Leon "the professional" gun case

wthurlow

New Member
OK folks i am finally going to build this custom gun case. As i (like most of you) am VERY budget conscious. There for i will not be making this out of leather. I will most likely make this out of 1/4" plywood, and skin it with vinyl or some other material that resembles leather. I will also be making the interior slightly different. I plan to customize this to my own firearms, however the case will be to scale to the one from the movie. I will also try to keep the exterior as accurate to the movie one as i can. I will post pictures of my progress and how i am getting me measurements and drawings.
 
Ok folks I've done some prelim measurements. I know that this gun is the 1911 a2 sass, and I'm 99% sure its the 13" model. So i created a custom scale and grid in photoshop.
Screen Shot 2017-03-28 at 3.06.04 PM.png

Scale worked very well as the dividing pieces that hold the weapons are 3/4" (standard stock 1"pine i believe). Off this i scaled the grid to 3/4 inch. then i zoomed in until my titans fit the 3/4 box to double check. I figure I'm off a little but i don't think it really matters 1/8" here and there.


draw.JPG

So from all this i came up with these measurements, which actually work out semi well. i have only figured the overall length, as i am "tuning" this to fit my own firearms. 20.5" is the overall and I'm pretty sure of it. Maybe someone can confirm or deny my accuracy.


Ok so I've had this page open for a while and attempt to draw the box in photoshop and see if my scale was accurate, AND well its pretty balls on.. images below measurements included

Screen Shot 2017-03-28 at 5.03.55 PM.pngScreen Shot 2017-03-28 at 5.01.41 PM.png
 
now i need the overall depth of the case and i believe its 10.5 inches. I'm only guessing at that figure, and i believe the distance between the drawers and the outer door id 1-1.75 inches give or take (i like that saying lol). Im extrapolating the overall size using some weird geometry in photoshop which is never accurate. however i know that the magazine from my .226 is 13/16 and ill go with a minimum of 7/8 for clearance. HOWEVER i don't have a compact firearm for this area, because they are not allowed in my state.................40cal mag.JPG

So all the above images and measurements are for what i believe are the dimensions of LEONS case. I really hope i got it very close.

All further pictures and measurements will be for all of my own weapons. I plan to store my .226 sig, a .38 sig and have room for a 1911, and a browning mark 5 .22 cal.
Ill be building later on in the week and will take many photos, time lapse and video as i work on it.

As far as a covering i will most likely to vinyl as i mentioned above, anyone have any good tips or tricks as to glue? super 77?

Currently i am searching for the latch and handles online
 
i found a pretty damn close latch for the case. Unfortunately i have no idea what its called or where to get this style. I found a web page that sells the style, and have sent them an email. here is the link to their page
http://www.brettunsvillage.com/trunks/howto/parts/suitcaseparts.htm

here is the style lock, its not exact but its pretty darn close.
Screen Shot 2017-03-28 at 6.22.27 PM.png

here is another one

Screen Shot 2017-03-28 at 6.22.23 PM.png

At first i thought it was a trunk latch but after looking around i believe it to be a briefcase latch, or a small suitcase latch. Hopefully i hear back from the company soon.
 
Got a mockup done using an old keurig box, ill post pics in the morning.

You may be wondering why i so loose with all the information, the answer is simple. Community. We are all talented builders, and what we make should be shared to all. Ive had many experiences with people just unwilling to share important information. Some cases its valid, others its just plain silly. I hope that i am helping some of you, and i hope that you'll enjoy the process I'm taking on!
 
Thanks for posting - I am looking forward to your progress. I found some hardware on the Brettuns Village site that has been eluding me for a while - it is a completely unrelated project, but I appreciate the link!
 
Thank you, that place is great for old hinges and the like. They often do a 60-80$ whats there is what you get, grab box kinda thing. Great place to do business!
 
So another semi breakthrough. I know that there was another thread about all this, but there wasn't really any good info from the members, lots of pictures and tons of speculation. Well i now know what kind of latch is on the case, not a specific model number but it is made from brass, in England and from a company called cheney. They style is a suitcase, luggage or briefcase lock. Ill attach the email the manager of http://www.BrettunsVillage.Com sent me.
Screen Shot 2017-03-29 at 10.50.36 AM.png
e left
I have also found out who the prop masters were from imbd and other movie sites, i also (don't ask me how) got their phone numbers and have left messages for them to call me back. I don't know if they will help me out any but fingers crossed.
 
Mockup pictures, yeah i kinda got off my scale a little but it looks and feels right, i know that pictures don't really do justice to mockups and i am not the most patient person lol. I also did this at midnight. anyway I'm going to use my scale from above, and ill make the drawers and wooden parts to fit. pretty excited.

IMG_1477.JPGIMG_1478.JPGIMG_1480.JPGIMG_1481.JPGIMG_1482.JPGIMG_1483.JPGIMG_1484.JPG
 
I have also found out who the prop masters were from imbd and other movie sites, i also (don't ask me how) got their phone numbers and have left messages for them to call me back. I don't know if they will help me out any but fingers crossed.

