14 weeks later and she's all done. Not sure the total time invested, I would guess 125-150 hours or so. It came out a littttttle bit shinier than I wanted, I ended up having to steel wool it a little too much for the final cleanup and it took off a bit too much of the dull etched surface that you can see in last week's pics. But I think it turned out pretty well, all things considered. It is 24.2lbs worth of steel and leather only. Size is accurate to the movie version within maybe a tenth of an inch or so. No shortcuts, all pain.

Gonna need a break before the next project, I've destroyed my hands, wrists and elbows working on this beast. Whew.

If you want to buy it, let me know, it will fund the materials for the next project

Dope

 

[Mike J.]

"It's indescribably beautiful!"

 

[Jamie Staff]

Very nice work mate well done