LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

[Kris]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

I've had mine for some months now, and at the moment it's in storage while I'm moving to another room in the house, but here is how it hung in my old bedroom.

http://www.krisvandesande.be/upload/kaart1.jpg
http://www.krisvandesande.be/upload/kaart2.jpg

The frame was custom made by my father-in-law based on the 'Hobbit' map seen at the beginning of fellowship, and darkened by me with this cool wood darkening product (don't know the English name).

I'll take some new pics when all is done.

 

[SirJediKnightTim]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Hydin told me that he will do another run of these if he has enough interest!!!!!!!! I'm down for one.

 

[Gigatron]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Hydin told me that he will do another run of these if he has enough interest!!!!!!!! I'm down for one.

Poor Chris. I'm surprised he'd offer another run after all the grief he went through the first time around with finding a place to do the printing and shipping and all of that.

It may be better if you ask him to put the file on a cd for you and you get it printed at a kinko's or Staples. I'm guessing most people that wanted one, got one in the first 2 runs, so there probably won't be a lot of interest in another run. You may end up having wait a long while before there's enough interest to justify another run. Once you have the file, Kinko's should be able to print it out for 75 cents a square foot (b&W print on plain paper, about 6 sq/ft).

Though if you do get ahold of the original file, you might be able to find a place that will print it on some nice parchment paper - really give it that old world feel.

Well, good luck either way - it's a great looking map once it's weathered and framed.

-Fred

 

[tripoli]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

I have the file, never thought about going to Staples or Kinko's. What was the final size / dimension that everyone thought ot go with?

 

[Gigatron]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

I have the file, never thought about going to Staples or Kinko's. What was the final size / dimension that everyone thought ot go with?

My map is from Chris' original run and it measure 35.5"Wx32"H

You can easily go down to 33.5-34" wide and 30" high as there's some empty space around the border. I was originally going to draw a simple border around mine, but in the end, I decided I'd rather not chance goofing it up.

-Fred

 

[tripoli]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

I was searching for a place topurchase parchment and found one that can do it. I am waiting to get a price quote. If anyone would like to get one on real parchment, it looks like I can do so, but I am just waiting to see what the cost will be. I expect it should be quite low, with the shipping cost being higher than the cost to make them.

 

[rmschneider104]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Great looking maps, folks! Every one of them looks wonderful.

Must stay focused on SW props... must stay focused on SW props...

 

[hydin]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Popped an interest thread up.

Granted, I am not looking forward to rolling up maps again to mail em out (sealing tubes with mailing tape is a total ***** and half), if I can help someone snag a cool prop for cheap I'd feel bad if I didn't.

This should go a LOT easier than the last run though, no more 3 hour stopovers at the local print place. I already have a place that can make these things perfectly.

I am glad everyone likes their map though. I got one shrunk down to 8.5x11 and it came out beautiful.

Chris

 

[tripoli]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Just went to Kinkos and printed two out on regular paper. I will give it a go tonight trying to weather one.
I am also looking into the parchment at this time. Kinko's said they would give it a go with the laser printer if I can get the sheets. I am in touch with two seperate suppliers and should have an answer in the next couple of days for getting sheets for transfer.
The plain paper copies were just under 5 dollars. I expaect the parchment sheets to be around 5 to 10 dollars, from what I am hearing.

 

[juno]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Jeff at FastSigns has the file and will ship (rolled in a tube) the map on wet strength paper for $35 or so. You can specify brown or black ink. His number is (513) 396-7446.

Oh, and Trip -- if you're going through Pergamena, know that I had a bad time with them. I purchased about $200 worth of parchment, and the tube arrived damaged. The owner had me photograph it so he could file the damage claim, but I never received any thing -- neither a replacement nor money back. Yet he seemed so nice on the phone. . .

 

[tripoli]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Sounds like Jeff above is a pretty good deal.
I know a couple companies that make historical document reproductions. I am checking through them. One orders the sheets in the perfect size every 6 months from France. So I should be able to get them pre-check for quality. I don't know if I will be able to get none-aged sheets or not or how long it will take t get them though. Seems aging them with a walnut mix is a proprietary formula for the companies I contacted. I absolutely would like to get the maps printed on parchment if possible.
In the meantime, the first one came out pretty nice, I am satisfied with it. Smells a it woodsy right now as I used some of the ash from the fireplace to dirty it up a bit. Light bulb idea took forever, so I took my soldering iron flat edge to the edges. Much faster that way. Used tea and coffee for the main stain.
Don't know f it would be a good idea to ever travel on the norther mountain passage, looks a bit savage to me.

 

[juno]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

FastSigns is a great company to deal with. I can't believe more people haven't taken him up on it. The map is huge, and is real ink on wet strength paper so you can really go crazy! I'm sure he'd do it on regular paper as well. . . I never asked.

Let me know when you get a price on ordering parchment, I'd go in on it with you. Would both sides be finished for calligraphy?

 

[tripoli]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

The largest sheets I can get are 38x25, which means I would have to scale down the maps to 29x25. The good news is I can get the real parchment for $ 3 per sheet, which is exceptional news to me. If there is any interest, I would be willing to get some extras. Kinkos will print them up with a laser printer for $ 4.50 per sheet, so the total cost without shipping would run $ 7.50. I can probably use UPS tubes as work for shipping and get my shipping cost almost at nothing. So for in the US, I could do a few for $ 10 each. I am going to get a few sheets to run a test on and see how it goes. If anyone wants one, they can pm me and I will start up a list. If it works well, I will contact you for arraingements to get this project started.

 

[ictvuser]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

I am interested. PM sent.

 

[hoverboy]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

This may be a stupid question, but I do need to know, so:

How do I brew the tea the make it dark enough to stain the paper?:confused

 

[Gigatron]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

This may be a stupid question, but I do need to know, so:

How do I brew the tea the make it dark enough to stain the paper?:confused

More teabags, less water is the fastest way. Use like 3 or 4 teabags to one cup of water and after it boils, let it sit for about 15 minutes.

-Fred

 

[hoverboy]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[hydin]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Also, what I did for a big number of my paper prop stuff (including the map since it's friggin massive) is make it REALLY strong in a coffee maker. 10-12 teabags, 1 pot of "tea", and a huge cakepan.

An alternative would be to see if you can weather it in your tub (Please, god, don't do this if it's going to stain). Its a big, flat surface and with the proper amount of care it will come out looking pretty cool.

I use the coffee pot/teabag setup for any kind of weathering, it's speedy, it's less messy, and you can control the "baseline" for the background and work on more or less weathered areas with the actual teabags themselves.

The best part is, you can't mess it up

Chris

 

[Ramsey]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Here's my version of a Middle Earth map...I did this awhile back..can't remember where I found the original map design.

 

[SlackAttack]

Re: LOTR Middle Earth Map Showoff Thread!!!

Can anyone give me some advice on where to get this map printed? I have a the 15 meg jpeg file that adam posted a while back and want to make me a copy of it.