Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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TMcLim wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:44 am
With gas hitting 2$ a litre right now it might have been cheaper the have it shipped to Vancouver!
Says the guy who lives in Alberta and gets gas 50 cents cheaper than his fellow Canadians! How about sharing some of that oil?

I'm kidding though, as I know a big part of the discrepancy are provincial taxes at the pump, and we're getting hit with a new one next month. I can't switch to an electric vehicle fast enough! xP
This Space for Rent

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 12:32 pm
TMcLim wrote: Fri Mar 04, 2022 7:44 am
With gas hitting 2$ a litre right now it might have been cheaper the have it shipped to Vancouver!
Says the guy who lives in Alberta and gets gas 50 cents cheaper than his fellow Canadians! How about sharing some of that oil?

I'm kidding though, as I know a big part of the discrepancy are provincial taxes at the pump, and we're getting hit with a new one next month. I can't switch to an electric vehicle fast enough! xP
Haha the trade off is -40 in the winter, it is still expensive here though at about 1.50$ unfortunately. About .35 is tax which is ridiculous.
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Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Escape Off the Road #145 is finally on display. It's an absolutely stunning piece, and a close second to Treebeard. I can't take my eyes off it. :inlove:

It's frustrating to be unable to upload pics here. The image size requirement is exceedingly small, and I don't have a Photobucket or other similar image account. I've never been able to make pics the appropriate size to post here, so I'm going to link to my images on the FoU forum. https://www.flameofudun.net/forum/colle ... post260021

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

~~ Thorin Oakenshield

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Today, i took the extra step of adding a plexiglass cover to protect Escape Off the Road. Its display location is very accessible to my two cats . . . who would happily turn the carrot, Ringwraith's hand, and loose pieces of fern into toys. :rolleye:

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

~~ Thorin Oakenshield

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Bilbo at His Desk (LE) arrived. :btr:
Still have to unbox him....won't get to that until Saturday or Sunday.
Shipping carton is in good shape. Hopefully there are no defects with the piece itself (fingers crossed).

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Deimos wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 2:14 pm Bilbo at His Desk (LE) arrived. :btr:
Still have to unbox him....won't get to that until Saturday or Sunday.
Shipping carton is in good shape. Hopefully there are no defects with the piece itself (fingers crossed).
I received mine and Val's last week and it really is a great piece and Weta has done a great job on it.

Here is a very quick video I made of mine as I couldn't resist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljOvLcvkjm4
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Also received Galadriel's Phial the other day and it is also a very good piece.
phial2.jpg
And here next to John's version which is just slightly larger.
phial.jpg
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Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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What (if anything) are you going to do with John's Phial?
Good pics of Bilbo statue. I'm glad I got it.
And N2, you need to copy that wainscoting and attach it to the walls in your collection room :laugh:

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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I have been doubting whether to buy the phial in a store in my country or order it directly from Weta, thinking it would be faster directly, but it seems equally I'll have to wait because Weta to Europe won't start shipping phials until July, as stated on their website. :(

I have never bought anything from Weta directly. Do you know if the Phials will run out quickly and you have to buy in preorder, or I can buy it quietly when they come out? I think it is not a limited edition.

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Deimos wrote: Fri Mar 18, 2022 8:02 pm What (if anything) are you going to do with John's Phial?
Good pics of Bilbo statue. I'm glad I got it.
And N2, you need to copy that wainscoting and attach it to the walls in your collection room :laugh:
John's Phial lives in my display coffee table and Weta's in a display case near Galadriel

As for the wainscoting, that would be really neat if I was recreating the entire room exactly, but I'm not altering the room permanently in that way.

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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I received my phial. Very nice. I had intended to replaced the LED with a UV LED and fill it with some UV ink, but the stock LED and plain water looks really good. I think I'm just going to switch it to AC power so I can leave it on all the time.

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It's fairly accurate to the prop, but the pillowed ridges could have been a bit more defined. At least the general shape is correct, unlike that awful Noble thing. The main difference I see is the stopper inside the neck is not as long as on the prop and the metal work extends farther down the bottle neck. The stopper does not fit tightly either. It's barely water tight and falls out if I tilt it. I'll have to seal that with some hot glue. Overall, it's a decent replica though.

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KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Cool pics!

You're going to seal yours, Kit? Aren't you concerned that the water inside will eventually stagnate and create micro-organisms? I think that's the reason the liquid inside John's phial is especially treated to prevent that from happening. He never revealed what it is that makes it glow under a UV light, but he did mention that it has something in it (alcohol perhaps?) that would keep the liquid sterile and clear forever.
This Space for Rent

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 5:22 am Cool pics!

