Indiana Holt
Active Member
Hi guys. Long post again and its gonna be a fun thread! Yes, Magnoli, yet another '' retirement swan song'' LOL
First, let me start by saying my planned september Grail diary interest list has to be pushed to end october/november. Im on vacation for 3 weeks now relaxing after a hectic summer/ fall. I allready have printed out a few Tool diaries ready to be cut and bound. So the wheels are motion. However, I managed to finish this prop and post it right before I go!
Second, I want to say this. Im very gratefull for all the questions and messages I get here and on other platforms. Im very happy to inspire others to start their own book as I really know the feeling of being inspired. My big inspiration from way back was and still is my bud Magnoli. Him and I also ended up as a team as the Grail diary Moderators here on COW for well over a decade but he had to take over the reins as other stuff got in the way for me to continue. Ok that said, lets get to it.
Here I am showcasing a rare version of the grail diary! Same style of diary is seen at the 2010 Comic Con and dont you just love that book. wow!
I know its not been long since I showcased my 'Hero prop' and I actually planned on showing these two as a set. That was the original plan. However, while working on this there was just too much other stuff going on in life so I had to take breaks. In the end, Im glad I had to wait as this one deserves its own spotlight for sure. This diary has become all time favorite and has some extra special treats in it, so stay tuned!
So, some of you may know and some may not but there are actually two ''main hero'' diary's seen on screen. The first one is ofc the hero prop we all love and then there is its brother that steals some of the famous close up scenes. Indeed, the Hitler / Leap of faith diary / 3 trials is its brother. I also believe its seen at the Brunwald castle when Elza holds it. But Im not 100% convinced and isonly my own speculation.
In the Lucas archives there are still a few diaries left including the hero prop. Those diaries are alittle different then what has publicly been showcased. These ones are slimmer and the covers are still raw hide or ''caramel'' color and some have the embossing border flipped around.The choice of wether the border is tooled up or down seems to be random. We see an example of that slimmer ''caramel'' colored diary in the Star wars to Indiana Jones archives book.
If you look at the Leap of faith scene its actually staring you in the middle of the face. That diary was one of those raw hide / caramel cover books. Same goes for the Hitler scene. These two different scenes showcase the one and same book. These caramel books were given a brown color wash whilst the book was closed hence why you see the insides are still raw hide / caramel and the outside covers are brown. Basicley the ''caramel'' covers were too light on screen so the crew colored them to the preferred shade of brown before they ended up on screen.
So what really IS so special about his one? What are the extra special treats I mentioned?
Well, for one, it is a complete different animal and has a different page order. It features all production made illustrations and is just a rare version of the diary. The inserts also have different placements from the hero prop.
Speaking of which, some of the inserts in my diary are direct scans from originals inserts found in the real diaries. For example, the French Franc is a direct scan from an original, colors and all, I just reprinted it. Same goes for the Camel pack. This is a spot on replica from a real diary pack prop. Colors, age spots and all.
This of course also goes for the page illustrations and text itself. They are not remade by me, they are direct scans from a real diary so they are 100% the same.
I know Im a very lucky guy in this hobby and I dont take it for granted but by having these sources I basicely can remake stuff ''original''.
More special treats. The real Leap of faith spread. And in its original ''photocopied faded form.'' The cup is also lightly colored with blue. I have been waiting forever to use this spread. Finally its featured!
The Hitler siganture is one of the absolutle high points in this diary. I love this tiny detail. This spread is such an intense spread and brings this diary together. I allways stop for a moment with this taking it all in, hearing the march and music playing in my head. Sometimes I put on the DVD to that specific moment while handling the book.
And the ''Marcus'' Map of no names. This version is the most famous Map of them all and is of course the entire reason for why the Nazis are after the diary. Love this version of the map!
The diary also has that werid constructed blue ticket with that extra fake number bar running down on the left side of the ticket. They probably wanted to hide the big PACIFIC ELECTRIC text cause of its distraction in the scene. But dude, that just looks weird to me. Anyway...
The cover is a more of a mid brown. Unlike the hero prop Its not super trashed. The corners are all intact and squared off besides the lower front corner. The border is also weathered off but still leaving more detail of it all around. If you have a keen eye, you can actually hint out the border in the Hitler scene.
Now, let me tell you, having something like this is on a another level. I love how the pages are differently matched together. It feels fresh and different, maby alittle more ''complete'' since it features all production made illustrations. Its a different animal for sure and honestly, it just ..... I dont know, feels like Henry's diary.
I can just hear the nazi saying, I will take ze book now! ''What book? You have ze diary in your pocket!?... You DOLT! ....you think my shon will be that shtupid and bring my diary all the way back here...... LOL
Ok, I'll stop..... back to it.
The diary is aged in pure freestyle magic and I love doing that. Takes a long while tho... nevertheless, I made this one like it would be made for the movie. Front is heavy aged and from the middle it kinda eases off. Actually I work better with freedom rather than replicating a certain look as wtih the hero prop. Im happier person when working. LOL. I know for my next Hero prop I will age it freestyle. And btw, its of course made as a prop with all the tapes and glue spots. Thats how we roll baby....thats how we roll!! :whip:
Oh,before I forget, this is something thats rarely being talked about. The black elastic band. The ends are not sewn together, they are actually glued and it makes so much sence thinking about time frames etc. Why should they sew when they can glue! Sadly, not very durable in the end as I have seen them come loose. Mine is sewn.
Enjoy this and please tell me what you think and also feel free to ask any questions, I will try my best to answer,. Its allways fun to talk about this. And before anyone asks, NO gaffers tape in this. Lol. (The tape strips is only for my personal tool diary abusers IF I feel the need for it.)
I may end up making another and if I do I may put this one up for sale.
Photographed in ''Smithsonian prop photographing fasion'', I present the Leap of faith aka Hitler aka Hero prop 2.
I can just hear the marching going on seeing this. And for your information, Hitler holds the book upside down.
And in pure Henry Sr. speaking fashion: ''Shee you can tell........on the left shide, the bills are shticking out.''
Enjoy!
-Holt
I will start with these. More will come later.
FLIPPED UPSIDE DOWNd
First, let me start by saying my planned september Grail diary interest list has to be pushed to end october/november. Im on vacation for 3 weeks now relaxing after a hectic summer/ fall. I allready have printed out a few Tool diaries ready to be cut and bound. So the wheels are motion. However, I managed to finish this prop and post it right before I go!
Second, I want to say this. Im very gratefull for all the questions and messages I get here and on other platforms. Im very happy to inspire others to start their own book as I really know the feeling of being inspired. My big inspiration from way back was and still is my bud Magnoli. Him and I also ended up as a team as the Grail diary Moderators here on COW for well over a decade but he had to take over the reins as other stuff got in the way for me to continue. Ok that said, lets get to it.
Here I am showcasing a rare version of the grail diary! Same style of diary is seen at the 2010 Comic Con and dont you just love that book. wow!
I know its not been long since I showcased my 'Hero prop' and I actually planned on showing these two as a set. That was the original plan. However, while working on this there was just too much other stuff going on in life so I had to take breaks. In the end, Im glad I had to wait as this one deserves its own spotlight for sure. This diary has become all time favorite and has some extra special treats in it, so stay tuned!
So, some of you may know and some may not but there are actually two ''main hero'' diary's seen on screen. The first one is ofc the hero prop we all love and then there is its brother that steals some of the famous close up scenes. Indeed, the Hitler / Leap of faith diary / 3 trials is its brother. I also believe its seen at the Brunwald castle when Elza holds it. But Im not 100% convinced and isonly my own speculation.
In the Lucas archives there are still a few diaries left including the hero prop. Those diaries are alittle different then what has publicly been showcased. These ones are slimmer and the covers are still raw hide or ''caramel'' color and some have the embossing border flipped around.The choice of wether the border is tooled up or down seems to be random. We see an example of that slimmer ''caramel'' colored diary in the Star wars to Indiana Jones archives book.
