DUNE (1984) Crysknife and sheath

[goldcylon]

The resin must Flowwww……..

 

[Arch1521]

Perhaps you've seen the quote attributed to Leonardo da Vinci that states "Art is never finished, only abandoned."

I've abandoned quite a few prop projects over the years, and while I have revisited a couple here and there (only to abandon them again, usually), I think I can call this one done. Maybe not *done* as I might have originally intended - pretty sure this will be a one-off... while a younger, more ambitious me might have done a run of them.

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This will be going to a good friend, who has been persistent is his pestering of me throughout the years to finish the damned thing. Hopefully he will be happy with it. (as much as I will be happy with him not pestering me about it anymore )

Anyway, here's where I started with this project, all of 11 years ago (yep, I checked the dates on the pics, and that's how long it's been!) Even earlier than that by a few years, I used to offer castings with a lineage back to a Crysknife from the production of the film.

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I can't remember if it was me or this particular friend (it was probably him) who proposed a "what if..." challenge, wherein I would re-create a Crysknife sheath that was in a deleted scene from the film. It was wielded in the scene by Shadout Mapes - played by Linda Hunt - and my only real reference was a photo in a book and a few blurry screen-caps...

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So I set about sculpting a rough shape in clay on top of one of my Crysknife castings...

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Which I then made a quick waste mold of, to cast a hard copy that I could refine even further...

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When I was done with the hard copy I re-molded that, and that mold allowed me to slush cast a final hollow version of the sheath.

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The next challenge was to alter the shape of the Crysknife slightly, so that it would actually fit inside the sheath nicely. The main problem was the "hump" present in the original Crysknife just forward of the metal collar separating the blade from the grip - that hump had to go, otherwise the sheath would have to be paper-thin in that spot.

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My goal in doing the sheath was to make it in a way that would create a single continous contour, as it transitioned from sheath to knife, much like the original concept drawing:

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With a casting of the Crysknife altered to fit the sheath, I re-molded that to cast the final version... which didn't really fit all that great.

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Besides the obvious less-than-perfect alignment of the collars on the sheath and knife, there was also the conundrum of getting the sheath to stay on the knife. I didn't want to rely on a friction fit, at the risk of ruining the painted metallic finish that the collar on the knife would eventually have. I tinkered with some very thin rare earth magnets embedded in both knife and sheath, and while they did provide *some* holding power, I wasn't exactly wowed by the solution. And it was at around that point that I abandoned the project...

But now it's finished. I punched in a couple more magnets, and grafted a small piece onto the collar of the sheath to make it line up a little better with the collar on the knife. Yeah, it's not 100% perfect, but I'm happy enough with it.

And this piece of art is finished. Up yours, Leonardo!

Dune is a great place for props and replicas...I think you’ve really found something.

 

[Dingo80]

I loved the look of these. Great job!

 

[jholt]

Any updates on this piece?

 

[The 48th Ronin]

No... but just know that it isn't going to be a quick turnaround. It's out of my hands at the moment.

 

[shepard137]

when and where will theses be available?
is it going to be a straight edged knife or more accurately curved? i always thought it looked better with a straight blade

 

[The 48th Ronin]

when and where will theses be available?
is it going to be a straight edged knife or more accurately curved? i always thought it looked better with a straight blade

I will start a thread in Project Runs. When that will be... I can't really say (because I don't know). Sometime this year, I would hope.

And they will be curved, of course - that's just how they are. Why would I make them straight?

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

Amazing work, very cool to do this particular prop! The David Lynch movie and the novels will always define Dune for me.

 

[Sandperson]

looking forward to any news here

 

[The 48th Ronin]

My friend texted me this pic a couple months ago:

Yeah, I know... I really need to follow up. I know it's been other projects and just life in general for both of us, but I'll touch base and see what's what...

 

[nick daring]

Stab.

 

[The 48th Ronin]

Here's a bit of an update - these are currently en route to me:

 

[Shyaporn]

That's great work! But now I was an Abandoned projects thread...!

 

[Shataan]

I`m interested for sure! Will you be offering completed Finished? Thx.

 

[The 48th Ronin]

Will you be offering completed Finished?

I haven't decided yet. If I do, they will be extremely limited in number and they will be expensive.

 

[nick daring]

Yessss.

The knife must flow...

 

[monolith21]

Those look fantastic!

 

[Mostrok]

Here's a bit of an update - these are currently en route to me:

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Love them! And would love one of those!

 

[Skyler101]

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in....
The funny thing is I have a 3D model of the knife, but the sheath is something else...
Looks great my friend!

-Skyler101

 

[The 48th Ronin]

A small update... I've been working over the 3D prints that I received - not only to smooth out the print lines, but I also ended up rebuilding the end of the buttcap on the original version of the knife. The surface had numerous attachment points for the supports, and when I clipped them all off it revealed that the face was like goose flesh. The easiest way to deal with that was to grind down the triangle and sand the face down flat. I made a plate out of Ren Shape, epoxied that on the end, and blended it in around the sides with Bondo. And then made a new triangle piece and epoxied that on.

As for the knife & sheath version... I basically ended up back at square one with that. I'm not sure if it was a matter of a miscommunication/misunderstanding or a difference of opinion/different idea about what should happen, but my friend had his 3D guy tweak the sheath to fit the original version of the knife, and not the one that I had re-worked. I'm actually not that upset about it, since both knives will now have the correct full-length blades. The downside is that I'm having to re-do all of the things that I did before, to re-work the knife. Not the end of the world though, since I am now working with the larger pieces (for which I am grateful). The biggest downside however, is the fact that the knife doesn't quite fit the sheath 100%. So it's been a slow process of sanding and checking fit, sanding and checking fit...

Long story short, it's going to be a little bit longer before I get around to molding and casting them.