Uncharted 2 belt buckle

So...

Yesterday my uncharted 1 buckle from canada has arrived! Great piece! Looks 100% screen accurate! Nothing to improve - I fear...

Finished the belt immediately (picture). Nothing special, apart from the shape of the tip and the characteristic and prominent clip.

I am pretty close finishing the uncharted 2 Buckle. Pictures will follow soon...

Best
 
Very nice! I have a belt just like that too. It's so cool they just used an existing design for the buckle. Wish they would've kept it for Uncharted 2.

Aren't there any 3D wizards here who could model the UC2 buckle and upload it to Shapeways?
 
For those that do have an ebay account there are some currently listed.
A seller in Canada has 6

Never mind I just noticed that the auction already ended.
You could probably contact the seller to see if he has more.
 
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Since I finally got the "Explorer Edition" of the game, I could finish the Drake 3 belt. As usual full-grain leather, matt medium brown finish, brass press buttons etc. Should be near 100% screen accurate.

The buckle coming with the game is in my opinion very thin and the attachment of the clip holding the leather strap seems quite fragile. The quality is ok but I am not sure whether it will survive every day or hard outdoor usage. Maybe - if I find the time - I will build a custom one, which is more robust...

9153-uncharted-3-belt-buckle-comparision-game-design.jpg
 
Need input:

Since I gave up searching for the "real" buckle used in Uncharted 2, I started to build my own version.

I have sculptured a preliminary version from the reference material I could find (see attached picture)...

Before finishing the prototype for metal casting and final processing, it would be great to get some comments on accuracy etc. In particular the engravings are not clearly visible in the material I found. Maybe someone has better pictures or material available. The intention is to be 100% screen accurate...

Thanks for helping!
 
First failure:angry:

The first metal casting of the uncharted 2 buckle did not work out properly - have to produce a new mold:cry.
The details came out not properly but I could at least use the casting to approach the finishing. I think it has to more golden or brass like at certain places but the silver still coming through.
Did someone in the meantime has found some close-up pictures of the engravings?

Best
 
These molds can normally take (tin, lead, etc.) up to 250-300 castings.
Since for me these metals are to soft and not stable enough for rough outdoor use, I misuse them with zamak alloy at pretty high temperatures. The number of acceptable castings is difficult to predict, but 10-30 times can be reached. So there should be something left to sell, if the final version will please you. I post some pictures when I have something ready (tomorrow I will test my new mold for the first time:confused)...
 
I have seen some "shapeways" and ... well I don't like it - only my personal estimation.

I guess it's more philosophy than anything else. Two points for me:

1) The buckle or e.g. the phurba dagger in my imagination were handcrafted by some tibetan monk - I'am just fantasising. So a 3D computer model may look to ... "perfect". To make a 3D computer model that looks handmade - with some uneveness, scatches etc. could be more work than doing it by hand.
If it would be a buckle for e.g. some star wars holster, shapeways would be an interesting option.

2) With shapeways you are much more limited with the finishing. I never use color on metal to mimic gold or brass. I apply/age metal electrochemically. That way you can nicely apply highlights, shadows etc. For e.g. brass I apply copper to the zink alloy which then reacts to real brass. This could be more difficult with the shapeway surfaces.

Does anyone has made something like a "brass" or "gold" buckle with shapeways and can post some pictures or experiences?
 
So,

my prototype version of the uncharted 2 belt is finished. Screening a lot of images, the leather of the belt - like the holster - seems to be unstained. The leather was therefor oiled and waxed, so that it will darken over time.

I aged the buckle a lot - not sure wether I will keep it that way.

If there are ideas or criticism - better reference material (particular of the engravings) or better versions please let me know...

9686-uncharted-2-leather-belt-buckle-comparison-game-design.jpg
 
If anyone is interested, you may want to take into consideration this site -

Corporate and logo Belt Buckles – Custom Made your way – Recognition Depot .Com

Supposedly they make custom buckles based on any design.
The only downside is that it requires a 25 buckle minimum.

If anyone is interested in starting an interest thread, and possibly organizing the deal, I would be more than happy to design the vector based design required by the company.

If we can get 25 interested people we could make this happen.

Of course Ill need a bit of a heads up, because I want to go through Uncharted 2 again and see if I can find better reference images before doing the design.
 
If anyone is interested, you may want to take into consideration this site -

Corporate and logo Belt Buckles – Custom Made your way – Recognition Depot .Com

Supposedly they make custom buckles based on any design.
The only downside is that it requires a 25 buckle minimum.

If anyone is interested in starting an interest thread, and possibly organizing the deal, I would be more than happy to design the vector based design required by the company.

If we can get 25 interested people we could make this happen.

Of course Ill need a bit of a heads up, because I want to go through Uncharted 2 again and see if I can find better reference images before doing the design.

If you find a really really good picture, please let me know - or may be you can post the frame. There are some good pictures in the book ("The art of uncharted 2"). In addition I found one interesting high magnification picture in the net (Metal Man Jake: custom buckle for Drake costume). Wether it is authentic - for me it looks like...
 
So,

my prototype version of the uncharted 2 belt is finished. Screening a lot of images, the leather of the belt - like the holster - seems to be unstained. The leather was therefor oiled and waxed, so that it will darken over time.

I aged the buckle a lot - not sure wether I will keep it that way.

If there are ideas or criticism - better reference material (particular of the engravings) or better versions please let me know...

9686-uncharted-2-leather-belt-buckle-comparison-game-design.jpg


To me I think the buckle looks perfect. :thumbsup I wouldn't worry to much about getting the color *exactly* right because it's a game and depending on what scene it is and lighting it always looks a bit different.

I'd definitely be interested in purchasing one myself. As long as it's NOT to expensive and is functional that can be worn daily.
 
Need input!

since there are some requests, I would like to make some more of the shown handmade UC2 buckles at a price that would be interesting. Unfortunately I am not the world greatest metal caster. I always get the results I want to have, but the molds I have to prepare, do not survive many castings (zamak zink alloy at 460-480°C and special silicon taking 500°C shortly), what dramatically raises the costs.

The zamak alloy is approx. 21 Euro/kg, the work including grinding, polishing, electrochemistry etc. approx. 2-3 hours. If these stupid molds (Silicon=49 Euro/kg!) would survive longer with acceptable results one could offer a handmade buckle with custom finish (polished, aged, brass or gold) for around 40-45 Euro.

Maybe there are some experts in this forum with some ideas, tricks or suggestions with metal casting. Tin (lead free!!!) - witch has a lower melting point - would cost 50 Euro/kg and is too soft, i.e. not an option.

Best
 
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