John Carpenter's The Thing grenade help!

[Tiki]

I'm trying to recreate the grenades (and hopefully the crate) from the opening scenes of the film, but can't get a good look at the text. I’ve been doing my best to pull text from freeze frames of the film, but there is never a complete view of the text on the grenade crate or the grenade itself.

My initial guess is:
THRMOS BOMB

Does anyone out there have images of the actual props with the text visible? Thank you so much!

 

[Probe Droid]

A few more pix of no help. Certainly looks like thrmos bomb. This is a toughie!

 

[Probe Droid]

A few more, but I think your wording is right.

 

[IFA]

Originally "thermos" I guess....

 

[orosalsero]

These are called Thermite grenades in the movie, which are really incendiary grenades, these are used to destroy equipment.

 

[division 6]

So then you would need the Norwegian spelling to be correct.

 

[orosalsero]

the Norwegian name for thermite is termitt, so that's not correct. In the movie, the base was American run by Americans so Thermite would be the appropriate name, unless you want a Norwegian version. Hope that helps.

 

[Noeland]

That's a repainted M18 smoke grenade. Well, I don't know what the actual prop was made from.

G&G makes a dummy smoke grenade for airsoft that I think is VERY close to these. They cost about $30 for a 2 pack, and I think would only require a repaint.

CSS G&G Dummy M18 Smoke Grenade BB Can SET of two

G&G Dummy M18 Smoke Grenade SET

combatsportsupply.com

You can find them on ebay too.

 

[orosalsero]

If you have a 3D printer you can print your own grenade, check these sites

M18 Smoke Grenade - Download Free 3D model by RedRogueXIII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN_M18 - M18 Smoke Grenade - Download Free 3D model by RedRogueXIII

sketchfab.com

"smoke grenade" 3D Models to Print - yeggi

10000+ "smoke grenade" printable 3D Models. Every Day new 3D Models from all over the World. Click to find the best Results for smoke grenade Models for your 3D Printer.

www.yeggi.com

 

[GrenadeKing]

I looked at this for quite awhile and it really does seem to say "THRMOS" for some reason.

A word of warning with M18 replicas: be sure to get the right model. The ones in the film are the earlier vietnam era M18s. They're made like a food can, with a top and a bottom lid. The modern M18s only have a top lid and it's a different shape than the older ones.

Both of the ones that orosalsero posted seem to be the right shape.

 

[orosalsero]

I went through the movie and I made a screen capture of the picture shown, the wording on the grade is definitely Thermite.

 

[Tiki]

I went through the movie and I made a screen capture of the picture shown, the wording on the grade is definitely Thermite.

woah! Nice! What part of the film is this in? Curious if that one of the norwegian grenades or one from the American base?

 

[Tiki]

If you have a 3D printer you can print your own grenade, check these sites

M18 Smoke Grenade - Download Free 3D model by RedRogueXIII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN_M18 - M18 Smoke Grenade - Download Free 3D model by RedRogueXIII

sketchfab.com

"smoke grenade" 3D Models to Print - yeggi

10000+ "smoke grenade" printable 3D Models. Every Day new 3D Models from all over the World. Click to find the best Results for smoke grenade Models for your 3D Printer.

www.yeggi.com

Thank you so much!

 

[Tiki]

If you have a 3D printer you can print your own grenade, check these sites

M18 Smoke Grenade - Download Free 3D model by RedRogueXIII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AN_M18 - M18 Smoke Grenade - Download Free 3D model by RedRogueXIII

sketchfab.com

"smoke grenade" 3D Models to Print - yeggi

10000+ "smoke grenade" printable 3D Models. Every Day new 3D Models from all over the World. Click to find the best Results for smoke grenade Models for your 3D Printer.

www.yeggi.com

These are perfect! Thank you !

 

[orosalsero]

woah! Nice! What part of the film is this in? Curious if that one of the norwegian grenades or one from the American base?

You can find it at time stamp 1:28:41 almost towards the end of the movie when they climb into the hole inside the cabin to destroy the craft the alien was constructing.

 

[moviebuff5]

That screen cap seems to lack the bomb wording from the helicopter, so there seem to be two versions for the two locations.
One that simply says THERMITE, and the THRMOS BOMB.
For giggles, I wonder what wording they used in the prequel? Didn't they have access to production info from the original?

 

[orosalsero]

It could be they did some video editing on the movie depending in what country it was released in, I know they do it for American made movies released in China.

 

[orosalsero]

After looking at the helicopter footage, I'm convinced it's just a made-up prop for the movie, I searcherd for all military granade and canister markings and the one in the movie do not exist anywhere in any language, also real explosives are usally stored in a heavy cardboard container then in a box, not so in the movie. also no grenade or canister has the word "bomb" stenciled on it. I wish I could ask John Carpenter the director of the movie about it.

 

[moviebuff5]

The weird spelling has me wondering if it was an inside joke. Maybe someone requested a Thermos Bomb instead of a Thermal Bomb at one point, and the crew ran with it and this is the remnant of that. To avoid liscensing issues or potential legal action from Thermos the spelling would have had to be changed, hence Thrmos Bomb.

 

[asavage]

Given that it's a repainted piece of military hardware, back then that lettering would likely have been rub on transfer. Sometimes it was custom, but WAY more often it came on sheets. many folks here know this old tech, but it's worth repeating for those who don't.

There were always multiples of the popular letters, less of others. Running out of letters was a hazard. Having used these on many props early in my building life, I had this problem many times. I can EASILY imagine a circumstance in which some PA was given this low-skill entry level job and they ran out of some of the letters they needed. And them ending up abbreviating here and there for efficiency's sake. In the melee of a film set that kind of thing happens and slips through the cracks all the time. That would handily explain the correct spelling on one grenade but not the other.