National Treasure Prop Replicas

Apologies for not updating the blog for a long time.

To make up for it, I've got pics of some of my work in progress; paper prop replicas from National Treasure and National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.

NATIONAL TREASURE



First up is the secret clue given by Charles Carroll to young Thomas Gates:



Then we have the Declaration of Independence:



For this declaration, there are various online stores where you can buy replicas printed on parchment. But the problem is, they look like they're freshly printed. Whereas in the movie, the text of the declaration has faded due to oxidization. So what I did was I took a hi-res scan of the declaration which I found online, tweaked the graphics to make it look faded then print in onto an A1 size paper, then weathered it with coffee and tea. I think the final result looks more screen accurate than those other online replicas.

Then I decided to tackle the Silence Dogood letters. I read that only 9 letters (or fragments thereof) were made for the movie but I didn't know which ones, so I decided to make them all. Yep... all 14.

I got the text from here: Silence Dogood Letters

I took a minor liberty with the size; it's supposed to be 10" x 17" but since my printer could only print up to A3, the letters ended up being 10" x 16 1/2". I used a font called Lamar pen suggested by Kramstaar which looked quite realistic. After printing, the A3 pages were cut down to size by tearing the sides. The margin line was pencil drawn.

The letters were weathered with coffee and tea. I also tried to match the folds as seen in the screencaps (they are letters after all).











The one thing I noticed was that the screen version of the 10th letter had some variation from the actual letter; the screen version had some paragraphs paraphrased while others were omitted. So I made 2 versions; the actual and the screen version.



NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS



I haven't had the time to make some of the props from this movie yet but the following are what I've made so far.

First up is the missing page from the diary of John Wilkes Booth.



This page was printed on regular paper, folded to get the screen accurate creases, weathered and then the edges are burned. Lastly, the page was laminated in clear plastic, just as seen in the movie when Ed Harris' character produces it in the auditorium.

The next one was made just for fun. This is the letter Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) found on his Ferrari in the last scene of the movie.



Stay tuned for more updates.

Nine Gates Replica by S'wak Props on Youtube

Here's a video I uploaded that shows my replica of the Nine Gates Balkan version with all the included inserts:

If you're interested in acquiring a copy, drop me an email at swakprops@gmail.com.

Nine Gates and Rorschach's Journals available now!

I'm doing a new run of weathered Nine Gates and Rorschach's Journal and have 4 slots available for each book. Contact me at swakprops@gmail.com if you're interested in acquiring any of these books.

Here are some recent pics:

Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows





Rorschach's Journal

S'wak Props Exclusive #1: The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows from The Ninth Gate

Just thought I'd highlight the specialty items of S'wak Props. First up is The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows Prop Replica.









The book has 300 pages with filler text with the 10 engravings (1 title page and 9 woodcuts) interspersed between them. These engravings match with those in the Balkan/Telfer copy. The pages are individually numbered (none of that 666 crap). These pages are laser printed onto A4 sized 80gsm white paper and then cut to the dimensions of the original prop (6.5" x 10"). These pages are then individually weathered by hand with a mixture of tea and coffee.Once this is done, the pages are then sent to the professional binderswho will sew and bound them in dark brown lambskin leather. The boundbook has the five raised ridges on the spine, the embossed fleur de lis frame on the front and back with the gilded pentagram (and fleur de lisdesign inside it) on the front. The cover is also mildly weathered, i.e. the edges, the spine ridges as well as the discoloration on the back which is afeature of the Balkan/Tefler copy.

The following items are included:

(a) nine LCF woodcuts
(b) the fake ninth woodcut with "CENIZA BROS" written across it
(c) the two page spread with the genuine ninth woodcut
(d) the comparison chart made by Corso to distinguish the three copies ofthe Nine Gates
(e) Corso's business card
(f) Balkan's postcard to Baroness Kessler
(g) the weathered yellow fabric to wrap the book in.

If you're interested in this, please email swakprops@gmail.com for details on how to purchase this item.

S'wak Props Exclusive #2: Rorschach's Journal

Secondly we have Rorschach's Journal Prop Replica from Watchmen.








Cover is weathered cowhide. The journal is 200 pages thick with the entries from October 12th 1985 to November 1st 1985 repeated several times to make up the pages. Both comic and movie entries are included. Movie entry dates have ordinal suffixes (12th, 21st etc), comic entry dates do not (12, 21 etc). The pages are also weathered and are professionally bound.

Comes with:

(a) Rorschach FBI Wanted Poster;
(b) Gunga Diner flyer;
(c) Rorschach's calling card;
(d) Pyramid Transnational envelope addressed to Roy Chess;
(e) Roy Chess ID badge.

If you're interested, please emal swakprops@gmail.com for details on how to purchase this.

The Nine Gates to the Kingdom of Shadows - New Pics

I've received so many queries about this replica that I made so I thought I'd post some more new pics I took of the book and the inserts that come with it.

This books has been weathered to emulate the look of the prop used in the movie. The 9 LCF woodcuts, the fake 9th woodcut and the two-page spread with the genuine 9th woodcut have also been weathered. Other inserts include Balkan's postcard, Corso's business card and Corso's chart comparing the Balkan, Fargas and Kessler copies. In the foreground is the weathered yellow fabric in which the book is wrapped in.

If you're interested in acquiring this replica, drop me a line at swakprops@gmail.com.

Sidkit Blade Runner Worldcon Blaster

I bought this kit from Siderio last year when he started making them and its been sitting in storage until last month when I finally decided to get on it. I followed Sid's prep instructions, except after I sanded the parts I tried buffing them on a wheel. This almost proved to be disastrous when a small piece of the first part I tried buffing actualy melted!! Luckily that part is not visible (it's internal) so I let that buffing idea go. I used Perma Blue to blue the parts that need to be blued and painted the black parts with Krylon Satin Black. The LEDs also proved to be a pain in the butt coz I accidentally broke the switch when trying to put it in the mag cover, so until I can find a replacement, the LEDs are non-functional.

Here are some pics: