Indiana Holt
Active Member
Hi guys.
IAS promissed. Here comes the Hero prop replica diary.
Before I continue, Its gonna be a long post. So alittle backstory about me. I have studied this prop for 25+ years. Have made countless of hero props and ''story'' diaries over the years but non of those can compare to this current one and I say that in the most humble way possible.
My dream was always to make the best replica in the world, ever! I wanted a diary that I could flip thru like it would be the real deal so each page had to be as close to identical as possible in terms of paper, aging and print quality.etc. It would have to fool me into thinking its real. That was my goal.. Even the tiniest aging spec had to be there, every fade and every age mark are carefully replicated. This was extrememly important to me. I had to get the true feel of the hero prop.
Magnoli my longtime friend and inspiration since 2006 will appreciate the level of detail that has been put in there. I know there are certain things that will jump out to him. Sarednab as well. We all have been talking so much about the grail diary over the years! Allways fun talking to you gentlemen!
There have been challenges to get the look right. The paper aging in the real prop is so carelessley and masterfully done. Ive used this method alot but I will say its one thing to use the aging method for a Tool diary when you have total freedom but to replicate a certain detailed look it turnes into a completly different ballgame. Especially with this particalur ''one take wonder'' aging method. For example, the pages do not only have the famous rusty red colors, there are ligther browns, dirty earthy browns, rusty reds, dirty earthy browns on top of the rusty reds. So many stages and levels. But I am confident to say I have mastered the technique. It only took 20 something years. lol. Anway, The diary also has this very weird aging going on from about the middle of the diary. Its kinda stripey. Not a huge fan. And the last part of the diary is almost completly unaged.
Second, the COVER. This is exactly how it looks in real life. All the scartches, dings and nicks are not random. No, they are painstakingly recreated and placed in the exact same spot as the real deal. This took a while to say the least. It has so many aging stages. Aging the front cover is a walk in the park compared to the back.
The diaries are bound in calfskin but not just any calfskin. There are many different qualities out there and to find the correct one that weathers exactly like the real deal took some searching. Anyway, I sourced so much calfskin I could make 2 Indy jackets! lol.
The EMBOSSED BORDER. Now this has to be one of the most mystical things about the Grail diary. I have a clear image of the real border from another B prop cover I have on file. I traced the pattern to the best of my ability and had it remade and it came out so insanely good looking. The small border detail is sucha icing over the cake to me!
Another fact about the diary is that almost all pages in the prop are unique. Like for example there are 6 ****** mandela pages repeated thruout but non of those pages look the same. Some have a heavy fade and others not so much. Also the famous Melchizadek page, - there is the famous one with a big white spot missing, two with smaller age marks in certain spots and then a last one which is very faded. All of those are replicated. I have never gone to those lengths before relpicating. And frankly I did not have a chance to do all of this until about 5 years back when I had an opportunity to get some ultra high res scans. So the pages in this diary are 100% the same as the real deal. They are not redrawn by me.
And the writing quality of the hero prop is a very fine pen stroke and its not pure black either like the B props. Its actually a medium/dark grey with a slight see thru shade in it. There are also a few inserted pages with an even finer pen stroke. I think its all because of ink running low when printing. Anyway, the faded pages is a super important detail when it comes to creating the true look of the hero prop.
Also the famous Venice window and lion with scrolls are done in pencil with fountain pen text added on top, then photocopied which resulted in this greyish and black combo look. Same goes for the 3 trials, God is love and Queen page and the Venice leap and X marks the spot Venice Library spread.
All the map with no names have been recreated with the correct quotes on the back. Fun fact. The famous scene with Marcus holding the Map of no names is not the hero prop and if you look closely the scene afterwards he is actually holding the book upside down. So there's that! lol Marcus, you old goofer!
And no, the famous Leap spread is not in the hero prop, saddly! That diary is a B prop. Thats my next project. To make that one!
So anyway, about my replica, I have never replicated how the diary actually looks today wiht all the extra quirks. To me, the current look of the prop is very interesting and I love how old and how much character is has gotten over the years. I LOVE the glue residue and tape bits thruout the diary. I love the corner folds. Many of the inserts have come loose since filming. For instance the dollar is now a loose vertical bookmark. The Eastern telegram is ripped out. So is the envelope. Gone! But I had to put most them back in as I love the inserts way too much for not having them in. But the dollar has to be as it is today. Vertical. LOVE that! And the 'secret' Mystery map is finally in the diary!
All the inserts are replicated as close as possible, I finally found the paper use don the grey letter which was allways so hard to find. The Eastern telegram has the original back as in the movie version. The washington sheets has the Almanac text heading. And the camel pack is made as close to the real deal as possible in terms of color and design. And btw, the hero prop has a custom camel pack, its not a real pack. I saw another diary with the camel pack and it is identical to the hero prop. so this means they all come from the same print file.
Anyway, The PAPER! A while ago I got in contact with a passionate paper guy. He told me he had been buying old paper stock from different out of business paper companies in England and he had been doing this for many yearss. Anyway, he told me he had Atoll Ivory paper. I quickly jumped as this is the paper the grail diary is made with. I bought up his whole stock of this paper. Expensive? lol. yes! Worth it? lol. yes!
The binding construction on of the diaries. Its bound by using a kettle stitch with two tape reinforments. The stiching however in the hero diary is very inconsistently done. Some signatures have 6 stitch holes, some have 4 holes and some only got 2 stich holes. Hence why the book has some looser signatures. Thats the one thing I did not reacreate as I like my diaries to be strong as possible.
This is as close as I ever will come to owning the real hero prop.
Ok,......On to the photos! Thanks for reading!
I present the true 1:1 replica of hero prop.
I will start with a the limit of 20 photos first and update as we move along.
Enjoy my friends!
Holt
[
IAS promissed. Here comes the Hero prop replica diary.
Before I continue, Its gonna be a long post. So alittle backstory about me. I have studied this prop for 25+ years. Have made countless of hero props and ''story'' diaries over the years but non of those can compare to this current one and I say that in the most humble way possible.
My dream was always to make the best replica in the world, ever! I wanted a diary that I could flip thru like it would be the real deal so each page had to be as close to identical as possible in terms of paper, aging and print quality.etc. It would have to fool me into thinking its real. That was my goal.. Even the tiniest aging spec had to be there, every fade and every age mark are carefully replicated. This was extrememly important to me. I had to get the true feel of the hero prop.
Magnoli my longtime friend and inspiration since 2006 will appreciate the level of detail that has been put in there. I know there are certain things that will jump out to him. Sarednab as well. We all have been talking so much about the grail diary over the years! Allways fun talking to you gentlemen!
There have been challenges to get the look right. The paper aging in the real prop is so carelessley and masterfully done. Ive used this method alot but I will say its one thing to use the aging method for a Tool diary when you have total freedom but to replicate a certain detailed look it turnes into a completly different ballgame. Especially with this particalur ''one take wonder'' aging method. For example, the pages do not only have the famous rusty red colors, there are ligther browns, dirty earthy browns, rusty reds, dirty earthy browns on top of the rusty reds. So many stages and levels. But I am confident to say I have mastered the technique. It only took 20 something years. lol. Anway, The diary also has this very weird aging going on from about the middle of the diary. Its kinda stripey. Not a huge fan. And the last part of the diary is almost completly unaged.
Second, the COVER. This is exactly how it looks in real life. All the scartches, dings and nicks are not random. No, they are painstakingly recreated and placed in the exact same spot as the real deal. This took a while to say the least. It has so many aging stages. Aging the front cover is a walk in the park compared to the back.
The diaries are bound in calfskin but not just any calfskin. There are many different qualities out there and to find the correct one that weathers exactly like the real deal took some searching. Anyway, I sourced so much calfskin I could make 2 Indy jackets! lol.
The EMBOSSED BORDER. Now this has to be one of the most mystical things about the Grail diary. I have a clear image of the real border from another B prop cover I have on file. I traced the pattern to the best of my ability and had it remade and it came out so insanely good looking. The small border detail is sucha icing over the cake to me!
Another fact about the diary is that almost all pages in the prop are unique. Like for example there are 6 ****** mandela pages repeated thruout but non of those pages look the same. Some have a heavy fade and others not so much. Also the famous Melchizadek page, - there is the famous one with a big white spot missing, two with smaller age marks in certain spots and then a last one which is very faded. All of those are replicated. I have never gone to those lengths before relpicating. And frankly I did not have a chance to do all of this until about 5 years back when I had an opportunity to get some ultra high res scans. So the pages in this diary are 100% the same as the real deal. They are not redrawn by me.
And the writing quality of the hero prop is a very fine pen stroke and its not pure black either like the B props. Its actually a medium/dark grey with a slight see thru shade in it. There are also a few inserted pages with an even finer pen stroke. I think its all because of ink running low when printing. Anyway, the faded pages is a super important detail when it comes to creating the true look of the hero prop.
Also the famous Venice window and lion with scrolls are done in pencil with fountain pen text added on top, then photocopied which resulted in this greyish and black combo look. Same goes for the 3 trials, God is love and Queen page and the Venice leap and X marks the spot Venice Library spread.
All the map with no names have been recreated with the correct quotes on the back. Fun fact. The famous scene with Marcus holding the Map of no names is not the hero prop and if you look closely the scene afterwards he is actually holding the book upside down. So there's that! lol Marcus, you old goofer!
And no, the famous Leap spread is not in the hero prop, saddly! That diary is a B prop. Thats my next project. To make that one!
So anyway, about my replica, I have never replicated how the diary actually looks today wiht all the extra quirks. To me, the current look of the prop is very interesting and I love how old and how much character is has gotten over the years. I LOVE the glue residue and tape bits thruout the diary. I love the corner folds. Many of the inserts have come loose since filming. For instance the dollar is now a loose vertical bookmark. The Eastern telegram is ripped out. So is the envelope. Gone! But I had to put most them back in as I love the inserts way too much for not having them in. But the dollar has to be as it is today. Vertical. LOVE that! And the 'secret' Mystery map is finally in the diary!
All the inserts are replicated as close as possible, I finally found the paper use don the grey letter which was allways so hard to find. The Eastern telegram has the original back as in the movie version. The washington sheets has the Almanac text heading. And the camel pack is made as close to the real deal as possible in terms of color and design. And btw, the hero prop has a custom camel pack, its not a real pack. I saw another diary with the camel pack and it is identical to the hero prop. so this means they all come from the same print file.
Anyway, The PAPER! A while ago I got in contact with a passionate paper guy. He told me he had been buying old paper stock from different out of business paper companies in England and he had been doing this for many yearss. Anyway, he told me he had Atoll Ivory paper. I quickly jumped as this is the paper the grail diary is made with. I bought up his whole stock of this paper. Expensive? lol. yes! Worth it? lol. yes!
The binding construction on of the diaries. Its bound by using a kettle stitch with two tape reinforments. The stiching however in the hero diary is very inconsistently done. Some signatures have 6 stitch holes, some have 4 holes and some only got 2 stich holes. Hence why the book has some looser signatures. Thats the one thing I did not reacreate as I like my diaries to be strong as possible.
This is as close as I ever will come to owning the real hero prop.
Ok,......On to the photos! Thanks for reading!
I present the true 1:1 replica of hero prop.
I will start with a the limit of 20 photos first and update as we move along.
Enjoy my friends!
Holt
[
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I think I have to make one more! 
