Anduril Museum Collection Behind the Scenes

[@danielskywalker7681]

Thanks for this video. I'm about to buy the museum edition and I had doubts about the difference with the previous version and doubts about the movie's plot. Your video is enlightening. Thank you very much.

[@abdallah9647]

Thank you very much for this exceptional and extremely enriching video In my opinion, the next sword you should consider producing for your Museum collection would be Boromir's sword. I'm going to suggest some improvements you could make to the United Cutlery original version to make it more like Peter Lyon sword version: The entire surface of the blade, crossguard, and pommel should have a polished finish (like Anduril MC one). The blade's fuller should be reworked to be more accurate to the original, and the entire blade should have a hollow ground. This would allow the blade to have fantastic reflections and play of light on its surface (like the orginal). Change the leather color to brown or red, like Peter Lyon's version, and make the raisers much sharper (more tight) for a better look. There are some minor details that could be modified, but even with these changes, the result would be absolutely exceptional. With a sword like this, fans would no longer be frustrated by not owning a limited edition Weta version.

[@taldynamo8298]

Absolutely LOVING these videos Kit! We are so incredibly lucky to have your love, passion, and respect for these props help produce these amazing replicas for us. I can’t wait to see what you guys have in store for us in future museum collection pieces, especially with what I’d imagine will be a new emergence of interest with the newly announced LotR films. Can’t wait to open my MC Anduril later tonight since it just arrived in the mail!

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

Get a tube of Metal Glo, Flitz, or Autosol metal polish. From what I have heard, all of the production have splotchy marks on the steel from the high heat in the shipping container baking the plastic wrapping against the metal. Very hard to wipe off, but it polishes off easily with any of those products.

[@taldynamo8298]

@@Raeworks-gv5rm Metal Glo worked fantastic! The sword is so beautiful in person. You guys truly blew it out of the park! I’m over the moon happy with it 😄😄 thank you again!

[@tylermclim]

Thank you for sharing Kit! This has been well worth the wait.

[@mariussletten7107]

Great video, loved it😊

[@HavanaOutpost]

Now all we need is a Glamdring with this much quality. Gorgeous sword.

[@윗돌]

UC analyzed it really hard and made it well.

[@n2darkness]

I'm really curios about some of the handle finishes you guys tried out, particularly #2 at 3:18. Were these paint effects? acid etching? or plating? I could definitely see the inconsistencies and troubles of repeating any of these attempts in production though. I also like the subtle manual paint weathering that was applied as well. And seeing the full line up for the old MC pieces really makes me want a Shards display like that. Is that something that is still being considered? or sticking with wall mounted options going forward?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

#1-4 in that photo are all plating effects, with a tumble polish added. I think #1 was silver plating, and the rest were different types of nickel plating. There was no paint weathering in any of those images though. Muratic acid was used to make the dark tarnish in those last 4 or 5 photos. Yes, the Shards on the shield is still being considered for the MC. If it happens, it will have a scaled down shield like that.

[@tylermclim]

Please make that shards MC happen​@@Raeworks-gv5rm!

[@billdaly59]

@@tylermclim Yes, I agree. It would be a must have for me.

[@theblackspotguild]

Thanks for all the detailed information! I am very excited to get mine. As a mostly functional sword collector, it IS a shame they couldn't figure out a way to make it fully functional, as there are a few options to do so even with the challenging hilt design. Oh well, it will still be great. And fit my scabbard I bought years ago in preparation! Now we DO need a battle-forged Ranger!!!!! Maybe?! Sure is an easy enough design to do! We will all hope : )

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

So far the BF line is only going to be swords made in India with lost wax cast brass hilt components. Those are easy to cast and get a fairly accurate shapes close to the movie props. A BF Isildur sword is also in the works, but nothing with a steel cross guard and pommel at this point. That's a completely different process, and will result in much less accurate, and more simplified, hilt part shapes than the props. We are not sure collectors will have much interest in less accurate replicas, functional or not.

[@DigitalVanquish]

Interesting video and well put together. The sword isn't battle-ready, as you say in the video, but can it be swung around without fear of it flying apart, sans any contact? As I've seen others say that it can be. I wouldn't need to go to war with it, but I think it'd be too much for me as a purely decorative sword - even with the exceptional detail. Does Andúril just end up too expensive to make as an incredibly accurate 'battle forged' replica, or is there something fundamentally wrong with its design that means it can't work with current materials, without sacrificing accuracy to the Hero prop (please don't say my favourite sword is impossible)?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

UC already knows what they want to improve for an MC version of the Boromir sword, but a new MC Sting with a blue blade is next.

[@tirmo8110]

Thanks so much for that glimps into the manufacturing process of this and other replicas! I'd love you to elaborate on the following details please?: Why couldn't the hollow grind be extended into the cross guard? Why was the wet wrapped leather grip unsuccessful? - (As you've mentioned elsewhere BF Herugrim will probably have a wet wrapped grip for a comparable price) Why was the gold dot in the sun not included even though all the hero props including the one this replica is based on feature that detail?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

For the hollow grinds, the huge machine grinder UC uses for this long blade has a max limit on the grind length. Past that, it has to be stopped manually, which results in all four grinds having a large tolerance on where they stop. So one grind could be 1/8 to 3/16" longer than the other on the same side, which is not acceptable. Even with that, now that they have done one run, they are testing to see if there is a way to control the tolerance better and make them longer on the next run. Probably nothing will change, but I always push them try. The wrap was a simulated wet wrap look, not a real wet wrap. What was tested were a few ways to shrink the wrap tighter after it was applied, but those did not really work, and the new stitched wrap on the MC ended up looking tighter than the UC1380 anyway. The BF Herugrim is made in India, and they have tested doing real wet wraps in that factory, but Herugrim won't have it. UC just got to the point of getting some wet wrapped leather grips tested on a few Honshu swords that are in the works there now. It's very expensive, but if they can pull it off in production, it may get used on some future BF swords. For the gold dot, no idea. Collectors used to complain that UC got it wrong on the UC1380 because most of the prop images out there do not have it, and the MSSC did not have it, so maybe it was decided to drop it at some point. It was a 4+ year project, so lots of things changed over that time. There was a discussion at UC a few years ago about keeping it or dropping it, since either way is technically correct, but I thought it was being kept.

[@tirmo8110]

@@Raeworks-gv5rm Thank you so much for your detailed reply! It is rare, that we fans have the chance to interact so directly and in such detail with the people involved with the design/production of the collectibles we buy. So, you mean that even if the factory could come up with a way to do the extended hollow grinds, this replica probably wouldn't be changed in any way now that it is out on the market (which would be totally understandable)? In this case, an expensive customization or the MSSC are probably the only two ways for collectors who want that extra accuracy. - The probability of a further improved (BF) Anduril is probably very very slim, right?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

@@tirmo8110 No, I mean the chances of the factory being able to control the longer grind lengths successfully are slim, but if they can, they will. Any time an improvement can be made - in construction, finishing, packaging, or whatever - they will try and do it.

[@tirmo8110]

@@Raeworks-gv5rm Okay, thank you for the clarification. I'll keep my hopes still but it's a beautiful replica either way and customization will always be an option.

[@ahapalbin5349]

I have the standart version,the limited edition and wait now for the MC version.Thanks for the informations.

[@saulbenjaminandradehernand2047]

Great video! Thanks for sharing! Do you know the size of the box of the sword? Thanks!

[@spursfan222]

Great video Kit. Question though to you or anyone else in the comments. As it did not come with care instructions to my knowledge, can anyone give a recommendation on how often to apply something like autosol and Renaissance wax?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

There are sword care instructions on the back of the wall display instruction sheet. Autosol, Metal Glo, and Flitz are metall cleaner/polishers. Those can be used to clean up oxidization or tarnish as needed. How often depends on how often tarnish forms, but here in the shop we do this with some carbon steel swords once or twice a year. If the swords are handled a lot and finger prints are not cleaned off regularly, you may want to do it more often. Ren wax is a preservation wax. If you clean all of the oil off and apply it, it helps prevent oxidization and tarnish. applying once or twice a year is usually sufficient for display swords. JN

[@yodacucufx3263]

Are you going to do a video on the battle forge Theoden sword ?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

Possibly, but we do not have one yet and we had very little to do with the development.

[@Judah_Benjamin]

Though it isn't a functional blade, the construction seems pretty solid from the diagram there.

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

The blade is functional, but the tang and hilt construction are not. The diagram at the beginning was the original wish list of ideas, most of which never happened. The tang and hilt revisions were tested, but it did not hold up to extreme abuse so it was abandoned. At that point the focus switched to just trying it make it look as accurate as possible.

[@Judah_Benjamin]

Thats a shame. So it has a typical rat tail tang? Sounds like it'd be pretty fragile.

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

@@Judah_Benjamin They all have a rat tail welded to the tang, and none of the UC LOTR replicas are functional. Even the first test for this one with the longer pinned tang had a welded rat tail on the end. As I said in the video, the 2020 test with that tang did not hold up. I could not break it, but the pommel definitely loosened, so that whole idea was scrapped early on.

[@rapture2028]

@@Raeworks-gv5rm Hi Kit. Could you please share compared to the first drawing (the wish list), how much shorter the original tang ended up being, and how much longer the rat tail was? Did the tang extend into the pommel? Thanks.

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

​@@rapture2028 I'll double check with Kit, but I'm pretty sure the drawing you see at the 20 second mark in this video is what that functional "battle forged" version tested in 2020 was based on. The tang was longer, not shorter, and extended into the pommel. The welded rat tail and long cast metal nut were just to have a long structure for the steel pommel to be attached to. None of that worked though, so the product was cancelled -JN

[@magister9501]

Does the new mc replica has that gold sun dot on cross guard? Beacuse on some pictures and videos in internet it has and on others it doesn’t. I’m sorry for my language its not my first one.

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

The first production run does NOT have the gold dot - JN

[@magister9501]

@@Raeworks-gv5rmThanks for answer

[@biojc28]

@@Raeworks-gv5rmby first production run do you mean the 600 or so that’s been released already? Does that mean the batch slated to come out later this summer will have it?

[@Raeworks-gv5rm]

@@biojc28 Possibly. Both ways are screen accurate, but was decided not to have it on this version. A lot of collectors wanted it though, so it may be added for future runs. It's just gold paint, so anyone can add it if they want to.