Hi guys.
This holds some cool info so please read if your into this. As you might have guessed Im pretty obsessed with these props and have been for the last 30 years.
For the first time ever in my history of diary replica making, I'm showcasing a 100% replica of one of the famous B prop grail diaries! Im confident to say its almost identical. Nobody can get a 100% replica so I should not say 100% really,...but 99% / 98% maby??? I dont know, you be the judge, all I feel is that Im pretty confident about its level but still, these are handmade replicas so there will always be tiny differences between real and replica. Anyway the cover, the skin, the embossing, the aging, texture paper, the inserts, the illustraitons and the original wacky pageorder is all there to a level I am extremely proud of. Also a special feature is that parts opf this diary has been replicated we dont actually see. Yes indeed the inside book spine and how its contstructed as I have information on how these were actually made.
The B prop or 'the extras'' were used when they rehearsed scenes while the hero diaries waited for their closeups. These books were placed in suitcases, jacket pockets, used as backround items, used by stand ins and stunt. These were carry arounds in the film and was later gifted to producers etc.
Ok. So lets get to it. I will start by saying this has been a dream come true for me ever since I became aware of the B props many decades ago. I instantley fell in love with them. Each one is a treasure and each one is the same but yet very different. I mean, they are so unique, so quirky, so many weird twists and turns it really makes you enjoy for what it really is. Just a prop and nothing more with certain sprinkle of magic to it that makes very aluring.
To some people, including me at times these can be seen as alittle boring diaries as it has no inserts almost and lacks many important grail diary pages but then again they are their own unique prop and deserves all the credit and love they can get. I can totally see such a book being used by Henry. Sometimes I would like to have seen this carried around in the film instead of the hero as the cover and paper are so beautifull to look at. Its an overall more detailed diary all together and toally fits the style of the film.
Since the B props are bound in with less and unfinshed signatrues these diaries become slightly taller and slimmer than A props. A certian tell is that the corner cutmarks are still on the pages. FYI, there are not any cutmarks on the hero props as they were cut down to the ''correct'' size. However, as a true replica diary this little cutmark detail has to be replicated. And even tho I dont like it much but it has to be there in my opinion to really make it stand out as a B prop and I love that its there. Yeah,....as you might have guessed by now, I have a love/hate relationship with those marks. lol
Its alittle hard to notice from the official pictures but the original diaries are put together decently not professionally. That is also noticable in the sewing technique. Its not consistant and its not strongly made like a professional bookbinder would make. No, they are put together by propmasters and it shows and I totaly love it. These books were a team effort. For example, Keir and another made the covers, Another one did the illustraitons and text and his wife and Keir at times did sewing and the aging. But mostly his wife did the aging. I heard there was one other person working on these but I cant confirm who that was. So to those that think Keir Lusby alone made all the diaries from scratch is slightly wrong. Even tho I really like to think he made them all by himself and I did that for years in the past its just not the case. Hence why you see so many different made diaries out there. Not all are made the same even tho they look the same. And once these arrived on set they were given additional aging by the set decorators after some test shooting, hence why you see the hero prop so over the top weathered. Distressing and aging especially on paper is very hard for the camera to read because of the set light washes out the distressing so they put in extra for it to show on film. I work in the filmbusiness myself so I can confirm this for whatever that is worth.
For the construction, these were made with a kettle stitch then a cloth covering the spine. The kettle stitch is very inconsistent and this is the part it actually shows its constructed by propmasters and not bookbinders. Some original diaries have signatures with one stitch loop only and 3 loops in the next signature and all that in the same book hence why some sigantures has come loose in the binding. This is because there is no place to reinforce them in the back spine with only one kettle loop going thru. This detail can also be seen in the hero prop. As mentioned above, these are just props and were ment to hold up for the film production and not 200 years. By the way, these diaries does not have any marbled fly sheets either. Only the Hero props have those.
Here comes the fun part. The page order is a total mess! Its not like the hero prop where you have those 4 identical signatures repeated to make some sort of believable book. No, the B prop is a total monkey journal. They just threw the pages together that dont actually fit together and not only that they made weird desicions in the design layouts as well before printing. The chaos in the order is what gets me and I love it.
Having seen the entire B prop and other B props as well, these books kinda gives the apperance of it being a more scribbled in book as there is more focus on pages with text and maps on them rather than illustrations like in the hero prop. And sadly a lot of the original pages are not found in these books. I guess if these B props had all the orignal drawings it would look more like the hero prop. And I have absolutley no idea of why they did not use all original pages when they had the ability to do so.., I guess thats just the weird quirk of them. One signature in this particular book is dedicated to the hero prop where they got a specific hero prop order right but other than that, its a mess.
Several pages have quirks like blanked out spots in drawings, rubbed of ink, torn off pages and some pages are printed out on really low ink giving the text a really broken apperance. They just used all pages fresh out of the print, good or bad quality. Its a good mix of faded grey pages and more fresh black toned pages.
The aging on the pages itself also seems to vary on these original books. Some diaries had the pages heavily aged and some diaires were almost untouched just a spot here and there. But one thing is for sure, the ones that got aged were tried to have matching aging between them as I have seen other diaries that have pages with the exact same aging spots on them, so I think these were just laying on a table next to eachother given the same work done to them.
These books were also low in inserts but I think they were given the 3 standards as all of them seem to have those. The blue ticket, the Washington sheet and the dollar bill. And again, these insert props do not come without some weird quirks either. The Blue ticket has a different design from hero prop ticket and not only that the entire back is almost completley blanked out some weird reason. The Washington sheet was also blanked out and the enitre sheet is also cut slightly wider. Some diaries had these two inserts taped together too. And the B prop dollar bill has a different serial number and the entire bill is aslo less saturated. Its a more greyer bill overall.
For my replica I made the cover not be a 100% replica of a specific cover as I personally I think that all covers are their own unique item. I want mine to look like it come of the same production line. However I gave mine certain details from other covers that I like.
Also, and this was a bit of a challenge and that was getting the base color of the pages before all the chemical blends were applied to them. That was more of a trial and error challenge really and I used quiet a bit of time finding the right tone. I really wanted to find the exact same beige/sandy tone aging with a slight pink hue to it we see on the originals and Im pretty happy how they turned out.
Also another challenge was how the book needed to lay open showing that rounded curvy spine, exactly like the original.
oh, btw, the cover is made from calfskin. I sourced some cafskin that matches the original to a T. Even down to the pours of the hide now it thats not replicating I dont know. LOL. The color is a mid brown with darker and redder highlights to give the depth seen on the originals.
Lastly, the paper. The paper took some real searching, like years and I finally got something that is so close it probably is the same type. After aging the paper it becomes alittle stiffer and gives those extra fold and rimples in the paper. This is very true to the originals. You can also see the stiffness of the paper when Adam Savage flips thru the original. The aging on the pages is also much more brown in real life. The offical photos of a B prop diary are taken under heavy lights that makes the pages more washed out but in real life its more brown. But then again, i have seen other that are very light in aging. So its all good I guess.
Also, a side note, the black elastic band are actually glued togehter and not sewn. Interesting!
A few last words. There is just something about having a diary that is so spot on to the original it actually makes me think its original. Its a different level for sure. And its made with all the passion and love and I hope it shows and Im very proud of it. I present the ''B prop''
So, please enjoy these photos and info and feel free to ask some questions! Allways fun!
Cheers.
Holt
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