Harry Potter Book/Paper Prop Tutorials, Photos + Complete Advanced Potion Making

[DivideByZero]

Looks like the photos got disconnected again. I'll go through my references and upload what I can to rpf directly so that won't happen again. Files move around all the time when they're hosted on imageshack, etc. I'll try to do that when I have time this weekend.

Good stuff, having just found this thread I was about to ask for that.

Great work!

 

[bennygorilla]

Thanks!

Looks like the photos got disconnected again. I'll go through my references and upload what I can to rpf directly so that won't happen again. Files move around all the time when they're hosted on imageshack, etc. I'll try to do that when I have time this weekend.

As for adding snape-type notes to the book, I only have a few references of what was seen on screen, but you could use those as a style guide. When I made one with the notes, most of it was pretty much gibberish, as a lot of the notes in the screen one seemed to be too; very hard to read, to almost illegible except for a few key words that stood out!

Hi ECL, do you still have your book available up on blurb? The link doesn't seem to work anymore

 

[TrentR]

Looks like it needs to be re-uploaded, http://www.blurb.com/user/eclu is his author page and it doesn't show any books.

Sent from my Nexus 4

 

[ecl]

Hello! Thanks for your interest. Sorry I haven't been over here on the RPF much; been busy with work. The book is set on invite only for purchases (not public like it was before). Here's a link for it!


ADV. POTION by LB: Science Fiction & Fantasy | Blurb Books

 

[The14thDr]

Beautiful! I have a friend whose really into Harry Potter, so I might make him a few books and maybe even a Hogwarts trunk. But then of course I'd just have to make my own, so I don't feel left out.

 

[ecl]

So it looks like this ancient thread has suffered some Imageshack issues. I'm hosting on a different place now.

Right now I'm working on a better version of this book....with covers printed on cloth, and just added silver foil as well! I'm trying to make it even more accurate to the original book. I'm just waiting on the printed book to arrive from blurb, which will take a couple weeks. I've started prepping the cover art now, and it will be heavily aged once everything is put together. I'll update as things progress here! This one is going to look a lot more authentic as I'll be able to fray the cloth around the edges and tear into it, to make it look more like what's seen on the copies seen in the UK tour.

 

[LorduDesign]

ecl It's amazing! Btw you should do timelapse videos It'd be awesome! May i ask - what is that material and how you can transfer paper print into this cloth?

 

[ecl]

"Michaels" here in the USA carries inkjet printable cloth. The cloth is attached to a piece of paper so you can put it through your printer. After it's printed, you can peel the fabric from the paper and use it however you want! I've had pretty good experiences with it. It's ideal for projects like this one, where all you need is to print on the thinnest fabric available. I also used this stuff on my Rune Dictionary replica.

A time lapse video sounds like a good idea...I may try that with this build

 

[Snowfire]

Looking forward to this one ecl, keep us updated on how it goes.

 

[LorduDesign]

Thank you! I'll try to find it here in Poland! My next bigger projects are Rune Dictionary and Dumbledore's Will with complete text and prop accurate quality ;D

 

[ecl]

Finished several covers on cloth! My book from blurb should arrive next week. Is all goes well with this version, I may put in an order for a few more extras

The silver foil has been working out really well. I found just the right settings on the black and white toner printer to encourage the foil to iron in a consistent way. The fabric naturally has a less smooth surface as paper does, so the toner needs to be nice and dark for the heat foil to work.

Very happy with the way things are going, and once these are on the books and aged, they're going to look pretty close to some of the originals.

 

[sonicfreak04]

nice work cant wait to see it finished, how are u gonna age and distress them once there done? sandpaper and coffee?

 

[LorduDesign]

Amazing! Could you provide any tips on how can I age paper/books/sculpts etc? Because I'm kind of new in printing props hahah!
btw any ideas on how can I print onto leather journal and apply gold foiling? Because I've found really good reproduction of Fantastic Beasts and and Where to Find Them here on RPF!

 

[ecl]

For aging I use a combination of different grits of sandpaper to roughen up surfaces, and a mixture of matte medium with very tiny hints of paint to create a yellowish/black tone (extremely small amount). Brushing it on lightly and then sanding in between with high grit sandpaper until I get a varied looking surface. I'll take progress photos of this when I get to finalizing the covers.

As for foil, the method I used is the basic heat foil transfer, however that pretty much only works on paper. or whatever surface you're able to get black and white toner onto. I've seen photos of Minalima using some kind of burnishing technique (dry transfer) to get pre-printed foil graphics onto their props, which seems ideal for all kinds of uses, however I have no clue what this is called or how to do that! Still a mystery.

 

[sonicfreak04]

you thinking of selling the fabric covers? also Id like to make the the fantastic beasts and where to find them and history of magic. What paper would you reccomend for the dust jacket?

 

[ecl]

If I do make extra copies I'll start something in the JY. The fabric covers look nice, as the texture adds more depth to the print. Adding foil is a little more difficult as the toner tends to not like the more fuzzy surface. BUT, if you're going to do the foil on the fabric, make sure to select the copier to "text" and darken it a notch. That will help to get more toner onto the copy which will make it easier for the foil to attach to via iron.

I've actually used regular "presentation paper". You can find them at Staples or Office Max. They're thinner than photo papers, so look better as dust jackets. They're mostly matte finish though, but it's not too bad. Depending on your printer, you'll get much more saturated and better contrast prints.

 

[ecl]

woohooo! The book arrived early from Blurb, and I dived into it today. I'm still weathering it a bit, but the major work is done on the cover. I still need to add the endpages and spray the edges of the book silver to give it a more silver gilded look.

That fabric paper worked amazingly well for this project. I used 220 - 400 grit sandpaper on it for weathering, and the sandpaper makes the fabric fray a bit, which is perfect as it looks more convincing that way. I'd have to say the fabric is so much nicer looking than the paper I used before. And the silver foil has a nice subdued look. Very happy with the way it's turning out I did snap a few in progress pics in the beginning, but once the work started I really just went straight through it.

Below are some pictures. I'll add more pics after it's done.

 

[sonicfreak04]

WOW that looks like the actual prop minalima would be proud

 

[ecl]

Thanks! A lot of it has to do with how nicely the cloth ages. The added texture adds a lot and looks way better in person even. I'll take better photos of the completed book after I paint the edges of the pages (the pics above aren't lit well at all).....maybe I will add handwriting in this one, I'm not sure.

Sharper pics below:

 

[Barneyrfd]

Nailed it ec. Looks like every text book I had in middle school...lol

bfd