Okay... I am down to the fine details for my Star Wars Royal Guard force pike. The gold spiky thing in the picture below:
I know this is a found item, but I don't know for sure what it is. The twist to the rows of spikes implies certain things, but I don't know exactly what. I've had suggestions for everything from a large-bore thread tap to a rock drill bit. If anyone on here recognizes this piece, or knows someone who might and would be nice enough to show them, I would appreciate it tremendously. Cross-post on other boards to get more brains involved. Whatever. Trying to solve a twenty-four-year-old mystery, and I'm all thunk out. I'm posting this everywhere I'm registered where prop-building geeks hang out.
Thanks in advance for any illumination anyone can provide.
--Jonah
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
I've asked at Propfixs, and will do the same at RPU when I remember my login. I take it you've done RPF (where I got banned for saying horrid thing about the Blessed Reagan) and Dewback Wing ASAP (where I hardly bother going anymore because they're even more elitist than RPF if that's possible). . ?
Posted by Daniel Butler (Member # 1689) on :
I could be entirely off my crackers, but does it look to you like those rows of spikes are discrete pieces grafted onto a spring? It seems like that groove running down the middle has threads in it or something; my brain insists it's a spring (or coil, if you like).
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Lee, I did post at the Dewback Wing, but I'm not a member of the other two. Someone else is posting at the RPF, though, so that's cool. And never apologise for what you said about Reagan. He meant well, but was too easily gulled by others, since way before he was president. He did a lot of damage and laid the foundation for a whole lot more, and the sad [art is how many people don't realize that yet.
Dan... The spikes aren't separate pieces. You'll see that the curve of the spike rows is part of each spike -- they'r enot just straight-but-offset. I can't answer as to the spike rows being separate components, though, but I doubt it, given that. The picture isn't the best, but the actual prop doesn't have that "threading" effect. It's s smooth tube under those spikes.
One other thing is that, whilst five is the one most fequently seen in close-ups, there were variations within the movie -- from four to seven spikes, so either it was a unit available in varying lengths, or else the prop department used randem broken or cut-off pieces of something bigger.
--Jonah
Posted by Lee (Member # 393) on :
Only suggestions I've received are a tap for a drill bit, or some kind of ripper thing for wood. How large is it, anyway?
Posted by bX (Member # 419) on :
I realize you've likely already seen this, but while this guy's attention to detail may not be all it could be, I think he's onto something with having the spikes glued to a cylinder rather than one solid piece. To my eye, they don't look like they're on a spring in your ref pic, but applying that "twist" would be relatively easy (and perhaps even accidental (note: the bent spike)). So something like:
affixed to a cylinder, but applied with a slight twist.
Otherwise it looks like it could be a hair-curler (an EVIL hair-curler, to be sure).
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Might be a guard for the Pike's power supply- as such, it could be a twist-on/off attachment.
Posted by Peregrinus (Member # 504) on :
Kurt, that's the approach I'm taking for now. I'm cutting down some wooden folkart (elongated) hearts to the right length, sticking them to a length of double-sided tape, cutting them at that slant, then gluing them to a length of brass tubing and painting. But I want the real item if I can get one. I don't think it's a hair curler. Maybe a weird carpet beater brush from a vacuum cleaner? One with rubber "teeth"?
Jason, there's no power supply on the prop, and in-universe (which we're not talking abou there ) the power cell is down in the pommel. Plus, I wouldn't want to try to get a grip on somethign with sharp spikes for a gripping surface.
--Jonah
Posted by Fabrux (Member # 71) on :
Beating....beater... *rummages around*
We've had this funky thing for as long as I can remember. Its for crushing ice, I was always told. But I suppose its maybe actually a meat tenderizer? The ends used to be somewhat pointy at one point... Maybe a rubberized mallet-like version of a similar device?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
It's probably intended for the spikes to be evenly spaced around the shaft, but the rendering is not great.
I'd think thery are just semi-decorative rows of spikes and nothing more. If you;re making aprop, just buy some cheap spike-armbands online.
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
) the power cell is down in the pommel. Plus, I wouldn't want to try to get a grip on somethign with sharp spikes for a gripping surface.