Raven1973
Well-Known Member
Well guys, I have nearly finished my full size First Blood display.
This is from the start of the movie when we see the character of Rambo wearing his M65 combat jacket. I bought a male mannequin and shortened it to Stallone's reported height of 5' 10".
I then went about making a base. Like a number of us on here, I couldnt afford a lot, so I had to improvise. The base structer is an old wooden bakers tray, which I painted matt black. I then wanted to simulate dirt on the edge of the road, so I used cornflour and PVA glue, then added dirt, along with more PVA glue. Then it came to the road surface, so I initially used corn flour, PVA glue and road stone chippings, but after 2 days, the flour started to turn inside out with large bubbles coming through the stones. So I revised it, and used the stuff you can buy to mend holes in your drive. I rolled it out with a rolling pin, then went about painting it grey, as the original colour of the repair stuff was black, which fades to grey after a period of time in sunlight, but as I didnt have that luxury of having the time, for this natural process to happen, I opted just to painted it. With the white paint I had left, I made a white line for the road edge, I only gave it a couple of coats, as I didnt want the line to look too new, I wanted a distressed look to the paint.
I then wanted a correct licence plate for the period of the movie (1981) and the correct state where it was supposed to have been, which I found cheaply, I then bent it up a little, to make it look it had been laying on the side of the road for some time. I then sourced a Coke can from the USA that was from the period of when the movie was filmed, which I added too.
I am just waiting for the head to arrive and I will then be able to remove the mannequin head and neck, and apply the new one thats on its way as we speak. Then it will be ready to unveil. Not long now guys.
Just as a side note, just wanted to show you guys my original Bill Pruitt First Blood oil painting. Sly Stallone has bought a number of Bill's pieces over the years, and I have a photo of Stallone looking at my actual painting, luckily he didn't buy it. lol I wanted to make a themed frame worthy of the artwork, so I used one of the roof tiles that I acquired from the building at the Delmar berry property, which is the building on Sly's right as he walks into shot at the start of the movie. I cut the roof tile down and mitered the edges and placed them over the original frame. I then added some artificial fern, and inert M60 bullets on each corner. I then added artificial ivy all around the frame, and added a set of screen accurate dog tags with the movie characters details on the bottom of the frame.
This is from the start of the movie when we see the character of Rambo wearing his M65 combat jacket. I bought a male mannequin and shortened it to Stallone's reported height of 5' 10".
I then went about making a base. Like a number of us on here, I couldnt afford a lot, so I had to improvise. The base structer is an old wooden bakers tray, which I painted matt black. I then wanted to simulate dirt on the edge of the road, so I used cornflour and PVA glue, then added dirt, along with more PVA glue. Then it came to the road surface, so I initially used corn flour, PVA glue and road stone chippings, but after 2 days, the flour started to turn inside out with large bubbles coming through the stones. So I revised it, and used the stuff you can buy to mend holes in your drive. I rolled it out with a rolling pin, then went about painting it grey, as the original colour of the repair stuff was black, which fades to grey after a period of time in sunlight, but as I didnt have that luxury of having the time, for this natural process to happen, I opted just to painted it. With the white paint I had left, I made a white line for the road edge, I only gave it a couple of coats, as I didnt want the line to look too new, I wanted a distressed look to the paint.
I then wanted a correct licence plate for the period of the movie (1981) and the correct state where it was supposed to have been, which I found cheaply, I then bent it up a little, to make it look it had been laying on the side of the road for some time. I then sourced a Coke can from the USA that was from the period of when the movie was filmed, which I added too.
I am just waiting for the head to arrive and I will then be able to remove the mannequin head and neck, and apply the new one thats on its way as we speak. Then it will be ready to unveil. Not long now guys.
Just as a side note, just wanted to show you guys my original Bill Pruitt First Blood oil painting. Sly Stallone has bought a number of Bill's pieces over the years, and I have a photo of Stallone looking at my actual painting, luckily he didn't buy it. lol I wanted to make a themed frame worthy of the artwork, so I used one of the roof tiles that I acquired from the building at the Delmar berry property, which is the building on Sly's right as he walks into shot at the start of the movie. I cut the roof tile down and mitered the edges and placed them over the original frame. I then added some artificial fern, and inert M60 bullets on each corner. I then added artificial ivy all around the frame, and added a set of screen accurate dog tags with the movie characters details on the bottom of the frame.
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