Crocodile Dundee Hat - Epic Fail ... and Recovery - Build (s) and Finished

Alan Castillo

Master Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Everybody knows what I'm on about :love

cdsg1-727x662.jpg


cdsg2-718x475.jpg


cdsg3-587x723.jpg


cdgsg4-964x653.jpg



... and I've had my mind on this for quite a while. I've been looking around the net for years, and never found one that quite cut it. It was either $1700-$2300 for this (edit - gone up from $900) ... not ! .. or make one myself :)

Little did I know ........ :lol

To cut quite a few loooong stories short, this 'build' has been a total disaster from the start.

I'd finish something, look at it and say "What the HELL were you thinking !!" :lol

Never before have I had a 'build' go so wrong, so I not only share the good things with you, but also the terrible :lol

First, I put my big foot in it when I started off by getting this hat

cdh1-787x515.jpg


When it arrived, it was so totally the wrong shape :(, and I tried to fix it by stuffing it with a cardboard shape to give it some form.

cdh2-784x527.jpg


Not so bad I suppose

cdh3-781x525.jpg


The idea was to use a real crocodile band with real teeth, so I got one of these from Australia

cdh11-975x446.jpg



The idea was to increase the number of teeth on the band (they were supposed to be claws really), to make a band with many more 'claws'.

So I got me these.


WARNING :

TAXIDERMY AHEAD.

IF YOU GET :sick IN ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM, DO NOT CLICK THE SPOILER !



Gotta love eBay :lol

These are genuine alligator (croc / gator, who cares :lol) keychain paws.

I took off the metal key holders.

cdh4-888x600.jpg


Cut them up into individual claws

cdh5-892x602.jpg


And tried everything under the sun to 'rehydrate the skin. Here they are, amongst the various experiments, soaking in a mixture of water and spirit

cdh6-887x599.jpg


NOTHING worked. There was too much varnish, and they were solid as a rock.

Only one thing for it

cdh7-798x652.jpg


THAT worked :lol, and they rehydrated. So I proceeded to cut off the skin.

cdh8-799x537.jpg


:cry:cry:cry

They shrunk !

cdh9-801x539.jpg


Waaaay too small :thumbsdown

cdh10-790x531.jpg


So then I looked into getting genuine gator toes (yes, they also exist on eBay :lol), but the seller I found was being a right old pain, and it took a couple of weeks of me corresponding with him to ensure I got the right sizes, and I was getting nowhere.

So that idea went out the window.

Therefore, I ended up just sticking the band I got on the hat

cdh12-798x537.jpg


It looked terrible :cry


So finally, I grabbed myself by the scruff of the neck and told myself to CONCENTRATE and start all over.

Step one - I got me a better looking hat

cdh14-798x537.jpg


The band on the Crocodile Dundee hat is in fact believed not have been Crocodile at all, but snake-skin.

So I got me a leather and real snake-skin hat band. I couldn't find one that was the right shades, so I proceeded to touch it up myself.

cdh15-896x605.jpg



Since the Croc teeth on the band I had got looked cool, I got me some more real ones.

cdh16-895x604.jpg



Since the animals are not killed just for their teeth, these just fall off and are collected, but they are therefore hollow.

cdh17-888x677.jpg



No worries. Nothing some filling with resin won't fix :lol


cdh18-886x598.jpg



An acrylic wash to make then look dirty, drilled holes in them, and used a leather cord. I also cheated a little by adding an extra cm of resin to the central 'claw' to make it bigger.

cdh19-893x603.jpg



An improvised hat-stand using the leftover acrylic plates from the Star Trek 3D Chess build


cdh20-893x603.jpg



And FINALLY, I had my Crocodile Dundee Hat !


cdhr12-961x651.jpg



cdhr52-965x653.jpg



cdhr22-957x648.jpg



cdhr32-956x647.jpg



cdhr42-950x643.jpg



cdhSBS-985x383.jpg



And how it looks in the deco.


cdhdisp1-796x621.jpg



cdhdisp2-786x723.jpg
 
Last edited:
Don't you ever sleep Alan:lol Is this screen accurate, does it have the watch inside;) So are you going to make a Donk togo with it
56893.gif

By andy19422 at 2012-05-07
or better still, one of these:love
4500558125484932ea51.jpg

By andy19422 at 2012-05-07
By andy19422 at 2012-05-07
If you ever do a run put me down for one:lol
 
Last edited:
Don't you ever sleep Alan:lol

Sometimes :lol

Hi Alan, great attempt on the hat, but I think your crown is too short! Throws it off a bit.

Go to post #4817 (pg 193) of the PLEASE DON"T BUMP THREAD to see my Stetson. (RPF won't let me post the pic twice!)

http://www.therpf.com/f12/please-dont-bump-please-dont-bump-ice-118146/index193.html#post1853514

Cheers, Jeff

I think your crown is too high :lol

attachment.php


We should be able to find something in between somewhere :lol
 
I thought you would have known this one!!! ;)

I'm pretty sure I saw it before when researching, but I didn't think of getting it because of the price. I discarded many options because of the price. I know its relatively not that expensive, but between the teeth, the band etc etc etc .... I had to choose a happy medium. It plays the part I think :)
 
Alan you never cease to amaze me.. that is fantastic
Did you have trouble shipped teeth from country to country or did you source them locally?
But well done.. Could be a market for those if you could make make them..
And may I be cheeky and ask what was the cost after compared to the other for $900

Chris
 
Thanks Chris :) :thumbsup

Nah, no worries for shipping. Not protected species, and picked from a farm, not hunted.

PM'ing you re rest.
 
Great thread Alan! I've been wanting a decent Crocodile Dundee hat and knife, (http://www.therpf.com/f9/now-thats-knife-my-crocodile-dundee-replica-144365/#post2209002), for quite a while now but, like you, I've had a hard time finding a good replica at a reasonable price. I really appreciate the effort that you put into photographing and chronicling your progress as you work on projects like this. It's extremely helpful, as well as very inspiring. (Oh, and the hat came out great by the way.) :):thumbsup Keep up the good work my friend!
 
Why not just get one of your Aussie mates to send you the real Akubra... We got em sitting on shelves down here just waitin for Maltese Tourists.

Special-Croc-Black-preview.jpg
 
Last edited:
Alan, I think I spot something new on the shelf below that hasn't made its way to your other thread? :)

I only have two hands ! :lol I'll update these and some other stuff today though :)

Great thread Alan! I've been wanting a decent Crocodile Dundee hat and knife, (http://www.therpf.com/f9/now-thats-knife-my-crocodile-dundee-replica-144365/#post2209002), for quite a while now but, like you, I've had a hard time finding a good replica at a reasonable price. I really appreciate the effort that you put into photographing and chronicling your progress as you work on projects like this. It's extremely helpful, as well as very inspiring. (Oh, and the hat came out great by the way.) :):thumbsup Keep up the good work my friend!

Thank you Adam; as usual, you are so very welcome, and it is my total pleasure to share :)

Why not just get one of your Aussie mates to send you the real Akubra... We got em sitting on shelves down here just waitin for Maltese Tourists.

:lol

Interesting point though. I looked into that a little more. The link provided by Andy above shows an Akubra Down Under hat, available in black. I also found it elsewhere, on another German website.

However, on the Akubra website they are only available in Sand and Santone Fawn :confused

Akubra - Iconic Australian Hats - Country Style Hats
 
This thread is more than 11 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top