Hammond cane build log

[TomVDJ]

Completely wood? That soonds great! That was one of the reasons I loved the canes from Rylo (the first ones): they were completely made of wood and sturdy as hell. Seems like I'd better safe some funds to get one of yours too when you would do a run ;-). You will have to become a premium member, but I guess you get the cost of a membership back quite fast when you do a run of these.

 

[TheRealMe]

Ya, becoming a premium member is something I've been meaning to do for a while now.

 

[TheRealMe]

New one is on the right, old on the left. The amber egg on the new one is my first one place on top just for the photo.
The new one is all wood.

 

[TomVDJ]

Nice. Only one remark: the topper is a bit too "long" in my opinion. Should be a bit more round. Not a sphere, off course, but now I have the impression its a bit too long...

 

[TheRealMe]

Right you are, the good news is that it appears too long because it's not recessed into the cane yet. I don't want to use that one because it has too small a crane fly in it, when I get some more flies I'll pull another one, and recess it into the cane properly.
Thanks again,

 

[TomVDJ]

Don't know if that's the problem. I think the old one is a bit too long too. I did some photoshop (I know, that's easy to do and made the topper of your old cane a bit less long, and a bit smaller overall too, and I guess that shape is far more accurate. Original left, photoshopped right:



I know it's easy to photoshop, but not so easy to do in reality, but you're well on the way to make one of best Hammond Cane replica's, here (made out of wood, using the correct bug, great paint job, etc...), so why not go all the way and have the topper have a screen accurate shape too...

 

[TheRealMe]

That does look good, let me ask you another question.
How much taper do you think the canes need, I've seen some that taper way down at the bottom, and I thought it was too much. On my new cane I only use a small amount of taper, and I like that better. Also do you think the topper should be slightly flat on one side, or should it be more idealized, and round? just curious on your thoughts. I think I may have 4 or 5 prototypes by the time I'm done

 

[TomVDJ]

I have some nice bluray screencaps at home (I'm at work right now). I'll post them this evening. The screen used topper indeed is not symmetrical, but I guess most people prefer the "idealized" topper (me included). Also in many scnes the cane is very narrow at the bottom. Prop Builders cane more or less has that shape. Rylo's cane doesn't become narrower to the bottom, but this doesn't bother me, to be honest. Your cane also stays the same width more or less. This makes the cane more robust, and I like that.

Anyway, I'll try to post those screencaps this evening. I thought there were some where the rubber cap is clearly visible...

 

[Luke0312]

Personally, I prefer canes having more taper. Despite it possibly being less functional (but really, who is using these canes to actually walk), it is more screen accurate. That's what I always prefer in my props, since it is after all an attempt to create a replica of another item seen in a film.

On the topper, I have a reject cast (too much catalyst used, so it is pale yellow and has the fractures inside radiating from the bug). Once I pulled it from the mold and saw it, I knew I wouldn't use it, so I just set it aside, so it would still need to be smoothed/polished before molding. It's not the style topper I use on my canes, I use the mold/casts from the molds I bought from Prop Builder. This one is from another mold I made using a porcelain egg (it doesn't have the true egg shape, it is more evenly sized on both ends). It might be just what you're looking for though.

Here's a pic of it with the topper I use for comparison.

If you want it to clean up and mold for use on your canes, you can have it. Just let me know.

 

[TomVDJ]

Here are some bluray caps were the cane is rather visible. The rubber cap can be seen in the third and sixth picture... You czn see that the cap begins right where the 12th "part" of the cane stops. So nothing from that bottom piece beneath that 12th part of the cane is visible, since the cap slides over that bottom piece.

I also have the impression that the topper is more round in scenes were the cane is not in close up. The close up shots have the topper that is slightly flat on some sides. I guess this topper had the nicest bug in it, so that's why it was used for the close-ups?

I would also be carefull with the dark paint in the rims between the parts of the cane. In the screencaps these more or less have the same color as the cane itself (see last picture, for instance).

 

[TheRealMe]

Wow, those are a great help. I see his cane tapers WAY down. I personally like having them less tapered. My new one has a nice slight taper, while my first one doesn't have one at all. I think it needs a little taper, but I don't like it to get real real narrow though. What I may do is offer hand turned ones completely out of wood, in which case I can make them to order, how ever much taper can be requested, and also make molds of one for a resin option. Of course the price for the hand turner wood ones would be higher, and availability would depend on my time.
The way I sell to the R2 builders is to only accept payment once the parts are ready to ship, I do this in fear of getting behind, not accepting money before hand prevents that happening. So most likely It would operate like a list of people that I move through as I can. If I get to someone and they don't have the money I just move to the next, and the person can ether choose to be moved down or can take themselves off the list.

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Personally, I prefer canes having more taper. Despite it possibly being less functional (but really, who is using these canes to actually walk), it is more screen accurate. That's what I always prefer in my props, since it is after all an attempt to create a replica of another item seen in a film.

