Just wanted to show the Swiss Bank Key from The Da Vinci Code that I recently finished. Not 100% satisfied, but already better than before.
I used the only more or less accurate key that's out there to my knowledge, which is the Noble letter opener version. All of these replica's had the goldplating on the cross starting to corrode and fade after time. So when doing my run of goldplated Aztec Pirate Coins, I thought: why nog have that cross part goldplated too?
So I took the letter opener apart. Basicaaly it has 4 parts: The cross, the lily on the cross, the key part, and the letter opener blade. I took out that last part, since I don't want it to be a letter opener. Getting the key part out the cross was a bit tricky. Getting the lily of was easier. So after the cross was goldplated, making it a bit thicker, I had to sand down the pegs of the lily part and the key part so it would fit in again. After that the lily was glued back into place, but glue didn't work for the key part. So in the end I used JBWeld for that.
All in all, the only thing that changed, was the gold cross. What I still don't like on the key as it is now is:
1. The little dots that are seen in the movie are not there (since these are on the side where normally the letter opener blade was).
2. The rune-like inscription is not engraved, but just a decal.
3. Also the silver key part has mild signs of corrosion. The silver is "misty" on some places, but I can not polish it, otherwhise it will rub of the runes.
Anyway, this is how the key looks like now. The gold part is real 24k gold now, which looks a lot better than the faded gold it was before.
If someone knows where to get a better replica of this prop, with the dots on the back, the rune letters really engraved, etc... Please let me know! But until now, I wasn't able to find one...
I used the only more or less accurate key that's out there to my knowledge, which is the Noble letter opener version. All of these replica's had the goldplating on the cross starting to corrode and fade after time. So when doing my run of goldplated Aztec Pirate Coins, I thought: why nog have that cross part goldplated too?
So I took the letter opener apart. Basicaaly it has 4 parts: The cross, the lily on the cross, the key part, and the letter opener blade. I took out that last part, since I don't want it to be a letter opener. Getting the key part out the cross was a bit tricky. Getting the lily of was easier. So after the cross was goldplated, making it a bit thicker, I had to sand down the pegs of the lily part and the key part so it would fit in again. After that the lily was glued back into place, but glue didn't work for the key part. So in the end I used JBWeld for that.
All in all, the only thing that changed, was the gold cross. What I still don't like on the key as it is now is:
1. The little dots that are seen in the movie are not there (since these are on the side where normally the letter opener blade was).
2. The rune-like inscription is not engraved, but just a decal.
3. Also the silver key part has mild signs of corrosion. The silver is "misty" on some places, but I can not polish it, otherwhise it will rub of the runes.
Anyway, this is how the key looks like now. The gold part is real 24k gold now, which looks a lot better than the faded gold it was before.
If someone knows where to get a better replica of this prop, with the dots on the back, the rune letters really engraved, etc... Please let me know! But until now, I wasn't able to find one...
