What is best in life?

Nexus6

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
"TO CRUSH YOUR ENEMIES,
SEE THEM DRIVEN BEFORE YOU,
AND TO HEAR THE LAMENTATION OF THEIR WOMEN!"

It took me about 2 weeks to finish (an hour here, an hour there):



The wood pieces are actually cedar twigs that I cut from the tree outside my office building. I stained the wood walnut color & gave it a light acrylic brown wash. The leather came from an old belt I haven't worn in years. This project initially turned out to be way more difficult than I'd hoped. I must've broken a dozen branches before I got one to bend into a nice, even, flat circle.



 
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What type of pretzil sticks did you use, and were they unsalted, or did you have to pic off the salt :p Just kidding, it looks great :D
 
Great idea for an unusual replica, very well executed. :thumbsup

Good work on the beard and chest hairs, too. :p
 
Dude... I remember doing stuff like that in the '70s but we used colored yarn. :lol
















I keed, I keed...


Very cool, I love inexpensive, simple props. Very nicely done.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(shuktuki @ Apr 22 2006, 07:43 AM) [snapback]1231059[/snapback]</div>
i gotta make one of them
any chance of tutorial ?
[/b]
Hmmm, there's actually not too much to tutorialize.

1. Find some "green" twigs.

On the advice of a buddy of mine (who is of Native American descent) I used cedar. The branches from every other tree I tried just broke when I attempted to bend them). I just tried to eyeball the size of the circle, comparing it to other objects in the screencaps to determine scale. My circle ended up being 2 3/8" in diameter. Cut the 4 straight pieces slightly longer than that (they can be trimmed later).

2. The RED marks signify where the pieces have to be “opposingly” notched, so they can be “lincoln-logged” to lie flat when crossed. (Note that the horizontal crossbar is shorter, as it fits INSIDE the circle)

3. I wanted the piece to be as authentic as possible, which is why I used twigs (as opposed to dowels) & leather (as opposed to <insert name of fake leather here>). But I took the liberty of applying a super-glue to each contact point so it wouldnÂ’t move around while I wrapped it.

4. The GREEN marks signify where contact is made with NO notching. The ‘Circle/Cross’ assembly sits on top of the ‘X’ (to reiterate, the ‘X’ sits behind the circle/cross).

5. The leather I used was actually too thick once I had cut it into strips, so I had to take my Dremel tool (with a sanding wheel) & thin out the strips (HUGE pain, worth it). Wrap each contact point; the pattern is up to you. I couldn’t begin to “knit-1-pearl-2” a diagram for the wrapping. Just try to make it symmetrical. Also, I soaked the leather in water before wrapping it. My friend (from Step 1 above) told me that it would make the leather more pliable AND that it would shrink up slightly when it dried, making my wraps tighter.

6. I drilled a hole (front-to-back) to install a ring (visible in screencap #5, in my original post) for the necklace cord. I wanted the ring to be strong, so I used a single coil from a small extension spring (painted black).



ThatÂ’s it.


<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(FETTCLONE @ Apr 22 2006, 11:33 AM) [snapback]1231133[/snapback]</div>
Ymir's beard.

Nice work. Going to start on the wheel of pain next? :p
[/b]
You want to know what the really crazy (& maybe even pathetic) thing is?

While I was watching it, I CAUGHT myself making mental notes on how the Wheel of Pain was built, & thinking "I could actually BUILD this in my huge backyard..1" Then I thought about all the guys in the white van with the straightjackets, & put that idea "in the vault". :$
 
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"This amulet will protect you from evil..."
"I AM evil."

A most nifty prop. Did you try soaking the twig used for the circle? My guess is that it would bend easier that way.
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SmilingOtter @ Apr 22 2006, 03:39 PM) [snapback]1231276[/snapback]</div>
"This amulet will protect you from evil..."
"I AM evil."

A most nifty prop. Did you try soaking the twig used for the circle? My guess is that it would bend easier that way.
[/b]
No need. Once I found a twig that was suitably "green", it bent no problem. I just had to tie it & let it dry...
 
While I was watching it, I CAUGHT myself making mental notes on how the Wheel of Pain was built, & thinking "I could actually BUILD this in my huge backyard..1" Then I thought about all the guys in the white van with the straightjackets, & put that idea "in the vault".[/b]

:lol

Aren't all the big prop/set pieces like that? You start looking at it and think about how cool it is. Then you start wondering how it was made, and begin to think "well, I could make that without too much difficulty". Before you know it you're getting one of those looks from a buddy that either turns you back (or worse, eggs you on).

My wife already knows the look I get when I'm figuring something out, but she's pretty cool with stuff like this. :D
 
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Darth Detroit @ Apr 22 2006, 03:21 AM) [snapback]1230997[/snapback]</div>
Agreed. This IS a great prop. Nice work. Allot of sweat, and focus, and hard work required:thumbsup

And its 'Lamentation of DA women.' ;)
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Heh, I had originally written it out phonetically: "Crush you enemies, see dem driven befwa you, and to heah da lamentation of deah women."

I wasn't sure if people would've thought it was as funny as I did.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(temponaut @ Apr 22 2006, 06:41 AM) [snapback]1231053[/snapback]</div>
Great idea for an unusual replica, very well executed. :thumbsup

Good work on the beard and chest hairs, too. :p
[/b]
Yeah, the beard and chest hairs were the hardest part. Been working on those for almost 37 years. :lol

The yarn & pretzel comments bring the LOL, & thanks for all the compliments. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but I'm really pleased.

On a related note, I'm trying to figure out a way to attach it together in the back. The screencaps show the necklace as a "choker", so pulling it over the head isn't an option (the last screencap has a longer necklace, but that's the scene where he snatches it off of his neck, so it doesn't count). I need an option that would be true to the piece (since it's supposed to be thousands of years old). The pendant will just be hanging on a display, but if someone can come up with something that is better than just tying a knot in the back, that would be great. :thumbsup
 
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