PantheraGem
Sr Member
My great (X's however many times I can't remember) grandfather was the last signer, Matthew Thornton. I love this document. It's great to see the interest, and these awesome replicas.
The Declaration of Independence
- Thread starter kalkamel
- Start date
jme3
Sr Member
KevinBGoode
Well-Known Member
Very nice. I can't decide wich one is beter cause they both look sweet!
kalkamel
Master Member
Had 2 solid days of charity trooping over the weekend with the 501st so I was only finally able to weather these today.
Replica of the original on the left, replica of the movie prop on the right.
With flash
Without flash
Close-up of the movie replica with faded text
Close-up of the replica of the original
Replica of the original on the left, replica of the movie prop on the right.
With flash
Without flash
Close-up of the movie replica with faded text
Close-up of the replica of the original
Beechy McFly
Sr Member
And the line for these, is where?? :lol Amazing aging and detailing to these mate.. Awesome job..
You can download the original documents here in a PDF file format:
Declaration of Independence
I did this then taking it to a black and white format on original parchment paper at the original size.
I did so both as it is now and enhancing the text to create a clear document. I printed mine to the original document size, since the edging is highlighted in the imaging, it is easy to cut it exactly as the original is.
Declaration of Independence
I did this then taking it to a black and white format on original parchment paper at the original size.
I did so both as it is now and enhancing the text to create a clear document. I printed mine to the original document size, since the edging is highlighted in the imaging, it is easy to cut it exactly as the original is.
kalkamel
Master Member
From the Archives' website:
A handprint appears on the bottom left corner of the Declaration of Independence. The origins and circumstances of the handprint are not known. The document was handled, rolled, and traveled about and exhibited extensively in its early life. Attempting to clean the handprint and other soil that has worked into the parchment could damage the fragile document.
kalkamel
Master Member
Nice DOIs, Tripoli! :thumbsup
You can download the original documents here in a PDF file format:
Declaration of Independence
I did this then taking it to a black and white format on original parchment paper at the original size.
I did so both as it is now and enhancing the text to create a clear document. I printed mine to the original document size, since the edging is highlighted in the imaging, it is easy to cut it exactly as the original is.
Looks great!!
KramStaar
Sr Member
I was very fortunate to acquire one of kalkamel's DOI's in a trade and when it arrived I couldn't have been happier. Not only had he taken the time to pack it carefully, but he had aged the whole document to his usual perfect standard - not too heavily and not too yellow. The paper kalkamel has used is a standard heavy-guage cartridge instead of the actual documents vellum parchment but I still liked the way it looked - being aged so well.
I have seen the original document in Washington and the thing that struck me most, is that its very faded - not like the dark, rich document Gates steals in National Treasure.
When I first unrolled the DOI, I noticed that the writing (though faded perfectly) was black. This didn't come as a surprise because I had read of the printing limitations kalkamel had encountered earlier in this thread. The black writing no withstanding, I was truly impressed with the overall impact of the documents presence. It was only after I put on my glasses later that evening that I noticed the very fine dot-matrix printing in all the writing. This did worry me but I had already decided that I would change all the writing to sepia so that it complimented the rest of his work properly.
Using Derwent Artists pencils instead of ink or paint (because I didn't want it leaching through the paper to the reverse), I overwrote the entire document from top to bottom, carefully tracing each word and letter. Once this very time consuming process was done, I went back over the writing with water soluble sepia pencil - to add in the darker blemishes to the writing and in the places where thick ink had pooled - again, with a light application to prevent leaching.
The result was to my eye a great transformation and I'm delighted with the result. The weathering is fantastic and the writing is now a great match to the color and the characteristics of the genuine Iron Gall Ink.
My thanks to this gifted artist for giving me the opportunity to own such a terrific - replica - piece of American history..
Highest regards
MARK
I have seen the original document in Washington and the thing that struck me most, is that its very faded - not like the dark, rich document Gates steals in National Treasure.
When I first unrolled the DOI, I noticed that the writing (though faded perfectly) was black. This didn't come as a surprise because I had read of the printing limitations kalkamel had encountered earlier in this thread. The black writing no withstanding, I was truly impressed with the overall impact of the documents presence. It was only after I put on my glasses later that evening that I noticed the very fine dot-matrix printing in all the writing. This did worry me but I had already decided that I would change all the writing to sepia so that it complimented the rest of his work properly.
Using Derwent Artists pencils instead of ink or paint (because I didn't want it leaching through the paper to the reverse), I overwrote the entire document from top to bottom, carefully tracing each word and letter. Once this very time consuming process was done, I went back over the writing with water soluble sepia pencil - to add in the darker blemishes to the writing and in the places where thick ink had pooled - again, with a light application to prevent leaching.
The result was to my eye a great transformation and I'm delighted with the result. The weathering is fantastic and the writing is now a great match to the color and the characteristics of the genuine Iron Gall Ink.
My thanks to this gifted artist for giving me the opportunity to own such a terrific - replica - piece of American history..
Highest regards
MARK
Still want to you say you do excellent work Kalkamel 
cjh5801
New Member
Sorry to hear that, they look fantastic. Have you considered a large format color inkjet printer? 24-inch wide color printers with 1200 x 600 dpi are available for under $1000.
Beechy McFly
Sr Member
I was looking forward to grabbing one of these.. :cry
"I have seen the original document in Washington and the thing that struck me most, is that its very faded - not like the dark, rich document Gates steals in National Treasure."
Yes, the original document is extremely faded and it is noted that it will not be that long before the words totally fade away. It is debated about whether there should be further restoration to try to save such or not, right now there are no plans to.
That is the reason i printed a darker copy as well as the current copy. I wanted the most authentic but at the same time I wanted something that was identifiable to the movie replica.
You can go to this web page to download the scan:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/scan.htm
Yes, the original document is extremely faded and it is noted that it will not be that long before the words totally fade away. It is debated about whether there should be further restoration to try to save such or not, right now there are no plans to.
That is the reason i printed a darker copy as well as the current copy. I wanted the most authentic but at the same time I wanted something that was identifiable to the movie replica.
You can go to this web page to download the scan:
http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/scan.htm
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