On the topper, I have a reject cast (too much catalyst used, so it is pale yellow and has the fractures inside radiating from the bug). Once I pulled it from the mold and saw it, I knew I wouldn't use it, so I just set it aside, so it would still need to be smoothed/polished before molding. It's not the style topper I use on my canes, I use the mold/casts from the molds I bought from Prop Builder. This one is from another mold I made using a porcelain egg (it doesn't have the true egg shape, it is more evenly sized on both ends). It might be just what you're looking for though.

Here's a pic of it with the topper I use for comparison.
http://i61.tinypic.com/2r5akck.jpg

If you want it to clean up and mold for use on your canes, you can have it. Just let me know.

that looks great, are you tenting your resin? I got a few different tents to mix in, I can make the color of the amber anything form perfectly clear to maple sirup

 

[TheRealMe]

Just dropping of some photos of my latest crane flies

 

[Rylo]

In point of fact. My cane does indeed have a gradual taper at the bottom. Measure the top vertebrae against the bottom. I opted to split the difference toward the bottom for a bit more stability but it does indeed taper.:thumbsup

Tip for the OP: The cane is supposed to be a fossilized dino tail. A lot of people presume it's bamboo. Not sure if you knew or not.

Nice crane flies!!

I have some nice bluray screencaps at home (I'm at work right now). I'll post them this evening. The screen used topper indeed is not symmetrical, but I guess most people prefer the "idealized" topper (me included). Also in many scnes the cane is very narrow at the bottom. Prop Builders cane more or less has that shape. Rylo's cane doesn't become narrower to the bottom, but this doesn't bother me, to be honest. Your cane also stays the same width more or less. This makes the cane more robust, and I like that.

Anyway, I'll try to post those screencaps this evening. I thought there were some where the rubber cap is clearly visible...

 

[TheRealMe]

In point of fact. My cane does indeed have a gradual taper at the bottom. Measure the top vertebrae against the bottom. I opted to split the difference toward the bottom for a bit more stability but it does indeed taper.:thumbsup

Tip for the OP: The cane is supposed to be a fossilized dino tail. A lot of people presume it's bamboo. Not sure if you knew or not.

Nice crane flies!!

Hey rylo!
Thanks for stopping by! The whole reason I'm working on one of these canes is to accompany one of your cryo cans for which I'm on the soft reserve list for, and might I say am pretty excited for
I do know about the dinosaur bones, and my new one does tapper, not as much as some, but it does have a slight tapper.
Just curious if you have any info on how much people have sold the topers for in the past?

 

[Rylo]

As per our guidelines, we're not allowed to discuss pricing for proposed runs on the main forum. Just in case your thread gets pulled in that direction.

I couldn't even guess on the toppers, anyway. Kinda like asking, "how much does a red car cost?" Depends on who made it, quality, etc.

My standard answer for this question is generally, "Whatever the market allows."

Good luck!

Hey rylo!
Thanks for stopping by! The whole reason I'm working on one of these canes is to accompany one of your cryo cans for which I'm on the soft reserve list for, and might I say am pretty excited for
I do know about the dinosaur bones, and my new one does tapper, not as much as some, but it does have a slight tapper.
Just curious if you have any info on how much people have sold the topers for in the past?

 

[TheRealMe]

Ah, thanks for the heads up!

 

[TomVDJ]

In point of fact. My cane does indeed have a gradual taper at the bottom. Measure the top vertebrae against the bottom. I opted to split the difference toward the bottom for a bit more stability but it does indeed taper.:thumbsup

You're right. Top indeed is broader then the bottom. As you said, it's a bit more subtle than the movie cane, but I like the stability it adds to the cane. Prop builders bottom of the cane is very narrow, and I'm always afraid damaging it when handling the cane. Don't have that feeling with yours...

 

[Rylo]

Yeah, it was by design. I split the difference between the hero cane and the wrap canes. It's a minor difference but really adds to the stability at the bottom.

You're right. Top indeed is broader then the bottom. As you said, it's a bit more subtle than the movie cane, but I like the stability it adds to the cane. Prop builders bottom of the cane is very narrow, and I'm always afraid damaging it when handling the cane. Don't have that feeling with yours...

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No problem. What did you use on your tops? I like the color.

Ah, thanks for the heads up!

 

[TheRealMe]

No problem. What did you use on your tops? I like the color.

The tops are just clear polyester casting resin, with run of the mill yellow tint, the composite store I go to here in town ordered it by mistake thinking it was pigment, so I grabbed some. It is really dark in the container as it is very concentrated, only takes a few milliliters to get the results I like. If I mix up say 100 milliliters it may only need one or two drops. The other issue I had was the resin cracking as it gassed off. that was while using 2% MEKP, after reducing to 1% it hasn't done that.

 

[Rylo]

You didn't use cast-n-craft on those did you?

The tops are just clear polyester casting resin, with run of the mill yellow tint, the composite store I go to here in town ordered it by mistake thinking it was pigment, so I grabbed some. It is really dark in the container as it is very concentrated, only takes a few milliliters to get the results I like. If I mix up say 100 milliliters it may only need one or two drops. The other issue I had was the resin cracking as it gassed off. that was while using 2% MEKP, after reducing to 1% it hasn't done that.