1941's "The Wolfman" cane redux

[Bizarro Jeff]

I've been reading the posts on reproductions, especially those dealing with Specialty Cane's "The Wolfman" cane, which technically isn't a reproduction...but probably as close as many of us will ever come to owning an authentic cane.

However, I've never been happy with the black lacquer finish of the cane.  The lacquer itself is nothing more than a type of varnish used to protect items of wood, metal, or bone.  For the $$ the cane cost, I would have preferred a dark wood, perhaps something like mahogany....to me, the shaft looks like nothing more than a dowel.

So, I started thinking....and, after thinking, wanted to try something.....

Not going into details, I stripped the cane of its lacquer finish, leaving enough on the shaft to bring out the grain....I sanded the shaft first with #100 grit sandpaper, then #100 grain, and applied 6 coats of polyurethane, sanding between coats with steel wool.  And I think the cane looks great....

However, the chrome finish of the cane looks rather garish - what to do about THAT?  Turning to google, I see several methods for stripping chrome, most using household ingredients - bleach, oven cleaner, even cola.  I plan on investigating these methods first....once the chrome has been removed, will patch the numerous small holes in the head (presumably made during the casting process?).  Once this has been accomplished, will apply a silver finish...ebay caries several kits that apply liquid silver..electroplating would be preferred, but am unsure of the cost, and would prefer to do this myself....

So, if anyone wants to see a picture - let me know (and also, as I have no idea HOW to post pix in here, how to do it) and will cost a photo of the "new cane", and my attempts to resolve the silver plating of the head....

Bizarro Jeff
 

[Count_Zirock]

Good luck with all of that. I'll just wait for the fully licensed one Factory Entertainment is developing.

[Bizarro Jeff]

Count -

I didn't know about that....did go to their website, but nothing yet.  Some of their prices don't appear to be too bad - the "Dracula" ring at $35, for example.

Bizarro Jeff

[Count_Zirock]

Count -

I didn't know about that....did go to their website, but nothing yet.  Some of their prices don't appear to be too bad - the "Dracula" ring at $35, for example.

Bizarro Jeff

Not sure when it's coming out. It was sculpted by TylerH, a member of the UMA who also sculpted the upcoming Creature Fossil Claw and Mummy Scarab Ring. The Wolf Man cane replica is being made with input from Bob Burns.

[Gillfan]

BJ- That sounds like a very ambitious project, I wish you luck and would love to see the results.
However, a word of caution, household bleach with some metals can form a deadly gas, please exercise real caution!

[Bizarro Jeff]

I'd love a brochure from Wolfshead Productions, but can't seem to find them online,. and assume that they brochures would be long gone....

Bizarro Jeff

[Kenneth]

Interesting. You'll have to post a picture of it. I have the cheaper version from uniquecanes.com.

[CreepyJeff]

There is/was a guy in Colorado many years ago selling resin copies of "the original Wolf Man cane mold".  True?  Maybe yes maybe no.  Regardless, for $20 + shipping, they sure look like the real thing.  They were sold unpainted and with quite a bit of flashing to clean up but it wasn't hard work.  I bought several from him and made a number of canes that I sold on line and at toy shows.  The cane stock came from a wholesaler of black canes and were only $7 or $8 each and came with the black finish.  I painted the bottom with a silver paint and put an silver metal upholstery stud in the cane bottom to protect the wood.  I finished the cane head with some silver paint and added some antiquing effects to bring out the detail.  What to you think?

[Count_Zirock]

There is/was a guy in Colorado many years ago selling resin copies of "the original Wolf Man cane mold".  True?  Maybe yes maybe no.  Regardless, for $20 + shipping, they sure look like the real thing.  They were sold unpainted and with quite a bit of flashing to clean up but it wasn't hard work.  I bought several from him and made a number of canes that I sold on line and at toy shows.  The cane stock came from a wholesaler of black canes and were only $7 or $8 each and came with the black finish.  I painted the bottom with a silver paint and put an silver metal upholstery stud in the cane bottom to protect the wood.  I finished the cane head with some silver paint and added some antiquing effects to bring out the detail.  What to you think?

I seem to remember seeing the unpainted resin handles for sale by various vendors at Chiller Theatre Expos back in the '90s.
 
At this point, I'd just wait and see what the Factory Entertainment version looks like and how much it sells for.

[Bizarro Jeff]

I think the cane looks pretty good.....I'm still waiting to see what I'm going to do with mine.....although I have feelers out, can't get anyone to email me with a quote.  Jeweler I spoke with said it would be expensive - also told me that by fixing the minute holes in the cane head, I could also interfere with the ability to silver plate it...at this point, am inclined to pick up a silver plating kit on ebay for $20.

I picked up a plaque, also from ebay from The Haunted Studios, issued in 2001 as a promotional item, with the Wolfman cane head, and a copy of the medallion, with a small pic of Evelyn Ankers--it was finished off in a brown stain....decided I didn't like the pix or the stain, so decided to re-do that as well.  Tried to remove the cane top, which I thought was resin, but which was really plaster or other similar material....luckily I had the same cane top of resin, and re-painted that to match the medallion, and am going to glue everything back together...would post pix, but have no idea on how to do that in here......

[Monster Bob]

I picked up a plaque, also from ebay from The Haunted Studios, issued in 2001 as a promotional item, with the Wolfman cane head, and a copy of the medallion, with a small pic of Evelyn Ankers--it was finished off in a brown stain....decided I didn't like the pix or the stain, so decided to re-do that as well. 

Haunted Studios "issued as a promotional item" claim = We don't pay any licensing fees for anything




.

[Count_Zirock]

...would post pix, but have no idea on how to do that in here....

Go to a photo-hosting site, such as Photobucket, Imageshack, or Flickr, post the pix there, then use the image sharing option. It usually looks like this, without the spaces between the brackets:
[ img ]http://yaddayadda.com/blahblah.jpg[ /img ]

[Count_Zirock]

I see that UniqueCanes.com now offers silver-plated versions of their full-sized Wolf Man canes. "Quadruple-plated .999 silver over our brass cane handles." They have a polished version and an antiqued version. Both go for $399 (although currently listed at a sale price of $375), but are presently listed as "temporarily out of stock - more arriving soon."

Bright silver

Antique silver

[steve050305]

Good luck with all of that. I'll just wait for the fully licensed one Factory Entertainment is developing.

totally awesome! I want that!

[Bizarro Jeff]

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/Jeff_McIntosh/2012-08-25_13-15-25_210.jpg

http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh225/Jeff_McIntosh/2012-08-25_13-16-00_499.jpg

OK, still haven't mastered how to post directly to the UMA, but this will give you an idea of what I've worked on.....