Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

2
And now onto Glamdring. Really didn't look as ancient as I wanted it to, so I did the dents, scratches, scuffing, dirt buildup, and a bit of clearcoat removal to help get it looking old.

Image


Image


Aaaand, now... Let's see... The High Elven War Sword!

Didn't want to do too much to it. Just wanted to mess with the blade a bit and give it the standard beating that I did to the other two swords to make it look like a genuine Second Age weapon. A bit of black tinting fluid, and the blade was taken care of. Buffed bits of the brass parts with steel wool to make them shinier, then dented, blackened the dents, and hung on the wall.

Image


Image
Last edited by Jamanticus on Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

3
Okay, now for the Witch-king's dagger.

Did what all of the folks here did. Just blackened the blade in select spots (using olive oil, a blowtorch, and some flat black paint) to make it look decrepit. After that, shined up the pommel and selectively smeared a bit more flat black paint on there to make it look closer to the original. Finally, broke out the trusty dremel and cut more notches into the blade. Smaller notches so it'd stand up to closer scrutiny.

Image


Image


Image


Then there's Herugrim. Absolute pain to weather. Gave it a mild greenish patina and lightened the clearcoat a bit so it didn't look black and gold.

Image
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

4
Still doing some final additions to the finish of the Witch-king's sword. Very fun to distress.

Here's just my darkening of the pitting on the blade, with more pics of the final product to come:

Image



Put Renaissance Wax on all the sword hilts and blades I weathered so the finishes wouldn't tarnish any more than I wanted them to in places where I removed the protective clearcoat.

Please, give me some advice for more distressing techniques!
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

6
Why, thank you.

Anduril was a fun sword to work on. SO much easier than Herugrim. Come to think of it, there are a few swords I might retake some pics of in better lighting. Most of mine are either in dim lighting, or in glaring, ugly lighting. I'll see about taking some pics using natural daylight with these swords... After all, it's a great excuse to use my new tripod! :D


Same old process for this one as with the other ones. No paint involved this time, though.
Last edited by Jamanticus on Mon Jan 10, 2011 12:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

9
My weathered versions have sold quite well (at least, the ones I had the heart to sell. You do get kinda attached to a prop the more you work on it) ;)

I don't see weathering as devaluing to these props. Quite the opposite. After all, the originals were all beat-up (with several exceptions like Anduril's newly-reforged blade), and on purpose, and there are people paying 3X as much (or more) for versions that are closer to the originals, one of those aspects being the distressed finish.

And I mean, take this for example...

"Eeew, that Morgul Blade, the weapon of a powerful servant of the most evil being in the world, is all wicked-looking and corroded and blackened! Yuck, I'll stick with my clean version with the shiny new blade."

I'm sure there are people who would say that, people who want their replicas to be in mint condition, etc. And that's cool. Having mint prop replicas definitely has its own merits, and there are very many collectors who prefer their props that way.

Then there are people in the other camp who want lots of their prop replicas distressed, since very many of the originals were so (although maybe these same people would want other props cleaned up so that they're closer to their respective originals).

That's how I see weathering. The unweathered versions... They don't give you as close a bond with the character who wielded them in the film or book, because they don't have a finish that's properly suited to them. They lack that spark of life, that aspect that makes them seem 'real', if that's an applicable adjective to high fantasy.

And I respect UC a ton. Huge amount, and all of their reasons for not releasing their replicas distressed are all completely valid. There are certainly a number of people who wouldn't want a weathered version of a prop. There's also the fact that weathering takes time and energy, which would drive the prices of the props up, to the sadness of everyone.

However, if someone wants something a bit more authentic-looking hanging on their wall, I'll be here and happy to oblige.

