New build: Darth Vader ANH lightsaber from Larbel MPP replica

Ever since I finished my Luke and Obi-Wan ANH sabers, I felt to need to complete the "bubble strip trifecta" so accurately described by scottjua. So I managed to get my hands on a Larbel MPP replica, which was already loosely converted in an ESB Vader. I use the term "loosely" because of the accuracy of said conversion. Here's what the Larbel looked like when I got it:



As you can see, it was pretty much a straight Larbel, including the "default" D-ring which was WAY too big, with added Blast-Tech rubber grips. It also had the black "trapezoid" sidebars on the clamp, which were also incorrect for the ANH I was planning to build. As for the unidentified circuit strip, it was held on not by the clamp, but by a weird little contraption that prevented it from falling out. Aside from that, the chrome on the inside of the shroud was tarnished and the rubber under the clamp had deteriorated.

I started out by removing the rubber grips, which were held on with 3M two-sided tape. Then I dismantled the whole thing to get rid of the deteriorated rubber, remove the adhesive residue and clean/polish the chrome. After a nice cleanup I tackled the D-ring; I removed it from the shroud, cut it down a bit, then reshaped it to a more accurate size and shape for the ANH Vader. Then I removed the sidebars from the clamp, sanded down the ends to make them rectangular, stripped them of paint, and polished the naked metal to a mirror finish.

For the bubbles, I had an extra Rebelscum strip which I modified to replace the circuit strip. I sanded it so that it'd fit between the clamp, not under, then I glued it on a larger strip of clear plastic. Then I cut it down to the correct length for the clamp, making sure that the cut was "between" the 6th and 7th bubble like on the screen-used saber. After these modifications the bubble strip is held on by the clamp like it's supposed to, so I got rid of the aforementioned contraption, which wasn't needed anymore.

To be continued! In the meantime, here's some pics of my progress.

Lookin good!

What did you use to sand down the ends of the side bars? And how come you glued the bubble strip onto another piece of clear plastic?

I sanded the ends of the sidebars with an orbital sander (very carefully ) To make sure that the sidebars stayed the same shape and size, I sanded them together by using vice grip pliers to hold them against the sander.

As for the piece of clear plastic glued under the strip, it can be explained by a happy accident I had years ago: the first bubble strip I bought from Rebelscum, I sanded too much width-wise. That extra unused strip ended up being exactly the right width for the "bubbles between the clamp" look that I wanted to achieve for the Vader ANH. The extra plastic was added so that, in addition of being held in place by the "sides", the strip is also held by the clamp proper.

Darn, I woulda loved to have traded you my chrome Larbel side bars for your black ones... I need me some ESB side bars.

Is your "bubbles between the clamp" assumption based on the Chronicles photo alone or is there something else to suggest it was assembled this way?



I never understood what was going on with the bubble strip in this photo, because it looks so high as to be above or outside of the clamp. Personally I suspect this is the same bubble strip that is in the ESB/ROTJ saber (with a circuit board beneath it), because the bubble strip in the V2 was longer, extending outside of either end of the clamp.



Do you plan on replicating the nail?

Darn. Knowing what I know now I would've traded them for sure. Oh well! :O

The "bubbles between the clamp" is indeed based on the Chronicles pic, and on the ESB/ROTJ saber. I honestly think that all the Vader sabers had the bubbles assembled that way. Of course it's only an assumption based on my interpretation of the pics, and I've replicated it because I think it's an interesting detail.

The Chronicles pic is a little peculiar indeed; on one pic it doesn't even look like the bubbles are there at all. But in the ESB/ROTJ saber it's unmistakingly between the clamp, which I find is the way to replicate that detail which makes the more sense. It's also why I cut my strip in the same place.

I don't plan on replicating the nail, no. My Vader will be unweathered and I think that the lever didn't break right away; it must've broke during filming. As an unweathered prop, I'll try to give it a pristine look, like it's just been assembled for filming.

Filandrius said:

But in the ESB/ROTJ saber it's unmistakingly between the clamp, which I find is the way to replicate that detail which makes the more sense.

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Not tryin to poop in your cereal, but the bubble strip on the ESB/ROTJ saber is definitely under the clamp. I visited it and took these shots. In the second one you can see the edge of the circuit board beneath the bubble strip. It is cut narrower, and presumably glued to the bottom of the bubble strip.

Nice Larbel conversion ... looking forward to your progress

Chaim

Jedi Reali said:

Not tryin to poop in your cereal, but the bubble strip on the ESB/ROTJ saber is definitely under the clamp. I visited it and took these shots. In the second one you can see the edge of the circuit board beneath the bubble strip. It is cut narrower, and presumably glued to the bottom of the bubble strip.

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Nice shots. Nothing I can do about that with mine, though. Anyway my own Vader is supposed to be a ANH. If I was replicating the ESB/ROTJ I'd be worried. For now my bubbles/clamp kinda look like the ones in the Chronicles pics and that's fine with me.

Sym-Cha said:

Nice Larbel conversion ... looking forward to your progress

Chaim

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Thanks. Looking forward to finish it, myself.

Update! So tonight I replaced the deteriorated rubber under the clamp with black plastic from Kodak film canisters, as described in the following thread:

http://www.therpf.com/f79/vader-lig...ect-material-replace-mpp-clamp-sleeve-223993/

It worked great, methinks. Does a nice job replacing the inaccurate rubber and tightening the clamp, and it really looks the part, aside from the fact that it's a tad too short compared to the real thing (1/4" too short, as a matter of fact) I still think it looks good.



