Your Indiana Jones Displays - Lets see 'em

I just made this.

20200816_124321.jpg
 
Thanks for the link mrwax - my only hesitation is the orange safety cap on the barrel. For display purposes, can anyone advise on how to remove that? This replica would complete my Harrison Ford display: I have a DL-44 and a BR blaster, but its hard to tell from the photo of the Tanaka if the orange can be removed.
 
I'm concerned about the same thing JamesM242 , Todd (PuppetBoy) has some interesting thoughts regarding orange paint on a door over at Club Obi Wan:

It is illegal to remove the orange paint. The feds will raid your house and confiscate your weapon. They'll force you, at gun point, to stomp it to pieces. Crying and pleading will not move them. And if you don't stomp hard enough, they'll start shooting at your feet and tell you to dance. I don't want that for anyone here.

BTW, the orange on this gun was quickly hand painted for this sample. The production models have a nice spray finish.

And now let's talk about a completely different subject - home repair. How many of you have plastic front doors with ugly orange paint on them? When I need to restore my painted plastic front door, a good way to remove the paint without damaging the plastic is with an orange-based paint remover, like the kind you can find at your local hardware store. An alternative is "Easy-Off" oven cleaner. That's an old plastic model kit builder's trick. Also, brake fluid is known to attack paint, but not plastic parts. So using one of these methods, I can strip the paint from my front door without damage, and prepare it for repainting. I think I saw Bob Villa do this.

UPDATE: DON'T use Citri-Strip. It'll turn ABS to mush. I just found that out the hard way.

But, if I have company coming over, AND MY FRONT DOOR WILL BE EXPOSED TO PUBLIC SCRUTINY, I cover my front door with orange tape so no one calls the cops on me and I'm shot dead. As you know, death is fatal.

I've seen other people over there reference using acetone on these, but it's not as large of a community and there's an extremely unfortunate lack of working pictures given how old the threads are. I originally found the above quote in this thread.
 
Here is my collection so far.
Toynk Gold idol from ebay very good price for it. The temple map in the frame from Raiders...3d printed staff of ra headpeice..german telegrams from Raiders and Last Crusade. Genuine gas mask bag . Indys Journal, binoculars, brush, compass and pocketknife and 3d printed grail cup. Need a better weathering job on the cup. Hoping to get the Nazi headpeice soon an start making the sankara stones
 

Attachments

  • 15980224164311788076265776659779.jpg
    15980224164311788076265776659779.jpg
    1.3 MB · Views: 223
Just got an email from Todd's regarding the preorder, and the product page has been updated. Looks like Tanaka won't be making any more of the finish from the previous run and there are now two options, ABS or "Jupiter." The Jupiter finish sounds better to me, it uses metal plating which is heavier, more realistic looking, and allows the orange to be removed. But it is more expensive.
 
My first attemp at scratch making a grail tablet. I used foam board and carved with knives and scratched with a scratch tool. Then a bunch of paint washing .

I did try a soldering iron however melting foam is toxic. Also the gun was way too hot to control. I do have an adjustable weller but I'm not using it to burn things. Lol.

I may give it another go.

20200822_185759.jpg
 
I found one on ebay in a lot of 2 different old flashlights for 15. Free ship.

Why are Indiana Jones real world props so inexpensive? Star Wars blows up every time. Indy stuff is almost give away or bargain basement. I'm fine with it.

I wish someone would post a list of real world parts. I haven't spend more than 25 dollars on any part so far. I have Belloqs watch, Marion's seltzer bottle, Indys gas mask bag, Real Zippo clover lighter.
 
Why are Indiana Jones real world props so inexpensive? Star Wars blows up every time. Indy stuff is almost give away or bargain basement. I'm fine with it.

I wish someone would post a list of real world parts. I haven't spend more than 25 dollars on any part so far. I have Belloqs watch, Marion's seltzer

You get what you pay for with many items while others like shot glasses and flashlights aren't even necessarily sold as "Indiana Jones" items. The crew simply bought some stuff off-the-shelf (e.g. There's literally thousands upon thousands of IMCO Super 6700 lighters out there, some more accurate than others in terms of the end cap, etc., but still not very expensive even so). There's also a lot of Indy stuff out there for sale that's far less accurate than those made by other more skilled people (who charge accordingly) and there are also relatively cheap kits that are to some degree what you make them (but in general it's apples/oranges to try and compare a hand-painted plastic Staff of Ra medallion with a 24K gold plated 2nd generation cast version like RM sells).