EDIT: It's the before-and-after pics that I live for when I weather my props. Still not done with WiKi's sword, but making progress. A comparison of where it was, and where it is now:

Image


Image
Last edited by Jamanticus on Wed Mar 17, 2010 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

11
Well... I'm running out of replicas to distress :( . I mean, I'm planning on doing a bit on Gimli's axes, just on the shiny top area with the walking axe and shiny brass area with the battle axe... (I love the finish on the axes except for those tiny areas)

But after those, I'm out of stuff to weather. Well, I just got a nice new airbrush, so maybe I'll try to find a more brownish color of paint to make the High Elven sword more accurate.

Might darken the pommel of Hadhafang a little bit...

But other than those things, I'll have no replicas that I need to age when I'm done with the Witch-king's sword. Darn it, now I'm feeling sad :'(
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

12
Really superb work. You may be aware of this, but anywhere you removed the clear coat, the plating underneath will start to oxidize over time. I tried to fix up a mark on one of mine, saw the clear coat was flaking. Then I thought I may as well remove the rest with Acetone. I think it was only within a few weeks, but it started do discolor, and fingerprints were literally rusting into the surface. Put a clear coat back over it and it stopped.

I emailed UC and Kit Rae about it and was told the cast parts are actually plated in a type of dark nickel or brass to get the right metal look, polished a bit with steel wool to brighten it, then clear coated to seal it from the air. Apprently any type of plating other than chrome will oxidize in open air.

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

15
[quote=""Domenicnas""]Really superb work. You may be aware of this, but anywhere you removed the clear coat, the plating underneath will start to oxidize over time. I tried to fix up a mark on one of mine, saw the clear coat was flaking. Then I thought I may as well remove the rest with Acetone. I think it was only within a few weeks, but it started do discolor, and fingerprints were literally rusting into the surface. Put a clear coat back over it and it stopped.

I emailed UC and Kit Rae about it and was told the cast parts are actually plated in a type of dark nickel or brass to get the right metal look, polished a bit with steel wool to brighten it, then clear coated to seal it from the air. Apprently any type of plating other than chrome will oxidize in open air.[/quote]

Yup- the Renaissance Wax I put on the hilts after I'm done with them is my way around that. Seals them so that they won't oxidize, and it's invisible, which gives it a very nice advantage over a clearcoat.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

16
[quote=""Jamanticus""]My weathered versions have sold quite well (at least, the ones I had the heart to sell. You do get kinda attached to a prop the more you work on it) ;)

I don't see weathering as devaluing to these props. Quite the opposite. After all, the originals were all beat-up (with several exceptions like Anduril's newly-reforged blade), and on purpose, and there are people paying 3X as much (or more) for versions that are closer to the originals, one of those aspects being the distressed finish.

And I mean, take this for example...

"Eeew, that Morgul Blade, the weapon of a powerful servant of the most evil being in the world, is all wicked-looking and corroded and blackened! Yuck, I'll stick with my clean version with the shiny new blade."

I'm sure there are people who would say that, people who want their replicas to be in mint condition, etc. And that's cool. Having mint prop replicas definitely has its own merits, and there are very many collectors who prefer their props that way.

Then there are people in the other camp who want lots of their prop replicas distressed, since very many of the originals were so (although maybe these same people would want other props cleaned up so that they're closer to their respective originals).

That's how I see weathering. The unweathered versions... They don't give you as close a bond with the character who wielded them in the film or book, because they don't have a finish that's properly suited to them. They lack that spark of life, that aspect that makes them seem 'real', if that's an applicable adjective to high fantasy.

And I respect UC a ton. Huge amount, and all of their reasons for not releasing their replicas distressed are all completely valid. There are certainly a number of people who wouldn't want a weathered version of a prop. There's also the fact that weathering takes time and energy, which would drive the prices of the props up, to the sadness of everyone.

However, if someone wants something a bit more authentic-looking hanging on their wall, I'll be here and happy to oblige.

EDIT: It's the before-and-after pics that I live for when I weather my props. Still not done with WiKi's sword, but making progress. A comparison of where it was, and where it is now:

Image


Image
[/quote]

Wooaaw that's a great job you've don there.
Are you having all the swords of lotr uc in your collection by now ????.

