Ben Mund, that is, he of the amazing Firefly and Serenity replicas. Light years ahead of most of the replica designers through his attention to detail and personal style, Ben devised his own stuff for years, often featured here and sold through eBay. His work, unofficial though it was, was even admired by Geoff Mandel, graphic designer for Serenity. Ben was later snapped up by QMx to make even better (and licensed) stuff because QMX are not fools.

Ben talked to the Sending a Wave podcast crew for a satisfyingly long time about his inspirations, how he does what he does, and his love for all things versy.

QMx's Official Serenity Ship's papers set is on sale now at QMx and TFAW.com, and you'll want to snag it quick because only 1500 were produced and they sold 250 of those in the first six hours.

Those of you who have been SerenityStuff visitors for some time might have been wondering what fan-favorite replica maker Whitefall (Ben Mund) has been doing since he got picked up as one of QMx's Artisans. Folks, he's been taking one of his best unofficial prop replicas and making it into an even better official one. This is his set of ship's papers, with all the documents a captain would want to have handy the next time the Alliance comes calling, in a custom-made leather holder.

Ben's original replica was a faithful recreation of the one from "Firefly," which didn't contain much in the way of actual 'versy stuff. The pages contained mostly filler, legal boilerplate, and was never intended to be seen up close. After a great deal of work, with input from "Serenity" graphic designer Geoff Mandel and access to tons of source material, this is a brand new, built-from-scratch set of ship's papers the way it should have been. Insanely detailed, plain fun to read.

In this set of 13 full-color sheets of various sizes up to 8-1/2" x 14," the certificates are hand stamped with the official seals of the Alliance and hand signed in English and Chinese by the appropriate Alliance officials. The documents contain endorsements required to operate a variety of ship systems along with system maps, operating licenses, safety inspections and a wealth of background material on what it takes to operate a Firefly-Class Transport in the 'Verse.

From the press release:

"As part of our research into creating the Ship Papers, we went back to some originals props from the series, but were disappointed to find there was really nothing there," said Andy Gore, QMx Director of Marketing and project manager for the Ship Papers. "They were just some trust documents that someone slapped a new title on to look good on camera, but they didn't have any actual 'Verse content in them."

Operating alone and with no support either from the studio or Serenity's creative team, Mund had already done a tremendous job prototyping a set of "idealized" ship papers. QMx wanted to take Mund's concept, but make it as real and authentic as possible.

"We went to Ben to help us make the Ship Papers so realistic, they look like you just walked into Mal's cabin and found them laying on his desk," Gore said. "Ben has a track record of creating paper props of excruciating detail and breathtaking beauty. But we think he's outdone himself with the Ship Papers."

The company offered Mund complete access to QMx's considerable resources – including an extensive archive of original drawings and background materials, and the Serenity Brain Trust (the team responsible for advising on the development of the Official Serenity Blueprints) – and told him "go crazy!"

He did.

"Five hundred additional years of history gives you a lot to draw on, so I spent a good deal of time going through official documents from civil war parchments to digital customs regulations to get a blend of elements that felt right," said Ben Mund, QMx artisan and design lead on the Ship Papers project. "Artistically, I worked to stay within the design ethos of the 'Verse – blending a little bit of the Old West look with the cold, hard high-tech look of the Alliance."

"With access to the source material as well as input from Serenity's graphic designer, Geoffrey Mandel, these papers are far and away better than anything I could have done on my own," Mund said. "Every single page was built from scratch, with information, graphics and other details true to the source material."

The Official Serenity Ship Papers includes a hand-signed certificate from the designer and come wrapped up in a fashion-grade, hand-crafted leather wallet with brass fittings and a hand-made screw-down plate. The papers feature rich details – such as gold ink, duo-tone stamps, an embossed metal clip and paper watermarked with Alliance emblems. It damn well feels official.

QMx's Official Serenity Ship Papers set goes on sale at 6 p.m. EDT today for $119. Sales will be limited to 1,500 pieces. You can find more information and pictures at the QMx site.

The Offical Serenity Ship's Papers set is available from QMX or you can order it from TFAW.com.

 

Quantum Mechanix Inc. (QMx), a privately-held developer of licensed, high-quality entertainment replicas, today announced that Ben Mund, better known by the alias "Whitefall," has been "bound by law and sentenced to hard labor" as the first QMx Artisan.

Mund, who is best known for his many beautiful, highly detailed tributes to Firefly and Serenity, has an extensive background in visual design and a real passion for the science fiction genre.

Mund has spent the last 15 years as a corporate graphics designer and marketer in the CAD/CAM industry. He has been a paper prop designer for nearly two decades and discovered the larger prop community within the last ten years. "The work that I've truly loved – creating screen-accurate paper props – has been outside of my professional life until now," Mund said. "I've used prop design as a tool for keeping my skills sharp and because it lets me play with fantastic designs that I would never get to work with otherwise."

Mund started his "sentence" at QMx late last year as a member of the QMx Brain Trust – an advisory committee of hard-core fans who work with the prop development team to help ensure accuracy and "maximum fan joy." He was a member of the core group that supported development of the Official Serenity Blueprints, the entire 750-unit limited edition of which recently sold out.

Mund, like the rest of the QMx team, is also a serious prop collector. "I have a focused collection of screen-used props from sci-fi films with design aesthetics that I most enjoy, including Serenity and Blade Runner," he said.

Mund is already hard at work on his first couple of projects for QMx, both in the Serenity 'Verse. He would love to tell you about them, but unfortunately, he cannot divulge the exciting details as it would violate his nondisclosure agreement and would activate the subdermal explosives all QMx artisans and staff are required to have implanted.

Mund had this to say about the decision to join QMx: "What drew me to QMx was the Serenity license; I was curious about what the company would produce. After hearing the initial list and the association with Geoffrey Mandel, my excitement only grew."

"What really sold me, though, were the people. After having the opportunity to talk to QMx's leadership, it became obvious that this was a group with a great combination of movie knowledge and passion for creating props that really helped you feel like you were part of the film. And that's what drew me to props in the first place," Mund said. "Oh, yeah, and the large amount of ordnance aimed in my general direction – that was pretty compelling, too."

"Above all, I'm an enthusiastic fan who is flattered beyond belief at being asked to contribute to the official 'Verse," said Mund. That level of enthusiasm is a key reason why QMx is proud to welcome Ben Mund as the first QMx Artisan.

Congratulations Ben! As a long-time Whitefall fan I'm glad to see your incredible talent will get widespread distribution and recognition.

Now get to work!

Regular readers know that Whitefall, an amateur prop replica maker and Serenity enthusiast ("enthusiast" here meaning "scary obsessive, in a good way"), has turned out some truly astounding stuff for Browncoats. Even Serenity graphic designer Geoff Mandel singled him out for praise in his interview. And now his work is apparently moving out of the gray area of fan-made work to become official, licensed material from QMx, according to this source. No official announcements yet, but here's hoping…

So you're really gonna love the next thing: a replica of the star charts from the episide "Save." Coming soon!