Yeah, I'm a noob to LOTR blades...
This is just my random thoughts on the LOTR pieces I have purchased recently. You folks have probably heard all of these points before from other people over the years since these pieces came out, so feel free to ignore this thread...


Legolas Knives and Scabbards
My tear them apart thread is here:
http://www.ucforums.com/showthread.php?t=5053


Sting and Scabbard
Sting is a very pretty, well done piece. Workmanship is good. Metalwork on the scabbard is a bit overdone/oversized, probably to make it more visible in the movie. Might do some aging on the scabbard, maybe oil the leather and sand it at the edges to make it look less shiny/new.


Witchking Dagger
Great design- very scary. I'd be running if someone pulled one on me...
Paint aging is a bit better on the MC Samwise so it will be getting some paint on the blade and loosing some of the paint on the guard and pommel so it will look more like the original prop.


Gondor Shield
Seems to be a weaker piece than all the others. Metal edging should wrap around the edges to protect them and the should be metal edging on the sides of the shield as well as the top and bottom. The "rivets" holding the metal edging don't line up from front to back and there are issues with paint smears on the tree. Wasn't the Second Age tree supposed to be made of metal and then riveted on to the front of the shield?
Grip and leather strap are very wimpy and need to be replaced.


Hadhafang Sword of Arwen
Bigger and heavier than e xp ected. Looks nice but the balance is very bad as the balance point is at the forward hook in the blade, 6 plus inches forward of the guard. The back of the blade could be ground to a taper to lighten the blade without changing the silhouette and a new heavier steel pommel would help balance the blade. Grip appears to be made of stained plywood which is sad compared to the nice real wood grip on Sting.


MC Samwise
Quite like the Samwise sword. The antiquing/aging on the blade is very well done. Don't understand the RAISED aging on the guard and pommel though, so that may see some modification with the Dremel.

Biggest problem with the sword is that they only used 1/8" thick bar stock to make the blade compared to the 3/16" stock used on Sting. There is really no excuse for this cheap out.


Battle Axe of Gimli
Fun design. Blade is a massive six pounds but the handle is a bit wimpy See my other thread: Gimli Battle Axe - What's Inside/Construction.

Tim

Hadhafang Sword of Arwen
Bigger and heavier than e xp ected. Looks nice but the balance is very bad as the balance point is at the forward hook in the blade, 6 plus inches forward of the guard. The back of the blade could be ground to a taper to lighten the blade without changing the silhouette and a new heavier steel pommel would help balance the blade. Grip appears to be made of stained plywood which is sad compared to the nice real wood grip on Sting.

Actually, Hadhafang is one of the better balanced blades UC have made for the LOTR line. See the sword was based on some old type os sword with a name I can't recall. Had lots of sh and q's in it. Complicated stuff. Anyway, this sword was meant for horseback, as was Hadhafang, so from a horse, Hadhafang would be awesome.

I'm also pretty sure that Hadhafang's handle is wood, as people have complaining on cracked wood handles. Might be wrong.

I'm buying either Hadhafang or the HEWS next =P

Hadhafang handle is Bubinga aka; African Rosewood. If people have cracks it's due to using the wrong piece of wood (carelessness on UC's part), mine is very straight grained.
Another possibility for cracks may be due to not a large enough opening to accommodate the blade inserted, or possibly the piece of wood used wasn't dry enough at the time of manufacture and it shrunk as it dried out more.

The layered wood in Hadhafang looks a LOT like the laminated birch in a laminated K98 stock leading me to believe it might be laminated wood. See the comparison pictures below.


Laminated birch K98K stock:





Hadhafang:

Yup, those two look more or less completely identical. Either you're right, or you snapped two pics of the same handle =P