My current plan is - in case there is enough interest - to produce a small run of prop replicas which are as close as possible to the screen used hero swords.
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Deprecated Highlander idealized Ramirez‘ Masamune katana replica
- Thread starter vadermania
- Start date
ataru72ita
Well-Known Member
I'm super interested!
Count me in for sure!
Alberto
Count me in for sure!
Alberto
Hi Alberto,
The run is not happening unfortunately, please see my first post in this thread.
Best
Tom
ataru72ita
Well-Known Member
That's a real shame, i read it in a rush and thought it was going to happen anyway!
I have a marto replica but nothing really screen accurate, this was a grail prop for me so, should ever happen anything contact me, I'll be in for sure!
Kind regards mate!
Alberto
I have a marto replica but nothing really screen accurate, this was a grail prop for me so, should ever happen anything contact me, I'll be in for sure!
Kind regards mate!
Alberto
PicasoX
Sr Member
What do you mean used to make? and why can't you get one from him?
ARKM
Sr Member
Well I could be wrong as I'm only going off of information posted in another thread here at The RPF but I read that Daryl of TexasSPR lost the license to make screen accurate replicas of the Highlander swords and that he can take several years to deliver with some still waiting on their swords after 8 years.
PicasoX
Sr Member
Sorry to here that, I tried to track down Daryl for years because I always wanted one of his swords and one day I got a hold of him back in 2019. I had one of the best prop buying experiences in my life, we communicated almost every day for more than a week, he sent pictures and helped educate me in the world of highlander swords and helped me choose. I have two of his in T10 and they are the best swords in my collection. I sold my Marto and the head broke in shipping, as a friend he helped out and offered to fix the sword at no charge. The guy I sold the Marto to had heard of Daryl and was pretty impressed, its been almost 3 years and I still communicate with that guy on facebook.Yeah Daryl has gone bad........
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Daryl and I had a long and fruitful working relationship. Unfortunately I haven’t heard from him for quite some time now. I supplied him with information about my screen used Highlander swords, and his products were always top notch. He made me a custom stunt version of my screen used hero Ramirez katana, which I still use for practicing. And his replica Kurgan case is still a highlight in my small collection of props.
PicasoX
Sr Member
Well, sometimes people are forced down the wrong path, not by choice and people looking in from the outside can’t see all the reasons so they just assume the person is dishonorable or something, and those people get trashed on the forums by people who don't have the complete story. I’ve seen this happen many times specifically to some very honorable people in the prop world I can list off name after name. You take a big risk when you share you abilities to create and build things for people who would otherwise never have these things because they cannot make them on their own, and they are not available to buy anywhere else, apparently it’s easy to get in over your head.
I apologies for posting off topic, I was just surprised to hear about Daryl.
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....and easy to do the right thing.
A long time member here was stiffed by him as well as a few others.
Sorry but when you take someones money and do NOT deliver, that is simply THEFT, plain and simple
If you can't find screen-accurate stainless steel blades, would it just be easier all-around to just go with functional carbon steel blades with a couple hidden pins in addition to the brass screw to better secure the tang within the tsuka?
I realize now that the screen-used swords looked horrible and were rattly up close, but that's not the way we perceived the sword as viewers of the movie, and I'd much rather have an idealized sword with a real blade and the guard cut from brass or bronze than one with a stainless steel blade and a painted guard.
Give it a thought. If you went the idealized route, I'd be interested pending final price, and I think others would too. Either way, it's very generous for you to even consider making these replicas.
I realize now that the screen-used swords looked horrible and were rattly up close, but that's not the way we perceived the sword as viewers of the movie, and I'd much rather have an idealized sword with a real blade and the guard cut from brass or bronze than one with a stainless steel blade and a painted guard.
Give it a thought. If you went the idealized route, I'd be interested pending final price, and I think others would too. Either way, it's very generous for you to even consider making these replicas.
I really thought about going that route, but I don’t want to interfere with Daryl‘s products because we had an agreement over that. Producing a high-end replica of the Ramirez Masamune katana is a complete different story. Let me get back to that later today, I‘m on my way to work now.
For an idealized version of the sword, the sculpted-on Chinese lionhead on the tsuka would have to be cleaned from bubbles, air pockets and other casting imperfections. One should be able to separate the tsuka from the blade like a real katana via bamboo pegs. A brass or bronze tsuba is too heavy when produced in a screen-accurate thickness, so it needs to be thinner in order to keep a good balance. All those points have to be taken into account for the production of an idealized version of the katana. Plus, I don’t have a workshop, I need to go to a friends place for bigger projects.
This is why I supplied Daryl with a cleaned up casting of the tsuka of my screen used Ramirez katana many years ago, so that he can produce high quality replicas at his workshop.
I owned a beautiful idealized Ramirez Masamune katana once. It festured a casting of Jose de Braga‘s idealized Highlander 1 carved tsuka, brass tsuba, habaki, seppas and a laminated blade. To me, that was the perfect interpretation of an idealized Ramirez katana.
This is why I supplied Daryl with a cleaned up casting of the tsuka of my screen used Ramirez katana many years ago, so that he can produce high quality replicas at his workshop.
I owned a beautiful idealized Ramirez Masamune katana once. It festured a casting of Jose de Braga‘s idealized Highlander 1 carved tsuka, brass tsuba, habaki, seppas and a laminated blade. To me, that was the perfect interpretation of an idealized Ramirez katana.
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I would still give up certain body parts for a kit with a screen accurate, but real brass, Tsuba. Although painting another material would be okay.
For me the screw is a no go. It looks very out of place and would not be on the real sword. I doubt the makers ever thought it would be studied for decades. I wanted one that was cleaned up and had a nice brass pin in it. I tried to get that with Daryl but his practices were less than honorable.
Any way still awesome to think about.
For me the screw is a no go. It looks very out of place and would not be on the real sword. I doubt the makers ever thought it would be studied for decades. I wanted one that was cleaned up and had a nice brass pin in it. I tried to get that with Daryl but his practices were less than honorable.
Any way still awesome to think about.
I would be willing to have an aluminum tsuba if that was the only option offered. I wouldn't paint it, though. I'd use a chemical to force a gold patina on it and seal that in with wax or something (like EDT-220 found here). But to be honest, I think I'd still rather have a real brass tsuba, resulting slight imbalance notwithstanding.
Whether the lion's head is cleaned up or not isn't a dealbreaker. Pin option isn't a dealbreaker, and I agree that a somewhat idealized offering should really have a brass pin instead of a screw.
I would definitely want a real habaki and seppa, though, as a real sword from the period would have had.
Bottom line: If it were as functional and historically accurate as practically possible (though perhaps not able to be disassembled), with that wonderful molded-from original H1 tsuka, you're getting into grail territory for many, so I hope you can find a way forward. Maybe do a run of idealized first, and then swing back around to doing a screen-accurate-materials version later?
This sounds doable. I might decide to tackle a prototype in January.
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