I don't know what it is about Rocketeer fans, but they all seem to be absolutely passionate about details, and sticklers for accuracy. This portfolio is arguably one of the nicest fan made props in my entire collection. The attention to detail is just stunning.
The overall construction of the main folio is very professional. It looks like a professionally bound book. The cover graphic has been nicely printed and presented. The ribbons on the outer edges are a great touch. They're probably even the right width! I have been told by the maker that he personally examined the hero production piece, and got overall measurements from it. So this replica is as accurate as you could hope to get.
And man, I don't even know where to begin when it comes to the papers inside this prop. Attached to the inside cover of the portfolio is a letter describing the rocket pack project. It's a dead on copy of the screen used letter.
There are two sets of rocket pack blue prints. One is small, and one is a huge folded up version. The talented prop maker tells me "The real folder has a bunch of generic blueprints and then the two sizes of pack plans." So this confirms for me that the two blue prints included with the folio are the right size, and are screen accurate.
Aside from the cover letter, and the blue prints, the rest of the paperwork included in the portfolio is all from the imagination of the prop maker. Don't get me wrong, many of the pieces included are straight out of the film. Though they were not part of the portfolio in the movie, they are certainly part of the Rocketeer mythos, and I fully endorse their inclusion in this amazing prop.
Here's the words straight from the prop makers mouth, er, fingers...
The rest of the goods I added. I imagined Howard throwing all the Nazi, FBI data and press release info into the folder.All in all, this is an amazing prop. I had originally seen one of these a few years ago in the collection of a friend of mine, and had been drooling for one ever since. I'm really impressed with every aspect of the prop, from it's incredible execution, to it's artful interpretive touches. Great work!I took the FBI shot of the film canisters with the "captured" photos. The "Sky Cutter" Nazi with the planes in the backdrop I created along with the wind tunnel test of the X-3.
The other shots of Hughes and the pack are from behind the scenes shots of the pack and the actor. I composited them together with a set photo of the hangar. The Nazi pack photo is a pre-production shot I have. So is the larger one with the Germans before the rocket pack test. Notice Joe Johnston is the Nazi captain and Dave Stevens is the test pilot! They are shown in the film too.
The artwork is all real concept art from the film from Ed Eyth. I dressed it up a bit to make them look vintage. They were all just black and white xeroxs I got from the property manager.
The press release one, I wrote.