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

17
Nah, my collection is just moderate. I'm happy that way, though.

So, more weathering progress. This time, Gimli's battle axe.

UC did a nice job on the bladed bits, but the brass in the middle.... Ick, ick, ick, ick. It's like toast. Just plain bland toast with nothing on it at all.

Image


So, I added a bit of dust from all that time sitting in Moria, some dried Orc blood (man, was that hard to get xD), some very mild patination, and some wear around the handle.

So, here you go:

Image


But, I didn't do the weathering just freeform- wouldn't have known what to do if I didn't use a few pics of the original as reference (made it slightly more weathered around the brass area for spite, hehe).

Overall, very fun and educational e xp erience for me. Now to attack Gimli's walking axe. And continue attacking the Witch-king's sword.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

21
The axe looks awesome, nice work.

There is a way you can make the witch king sword more authentic. First use some sandpaper to brighten up and matten the thing in the middle of the handle, then apply some matt varnish to it. Have yet to do it myself, but should do the trick.
"I had the blues, 'cause I had no shoes, until upon the street, I saw a man who had no feet"

The biggest problem about a zombie-apocalypse would be to hide my excitement about it

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

22
Thanks for the compliments, everyone. It means a lot, really- and thanks for the tip, Darlak! I shall try doing that to the middle metal bit on the sword.

It's always great for me to hear weathering tips, because in truth there are virtually zero tips online to be found about the subject. Still, I guess it makes it fun because almost all of it is learned (at least for me) from e xp erimentation, other people, and from The Colouring, Bronzing, and Patination of Metals :D

And on the Witch-king front, finished aging the leather grip except for adding a dusting of dirt around it, which I'll do when I try pitting the blade a second time (EDIT: Want to hear about how the first attempt went? Well, long story short, I ended up with an etched blade instead of corroded one. Forgot that pitting requires only small localized pockets of air instead of having the whole thing e xp osed to air). Going for deeper, non-machined pitting, so I'll be having some fun with full protective gear, hazardous chemicals, and a lot of dirt to stick the blade in this weekend.
Last edited by Jamanticus on Thu May 20, 2010 12:47 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

23
[quote=""Jamanticus""]Thanks for the compliments, everyone. It means a lot, really- and thanks for the tip, Darlak! I shall try doing that to the middle metal bit on the sword.

It's always great for me to hear weathering tips, because in truth there are virtually zero tips online to be found about the subject. Still, I guess it makes it fun because almost all of it is learned (at least for me) from e xp erimentation, other people, and from The Colouring, Bronzing, and Patination of Metals :D

And on the Witch-king front, finished aging the leather grip except for adding a dusting of dirt around it, which I'll do when I try pitting the blade a second time (EDIT: Want to hear about how the first attempt went? Well, long story short, I ended up with an etched blade instead of corroded one. Forgot that pitting requires only small localized pockets of air instead of having the whole thing e xp osed to air). Going for deeper, non-machined pitting, so I'll be having some fun with full protective gear, hazardous chemicals, and a lot of dirt to stick the blade in this weekend.[/quote]

Look forward to seeing your finished product! Been following your thread and have really enjoyed the end results. Keep up the good (distressing) work.

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

24
[quote=""Jamanticus""]Thanks for the compliments, everyone. It means a lot, really- and thanks for the tip, Darlak! I shall try doing that to the middle metal bit on the sword.

It's always great for me to hear weathering tips, because in truth there are virtually zero tips online to be found about the subject. Still, I guess it makes it fun because almost all of it is learned (at least for me) from e xp erimentation, other people, and from The Colouring, Bronzing, and Patination of Metals :D

And on the Witch-king front, finished aging the leather grip except for adding a dusting of dirt around it, which I'll do when I try pitting the blade a second time (EDIT: Want to hear about how the first attempt went? Well, long story short, I ended up with an etched blade instead of corroded one. Forgot that pitting requires only small localized pockets of air instead of having the whole thing e xp osed to air). Going for deeper, non-machined pitting, so I'll be having some fun with full protective gear, hazardous chemicals, and a lot of dirt to stick the blade in this weekend.[/quote]
Maybe you should check out some model railroading sites and see if their offering tips on how they make their miniatures look aged. That's a real art in it's self.
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