Nice, good luck! I wonder how they'll feel about that? I always found then when I did behind the scenes coverage, the prop masters and costumers were always appreciative since most movie coverage goes toward the actors and directors.
 
Nice, good luck! I wonder how they'll feel about that? I always found then when I did behind the scenes coverage, the prop masters and costumers were always appreciative since most movie coverage goes toward the actors and directors.

I am hoping that they will appreciate the call. I haven't heard anything back at this time. I will call again next week. Its a long shot, and i am pretty sure that they will remember the movie but maybe not the prop. I still wonder what happened to the original case. id like to think its sitting under someones desk or on a shelf gathering dust.
 
This bus a cool build. For vinyl I would check Vvivid Vinyl. I've used their stuff and it's been great quality.


i actually think I'm going to go with skivertex paper for the outside of the box and then do the vinyl for the stitching areas. if that makes sense.

The part I'm having trouble with is color matching the interior, that pea soup green color. everytime i try and color match it comes out semi grey.
 
I love what you’re doing. I know you are making the case to fit your equipment, but if you want the prop case length, I estimate it to to be closer to 17". This is based on an estimate from laelee’s post #53 in the thread titled “Léon: The Professional”. In the post, he estimates the lock plate length to be about 3", and I agree with this size. And, looking at the various shots of the open case that are minimally oblique to the camera, the case length is not twice the width. Your case length is very close to twice the width, a ratio very close to 2:1. I do believe your ratio of height to width to be very good, though I am still struggling with the actual numbers. Yours may be correct.

Also, you say you may go with the Skivertex paper for the outside…I know the prop is actually a coated (painted?) canvas material, that is not too fine. Most Skivertex papers seem to be a leather embossing. There are some that are a cloth embossing, but the ones I see are too fine. Do you know of a coarse weave embossing in the Skivertex line? Or might you use a different embossing for your case?

Mark
 
I love what you’re doing. I know you are making the case to fit your equipment, but if you want the prop case length, I estimate it to to be closer to 17". This is based on an estimate from laelee’s post #53 in the thread titled “Léon: The Professional”. In the post, he estimates the lock plate length to be about 3", and I agree with this size. And, looking at the various shots of the open case that are minimally oblique to the camera, the case length is not twice the width. Your case length is very close to twice the width, a ratio very close to 2:1. I do believe your ratio of height to width to be very good, though I am still struggling with the actual numbers. Yours may be correct.


Mark, thank you very much. I have been re scaling it many times, and unfortunately I've found that both you and i are correct. If i scale the picture of the front of the case with just the lock i get 18.4 inches. However when i scale using the picture below its completely different. heres my crazy explanation..



Each square equals 3/4 of an inch. i got this because i am 100% sure that the upright pieces that hold the guns are 1" stock so they are 3/4" wide. Blue line to Blue line is 17 squares .75x17= 12.75. The gun in the picture is definitely 13 long. being off by 1/4" isn't too bad.

Screen Shot 2017-03-31 at 10.47.03 AM.png

In this picture
Screen Shot 2017-03-31 at 10.48.48 AM.png

From blue line to blue line is 13 squares .75x13= 9.75 9.75+.75+9.75= 20.25"
i ad the extra .75 for the width of the lumber stock.

For this picture the entire image is scaled to one grid square = .75 and the canvas has been scaled as well so i know it'd pretty close, the perspective of the image really screws up accurate measurements. However in the image, using the ruler tool it comes to just over 13" on the firearm, which is kind of confirms my scale. I could be doing this totally wrong but I'm pretty versed in scale plans and how to scale blueprints.

13.jpg


The only thing we can accurately say is a certain size are the firearms. So although we may have an idea what size the lock is, we don't know for sure. Through my contacts and research the latches vary in size and i just don't know exactly what model latch it is. Ill find it though lol.

I suppose; and i think this may be the case (pun intended) that there are more than one gun case. As we know movies make many of the same object for different aspects of film. I would imagine that different cases were used for the movie and we see different ones. So maybe what we see on one shot is not the same to another? I still haven't heard back anything from the prop masters I've reached out to, ill keep calling.

So now on to the Skivertex, i don't believe that the case is covered in a canvas material. its way too thin to be canvas, plus canvas would most definitely bleed any glue and not hold up well to abuse (in my opinion). I actually think its moleskien, or that stuff that they cover Amps and speakers with.

http://www.fibermark.com/products/skivertex-ultra?id=3861

Fiber mark makes so many kinds of paper its crazy, I've already ordered 15 samples to try and match. I am going to keep the exterior as accurate as i can, the only difference will be, i will not have a soft leather top. I live in Massachusetts and you cannot transport firearms in a soft case, NH is different, Maine has different laws, CT, RI they all are either opposite to MA or won't work with the soft top. So to comply with the laws i am choosing to make it a hard top case. I hope some of my explanation helps a little. Lets keep the discussion going!
 
