Another Blade Runner find...Sebastian's chess set

[technocoy]

Just wanted to bump this... Has anyone heard from Rick in a while? I hope everything is ok.

I really would LOVE to see this project go through to the end, but more importantly just to make sure that Rick is alive and well. I don't recall seeing any posts from him in quite some time now.

[andy]

No. Not in a few weeks. He often disappears for a while and then will come back again without warning. I have left him some messages though and hope he calls back soon.

Andy

[propsjonnyb]

Andy, I live about 25 miles from Hoyles in Oxford , and am willing to chase this up for you , I have already checked on their website and the Bird Chess set ( you referred to ) is currently not in production, the Hobby Plus bird molds are still available but are different birds and it takes 4KG of resin to make a full chess set !! ( suitable resin is currently £20 a kilo about $35 USD appx) The illuminated chess box was a light box frame with a frosted perspex top , easy to reproduce, given you can get the exact measurements . Hope this helps , PM me or mail me direct

[andy]

We (Rick and I) got a sordid Ian Flemming story as to why the Birds no longer match the ones ones they had shown on the site from the manager Phil. I did finally get a set that matches the main birds, just not the wren pawns. I would to have someone look more into this for us, and see if we can track down the origins.

Thank you,
Andy

[propsjonnyb]

Andy,
After much searching and chasing around, I now have a set of the classic British Birds molds , can you confirm if it's the 'Kingfisher' pawn or the 'Wren' pawn that features, as when you buy the chessmolds you get seven pieces Eagle, Peahen, Owl, Falcon, Raven and Kingfisher twice ( I believe this was supposed to be the 'other' pawn which was a wren)
the write-up below is taken from an old advert for the set in the 70's

The Majestic Eagle who perches on the crown as the King of the Birds. Perched upon a queen’s crown is the elegant peahen, a domesticated British Bird which has intricately detailed tailed feathers. The Bishop is aptly portrayed as an Owl who rests on an orb. A knight’s Helmet, surmounted by a hooded falcon represents the Knight, and a raven, normally associated with the Tower of London, serves as the Castle or Rook, Cheeky kingfisher Pawns complete this much admired set.
-no mention of a wren !! but in the film ??, I'm sure it's a wren for White
I believe you are quite correct in that all the chess sets used were found items ( molds) that were then cast in resin for the film , all we need to do now is identify Tyrells' set and Deckard's and we'll have the complete sets -so to speak! I've cast up a few to check and they are identical to the first picture in this thread. A set could be produced I'd estimate appx (£95GB ) $150 for a run

[andy]

I can confirm with pictures, but from the descriptions it sounds like you got one of the artcraft mould sets. Especially with the Owl on the "orb" which is not accuarte to the film set. My chess set is original and accurate except for the pawn. It was not a craft set or moulded plaster, But stone dust filled resin.

Andy

[propsjonnyb]

After much further research ,and the purchase of a second set of molds , I can provide the following information , the British Birds Chess set design has been in production in various forms - molds and cast sets, since the early 60's and was loosely based on Audubon prints, the molds were produced by a company called Supercast Ltd , Banbury Studios produce a resin marble cast set using these molds, complete with board , for a number of years before being acquired by Hoyles who continued to produce a set, however , there appeared to be some business conflict and the design was changed ( I presume for copyright reasons or intellectual property rights ) a couple of companies in both the UK and US produced additional runs using either of the molds cast in stonecast, bonded marble resin or porcelain coldcast.
( which I presume is one of the sets you have) so now there exist two sets of molds and possibly a third) but I don't think so , I think the third is a combination of the two and with one additional piece (eagle with chain on neck) and this set of molds was used to produce the set for the film.

