Re: Punisher 1989 Props - Dolph 4 Evah!
I have been interested in this knife since the original movie premiered. I had almost all but forgot about it until this thread came up again.
I am going to bet this was a custom job for production, perhaps using a commercially available kit which is no longer offered, or one which the blade was further ground down to achieve the unique taper and permit knives with varying degress of sharpness as well as balance for the throwing scenes.
Here is one possibility for the base blade, although it may be too wide and not taper as much, still it would make for an impressive knife with the length close to what can be seen in the above images.
Serious Dagger - Hidden Tang - Blade
Regardless, this is the style of blade blank needed to build this knife. Slide on the guard, add epoxy, followed by the handle, then screw down the skull pommel with a dab of loctite. Here is a slightly smaller blade possibility:
World Knives: Linder Special Dagger Blade Blank - Nr. 622015
I have never come across a guard which is angled like the movie knife, so it would need to be custom (just like the skull pommel) and have a recessed cavity to accept the base of the blade for a tight fit.
The handle most likely is a solid cast with the center drilled to accept the hidden tang. Possibly some type of phenolic resin like G-10 molded with the textured grip. This is very popular for many types of knife handles.
Yet, if a functioning knife is not necessary, a cold cast resin with metal powders can produce a very nice display or carefully handled cosplay knife. When I am through with some of my current projects I may just have to give this a try.
If someone does attempt to tackle a functioning blade with a cast skull, I would be interested in more than one knife if the price is right.