You're going to seal yours, Kit? Aren't you concerned that the water inside will eventually stagnate and create micro-organisms?
Hot glue would not be a permanent seal, but as it is, it won't seal at all. I want something stronger than wax. For the liquid, there are lots of options to keep bacteria from growing - sterile water, denatured alcohol, rubbing alcohol, add bleach, et cetera. They key is killing the bacteria inside the bottle and cap before sealing it. My Dorwinion wine bottles are filled with sterile water mixed with isopropyl alcohol and red food coloring. Those have remained clear for years.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Magneticone wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 12:16 pm My suggestion would be tonic water . It contains quinine which will glow if you subject it to black light . If you can get a black light LED .
Would love to but I'm not nearly as handy at making modifications to things like Kit and N2 are. Last thing I want is to bugger up a perfectly good collectible with my questionable tinkering.
This Space for Rent

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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I tested tonic water, but it glows blue under UV light. There are some clear and white UV inks and paints, but all have a slight blue tint.

The white LED works really well, but I am thinking of adding something to make the water more of a cloudy white, like they did in The Hobbit prop below. Cate Blanchett had a battery pack wired to her to power a light that illuminated the phial. The white liquid inside helped soften and spread the light.
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Last edited by Nasnandos on Fri Apr 01, 2022 5:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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N2darkness wrote: Thu Mar 31, 2022 6:34 pm That's a very cool idea! I wonder if some white alcohol ink mixed with some rubbing alcohol would be thin enough to illuminate the entire phial?
Alcohol ink should work perfectly for that. I think I have an old bottle that I used for painting resin a while back, so I'll give it a try.

The metal work on the Weta replica is plain silver paint, and it's chipped off in several places. I think I'm going to repaint it with with something more polished metal looking. I have some mirror paint I have been meaning to try.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:01 am Definitely not accurate to the effect we see in the movies, Kit, but I somehow prefer it to the phial looking like it's filled with skim milk. :laugh:

So did you actually replace the LED on the Weta stand with a UV one or did you just one behind for that shot?
The LED is sitting behind it. It just looks tacky to me.

The slightly white water looks much better. This is the first test I did. A bit too much dye. 25% less looks even better. The white balance of my iphone camera adds a bit of a blue tint, but there is no blue in person.
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KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Nasnandos wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 9:37 am
The slightly white water looks much better. This is the first test I did. A bit too much dye. 25% less looks even better. The white balance of my iphone camera adds a bit of a blue tint, but there is no blue in person.
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The white liquid looks much better in my opinion. Something I'll definitely be trying once I find some white ink.

Looks pretty close to what we see on screen, not as bright due to the SFX.
The.Lord.of.the.Rings.The.Return.of.the.King.2003.2160p.UHD.BluRay.H265-BOREDOR.mkv_snapshot_02.24.26_[2022.03.31_22.27.23].jpg
The.Lord.of.the.Rings.The.Return.of.the.King.2003.2160p.UHD.BluRay.H265-BOREDOR.mkv_snapshot_02.13.18_[2022.03.31_22.26.23].jpg
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Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:35 am That does look infinitely better and I'd like to try it once I receive mine. To be clear, what product are you using? I've never heard of 'white ink'. It's probably not paint, so what is it? A dye of some kind?
It's white alcohol ink in rubbing alcohol. People usually use alcohol inks for tye dye-like effects on paper.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Nasnandos wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:50 am
Valkrist wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:35 am That does look infinitely better and I'd like to try it once I receive mine. To be clear, what product are you using? I've never heard of 'white ink'. It's probably not paint, so what is it? A dye of some kind?
It's white alcohol ink in rubbing alcohol. People usually use alcohol inks for tye dye-like effects on paper.
It looks spectacular with the white tint, thanks for the information. :)

When I buy mine, I'll look up where to buy white alcohol ink, I'm sure I can get it at some fine arts stationery store.

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Nasnandos wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:50 am
Valkrist wrote: Fri Apr 01, 2022 10:35 am That does look infinitely better and I'd like to try it once I receive mine. To be clear, what product are you using? I've never heard of 'white ink'. It's probably not paint, so what is it? A dye of some kind?
It's white alcohol ink in rubbing alcohol. People usually use alcohol inks for tye dye-like effects on paper.
What brand of alcohol ink did you use? I tried some Jacquard Pinata inks today and they just clumped and separated when I dropped it into the rubbing alcohol. I even tried shaking it up to mix it and nothing. The ink particles got smaller, but never mixed or turned cloudy.

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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N2darkness wrote: Sat Apr 02, 2022 12:53 pm What brand of alcohol ink did you use? I tried some Jacquard Pinata inks today and they just clumped and separated when I dropped it into the rubbing alcohol. I even tried shaking it up to mix it and nothing. The ink particles got smaller, but never mixed or turned cloudy.
The brand I have is called DecorRom. I bought it from Amazon a few years back to color some epoxy resin castings I made. It was not very good ink for that, but works great for this. It dissolved into 70% Isopropyl rubbing alcohol instantly.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 9:15 am Awesome, that's very helpful!

How much of the white ink did you put in? A drop? Two?

The one in Kit's photos looks much brighter but then I'm guessing it's because he has less ambient light going on in the background than you do?
Sorry, I failed to mention that part! Only 1 drop for my mixture and it looks brighter in person than my photo. My room wasn't totally dark and could be a difference of camera as well as the materials used.

I think a little experimenting may be needed as you can always pour it out and start over, thin if desired.

