Hello all
It's been a while since I got into a project - I wanted to find something that I could do, but that wouldn't take ages either. So, being a TWD fan, I decided a good compromise would be to make Lucille. I already had a bat that wasn't a million miles off - a 33" no brand bat that I think I got from Argos years ago.
So I started out, looked at a couple of the builds I'd seen on here, a few YouTube videos etc and I got an idea of how to go about it.
What follows is a work in progress that I'll see through, but I already know it's not what I want. So I'll finish the whole thing, so I can maybe get it right next time, plus maybe anyone else thinking of starting it can learn from the mistakes I've made.
As for the bat itself, it had no logo on, but it had that slick sheen/lacquer/varnish that they all seem to come with. I started by sanding that off
The shot isn't great, but the point is that the bat was now in its "raw" state and ready for work. I'd used a 60 grit all over to get the sheen off, then gone straight on to about a 100 grit. I didn't want it too fine so it'd absorb the colour.
I'd decided for some reason that rather than go for a wood stain, I'd go for a dye. That way, when I was working on it, the chances are that the wood would have soaked it in and any new nicks/dings after that point wouldn't be an issue.
So I went to the shop to try and find a good dye or two. I already had one at home from a previous project - this is what I ended up with:
Now, I already had the Dark Jacobean and I was hoping that together with the other two, I could create the overall colour I was looking for. The other two are Indian Rosewood (for what I hoped would add a red tinge for the upper part) and American Walnut (for what I hoped would lighten areas up, like the screen used one).
I always had it in my head that Lucille was pretty dark - plus darker at the top, being as it's the business end and so it's picked up, well, blood and brains.
That being the case, I started out and tried to get maybe a graded colour to it -
Not too bad. Again, apologies for the shot - it's always dark when I take the pics so the light is rubbish in the photo. I'll do some in the day.
However, again, the point is that the colours are too dark. Look at Lucille here -
Pretty light, right? Much lighter than I anticipated, or calculated for.
Also, it's weird how few images/screen caps there are of Lucille, I thought there's be tons more, I was hoping to get as many as possible for reference.
So anyway, I plugged away and resigned myself to the fact that this wouldn't be "the one". It took several coats - lots in fact, before it even looked like natural wood, rather than just a sanded and half dyed piece. The colour I ended up with is this -
The oval was basically made from a stencil that I created from downloading the Louisville Slugger logo, painted on with acrylic. I roughed it up with sandpaper a bit and then hit the area again with dye so it wasn't so new.
So, at the moment, this is the bat -
Yes, crap photo, I will upload a natural light one soon.
Next, I'll be ready to chuck the barbed wire on. I'll be using real barbed wire, which I've heard is tricky to bend around and flies all over the place. I'll be clamping it down and using the "U" shaped nails to keep the bits in place, as per the actual screen used one. I imagine the gauge and handling will lead to new problems, but at least it'll help me for next time around.
So to anyone thinking of a similar build I'd say - take your time, sand ALL the bat (if you don't get all the sheen at the crease where the butt meets the handle will leave a surface that won't take dye/stain) and make sure you get the right colour if you want to make it screen accurate.
I've got another bat on order and I'm hoping to get some better colour stain, maybe https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00714L...TF8&colid=3REO7D7LNPQD5&coliid=I26ISFOQ3EBR4P
Thanks also to xena10ares for the helpful thread here http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=259154&highlight=lucille
I'll hopefully have more updates and not too many injuries when I get the barbed wire.
Anyone with any useful ideas, experience or got a good colour for the real Lucille, please feel free to chip in. If there are any questions about what I did, I'll do my best.
It's been a while since I got into a project - I wanted to find something that I could do, but that wouldn't take ages either. So, being a TWD fan, I decided a good compromise would be to make Lucille. I already had a bat that wasn't a million miles off - a 33" no brand bat that I think I got from Argos years ago.
So I started out, looked at a couple of the builds I'd seen on here, a few YouTube videos etc and I got an idea of how to go about it.
What follows is a work in progress that I'll see through, but I already know it's not what I want. So I'll finish the whole thing, so I can maybe get it right next time, plus maybe anyone else thinking of starting it can learn from the mistakes I've made.
As for the bat itself, it had no logo on, but it had that slick sheen/lacquer/varnish that they all seem to come with. I started by sanding that off
The shot isn't great, but the point is that the bat was now in its "raw" state and ready for work. I'd used a 60 grit all over to get the sheen off, then gone straight on to about a 100 grit. I didn't want it too fine so it'd absorb the colour.
I'd decided for some reason that rather than go for a wood stain, I'd go for a dye. That way, when I was working on it, the chances are that the wood would have soaked it in and any new nicks/dings after that point wouldn't be an issue.
So I went to the shop to try and find a good dye or two. I already had one at home from a previous project - this is what I ended up with:
Now, I already had the Dark Jacobean and I was hoping that together with the other two, I could create the overall colour I was looking for. The other two are Indian Rosewood (for what I hoped would add a red tinge for the upper part) and American Walnut (for what I hoped would lighten areas up, like the screen used one).
I always had it in my head that Lucille was pretty dark - plus darker at the top, being as it's the business end and so it's picked up, well, blood and brains.
That being the case, I started out and tried to get maybe a graded colour to it -
Not too bad. Again, apologies for the shot - it's always dark when I take the pics so the light is rubbish in the photo. I'll do some in the day.
However, again, the point is that the colours are too dark. Look at Lucille here -
Pretty light, right? Much lighter than I anticipated, or calculated for.
Also, it's weird how few images/screen caps there are of Lucille, I thought there's be tons more, I was hoping to get as many as possible for reference.
So anyway, I plugged away and resigned myself to the fact that this wouldn't be "the one". It took several coats - lots in fact, before it even looked like natural wood, rather than just a sanded and half dyed piece. The colour I ended up with is this -
The oval was basically made from a stencil that I created from downloading the Louisville Slugger logo, painted on with acrylic. I roughed it up with sandpaper a bit and then hit the area again with dye so it wasn't so new.
So, at the moment, this is the bat -
Yes, crap photo, I will upload a natural light one soon.
Next, I'll be ready to chuck the barbed wire on. I'll be using real barbed wire, which I've heard is tricky to bend around and flies all over the place. I'll be clamping it down and using the "U" shaped nails to keep the bits in place, as per the actual screen used one. I imagine the gauge and handling will lead to new problems, but at least it'll help me for next time around.
So to anyone thinking of a similar build I'd say - take your time, sand ALL the bat (if you don't get all the sheen at the crease where the butt meets the handle will leave a surface that won't take dye/stain) and make sure you get the right colour if you want to make it screen accurate.
I've got another bat on order and I'm hoping to get some better colour stain, maybe https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00714L...TF8&colid=3REO7D7LNPQD5&coliid=I26ISFOQ3EBR4P
Thanks also to xena10ares for the helpful thread here http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=259154&highlight=lucille
I'll hopefully have more updates and not too many injuries when I get the barbed wire.
Anyone with any useful ideas, experience or got a good colour for the real Lucille, please feel free to chip in. If there are any questions about what I did, I'll do my best.
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