25
[quote=""Thranduil""]Maybe you should check out some model railroading sites and see if their offering tips on how they make their miniatures look aged. That's a real art in it's self.[/quote]

Right you are. Railroad weathering sites are what introduced me to some miraculous things, like Tamiya weathering pastels and various weathering dusts. I have only barely scratched the surface, so I should look into that more- thanks for mentioning it!

Okay, update on the Witch-king's sword. The blade is finally almost done. Air pockets turned out to be the ticket for further corroding the blade.

Materials used: H2SO4, dirt, blackening solution (aka diluted black acrylic paint), wire brush (destroyed it in the process), steel wool, burnt umber, dremel cutting wheel.

First, I stripped everything off the blade and cleaned it, then brought it outside, placed it on some impervious plastic, and covered it in dirt. This would create only pockets of air for the acid to attack instead of having the entire thing open to the air (which would've created just a kinda snowflake-ish very light etch, not what I wanted). After the dirt was packed on, sprinkled the acid on (in full protective gear, just to be safe. Sulfuric acid burns are about as pleasant as having hot lava splashed onto you). Probably used around 1/2 cup of the stuff to cover the whole blade. Let it sit overnight to eat away.

Next day, took the acid-dirt off the blade, cleaned it. At this point, the blade was still covered in dark blue oxide from the acid. Took out the dremel with wire brush attachment and stripped that oxide off (making sure to wear my respirator. Wouldn't want to breathe that stuff in!).

After that, put the cutting wheel in the dremel and did preliminary notching. These would be the notches in the blade that were minor, just to very subtly ickify it. I'll be tackling the big notches soon.

After the notching, I went over the blade with the blackening stuff and removed as much as possible so that the only remaining black was in the cracks and crevices. Now, knowing that the originals were actually rusty, I did a second wash of burnt umber to brownify the blade ever so slightly.

Oh, and I rubbed some dirt into the handle and weathered that up.

So, here are the pics!

Image

Image

Image


Compared to what it used to look like:
Image
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

26
Okay. Witch-king's sword is done, except for dulling the middle handle bit.

Come to think of it, I don't know why I haven't done that yet, as it's only around 2 minutes of work...

Anyway, corroding the hilt was more difficult than I thought it would be. The plating is completely immune to even strong acid, so I had to punch holes in it so that my chemical would have something to corrode (thanks for the insight as to the main hilt metal, Thranduil!). That was a lot of holes to bore >.<

Image

Image

Image

Image
Last edited by Jamanticus on Wed Jun 09, 2010 2:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

30
WOW! First N2's shards and now this.
I'm lovin' the wide variety of talent in here; thinking we will have plenty of visitors with all there is to see from so many amazing person's.
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

33
Okay, new project!

I was perusing yesterday and found one of my posts back before I got my MC Glamdring. It said something like, "Oh, I hate that antiqued finish on the hilt. I'm stripping that varnish off right when I get one!"

Well, took me this long to finally do it. Haven't finished yet, but here's an idea of how gorgeous (and more movie-accurate) part of Glamdring looks without that strange, bluish stripey varnish:

Image


(also gives you an idea of how obscenely dark the varnish is!)

More pics to come.
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

34
I haven't really been reading this thread, so forgive me if you've already mentioned it, but are you just using steel wool to take that flaky junk off? Because if so, I did this to my ranger sword and Glamdring and IMO it made them 10x better. The ranger sword was a dull, dark gray when I got it. So much of that crud on it, it felt like paper, not steel. So I steel wool'd the crap off and there's a gorgeous metal look and feel underneath. Now it's the color it should be too.
-_-

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

35
Yup, steel wool! Brilliant stuff, gets the paint coats off and keeps the metal underneath in perfect condition :thumbs_up

It's amazing how much lovely the UC swords are when you get strip the ugly off them :D

I think I remember you using steel wool (can't remember which thread you mentioned it in), which is what made me switch from using a wire brush.