A few examples of IJ stuff that cost me far more than $25 and that's IF you can find them as many aren't made anymore or you have to wait for the next batch, etc. These are prices I paid and may vary depending on the auction/seller/condition, etc.

RM "Raven Bar" Staff of Ra Medallion $275
RM "IMAM" Staff of Ra Medallion $303
RM Cross of Coronado $375
AdVintage Raiders of the Lost Ark hat ($150)
FanBilt light-up Sankara Stones (less accurate than the MIMIC ones were $179)
Nurhachi Urn (Cheaper Clay version $140+)
Hasbro 1/6 scale Ark of the Covenant ($200)
S&W Prop Revolver $150
Grail Diary $155 (even better ones are $300+)
Pouch of Gold Coins from Temple of Doom by Indy Magnoli $120

Remote Control Light Up Sankara Stones by MIMIC + Nurhachi Translucent Urn by Mark Poon + Indian Cloth + Mark Poon Lao Che Diamond + regular Sankara stone (package deal off eBay at a fraction of the price they were separately $549)


I'd hardly call those cheap items or anywhere near $25 (yes I have several items in the $20-50 range including shot glasses, cocktail glasses, Zippo lighters, IMCO lighters and cheaper Staff of Ra medallions I either got a great bargain for (including an Indy Magnoli bronze one for $28 the guy had no clue what it was or what it was worth and neither did I when I bought it so it was a happy find), but the more accurate items that were not off-the-shelf generally cost more.
 
When I say 25 dollar items , I’m not talking about props

I’m talking about real pieces like indys bag and things like that

I know the movie props like staff and idols can cost a ton
 
I’m happy these real parts aren’t expensive

A cheap crappy hand welder sells for over 100 dollars because it’s in a Jawa scene for 2 seconds and again quickly in Bens home.

Indys bag is always on screen and you can buy the real one for less than a replica. I paid 25 for mine

Thats all I’m saying here . Hopefully people aren’t taking offense to it. I’m glad for it and I would like to find more real world pieces
 
Looking at the flashlight information out there, it appears the "real" flashlight the Crystal Kingdom movie one is based on is a 1952 Eveready Masterlite (looks close, but not the same), but the film apparently used a cheap Chinese modern knockoff and painted it to look like the Masterlite (how bloody cheap can a film crew get when the real thing is often for sale for not a lot of money?). That's a conundrum, I would think since "accurate" to the movie and reality are two different things, particularly when it's hard to see on-film. Real vintage items are normally preferable when you can get them to replicas, but when the one in the film is fake, that's a tougher call, IMO.


When I say 25 dollar items , I’m not talking about props

I’m talking about real pieces like indys bag and things like that

I know the movie props like staff and idols can cost a ton

I see. I think it's like I said, in many cases the items aren't being sold as Indy items where they're still available or sold as vintage shot glasses or whatever. The comparison you made to Star Wars seems at least partially self-explanatory in that regard. How many items in Star Wars are off-the-shelf items, given its supposed to be in a galaxy far far away rather than 1930s-1950s Earth? I'm sure there are a few (mini binoculars, etc.), but I can tell you just trying to find a vintage Dunhill lighter of an exact finish in good condition can be a PITA sometimes, let alone a rare but well sought after lighter like the Maltese Falcon Touch-Tip (the regular Touch-Tips typically sell for over $200 in excellent condition; the Maltese Falcon version sells for $400+ in bad to fair condition. I had to pay over $800 for a near-mint version and I had to wait 6+ months to even find one for sale. I'm still waiting for another lighter from two Bogart movies to even come up for sale that was made in the 1920s. In 15 months, not a single one has appeared. It would sell for good money even without people knowing it was in at least two of his movies, let alone if they did know. So, it really depends on the rarity of the item to begin with. I'm sure if there were thousands and thousands of those welders made, they would be a bit cheaper 2nd hand. But if they're hard to find to begin with, the die-hard collectors will seek them out and drive the price up, especially once it becomes well known to the sellers.
 
Last edited:
Some items are collectors items almost immediately even if they’re not used in films. Those items will remain hard to find and expensive. I have yet to see a real world part labeled as Indiana Jones but I’m not saying it doesn’t happen

the pocket knife is very expensive but it’s also one of those sought after collectors items
 
Back
Top