SeattleMaddog
Active Member
After a few months of gathering parts and spending way more money than I will ever admit to my wife (especially on the Exactra), I am ready to build my screen accurate replica of Luke's ANH Lightsaber. I am drawing a lot of inspiration and information from VFX Freak and his build thread A Noob Hope Graflex Lightsaber Build.
I bought the Graflex flash and Exactra EX-20 calculator off eBay, I got them for good prices relative to the market but this is an expensive project for a newbie like me. Gino supplied me the t-track for the grip but I ran into my first problem when I started looking for a d-ring.
I tried using d-rings from dog collars but they were too thick (about 3.5mm vice 2.5mm needed for this prop). I ordered some d-rings from a dealer on eBay but their measurements were inaccurate, so I started looking around town again. Finally a local artisan pointed me to the shoe repair place I walk past almost every day, and he sold me two perfect examples for a dollar.
I fashioned strap from a cheap metal tray bought at the Dollar Shop using Sym-Cha's template, and after three attempts produced a version I am happy to attach to my Graflex. Here are the photos:
My plan is to complete the lightsaber over the next week, and I will post updates here as the build progresses. VFX Freak did such a good job documenting his build I will only address the challenges I encounter as I follow his lead.
Wish me luck.
I bought the Graflex flash and Exactra EX-20 calculator off eBay, I got them for good prices relative to the market but this is an expensive project for a newbie like me. Gino supplied me the t-track for the grip but I ran into my first problem when I started looking for a d-ring.
I tried using d-rings from dog collars but they were too thick (about 3.5mm vice 2.5mm needed for this prop). I ordered some d-rings from a dealer on eBay but their measurements were inaccurate, so I started looking around town again. Finally a local artisan pointed me to the shoe repair place I walk past almost every day, and he sold me two perfect examples for a dollar.
I fashioned strap from a cheap metal tray bought at the Dollar Shop using Sym-Cha's template, and after three attempts produced a version I am happy to attach to my Graflex. Here are the photos:
My plan is to complete the lightsaber over the next week, and I will post updates here as the build progresses. VFX Freak did such a good job documenting his build I will only address the challenges I encounter as I follow his lead.
Wish me luck.