A few years ago, MGM had started auctioning off SG1 props, and among them was the Earth Aschen Alliance card featured in the Stargate episode 2010. I had collected the image as a mere novelty; and, it wasn’t until quite some time after that when I actually decided to do something with it. And that’s where this story begins.
This project started as a bold idea to transform a small, detail-lacking image of the prop into something that could be printed. Using just this image got me approximately half-way through making the card, at which time I put the project aside–all but forgetting about it. Several months later, however, I was supplied with new images of the card that allowed me to continue work.
With the reference images at my side, I used Adobe Illustrator to re-draw the card’s artwork freehand. Since the photos I had were taken at various angles I used interpretation instead of directly tracing over a picture. I created the font by first choosing a similar font, then converting the words to outlines, and finally tweaking each character to match the font used on the card.
The finished prop.
Now, with finished artwork, I can proudly present the fruit of my effort. Printed by a professional card manufacturer on glossy black plastic with reflective gold ink, my version of the Earth Aschen Alliance card is a faithful reproduction of the original. As a stand-alone piece of art, this card is very attractive to the eye. As a prop, it would serve as a wonderful and inexpensive addition to any Stargate SG-1 collection. Although parts of the card were open to my interpretation, I believe that it’s very close to the screen used design.
Enjoy the attached images of the finished prop-replica.
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Update for 2015
It has been many years since I created this prop, but revisited it after I acquired the original studio artist drawings of the card. I am pleased at how accurately I interpreted the card while drafting my artwork.
