Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Darth Saber's paint job is quite neat looking, but it doesn't, at least to my eyes, look like the paint job on the originals. If a Farnsworth is meant to look weathered, I would think the majority of the weathering would be on the outside, and not on the inside of the lid that never gets touched, in a case that's normally closed.
The paint on the cases on the show looks fairly clean and smooth inside and out -- with the exception of that one Wired flash photo. Maybe that was a prototype?
I suspect the prop maker was going for aged, rather than weathered. There's a slight bit of handling wear, and a few chips in the paint along the edge of the lid.
It reads as dark brown to me. I found that just painting in random layers, mixing flat and gloss browns, gives a very similar effect.
A few things to take into consideration -
Lighting -
Depending on the amount and type of lighting (natural or artificial), it can change the overall look of the color drastically .
Clairity -
Taking into consideration that many of the reference photos of the original prop are slightly out of focus/blurry, it can significantly disguise the weathering/aging pattern on the prop.
Alternate versions of the prop-
FInally, it's clear to see that there are several versions of the prop. THere are probably a couple of Hero versions (for close-up beauty shots) and a couple of stunt versions (For heavy handeling on the screen)
Stunt props usually have less detail than the hero props, so the stunt props might have less aging/weathering than the hero prop.
Here are some other photos of my paintjob using different variaty of lighting .
As you can see, when the lighting is natural , dimmed or image is slightly blurred, it can can alter the tone, values and uniformity of the colors.
And a comparison to the original prop -
(Note, this shot shows considerable weathering on the inside of the cover, as well as the outside.)
(THis shot also shows the weathering on the inside)
Once again, more weathering on the inside -
Keep in mind that these are probably the sharpest shots of the prop...All of the sharp shots show the weahtering pattern on the prop.
Only the out of focus shots make the weathering hard to notice.
DS
