The Nine Gates - Outdoor Pics

Screencaps! Comparison between the onscreen book and my Nine Gates replica

Screencap on the left, my book on the right.

The latest version of my Nine Gates weathered book replica

Those who have bought my Nine Gates before would know that I've used 80gsm white laser printing paper for my books for years. These papers were weathered with coffee and tea to stain them to a darker shade. About two years ago, I came across a few rims of 100gsm paper which have been kept in storage for almost 20 years which resulted in the once white paper turning off-white due to natural aging and I've used this paper for my books ever since, weathering it lightly to accentuate the aging.

But I what I really wanted was the kind of ivory-ish textured paper that was used for the movie prop. Being in my neck of the woods, paper option are severely limited but about a month ago, I came across a new art supplies shop that had, in my opinion, the perfect paper. So I bought loads for my latest version of the Nine Gates. They cost much more than regular white paper, but they're worth it after years of looking.

Of course, I also weathered the pages I printed using this paper, but mildly, with tea instead of coffee as I wanted to maintain the natural color.

Here's a close up on some of the pages look like after weathering to show the texture of the paper:

I've also found a nice dark brown (almost black in some lighting, just like the movie book) lambskin leather which takes well to the stamping process, making the fleur-de-lis frame and pentagram in the cover much sharper. I've also been trying out new weathering methods for my covers (isopropyl alchohol, acetone, different grits sandpaper, coffee grains etc) to make it look more genuinely weathered, which also in turn, accentuated the cover embossing.

So here are some pics of my latest version of the weathered Nine Gates (Balkan version):

I also used the same paper for all the ripped inserts and 2 spread page, but it look yellower in the pics below, probably due to the lighting:

As always, if you're interested in acquiring a copy, please email me at swakprops@gmail.com.

S'wak Props Exclusive: The Complete Silence Dogood Letters Replica

This is my replica of the complete Silence Dogood letters based on the prop used in the movie National Treasure.

Silence Dogood was the pseudonym Benjamin Franklin used when he wrote a series of letters to the New England Courant when he was 16 years of age.

From my research, only 9 letters were made for National Treasure, but it is unknown which 9 they were. So I decided to make all 14 letters using this site as a basis.

The letters are 10" x 16 1/2", originally printed on A3 size paper which were then cut down to size by tearing the sides. Each page has a margin line which was pencil drawn. A realistic handwriting font is used for the text.

The letters were weathered with coffee and tea and I also tried to match the folds as seen in the screencaps.

Each letter varies in number of pages, from 2 to a maximum of 5 pages, and in total there are 46 sheets.

I also noted that the text of the screen version of letter no. 10 were paraphrased compared to that of the original letter, so I made 2 versions, the screen version and the original. So all in all you'll be getting 15 letters.

Letter no. 10; original text on the left, screen text on the right

I'm including some additional paper props with these letters as seen in the pics below:

If you're interested in acquiring this set of letters, send me an email at swakprops@gmail.com.

S'wak Props Exclusive: The Red Book from Labyrinth

I'm proud to offer this replica of the Red Book from "Labyrinth". It is beautifully bound in red buckram and the cover is stamped with gold foil and black designs like the movie book. A red ribbon marker completes the replica.

Contact me at swakprops@gmail.com if you're interested in acquiring this book.

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.