The original set consisted of the following pieces :-

King -- Eagle -- with crown
Queen -- Peahen -- crown on head
Bishop -- Owl -- on Mitre
Knight -- Falcon -- hooded on gauntlet
Castle --Rook -- on Tower
Pawn1 --Kingfisher
Pawn2 -- Wren ( this one somehow got lost over time) so you now get two Kingfishers

The second set :-

King -- Eagle -- no crown chain on base
Queen -- Peahen -- on crown with small head piece
Bishop -- Owl -- on orb
Knight -- Falcon -- hooded on Knight's Helmet
Castle -- Rook on tree stump/rock
Pawn -- Kingfisher on rock x2
no second pawn

and the filmed set

King -- Eagle -- with chain on neck ( possible new sculpt)
Queen -- Peahen from original
Bishop -- Owl from second set
Knight -- Falcon from original
Castle -- Rook from original
Pawn -- Wren from original


both mold sets are still commercially available and are inexpensive appx $30USD (however you cannot now get the 'wren' mold both companies only offer the Kingfisher now ) one direct from Supercast ( through their distributors Hastings Artcraft and the other from Fred Aldous ( Manchester ) , there is one UK supplier of a cast 'full set pieces in stonecast plaster ( set 2 only) all this information has been checked using the Copyright Design and Patents Register in London

The Tyrell set is probably an Italian Medieval set by Piere Bonzoni or similar but is much more difficult to identify .

[andy]

I hate to tell you this, but the molds don't have any of the quality of the set seen in the movie. The set seen in the movie and the set I have were made with 2+ part molds, not rubber moulds that can not hold shape and balance as the craft moulds do (or do not). The set seen in the movie is a professionally done set. The available mould sets are not in the same quality of the set from the movie, or the set I have. For example look at the leangth and thickness of the Peahen's neck and plume on top of head.

I am not sure where you got your information from, but it contradicts much of the information I have gathered over the past few years. Who gave you this information?

Andy

[kyopo]

[br64fan]

Follow this link to find the only bird chess set available by supercast








edited to fix the link. dk0667

[kyopo]

[propsjonnyb]

After 20 years of searching to no avail , althogh Andy seems to have had some success in this area & since Rick has proven that it's possible, and I started out at school sculpting , I'm going to have a go at producing my own version myself, I intend to use the sets I have as the baseline to start modelling. In terms of the illuminated Chess Board I know exactly what they used to make the board that appears in the film and I have already completed my own replica , and I'll be putting a few pictures here shortly.

[joberg]

Eager to see the final result

[propsjonnyb]

Ok ,
these shots document my attempts to re-create the 'missing' chess pieces in the Sebastian Chess set and alter the pieces I already have, into a more stylised film-noir version ( which I hope will not offend anyone too much) , I started by sculpting the Wren pawn - you can see the first piece in the bottom left hand corner , concensus good sculpt - but way too big!!

So I re-sculpted the piece, you can see it between the Eagle/ King ( new sculpt) and the finished Knight/ Falcon at the back .

in the Second photo you can see the addition of the re-worked Bishop /Owl ( very little work required on this piece)

The third photo shows a further re-working of the Eagle/ king piece so it is more like it's film counterpart and a re-worked Kingfisher/Pawn base ( from the research I carried out the original set had both Kingfishers and Wrens as Pawns )

I have now taken molds of the ones you can see , I just have to finish the re- worked Eagle/King mold and I'll be casting pieces in cold cast Ivory and Black marble this weekend , more pictures next week


all comments welcome !!
http://picasaweb.google.com/105260106426663044266/ChessSetWIP?authkey=Gv1sRgCLe3yIGxkvKecw&feat=directlink[/img]

[joberg]

Nice sculpts indeed...not the specialist on the chess board in BR mind you; I'm sure that the others will have a definitive answer on your work

[propsjonnyb]

Another couple of shots , showing a little progress and a partially finished set on my ' finished' chess board

http://picasaweb.google.com/105260106426663044266/ChessSetWIP02?authkey=Gv1sRgCKjFm9XCttG9Ag&feat=directlink

still can't get a photo to load directly here!!

[andy]

Here you go.

Andy

[Insomniac]

Droools... that is amazing!
_________________
I am busy planning things that don't happen, and procrastinating things that I don't want to happen.
-Me

[joberg]

Oh geez Andy...just wow

[Gaff87]

Oh my.......lost for words right now.
That your set, Andy?