I am now in the second guessing stage lol... Ive rescaled and gotten the same measurements. either 18 or so, or 20 give or take... Two inches is pretty significant to me as far as accuracy goes. Now I'm in the denial stage lol. Ive gotten my materials and really want to build this thing. So my question is now. do i just stick with the 20" the 18" or do i make both and see what happens?
 
Thanks for the reply. Actually, your explanation is not so crazy. And I also think there was more than 1 case. Regarding my determination of the case length, I should explain myself, so for what it is worth, below is my reasoning…

I examined the images in asavage’s post #8 in the thread titled “Léon: The Professional”. I blew up the 1st image in the 3rd row since that gives the most perpendicular view of the lock plate on the case front. That is what I used to determine the shorter length. Yes, I realized that this could be a different case, so I looked at the other images in the post for a reasonableness check.

The 2nd image in the 1st row shows Jean Reno’s hand as he is beginning to open the case. I realize the actor is 6' 3" tall, and might have huge hands, but the pistol in his left hand makes me think not. I stand at 5' 11".

In the 1st picture, 2nd row, we see Reno’s arm from elbow to wrist just above the now opened box. Although his arm is not in the same plane as the opened box top periphery, is is fairly close, and taking the rough length of the arm from the elbow to the wrist and rotating it to be parallel to the length of the open box, it takes up about 90% of the box length. (my estimate, of course). That same arm length would be a little shorter if it were actually in the plane of the box top periphery, though I think not too much. For myself, I know the distance from my elbow to the tip of my middle finger is about 18" (which is how the cubit is usually measured, and, interestingly enough, the typical value for it given is also 18", from my research).

The 3rd pic in the 3rd row shows Reno’s hand on the front of the case, and it actually makes the case look smaller to me.

Looking at the 3rd pic in the 2nd row,I get the impression from the images that the vertical case supports are closer to 1/2" than 5/8". If so, the case width is closer to 16 1/2" when adjusted from the 20 1/2" length.

Somewhere in time, I came across a pic of the 1/6 scale action figure case near an extended tape measure, and I estimated the case length at 15" from that. But of course it is a replica in a smaller scale, and I don’t know its pedigree. Also, the tape measure was not very close to the case, and the entire pic was oblique to the camera.

I know this all doesn’t sound terribly scientific, but I present it as food for thought.

Regarding the Skivertex, I think the moleskien is a good choice. When I mentioned the canvas covering, I was thinking of an artist’s type of canvas, or even a little finer. Looking very closely at the 1st image in the 3rd row, I can make out the fraying through the “paint” on the lid, and I can see fibers running vertically and parallel to each other. I think this is a genuinely older case, the interior of which has been modified for the movie. In older times, they would have glued the canvas to chip board pieces. In post #24, brandomack indicates the canvas and chip board combo. He also indicates green suede for the interior, though I cannot confirm. Could be a felt. Given the case wall thickness of say, 1/4", such a layered approach of its construction makes sense. When I look at the last image of post 8, but not the fraying areas, I can almost make out a weave pattern…it comes across more like bumps, much like the moleskien pattern you indicated, which is why I think it is a good choice.

Yeah, I know about gun law discrepancies. At first, I was considering the chip board approach, but I think a thin plywood box structure would be cheaper and more durable. It could still come out just as thick as the prop case, so I figure, why not?

I don’t know if we’ll ever get dimension confirmation for the case. If the pedigree of the 1/6 scale action figure case is good, then that could be an acceptable basis. It would be nice for someone who has this to chime in with its dimensions.

Ultimately, if you are building it to fit your stuff, then it needs to be sized to that.

Mark
 
The best way to make scaling decisions is to just build a quick corrugated cardboard version in a couple hours and place the guns into it. If you don't have the replica guns handy, you can print them out to scale and glue them down to some cardboard to use as stand in props.

Nothing like seeing actual items in real space to help you make sizing decisions.
 
Re: Leon "the professional" gun case

Mark, we need to have a phone conversation. If you want to DM me your number I'll call you when I can, or I can send you mine, either or!!

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The best way to make scaling decisions is to just build a quick corrugated cardboard version in a couple hours and place the guns into it. If you don't have the replica guns handy, you can print them out to scale and glue them down to some cardboard to use as stand in props.

Nothing like seeing actual items in real space to help you make sizing decisions.

Totally agree, I own several of these guns. I don't own any airsoft. I've already made a mockup and have fitted them pretty darn well, I'm going to get some 1/4 inch foam board from staples and do a proper mockup. Where I live fin ply is 13 bucks a sheet so making a few cases is not a prOblem either! Thanks brother.
 
Re: Leon "the professional" gun case

Mark, we need to have a phone conversation. If you want to DM me your number I'll call you when I can, or I can send you mine, either or!!

- - - Updated - - -



Totally agree, I own several of these guns. I don't own any airsoft. I've already made a mockup and have fitted them pretty darn well, I'm going to get some 1/4 inch foam board from staples and do a proper mockup. Where I live fin ply is 13 bucks a sheet so making a few cases is not a prOblem either! Thanks brother.

Depending on where you're from, dollar stores have foam core cheap. Poster board too. Perfect for the hobby.
 
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