Mel Gibson The Patriot impersonation cosplay costume

[greenmachines]

4) Rifle continued - I finished the coloring and aging on the rifle lock, trigger guard, and trigger assembly. I am considering the rifle complete and ready for poses. I will take off all 3d printed parts and replace with working parts after this cosplay.

 

[joberg]

4) Rifle continued - I finished the coloring and aging on the rifle lock, trigger guard, and trigger assembly. I am considering the rifle complete and ready for poses. I will take off all 3d printed parts and replace with working parts after this cosplay.

View attachment 1949299

Rifle looks very good from where I stand

 

[greenmachines]

And yes, I sat there in the yard, knapping actual flint. Why? When I could have picked some good gravel out of the road? When you have an actual box of flint and the knapping tools, you rarely come across a reason to actually use them and here we had a genuine faux plausible but questionable reason or at least a ghost of a reason, so bam, real flint.

 

[joberg]

View attachment 1950238

And yes, I sat there in the yard, knapping actual flint. Why? When I could have picked some good gravel out of the road? When you have an actual box of flint and the knapping tools, you rarely come across a reason to actually use them and here we had a genuine faux plausible but questionable reason or at least a ghost of a reason, so bam, real flint.

There! Showing off to your wife that the knapping tool + flint was a good buy after all I do that with the wife all the time: buying another Robertson screwdriver and using it ON THE SPOT just to show her that I didn't waste my money!

 

[greenmachines]

My buddy sat and watched the show to gather some angles I did not yet have:

 

[greenmachines]

In those screen captures we confirm that he is wearing breeches with calf buttons on the sides, the knife sheath length and shape, the ornamentation on the pistol back, the shape of the antler butt end and many other tiny details. I had been on the hunt for a good face on profile picture of the antler knife sheath.

But the best of the best, the closeup of the Tomahawk that I had used to make my pattern but then lost..... sapper36

 

[greenmachines]

Quick note: The diamond ornament on the head where it goes over the shaft looks to be a pin as it is not lined up as Swatton's replicas are. So, to be truly screen accurate..... it has to be off kilter.

 

[goldcylon]

Quick note: The diamond ornament on the head where it goes over the shaft looks to be a pin as it is not lined up as Swatton's replicas are. So, to be truly screen accurate..... it has to be off kilter.

Gabriel is a good name for a farmer

 

[greenmachines]

Big research picture dump. First the screencaps:

 

[greenmachines]

Sorry, but this one is a throwback to an earlier issue I had where I confused these makers as the tomahawk makers. Their work was on some of the guns, straps and blades. i couldn't find this article but have re found it and see that they ALSO make toms so I just mixed that up as a confirmation when the tom was Tony Swatton.

Exclusive Interview with Frank and Lally HOUSE

When movie director's need period-accurate props for The Patriot, Master and Commander and other films, they turn to Frank and Lally House.

americanshootingjournal.com

 

[greenmachines]

This knife is the best recreation that I can find online. This replica would look wonderful with the appropriate sheath.

 

[joberg]

Yep, that knife will do just fine

 

[greenmachines]

After seeing the usual wishy washy market for replicas from the spectrum of "licensed" to "one-off costumes", I again realized that I had to do my own research and nearly ALL propstore and yourprops and similar prop locations DO NOT HAVE ACCURATE ITEMS but are coming with coa on each one. Each claiming to be an on screen prop. Knive's not even used in the movie sold as Mel Gibson's main screen used knife, etcetera. This isn't just old hat, common ground, but instead it is expected behavior. Why do you not recognize that item in the auction? Because it is a scam. How many are scams? So far, after only 5 or six years in this hobby, MOST are scams that are entirely not screen accurate and take only a brief comparison to screen captures to prove they don't match. In each of these costumes, from movies, I am not a superfan, a mega fanboy with years of insider knowledge. I am lightly perusing to make an accurate costume and all I find are ganky, half attempts being sold with a coa and they don't pass even light scrutiny.

So, here are my take aways from FINALLY seeing the movie myself:

6) Tomahawk continued -

The tomahawk has NOTHING on the reverse side. Any Tomahawk with a Capt. BM etched print on BOTH sides is not accurate. The Capt. BM is only on the blade face when viewing the Tom with blade facing left. This was initially confirmed by an article about Tony that I posted in an earlier thread but is cemented in the screencapture of Ben Martin's son digging through his belongings (post 89 above).

cont-

 

[greenmachines]

7) Knife and Sheath continued -

After finding numerous auctions for knifes reported as Ben Martin's main screen used knife or prop knife or stunt knife, I find they don't even come close to the on screen captures. Nowhere in any scene does Ben Martin have a leather wrapped handled knife. It just isn't there but auctions showing a leather wrapped knife will get you a coa. The blade is wrong, the handle is wrong but you get a fine coa.