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Someone should try using 99% alcohol and the ink.
I originally got the 99% stuff through the Wally World pharmacy (I use it in my electronics projects).
But I found it cheaper (per oz) online, amazon I think.
If 91% works better than 70% it might be worth a try using the 99% alcohol.
And also you nearly eliminate any possibility of bacteria growth.

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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N2darkness wrote: Mon Apr 04, 2022 10:04 am Sorry, I failed to mention that part! Only 1 drop for my mixture and it looks brighter in person than my photo. My room wasn't totally dark and could be a difference of camera as well as the materials used.

I think a little experimenting may be needed as you can always pour it out and start over, thin if desired.
I drop was all I used too. Actually a bit less, because I drained some of it and poured more alcohol in the bottle. It does not take much.

I'm going to wire the LED up for AC power this week.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Deimos wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 12:21 am If 91% works better than 70% it might be worth a try using the 99% alcohol.
And also you nearly eliminate any possibility of bacteria growth.
I think it's actually the opposite, or so I have read. 99% alcohol coagulates the protiens in the bacteria cell wall, preventing the isopropyl from breaking it down and getting in. That does not happen with the water in the 70% mix, so it gets through the wall and mixes with the water in the cell, killing it.

I don't think you will be seeing bacteria actually mulitplying in either one though, especially if it is rinsed with scalding hot water before filling the bottle with alcohol and dye.
KRDS

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Weta has revealed (partially) a new Strider 1/6 for their Classic Series. Any takers?

The picture doesn't show the finished product, only the WIP, but I like what I see so far. Not a fan of the fact that this line is now at the $399 mark, but considering the improvement over the old SSW version and the more static pose over the recent Amon Hen piece, this might be a future purchase for me.
This Space for Rent

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Tue Apr 05, 2022 10:41 am Weta has revealed (partially) a new Strider 1/6 for their Classic Series. Any takers?

The picture doesn't show the finished product, only the WIP, but I like what I see so far. Not a fan of the fact that this line is now at the $399 mark, but considering the improvement over the old SSW version and the more static pose over the recent Amon Hen piece, this might be a future purchase for me.
Looks interesting, but will be very hard to beat the Sideshow maquette that I already have.

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Nasnandos wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 10:38 am Strider is up for order today. It looks good in the photos. The face is not perfect, but not bad.
I agree. It looks really good. I may need a second Aragorn in my collection. I'm going to wait, though, to see what else Weta reveals later this year. If this summer/fall are anything like last year, I'll need to dig deep into my wallet.

"If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world."

~~ Thorin Oakenshield

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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I think he looks great.

In terms of likeness, it is light years beyond the original SSW one and the King Elessar version; much better than the Black Gates one; and on par with the newest Amon Hen version, which I really like.

Will order for sure, but with an Open Edition and Q1'23 release, there's zero rush. Gives me plenty of time to try and sell the SSW one, though I'm having zero luck with oflloading Legolas and Gimli. Scant love out there for the older pieces.
This Space for Rent

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Thu Apr 07, 2022 12:28 pm ...

Will order for sure, but with an Open Edition and Q1'23 release, there's zero rush. Gives me plenty of time to try and sell the SSW one, though I'm having zero luck with oflloading Legolas and Gimli. Scant love out there for the older pieces.
VAl, how do you usually sell your stuff? Ebay? Craigslist (or equivalent)? Door-to door pulling a cart with collectible statues? ;)

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Deimos wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 12:29 pm
VAl, how do you usually sell your stuff? Ebay? Craigslist (or equivalent)? Door-to door pulling a cart with collectible statues? ;)
I always try Craigslist first: no shipping hassles; no fees; cash payment; etc.

The downside, of course, is how limited your target audience is. Even in a city with over 2.8 million peeps, collectible statue are still a very niche thing, and mine have been listed (at a very reasonable price, I might add) for many months with zero bites.

Ebay is always next, but even there, nothing. I've lowered the price twice, even sent offers to the people that are always on the watch list for some reason, but still nothing. If they think they're going to get it for a song though, they've got another thing coming. They'll do just fine sitting on my shelf; I'm not giving them away for free. In all though, I think the market for this stuff may have sailed, and as Weta continues to churn out newer pieces and with many other companies now in the game, what we once deemed as 'charm' and 'character' in the original statues just means old crap to the newer generation of collectors, who also expect used things for free.
This Space for Rent

Re: New Weta everywhere you look!

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Valkrist wrote: Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:22 am
Deimos wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 8:34 pm OK...was just wondering...thanks.
No worries, and sorry if that turned into a rant. I just seem to have bad luck selling stuff when others seem to do it so easily. :huh:
Oh, no worries right back at you.. I didn't pick up anything you said as a rant.
It's too bad (and sad, really) that people aren't interested in the older statues.
I still have the [Sideshow] Witchking/Morgul Lord swinging his morningstar at [Sideshow] Derhhelm/Eowyn.
Wouldn't trade either of them for any of the newer statues of the WK or Eowyn.
Eowyn facing off with the WK

"Eternity is an awful long time, especially towards the end."

"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.” -- CSL

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