If you look at the Leap of faith scene its actually staring you in the middle of the face. That diary was one of those raw hide / caramel cover books. Same goes for the Hitler scene. These two different scenes showcase the one and same book. These caramel books were given a brown color wash whilst the book was closed hence why you see the insides are still raw hide / caramel and the outside covers are brown. Basicley the ''caramel'' covers were too light on screen so the crew colored them to the preferred shade of brown before they ended up on screen.
So what really IS so special about his one? What are the extra special treats I mentioned?
Well, for one, it is a complete different animal and has a different page order. It features all production made illustrations and is just a rare version of the diary. The inserts also have different placements from the hero prop.
Speaking of which, some of the inserts in my diary are direct scans from originals inserts found in the real diaries. For example, the French Franc is a direct scan from an original, colors and all, I just reprinted it. Same goes for the Camel pack. This is a spot on replica from a real diary pack prop. Colors, age spots and all.
This of course also goes for the page illustrations and text itself. They are not remade by me, they are direct scans from a real diary so they are 100% the same.
I know Im a very lucky guy in this hobby and I dont take it for granted but by having these sources I basicely can remake stuff ''original''.
More special treats. The real Leap of faith spread. And in its original ''photocopied faded form.'' The cup is also lightly colored with blue. I have been waiting forever to use this spread. Finally its featured!
The Hitler siganture is one of the absolutle high points in this diary. I love this tiny detail. This spread is such an intense spread and brings this diary together. I allways stop for a moment with this taking it all in, hearing the march and music playing in my head. Sometimes I put on the DVD to that specific moment while handling the book.
And the ''Marcus'' Map of no names. This version is the most famous Map of them all and is of course the entire reason for why the Nazis are after the diary. Love this version of the map!
The diary also has that werid constructed blue ticket with that extra fake number bar running down on the left side of the ticket. They probably wanted to hide the big PACIFIC ELECTRIC text cause of its distraction in the scene. But dude, that just looks weird to me. Anyway...
The cover is a more of a mid brown. Unlike the hero prop Its not super trashed. The corners are all intact and squared off besides the lower front corner. The border is also weathered off but still leaving more detail of it all around. If you have a keen eye, you can actually hint out the border in the Hitler scene.
Now, let me tell you, having something like this is on a another level. I love how the pages are differently matched together. It feels fresh and different, maby alittle more ''complete'' since it features all production made illustrations. Its a different animal for sure and honestly, it just ..... I dont know, feels like Henry's diary.
I can just hear the nazi saying, I will take ze book now! ''What book? You have ze diary in your pocket!?... You DOLT! ....you think my shon will be that shtupid and bring my diary all the way back here...... LOL
Ok, I'll stop..... back to it.
The diary is aged in pure freestyle magic and I love doing that. Takes a long while tho... nevertheless, I made this one like it would be made for the movie. Front is heavy aged and from the middle it kinda eases off. Actually I work better with freedom rather than replicating a certain look as wtih the hero prop. Im happier person when working. LOL. I know for my next Hero prop I will age it freestyle. And btw, its of course made as a prop with all the tapes and glue spots. Thats how we roll baby....thats how we roll!! :whip:
Oh,before I forget, this is something thats rarely being talked about. The black elastic band. The ends are not sewn together, they are actually glued and it makes so much sence thinking about time frames etc. Why should they sew when they can glue! Sadly, not very durable in the end as I have seen them come loose. Mine is sewn.
Enjoy this and please tell me what you think and also feel free to ask any questions, I will try my best to answer,. Its allways fun to talk about this. And before anyone asks, NO gaffers tape in this. Lol. (The tape strips is only for my personal tool diary abusers IF I feel the need for it.)
I may end up making another and if I do I may put this one up for sale.
Photographed in ''Smithsonian prop photographing fasion'', I present the Leap of faith aka Hitler aka Hero prop 2.
I can just hear the marching going on seeing this. And for your information, Hitler holds the book upside down.
And in pure Henry Sr. speaking fashion: ''Shee you can tell........on the left shide, the bills are shticking out.''
Enjoy!
-Holt
I will start with these. More will come later.
FLIPPED UPSIDE DOWNd
Last edited:
