"Accurized" Totokia - Gaffi Stick project... NEW PICS 9-21-06!

[TomSpinaDesigns]

EDIT- 9-21

Added new pics of a finished one today:

MORE PICS HERE:
http://www.theRPF.com/index.php?s=&showtop...dpost&p=1323897

a sample:

EDIT 9-5-06

Junkyard thread is now up. http://www.therpf.com/index.php?showtopic=116375


EDIT 9-2-06

CASTING PICS UP IN THE FOLLOWING POST:

http://www.theRPF.com/index.php?s=&showtop...dpost&p=1311872





Hey all,

This is a project a long time in the making.

Years ago I did several orders from Fiji for totokias. The results (as anyone who's made an order might know.) were a very mixed bag. Eventually, after numerous tries, we managed to get a few that were close to the ones used in Star Wars.

I've since sent the one I kept for myself, which was among the closest I'd seen, to Rob (PHarchivist). He's been working to tweak the details that were lacking in that one, better mimicking the "feel" of the particular club used for SW.

The goal was to improve it to a point where it would be the most accurate out there, without doing too much to the integrity of the piece.

Of primary concern were:

the shape of the butt-end of the handle - originally, mine tapered where it needed build up and flare. This added some "beef" to the shaft as well.

the markings on the handle - customized on mine before the work, they now match the teardrop markings of the originals.

the angle of the elbow - originally, mine was too sharp an angle.

adding an element of "back bow" to the club - not present on mine prior to the work

extending the length by several inches - I believe the overall length is now close to 35 inches when assembled. Any longer and it would've been out of scale with the pineapple, but we feel it's close to accurate.


I believe Rob has done an exceptional job of improving each of those.

I'll let him chime in more about his methods, but for starters, below are some pics of the finished product (and the steps it took to get there).

The goal is to have this molded and cast (and it's being shipped to the caster this week). It will be done in two parts (the head and shaft), allowing for a pressure casting of the pineapple end wich should ensure all the details come out cleanly and bubble-free.

Please feel free to post any thoughts. I'm super-proud of what Rob has done with this piece.

Tom

Here are some shots of the progression:

And here's a close up of the improvement on the markings. Rob did each one by hand. There were over 1000 IIRC.

 

[PHArchivist]

<div class='quotetop'>(Wampa @ May 27 2006, 09:05 PM) [snapback]1251818[/snapback]</div>

And here's a close up of the improvement on the markings. Rob did each one by hand. There were over 1000 IIRC.

[/b]

Closer to 1500.

 

[moffeaton]

I am SO EXCITED to get one of these. You guys rock.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I still have the one I got from you. I must have gotten lucky, because mine, while not exact, looks close to the movie versions. I'm going to fix the shape of the blades eventually. Otherwise I love it.

 

[PHArchivist]

Here is a shot of a supposed original club from Planet Hollywood...

Supposed --probably not. With PH its hard to tell.

BUT...

If not the original club used in ANH, it is a casting of it. Its shape and characteristics are the same.

In comparing this pic to the results of our project, it is not a 100% match. Reasons being to simplfy the casting process, and largely that the goal was to capture the essence of the original. Short of taking a casting of the original, a 100% match is not entirely feasible.

In comparing the pic here to our results, we hope you will find this to be (for lack of a more eloquent phrase) a pretty darn close job....

 

[Darth Brass]

Looks amazing so far - can't wait to see the final product. Is this the style w/the blade on the butt?

 

[PHArchivist]

<div class='quotetop'>(Darth Brass @ May 28 2006, 08:53 AM) [snapback]1252054[/snapback]</div>

Looks amazing so far - can't wait to see the final product. Is this the style w/the blade on the butt?
[/b]

This project represents the "Classic" ANH Gaffi... It represents the one used by the Tusken in the attack on Luke, and the one on display in the Magic of Myth exhibit.

While, yes, there were other Fijian clubs/totokias used in SW, we feel this is the "true" totokia/gaffi of Star Wars, largely for the reasons stated above.

Also, as it is surmised that this particular style club (totokia with this specific etching pattern, back bend, pineapple, and other stylistic elements) may have been used in other moments in the SW films (besides the attack on Luke), its theorized that various resin or foam rubber casts were made of the original Fijian club used by the prop makers that our project emulates.

 

[TomSpinaDesigns]

What he said.

Yeah, basically, this is the "main" totokia. Used by the guy who attacks Luke, seen again (or a casting, perhaps?) with a shorter metal end (and broken pineapple spike) used by the Bantha rider.

The same design shows up in Jedi as well (Rancor Keeper's staff).

Rob did what he could to get it as close as possible (given the limitations of our starting point).

Glad to hear people are excited about this. It's gonna be nice to give folks a real option for this sorta thing.
Tom

 

[damon5973]

wow, this is weird. I started an interest thread a few months ago about a group order..it fell through. I just recently found anotehr dealer who can get them for much cheaper than the original price from before. I showed them some pics of what I needed and they had a link to an ebay auction that they ran a few months earlier. pretty much exactly what we wanted int he first place.

Now I understand that the one you guys are making is the "idealized" luke stabber, but like you said..all totokia are unique. I still feel that the uniqueness is important.

However yours does look great. I am hoping to get a few real totokia at the end of june and will gladly post shots of what they look like.

I was wondering if the casts were going to happen. and to think I sold my mace end..UGH

 

[Funky]

So...Tom. Will these be made available? :love

 

[TomSpinaDesigns]

Hey Funky,

Yes, we'll be making these available in a few weeks (and will post a JY thread when the time comes). Solid resin, with a pressure cast pineapple end. Doing what we can to make them as affordable as possible (and easy as pie to assemble.).

Damon,

I recall the interest thread and you having some trouble nailing them down. Once you called off your run, I made mention of the possibility of having mine cast... since then, Rob and I have decided to accurize that one to give people the best available "Star Wars" totokia for their gaffis.

Having ordered MANY totokia from fiji myself (dozens have passed through my hands over the years.), I can say that ordering is always an expensive crap shoot. Even after getting one lucky order where they were close, the follow up order came back way off.

That's the real reason I decided to let mine be modded, molded and cast. So many people have laid out money for an order sight unseen and gotten questionable results. Now, they'll have a chance to get an ANH accurate one straight off without any worries.

BTW, I wouldn't call it "idealized"... we did (and by "we" I mean Rob. LOL) everything we could to make this as true to the ones seen in SW as possible. Original design totokia (and other fiji handicrafts) are definitely cool and interesting, but in terms of making a Star Wars replica, I think many here would prefer to have something that looks like what's seen on screen.

Tom

 

[PHArchivist]

If anyone has more specific questions as to the processes involved, or details of our end result or the original, just let me know!

 

[damon5973]

Tom, dont get me wrong. I think what you have is great and it is nice to have something screen accurate. I like it and if the price is right will probably order one. Do you think it will be less than the original totokia?

for me I have gotten into the actual creating of props from original pieces. I have sold 90% of my MR stuff to make my own out of original parts. I NEVER thought I woudl be able to do it. but with a bit of practice and loads of help from here it is actually not too bad.

I was hoping that you woudl make these available way back. I did appreciate all the insight when trying to put an order together, I just am petrurbed that we cant get real totokia from fiji without taking a shot in the dark. It sounds so easy, and from my experience I have realized what you and others have tried to do is so hard.

I guess it cant hurt to have3 yours and then try to get a decent totokia at a good price.

Will yours come painted? I really have no painting skills besides a can of spray paint in my garage:-(

 

[Pauleysolo]

This is great news I have been wanting one of these for a while..

 

[PHArchivist]

<div class='quotetop'>(damon5973 @ May 31 2006, 02:10 AM) [snapback]1253421[/snapback]</div>

Will yours come painted? I really have no painting skills besides a can of spray paint in my garage:-(
[/b]

Damon, let me chime in here briefly, then I'll step back and allow Tom to offer his input...

(And well-stated post, by the way)

Regarding painting, the parties invloved in the project haven't discussed in great detail the offering of build-ups -- the initial scope was to provide reliable and consistent raw casts. However, (at least from my perspective), build-ups have not been clearly "vetoed"...

 

[mbmcfarland]

That looks really great. I originally didn't follow this thread because I was holding out hope of finding a semi-accurate "real" totokia but I think it's time to reconsider that.

Mike

 

[TomSpinaDesigns]

Thanks, Mike.

For a long time now the way mine initially looked was about the closest we'd come in terms of "real" totokia. I'm really glad we made the modifications now... I was hesitant but the improvement is really something.

Considering that there were several used and all have EXACTLY the same look, it's likely the ones we saw on screen were castings anyway.

Tom

 

[deralis]

AWESOME WORK...
CANT WAIT TO GET ONE WHEN MADE AVAILABLE..

 

[ortiz34]

Awesome.
Finally a tusken option that wont involve a blind item and ridiculous shipping charges.

 

[PHArchivist]

Well the next step n the process was taken/completed today....