A Worthless Bronze Medallion

[Bondo Fett]

A friend of mine got this from a friend of his; a resin cast of the Headpiece of the Staff of Ra from Raiders of the Lost Ark. That friend said something about it coming from ILM, via Stan Winston Studios. I can't confirm any of that, but here 'tis:

From my research I believe that is is a pull from a mold (made from a casting?) made of one of the 'Crew Gift' head pieces that were made after production wrapped on Raiders. However many generations removed (I've no idea) it is certainly a dupe of the headpiece in the Lucasfilm Archives. Which makes it a dupe of the piece used in the 'Imam' scene.

This page has the best scholarship I've seen about it:

Harrison/Elstree Props/Norank: Raiders of the Lost Ark ‘Staff of Ra’ Headpiece Props in the Marketplace

As a continuation of recent articles, the focus of this feature is the recent activity in the marketplace concerning the “Staff of Ra” headpiece props attributed to Raiders of the Lost …

www.originalprop.com

I was fiddling around with the thing fixing some flaws and bubbles and such hoping to get a really good mold off of it. After figuring out its lineage I've sort of slowed down and gotten cautious. Currently I really want to re-do the chain/braid detail that surrounds the piece. As you see:

In the meantime I've re-set the jewel-eye with some Apoxie Sculpt
to fit a 10mm faceted acrylic jewel:

I'm very interested in some feed-back from you members, particularly as regards to chain/braid surround.

 

[DaddyfromNaboo]

I say pull a copy of it and continue working on said copy. You do not want to mess up a potentially production made piece.

 

[irishamericanlad]

that’s pretty sexy up close

 

[Bondo Fett]

I say pull a copy of it and continue working on said copy. You do not want to mess up a potentially production made piece.

That's a good point, and I appreciate it, but I'm pretty sure, after even more research, that this is a cast (or a re-cast of a cast [who knows]) of one of the unknown number of so-called Crew Gifts. I didn't take a picture, but the section under the tail feathers had a very rudimentary pour sprue, and I believe the Crew Gifts had a tapered post that turned into a round boss as part of the casting. That convinced me that it is not an intrinsically valuable piece.

Having said that, I do believe this a very nice, high fidelity cast of the Crew Gift/Imam prop and I want to treat it appropriately. To that end I am patching some resin bubbles and smoothing some cracks and flashing to produce a quality model to pull a mold from.

My main issue right now is the braid/chain detail surrounding the piece which has obviously suffered under several molding operations. I am very interested to hear what other members have to say about how to address that. I've fooled around with some costume braid and woven cords, trying to match it. Maybe twisted fine-gage wire? Anyone?

 

[Duncanator]

Fine gauge solder would be easy to form to create the braid detail.

 

[Bondo Fett]

Awright gang, I've dug this thing out of a drawer and am ready to get back to it. I've gone back over some of the available info about it and I am confidant that I can carve away without worry that I'm risking damage to a valuable casting. I'm convinced that it is a casting of a casting (perhaps etc.) of one of the Crew Gifts. Maybe not so many generations removed since it has excellent fidelity for the most part, but, on closer inspection, I noticed the tail feathers have been slightly but noticeably re-carved. I suspect that was done when it was cut away from the round boss that the Crew Gift seems to have.

So, I have worked out a way to split the halves of the mold without having the mold seam running right through the fine details of the chain/braid. It's hard to describe so maybe I'll post a sketch of the method later. The main thing I need to determine is wether the chain is a simple twist of two twists, or is it a braid of three twists? I have at least figured out that fine beading wire will work, especially as it is available in several sizes of very fine twisted wire.

Any ideas/comments out there? I'm going to sand the beat-up braid off this resin soon.

 

[zenx13]

Awright gang, I've dug this thing out of a drawer and am ready to get back to it. I've gone back over some of the available info about it and I am confidant that I can carve away without worry that I'm risking damage to a valuable casting. I'm convinced that it is a casting of a casting (perhaps etc.) of one of the Crew Gifts. Maybe not so many generations removed since it has excellent fidelity for the most part, but, on closer inspection, I noticed the tail feathers have been slightly but noticeably re-carved. I suspect that was done when it was cut away from the round boss that the Crew Gift seems to have.

So, I have worked out a way to split the halves of the mold without having the mold seam running right through the fine details of the chain/braid. It's hard to describe so maybe I'll post a sketch of the method later. The main thing I need to determine is wether the chain is a simple twist of two twists, or is it a braid of three twists? I have at least figured out that fine beading wire will work, especially as it is available in several sizes of very fine twisted wire.

Any ideas/comments out there? I'm going to sand the beat-up braid off this resin soon.

Not sure if you are still working on this replica but I just completed my fully scratchbuilt prop of the similar Raven Saloon version. You can see what I did for the outer perimeter wire work if you like: Headpiece for the Staff of Ra