Wall plaque for my swords from the movie Conan the barbarian


kurgan

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I've been a fan of Conan since the first time I saw the movie when I was a kid, and naturally I've been dreaming to own those sword since then. Last week I finally completed the pair and I was able to work on the wall plaque to display them.
 
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For this one I used random scrap wood I had laying around, but I've already thought about some modifications and improvements and I plan to buy some better wood to build it again. Also I received some requests to build some more for other Conan fans and sword collectors, so I'm working on other designs and different kinds of finish.
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AWESOME... love that movie too.  Saw it as a kid also and it affected me too:

 

Mongol General: What is best in life?

Conan: To crush your enemies, to see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentations of their women.

 

I don't know how he was able to deny Princess Jehnna in 'Conan the Destroyer'.  

Valeria wasn't even a princess!   

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Mike Woodsap, on 18 Jun 2014 - 5:20 PM, said:

Pretty cool.  I take it you are not yet married. This would not be wife approved :)

indeed I am not! but on the other hand, I've always been lucky enough to have had girlfriends who approved and shared most of my passions ;)

 

wtnhighlander, on 19 Jun 2014 - 04:54 AM, said:

If you are a true fan of Conan, try collecting some of the novels. You will LOVE the cover art of the ones painted by Frank Frazetta, I guarantee it! Heck, just Google his name and see what I mean.

I am in fact a great fan of R.E. Howard, not only of his stories about Conan, and I also love Frazetta and the many other artists inspired by his works! I love to collect books and prints of "old school" fantasy and sci-fi artists from the 70's and the 80's, when they still used oil paint and such instead of modern digital illustration.

You are right about those covers. It's too bad that sometimes fiction authors and fantasy illustrators are regarded as minor artists, but luckily enough there's people like us who give them the much due credit they deserve.

 

Bill Tarbell, on 20 Jun 2014 - 09:38 AM, said:

Very nice job. How did you end up doing the carving?

Perhaps those are 'his & her' blades ;)

I wanted it to be as accurate as it could, so I drew it on Adobe Illustrator using the same logo from the movie, printed it on paper and temporarily spray-glued it on the wood plaque, then I carved the wood by hand with chisels.

I went for a rough look, which turned out quite as I wanted on the wood, but I screwed everything up while I started painting it, and it turned out way more polished than I wanted.

They are both mine! I have been dreaming about those swords since I was a little kid. To me they are the most awesome swords ever made. I just wish I had the money to buy the Albion replicas, but these will do too ;)

Thank you everybody for the kind words!

As I said in the original post, I have been commissioned other wall plaques like this by some Conan's fan, so I might post the new versions I'm working on: different designs and/or finishes that I'll try.

I'm quite the novice about wood finishing, and I'm trying to get better at it since I saw what some masters can do to make a plain piece of wood really show its hidden beauty.

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  • 1 month later...

With a username like Kurgan, I'm surprised you didn't pick a different sword:

 

I know! that's another sword I'd love to own... I love the first Highlander movie (as you could easily tell) and the Kurgan's sword always fascinated me

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Here is my second attempt, I have some other ideas so I will probably make another one, but I need to practice a bit working with metals first, since I'd like to have some rough metal insert or highlight in it.
If anyone is interested: this time I went for a rougher look, instead of painting the wood, I burned the surface and then scraped it with sandpaper. Final touch was the coating.
I got rid of the bulky wooden hangers and used steel ones that I had to modify since I couldn't find the size and shape I needed. I covered the hangers with a kind of rubber tube used by electricians, after you put it on, you can make it tight with heat (sorry for the convoluted explanation, but I don't know what it is called in English...).

 

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