DeLano80
Sr Member
Hello! New guy here on the forum. I just want to say that all of the work I see done here is awesome and very inspiring!
My dad took me to see The Last Crusade in the movie theaters and we both loved the movie. I thought that this year I would try to replicate the grail for a Christmas gift for him. That is how I found this website. I could have bought one from some of the members here who have done fantastic work replicating the grail. I would have been very pleased to own one. I decided to make my own. That is when I realized... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING!!
I wanted to make two cups. One for me and one for my dad.My first idea was to go to the local craft store and pick up some air dry clay. I realize now, i cannot sculpt. My second idea was to find a local potter who could make the cups for me. It turns out that the locals potters in my area are flaky. It took me about two months to realize that they were not going to make the cups for me! I thought maybe I could turn them from wood on my lathe but decided I needed them to be clay. What to do? I went to one of the "you paint" pottery places for kids. I spoke to the woman that worked there and she let me in the back to play with her potters wheel! The clay they use is high quality but dries to a light grey color. I realized very quickly that I am not a potter. It took me many tries to get a Grail shaped cup and about another hour to get the second. She fired them for me and that took about two more weeks. I know that the shapes are not screen accurate and that did bother me for a while. I wanted to make a cup that is screen accurate. I realized that I am not a Replica Prop Maker, but instead just someone who has no idea what they are doing. I decided to push on and just have fun!
Here is what I came up with. These are the cups painted with what I thought was a good clay color and then gloss coated.
After gold leafing. Wow that was messy! It just floats away everywhere..
The inside of one.
Now to weather these things. This is something else I didn't know anything about. I studied this forums beautiful contributions and learned from what others have done. The RPF really helped me a lot here. I worked with acrylics. I started dry brushing with black. I let it dry for a while then rubbed a bit off with a wet cloth. I repeated this step about four or five times using lighter and lighter colors. My last coat of paint was a very light grey with a little bit of brown and a touch of blue and green mixed together with some chalk. I laid this down pretty thick. I let it dry for awhile. I found the best way to get the look I wanted was to get my hands wet and just start rubbing. I waited a couple of days and put on about five coats of flat clear lacquer to protect the finish.
End result.
I suppose I am happy with the way they turned out. I can't wait to give one to my dad. I am sorry the shape isn't quite right. I had fun on this project and would like to try other things. I do have to say it would have been much easier buying one, but making it was funner!
My dad took me to see The Last Crusade in the movie theaters and we both loved the movie. I thought that this year I would try to replicate the grail for a Christmas gift for him. That is how I found this website. I could have bought one from some of the members here who have done fantastic work replicating the grail. I would have been very pleased to own one. I decided to make my own. That is when I realized... I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING!!
I wanted to make two cups. One for me and one for my dad.My first idea was to go to the local craft store and pick up some air dry clay. I realize now, i cannot sculpt. My second idea was to find a local potter who could make the cups for me. It turns out that the locals potters in my area are flaky. It took me about two months to realize that they were not going to make the cups for me! I thought maybe I could turn them from wood on my lathe but decided I needed them to be clay. What to do? I went to one of the "you paint" pottery places for kids. I spoke to the woman that worked there and she let me in the back to play with her potters wheel! The clay they use is high quality but dries to a light grey color. I realized very quickly that I am not a potter. It took me many tries to get a Grail shaped cup and about another hour to get the second. She fired them for me and that took about two more weeks. I know that the shapes are not screen accurate and that did bother me for a while. I wanted to make a cup that is screen accurate. I realized that I am not a Replica Prop Maker, but instead just someone who has no idea what they are doing. I decided to push on and just have fun!
Here is what I came up with. These are the cups painted with what I thought was a good clay color and then gloss coated.
After gold leafing. Wow that was messy! It just floats away everywhere..
The inside of one.
Now to weather these things. This is something else I didn't know anything about. I studied this forums beautiful contributions and learned from what others have done. The RPF really helped me a lot here. I worked with acrylics. I started dry brushing with black. I let it dry for a while then rubbed a bit off with a wet cloth. I repeated this step about four or five times using lighter and lighter colors. My last coat of paint was a very light grey with a little bit of brown and a touch of blue and green mixed together with some chalk. I laid this down pretty thick. I let it dry for awhile. I found the best way to get the look I wanted was to get my hands wet and just start rubbing. I waited a couple of days and put on about five coats of flat clear lacquer to protect the finish.
End result.
I suppose I am happy with the way they turned out. I can't wait to give one to my dad. I am sorry the shape isn't quite right. I had fun on this project and would like to try other things. I do have to say it would have been much easier buying one, but making it was funner!