(The wire brush was good for getting paint off quickly, but it was a bit too easy for me to make mistakes with it, hehe)
Image

Losto Caradhras, sedho, hodo, nuitho i 'ruith!

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

36
Oh yeah, ok. I knew I'd mentioned it before but wasn't sure if you were here or not at the time. I was surprised at how much better it makes the pieces and wondered why exactly that stuff was used if all they do is make them hideous. It's not like my swords rusted in the... 5+ years they've been without that coating. So it obviously serves no practical purpose. :P
I suppose it's not that bad on some of them, but my ranger sword was particularly and unusually dark (like I said -- dark matte gray), which made me curious. I noticed a little flaking on the hilt and scraped it away with my fingernail, surprised to see shiny metal underneath. So I watched that for a while then said.... to hell wid you (in my best Conan voice) and gave it a full scrub. Don't regret it. :coolsmile
-_-

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

38
[quote=""Sedhal""]Oh yeah, ok. I knew I'd mentioned it before but wasn't sure if you were here or not at the time. I was surprised at how much better it makes the pieces and wondered why exactly that stuff was used if all they do is make them hideous. It's not like my swords rusted in the... 5+ years they've been without that coating. So it obviously serves no practical purpose. :P
I suppose it's not that bad on some of them, but my ranger sword was particularly and unusually dark (like I said -- dark matte gray), which made me curious. I noticed a little flaking on the hilt and scraped it away with my fingernail, surprised to see shiny metal underneath. So I watched that for a while then said.... to hell wid you (in my best Conan voice) and gave it a full scrub. Don't regret it. :coolsmile [/quote]

Yes I too would love to see some finished pics of the end results on both Glamdring and the rangers sword! You guys have definitely peaked my interest. :thumbs_up

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

39
This has brought back a memory of when I first came here and very reluctantly admitted my intentions to modify (tamper with) my UC LOTR swords.

I remembered fearing a loud cry of "Foul!"

Glad to hear about others doing what they deem to be best for their pieces. :thumbs_up
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

41
[quote=""Sedhal""]I haven't really been reading this thread, so forgive me if you've already mentioned it, but are you just using steel wool to take that flaky junk off? Because if so, I did this to my ranger sword and Glamdring and IMO it made them 10x better. The ranger sword was a dull, dark gray when I got it. So much of that crud on it, it felt like paper, not steel. So I steel wool'd the crap off and there's a gorgeous metal look and feel underneath. Now it's the color it should be too.[/quote]
How long did you steel wool it because I did it to mine and it stripped some junk off but still had the gray color
 ! Warning
The signature picture extension is not installed.
Its a Trap-admiral ackbar

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

46
through long sessions of paint remover sand paper and steel wool we have my finished shiny, more movie accurate, non junky varnish ranger sword I took a couple pictures to show you. On one it shows the edge of the crossbar there are dark grey spots which is that old gray flaky varnish to give you a bit of contrast. This was totally worth it. Now I just need to buff out a few scratches and give it a good polish
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Last edited by Beans22 on Fri Jan 14, 2011 6:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 ! Warning
The signature picture extension is not installed.
Its a Trap-admiral ackbar

Re: Giving Character to some of these UC replicas!

50
[quote=""Darlak""]Just a word of caution, if the "sapphires" on glamdring are made of plastic, stay FAR AWAY from nail polish removers and paint strippers of similar solutions, it's gonna melt the plastic.[/quote]

Agreed, but I think we're safe. I'm pretty sure they are glass. The glue that holds them, well that's another story; it may be effected by solvents.
And watch the leather too, unless you want a worn look. My Shards leather has a really nice, very old worn look to it now. :)
"and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts- to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut stones, to work in wood, and engage in all kinds of craftsmanship"
Post Reply

Return to “The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit”