Re: Speaking of 'hawks...Update on Magua's "Telescoping" Tomahawk

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: Thanks for the very interesting information.





: 
: : Some of you may recall the thread below.  

: : While I was soundly disabused of the notion that the movie 'hawk was a folder, or even represented one, I still wanted to know if there was an original upon which it was based.

: : I was able to contact Daniel Winkler, who made the movie prop(s), with some of the cosmetic work being done by others.

: : He was kind enough to supply the following information and grant me permission to quote him:
: : ____________
: : Dear Scott,
: :  
: :     I ran across your e-mail this morning as I was cleaning out some old files. I am sorry if I have not responded to you yet. If I have, please bear with me. I did make the Tomahawk used by Wes Studi as the character Magua. It was a copy of an original owned by the museum at Fort Meigs in Ohio (I think), The producer's of the "Last of the Mohicans" acquired it for a short time and sent it to me to copy. The original is actually about 30% smaller than what I made for the film. The handle is not jointed although it may appear that way as he drops it out from under his wrap in the ambush scene. The handle length for the movie version was 24" long. The modifications were made by Kelly Farrah or Jim under the direction of Kelly who at that time in pre-production, was the assistant props master. Kelly told me he had added tool marks and highlighted the handle coloration and roughed up the head a bit. I then made 2 more identical Tomahawks to the revised prototype. Which of the three was actually used daily in filming I don't know. They all looked alike. I also made Daniel Day-Lewis's belt Knife and Eric Schwing's belt Knife. There were also three of each of these Knives. I was told by Props Master Ron Downing that three were necessary because one was used daily in filming, a second was used for backup should something happen to the first and a third was to be sent to the special effects department for replication in rubber and hollow handle versions. In addition to these principal character items I also made about 15 other Knives, Tomahawks and Shooting pouches used by secondary characters and extras. My involvement with "The Last of the Mohicans" took place over a period of about 6 weeks prior to the start of filming. After filming started I did a small amount of consulting with Ron Downing and I was invited to be on set at several shooting locations. My primary contacts on the production crew were Michael Mann - Director, Hunt Lowery - Producer, Ned Dowd - Unit Manager ( I think this was his title), Ron Downing - Props Master, Kelly Farrah - Assistant Props Master ( Kelly left for another job about the time Filming started.) I also worked with Randal King, Jim, Scot Ellis, Lee Teeter (Consultant), Wayne Watson (Gun Builder for Hawkeye),  and a number of others I can't remember.
: :     I hope this information will be helpful and if I can be of any further service please let me know.

: : Best regards,
: :  Daniel Winkler
: : ____________________


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