Cutting Blackbeard's beard

[Nagyzee]

Hello!

As I don't like clone armies in the Castle theme and am always looking for more diversity I was thinking about acquiring one or two of POTC Blackbeard's beard and cutting off those 4 grey tentacle like pieces to get another dwarf beard for myself. As it is a rather costly piece and I've never done any customizing before I'd like to ask for some opinions. First, has anyone else done this already? If yes a few pictures would be much appreciated. Second how do I go about removing those tentacles? Just cut them off with a sharp knife? Or will that leave stress marks or some ugly cuts? And do you think it's a reasonable idea to try this or just stupid?

Here's the part in question:

[Omicron]

Exacto knife or nail clippers will take it right off. As with everything that gets cut, yes it will look like something was cut there. Sand it down with a nail file smoothly, and any marks you can just black sharpie over them to match the beard.

-Omi

[Nagyzee]

Thanks for the fast answer. What would be your advise for the removal of the two little grey tints running upwards on the two sides of the main body of the beard? Sand it also down or rather paint it over somehow? (I've never painted any Lego elements either. ) I'll definitely have to experiment on cheap or damaged parts first if I ever go for this.

(An idea: could a bit of localized heat from a lighter or match be used to get the plastic soft and do away the sharp edges of the cuts?)

Oh, and the beard looks quite bulky, so if someone could check whether it can be used together nicely with the dwarf helmets or maybe some other castle helmets that would be much appreciated.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Nagyzee

[Vindicare]

Thanks for the fast answer. What would be your advise for the removal of the two little grey tints running upwards on the two sides of the main body of the beard? Sand it also down or rather paint it over somehow? (I've never painted any Lego elements either. ) I'll definitely have to experiment on cheap or damaged parts first if I ever go for this.

(An idea: could a bit of localized heat from a lighter or match be used to get the plastic soft and do away the sharp edges of the cuts?)

Oh, and the beard looks quite bulky, so if someone could check whether it can be used together nicely with the dwarf helmets or maybe some other castle helmets that would be much appreciated.

I'm not positive, but a few coats from a Sharpie may cover the grey. Cover it, let it dry, do another coat if it looks too thin or patchy. I've never customized anything with Sharpie, though.

The beard is the same as any other dwarf beard, just with the grey bits. Shouldn't be a fitting problem with any dwarves you own.

[Omicron]

Thanks for the fast answer. What would be your advise for the removal of the two little grey tints running upwards on the two sides of the main body of the beard? Sand it also down or rather paint it over somehow?

Either lightly cut (if you can) or sand it down. Or just sharpie over it, since you're only covering so little, so paint isn't needed.

-Omi

[Wardancer]

Another idea worth trying is applying a drop of clear matte or semi-matte paint to the cut area. I'd try sanding first though.

[Darkdragon]

You can remove the gray paint with a bit of Brasso or use a Mr.Clean Magic Eraser (in the cleaning products isle of your local grocery store).

[SirSven7]

one little point I wanted to add is that they are not tenticals but lit tapers (slow burning cloth things, or matches) it probably wont change your opinion to remove them but it might so I thought I would add that comment.

I tried the beard on the two dwarf helmets and I have to say that it doesn't fit (its too bulky) but it does go really well onto a viking helmet and that still looks good on a dwarf body.

I hope that helps

cheers

[Nagyzee]

Thanks everyone for all the advice and opinion.

SirSeven7, thank you for testing this for me. It seemed a bit bulkier to me as well than the dwarf beards, nice to have it confirmed. And yeah, the viking helmet is quite fine for dwarfs, too.

[B-Lister]

Blackbeard was rumored to braid slow match into his beard. It is a slow burning braided wick treated with a chemical solution. Typically, in the age of sail, slow match was used to touch off cannons, but was also used in matchlock muskets.

While out of fashion by Blackbeard's time, they were by no means gone, even if the flintlock did render them obsolete.

That match/wick is what is depicted here.

Typically they would smolder and ring his head in smoke, they also smelled of sulfur, which likely terrified many a superstitious King's man.

[Darkdragon]

Blackbeard was rumored to braid slow match into his beard. It is a slow burning braided wick treated with a chemical solution. Typically, in the age of sail, slow match was used to touch off cannons, but was also used in matchlock muskets.

While out of fashion by Blackbeard's time, they were by no means gone, even if the flintlock did render them obsolete.

That match/wick is what is depicted here.

Typically they would smolder and ring his head in smoke, they also smelled of sulfur, which likely terrified many a superstitious King's man.

Thanks for the info, i've been puzzled on this ever since I saw prelim pictures of it. I still don't like them though.