As you can see, I installed the "finished" clamp on the Larbel. But while doing so I had another "happy accident". I think Jedi Reali jinked me up there with his nail thing, because while I was doing some placement tests, I broke the clamp lever. I mean, it snapped right off. :unsure Now I had no choice: I had to replicate the darn nail just to hold the clamp together. So that's what I did. Here's some pics of the completed nail-lever thingy:



With the clamp installed, all's left to do is install some grips. I'll post an update as soon as that's done, with a metric ton of pictures.

Speaking of grips, what's the consensus on how to install the tracks vs. the end cap which is thicker than the flash itself? :eek

Whoops! :eek Welp, just like the real thing I guess! It's comin along nicely!

As far as the grips, they just run straight over the end cap and wind up with a little gap beneath them just above the cap. ...But you probably shouldn't listen to me.

Don't feel bad, it's not like it's your fault. As a matter of fact I'm pretty darn lucky that the screen-used saber used a nail in the clamp, gave me a solution to repair mine. That's why I say it's a "happy" accident: because I'm pretty sure I wouldn't had the guts to use the nail method by "damaging" the clamp on purpose, and I think that the end result looks pretty good. So yeah, now it's even more like the real thing, so I'm happy.

As for the grips, I'll try gluing them on as is and hope that the gap is not that noticeable. I remember reading somewhere that there's no gap on a real MPP but that the gap is definitively there on a replica (because the cap is not flush with the tube) I don't know how bad it is on a Larbel, though. Maybe I could try heating the tracks in boiling water and shaping them to the cap then gluing them on? I guess I'll see when the time comes.

Indeed and that's perhaps why Master Replica's shaved some plastic from the bottom of the T-tracks before gluing them onto the cap ... if you're using Gino's plastic T-track perhaps best to cut them to appropriate size needed and then prior to gluing them do test the leftover bits with that boiling water experiment?

Chaim

Final update! So I cut and installed the T-tracks, and I tried boiling water as suggested above. Dipped the tip in full-on boiling water for 20 seconds, then shaped them to the tube & cap by hand. Turned out pretty well, considering that anything done with that protruding cap is inaccurate anyway. :unsure

So here's some shots of the finished saber, including the mandatory "Chronicles shots". Let me know what you think!

OK, one more (last one, I promise) After taking a good look at the pics I took last night, I realized that I didn't like the curves of the shaped grips. Since I didn't want to go through the pain of removing them then regluing them again, I dipped the whole end of the saber in boiling water to reshape them a little bit. It's subtle, but the curves are not as extreme anymore , and I like them a whole lot better.

Looks rather wonderful indeed and it gives me a good opportunity to see what lies ahead for my Larbel MPP and T-tracks ... luckily it already has the ANH clamp comfiguration with silver sidebars and plastic sleeve underneath

Chaim

Thanks for the kind words!

Having the correct sidebars and sleeve from the start sure is nice. I'm not saying I didn't have fun, but I wouldn't have complained about not having to do it.

As for the end cap/T-tracks situation, it's pretty much the only "real" flaw I've found about building a saber from a Larbel. If the end cap wasn't so wide, that MPP replica would be perfect. It's a shame, really. But I really like the end result nonetheless!

Perhaps that 'flaw' of the those T-tracks could have been disguised if you had raised said T-tracks slightly more to the level of the endcap instead of adding it straight onto the metal of the MPP replica? I have very cleverly added revisions with the use of i.e. fake black leather so it would hardly be noticed ... from a certain point of view and alas not upon close inspection of course. Also it seems you're using Marv's T-track which has a less wider base and is higher up, hence my suggestion could become less desireable to execute :wacko

Chaim

Nice job!

Damn, now I know that bump is gonna irk the s#!+ outta me when I go to convert my own Larbel.

Jedi Reali said:

Nice job!

Damn, now I know that bump is gonna irk the s#!+ outta me when I go to convert my own Larbel.

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That's the price to pay when you use a replica instead of the real thing, I guess. :unsure Like I said it's a real shame, because other than that the Larbel is perfect. Oh well!

Sym-Cha said:

Perhaps that 'flaw' of the those T-tracks could have been disguised if you had raised said T-tracks slightly more to the level of the endcap instead of adding it straight onto the metal of the MPP replica? I have very cleverly added revisions with the use of i.e. fake black leather so it would hardly be noticed ... from a certain point of view and alas not upon close inspection of course. Also it seems you're using Marv's T-track which has a less wider base and is higher up, hence my suggestion could become less desireable to execute :wacko

Chaim

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Yes I've used Marv's tracks, but I removed something like 1/8" of material from the top to make them the same height as GINO's (sanding them a bit afterwards to round the edges) I just couldn't justify the price of GINO's tracks on a prop like this, built from a flash replica. I'll use GINO's tracks when I find a genuine MPP, like I did on my vintage Graflex.

As for using something under the tracks, now I remember reading about it somewhere, and it's not a bad idea. Not sure I'm going to do it though, because the curve is not that bad in person (or in pictures, to be perfectly honest; especially after the last revision) and I really don't want to remove the tracks to glue them on again. Gluing plastic to chrome is a real PITA.

Tonight I removed the kid gloves and found a solution to the Larbel's flaw, AKA the "bump". Here's a hint. Caution: this is not for the faint of heart.

View attachment 382715

Stay tuned.