DrMcoy
Sr Member
For any savvy pirates still lurking about, here's my build-up of a kit offered by Mr. Pinski on ETSY. I believe he used to offer them on this forum a few years back. He also offers them finished, but I decided to give this a go myself and save a few hundred bucks. I think it turned out ok.
As for the kit, it is really nice, but for $90 it would be a LOT nicer if he would simply include ALL the pieces you need. Instead you have to fend for yourself for the back ring, the hinge, the front latch, the leather strap, the paper compass rose, the leather for the inside lid, and whatever you decide to use for the white inlay. I used plastic square rod, but he also suggested using epoxy putty, which would likely have been a helluva lot easier to use, but I toughed it out and cut all the plastic inlay pieces by hand. The corner bits were really tricky, but I found some Plastruc that was actually triangular shaped, so I was able to cut and sand those to fit and drop them into place. Some of the most tedious work to be sure -- and my index fingernail was almost sanded off in the process, but it's a small price to pay to find my true heart's desire. For the back brass ring, he suggested using a simple brass eye-hook and grommet, but I found a finial or some sort of brass part at hardware store for the base and glued a brass nut to it, which I shaped with the dremel. Again, tedious work, but it looks pretty darn close to the screen-used prop. No cigar, but close.
One nice touch he does include is a little magnet built into the "turntable" portion that holds the compass rose -- this way you have some control over the spinning of the rose if you hold a strong magnet beneath the compass and twirl it around.
I have been a fan of this prop since the first movie. Diehard fans will know the compass appearance was modified slightly from the first movie compared to the others, and it even looks a bit different in every movie, but you'd have to really be scrutinizing screen caps and shots of set-used props found on the internet to notice such small details.
I think overall, this is about 90-95% accurate. The size is very close to the Master Replicas version (which I assume to be accurate, size-wise). I think the detailing on the dome on inner lid is spot on, with the slight black ring around the base of the blue starred upper dome. The brass trident that sits over the compass rose is resin, but I believe he uses some kind of metallic coating or powder for the surface, which you can polish with some fine steel wool to bring out the metallic sheen. The trident spokes are not tappered as they should be, but this would likely be challenging to do in resin as they would be susceptible to breaking when you pressure fit them into the compass. The MRs are the same way -- not sure why they didn't get this detail more accurate. But again, only the most detail-oriented would likely even notice.
I've collected and built several kits of this prop over the years, including the various toys, but most of the fan-made kits were always off in one way or the other -- mainly in size. I think the Pinski kit is one of the nicer ones out there, and I would give it a full five stars if he included all the little tidbits you need to finish it -- I mean, come on, how hard is it to include the paper compass rose? But if you don't mind hunting down all the little pieces, it does make for a really nice version of the prop.
A FEW PICS OF SOME OF THE ACTUAL PROPS:
As for the kit, it is really nice, but for $90 it would be a LOT nicer if he would simply include ALL the pieces you need. Instead you have to fend for yourself for the back ring, the hinge, the front latch, the leather strap, the paper compass rose, the leather for the inside lid, and whatever you decide to use for the white inlay. I used plastic square rod, but he also suggested using epoxy putty, which would likely have been a helluva lot easier to use, but I toughed it out and cut all the plastic inlay pieces by hand. The corner bits were really tricky, but I found some Plastruc that was actually triangular shaped, so I was able to cut and sand those to fit and drop them into place. Some of the most tedious work to be sure -- and my index fingernail was almost sanded off in the process, but it's a small price to pay to find my true heart's desire. For the back brass ring, he suggested using a simple brass eye-hook and grommet, but I found a finial or some sort of brass part at hardware store for the base and glued a brass nut to it, which I shaped with the dremel. Again, tedious work, but it looks pretty darn close to the screen-used prop. No cigar, but close.
One nice touch he does include is a little magnet built into the "turntable" portion that holds the compass rose -- this way you have some control over the spinning of the rose if you hold a strong magnet beneath the compass and twirl it around.
I have been a fan of this prop since the first movie. Diehard fans will know the compass appearance was modified slightly from the first movie compared to the others, and it even looks a bit different in every movie, but you'd have to really be scrutinizing screen caps and shots of set-used props found on the internet to notice such small details.
I think overall, this is about 90-95% accurate. The size is very close to the Master Replicas version (which I assume to be accurate, size-wise). I think the detailing on the dome on inner lid is spot on, with the slight black ring around the base of the blue starred upper dome. The brass trident that sits over the compass rose is resin, but I believe he uses some kind of metallic coating or powder for the surface, which you can polish with some fine steel wool to bring out the metallic sheen. The trident spokes are not tappered as they should be, but this would likely be challenging to do in resin as they would be susceptible to breaking when you pressure fit them into the compass. The MRs are the same way -- not sure why they didn't get this detail more accurate. But again, only the most detail-oriented would likely even notice.
I've collected and built several kits of this prop over the years, including the various toys, but most of the fan-made kits were always off in one way or the other -- mainly in size. I think the Pinski kit is one of the nicer ones out there, and I would give it a full five stars if he included all the little tidbits you need to finish it -- I mean, come on, how hard is it to include the paper compass rose? But if you don't mind hunting down all the little pieces, it does make for a really nice version of the prop.
A FEW PICS OF SOME OF THE ACTUAL PROPS:
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