The knife replica shown above in post 91 closely matches the screen captures that I personally found when going through the movie frame by frame. It may differ in size but I have not done that level of research. I can, as I did capture a very solid side by side view with the tomahawk and it has specific measurements.

The knife sheath seems to not exist anywhere, original nor replicated, nor fake auction piece.

Accuracy notes about the sheath:

1) It is not a side stitch nor outline stitched item. No threads can be seen in any photo. This means it is a center back seam. This type was common for this time period.

2) The knife and the sheath are asymmetrical (not a mirrored outline like a dagger). The upper ridge back of the knife is flat until close to the tip and then has an interned curve toward the tip, slight but it is not straight but not as curved as a bowie. The sharp edge is a gentle sweeping curve NOT a sudden change in curve like would be on a standard knife.

3) The sheath has no excess material. The sheath has been wet formed around the blade itself and forms a clear duplication of the outline of the blade like stretch pants on an 80's heavy metal music band. This forming to the exact outline of the blade is a clear indicator that the sheath is a back center seam.

4) This knife was meant to be tied to the face of the belt rather than having a clearly produced belt loop in the sheath body. These ties are shown prominently in the screen captures in post 89.

I will be posting a rough how to that I found covering the creation and forming of a back center seam sheath.

 

[greenmachines]

7) Knife and sheath continued -

This link is to a tutorial on making a back stitch sheath. His patterning is not the exact method used for the movie sheath as it does not compensate for the inset curve of the tip on the movie blade. This will take some practice but I have plenty of leather to use for trials.

I am looking for another link that descibes the ties used instead of a belt loop

 

[joberg]

Thanks for that detailed research on the knife/sheath and what's accurate and what's not greenmachines

 

[greenmachines]

Thanks for that detailed research on the knife/sheath and what's accurate and what's not greenmachines

And.... continued....

6)Tomahawk continued -

I had an earlier mention of this point but after seeing the movie in frame by frame can confirm this diamond does not ever show as vertical. Although it does appear to be a pin that can rotate....

NO TOMAHAWK WITH THE DIAMOND STANDING VERTICAL IS SCREEN ACCURATE..... even if you buy a new licensed copy. The diamond on the head of the tom is horizontal on the original screen used tom or slightly offset from horizontal (and is likely not molded into the head but is a separate pin which you could rotate to horizontal). Look closely at this tom in the box and you will see a second pin hole below the diamond as though it had a second pin at an earlier period but most importantly points to the high likelihood that the diamond is also a pin through the head of the tom. A matching diamond appears on the opposite side in the image of his son going through the items in the box.

HOWEVER, I concede that at least one photo shows a "stunt"/"prop" without the diamond AT ALL and WITHOUT EVEN THE PIN HOLE:

 

[greenmachines]

Although it's just a huge guess, this non pin, non diamond head, tomahawk might have been used for this specific fight sequence because it is the one that is sword batted for about a 20 yard flight, taken directly out of the upheld hand of Gibson by the full attack swing of Jason Isaacs. This may have very well been a non metallic prop made safe for its flight through the full cast of extras fighting behind Gibson and in its casting, the diamond was forgotten.

Just me playing what if.

 

[greenmachines]

7) Knife and sheath continued -

A little catching up on the knife. I found a donor antler in my flint knapping kit:

This got trimmed to the size I calculated from the side by side photo with the tomahawk (tom having a designated 17 inch length) making the handle approximately 4 5/8 inch long.

I then beveled the sides where they meet the blade and slit the center to hold the blade. This will be costume prepped so the blade is held lightly and can be removed for conventions.

I then cut a cardstock paper blade in order to get a template for the sheath.

Comp shot against on screen knife:

And finally, labeled areas:

a) will get sinew wrap

b) will sand down bump

c) will flatten to parallel to top

 

[greenmachines]

Funny little side note: My protective coat of rattlecan clear worked exceptionally well over my alcohol ink pen design on the tomahawk head.

I know this because I tried to remove the image from the side of the tom that I researched and discovered was clear with no pattern at all, not even a border frame. My use of alcohol to re-thin the image did not even blur it. So now we know that clearcoating, over a dried alcohol pen drawing, is amazingly protective. And now I have to take off the clear to remove my ink image.......sigh.