Your first replica build. What and when?

[CT1138]

I was a little kid, maybe 8 or 9, when I hacksawed the stick off a broom, painted it blue, and duct-taped the flat end to create a lightsaber.

The first one I put a bit of effort into was when I was about 12 or 13, and stole one of those wooden construction spikes they use for fencing off construction sites, and made a replica of the sword Zar'roc from the Eragon movie. I used trimmed down cardboard from a beer case to create the crossguard. I was really proud of that. I might still have it in my parent's crawlspace among my other childhood stuff.

 

[miggsybeard]

What was you first replica build and what did you use to build it? When did you start?

First attempt for Battinson - literally started last December 22, 2022.

Also posted it Battinson Build

Cowl I got from a shopping app here in the Philippines

 

[CT1138]

I was a little kid, maybe 8 or 9, when I hacksawed the stick off a broom, painted it blue, and duct-taped the flat end to create a lightsaber.

The first one I put a bit of effort into was when I was about 12 or 13, and stole one of those wooden construction spikes they use for fencing off construction sites, and made a replica of the sword Zar'roc from the Eragon movie. I used trimmed down cardboard from a beer case to create the crossguard. I was really proud of that. I might still have it in my parent's crawlspace among my other childhood stuff.

Found it and took a picture! I based mine on the book version, which had a gold crescent cross guard and the pommel was a ruby inlaid with gold leaf. A little more on its construction: I wrapped the entire handle in duck tape, and spraypainted the cross guard with gold paint. The pommel I created by just wrapping the tape around a bunch until it formed a bulge, and spray painted it red, and used a dry wash method with the gold spray paint to create the leaf effect. I left the handle part of the duct tape normal colored to simulate the look of the silver wiring wrapping the book describes.

 

[zorg]

Freddy kruger glove about 1991

Platic card and a completely wrong rigger glove.

I still have it and it's all cracked n broken!

 

[BlandoCalrssian]

Bit of a latecomer to the game, but it was a vintage Graflex ANH build about 4 or 5 years ago. Still one of my favourite props even though it’s not quite as accurate anymore with the discovery on the grip rivets and double riveted D-ring.

 

[PHArchivist]

I'll qualify - sourced from the RPF; Spina's latex TOD monkey head

 

[Duncanator]

Sounds like a lot of us made phasers first!

I made the phaser, tricorder and communicator when I got the Star Trek Technical Manual for Christmas back in the 70's.
How could I resist making them with the full scale drawings right in my hands?
I built them from stacked corrugated cardboard. They were crunchy, but I loved them.

 

[alensatemybuick]

I made a phaser when I was around 10, using cardboard (including a toilet paper roll), tin foil and black electrical tape. At just over twice that age, I paid tribute to what was probably my first prop build for a goofy Halloween costume. That was 35 years ago, but I've nevertheless obscured my face to minimize embarrassment.

 

[Shataan]

Large Cal. AVP Shoulder Cannon. Geeze. That had to be almost 15 years ago almost now. .... I think. Got a bit of help with it as well, from the Original Prop Guy who sculpted it for the Movie. As for what I use..... I mainly use a carvable/sandable plastic type material called Intercell, here in Canada. I pretty much hand shape/carve all the stuff I`ve done.

 

[JoeG]

I started building lightsabers out of cardboard tubes when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s. I had no reference back then except for the blade color. So, the hilts were wrapped in silver duct tape and then blue or red colored tape for the blades. It wasn't until 99 or 2000 that I found out what was really used. My first Graflex and Heiland based lightsabers were abysmal! Definitely don't have pictures of them and I wouldn't share them if I did.

 

[coalrob]

My first replica is a Hyposprayer from Star Trek Next Gen and a mount that I tried to make look like it belonged in the universe. Everything is 3D printed and modeled from scratch!

 

[Tan Djarka]

In the early to mid 80s i built a Graflex style saber with a section of 1.5 inch wooden closet rod and a .25 inch fiberglass stunt blade. It was half silver, half black (the grip end), with a red thumb tack as an activation button.

I also managed a really bad PKD out of particle board with Masonite grips painted an orangey brown. The upper barrel was a length of broom handle, the trigger guard was styrene sprue, the trigger was a nail, and the LEDs were red dots of Testor's model paint.

 

[Rylo]

Aluminum foil communicator, circa 1974

Yep, old...sigh.

-Rylo

 

[Onkelpsycho]

My first build was in 2003. It was a Ghostbusters ghost trap.

It was a hard time for "outside US" Prop fans. There was no PayPal, I had no credit card and no chance for international purchases. I started my "prop hobby" at another board (the RPF access was limited at this time), the proptopia, a small place with focus on GB props.

This was the result, all made from "german alternative parts". A little bit oversized. I remember, I couldn't find anything useful for the pedal, so I used a real pedal for guitar...

 

[Cameron]

My first prop build was Star Trek TOS Communicator carved out of a block of sled wax and painted with shoe polish. It was bad. And messy. And wonderful.

 

[Petertiger]

This was the very first prop replica i ever made and still have the Plutonium rod from Back to the Future which i made back in 1986 when the film came out on VHS did it for an art project at school, the rod is made from a clear plastic tube that looked like a walking stick that had chewing gum in it and cut it smaller and just put a piece of rolled up red paper inside and printed the label on the school computer after first doing a hand drawing by pausing the video, which i think a lot of us did back in the day and the other part was made from a clear plastic container that had rubber bands in.

 

[JiminSTLouis]

This is a minor little replica but I fabricated TOS wall communicator red alert beacons for Star Trek Continues. Not the whole comm panels, just the frosted blocks.

Sorry about the Photobucket watermark… I didn’t realize it was so long ago.

 

[BDK]

Somewheres around 2001-2002 I attempted to make a graflex replica using a piece of pipe from a busted lawn chair and some thick insulation foam. It was terrible but had to start somewhere I suppose.

 

[Oddmar]

ABC warrior head from the original Judge Dredd. 4 pieces of 2" thick pink XPS foam glued together vertically, shaped with a wire wheel on a Dremel. Eyes from the bottom half of plastic 'egg' containers from quarter toy dispensers at Steak n Shake. Hydraulic actuators were tubular water squirting toys from WalMart. No pics but it's still in my shed out back.

 

[AndroidShepherd]

My very first attempt was trying to replicate the board game from Jumanji out of cardboard when I was 9 or 10. Actually started to learn woodworking with the intent of taking another crack at this soon.