What do you guys think - is the top disc of the emitter of that saber blank or painted? I went through the duel frame by frame again last night and am under the impression that all screen used emitter top discs are black.
ANH Obi Wan special effects lightsaber replica project
- Thread starter vadermania
- Start date
What do you guys think - is the top disc of the emitter of that saber blank or painted? I went through the duel frame by frame again last night and am under the impression that all screen used emitter top discs are black.
Mouse Vader
Sr Member
thd - we don't know if that particular saber ever made it on screen or if so where & I think VM is after the screen used look, so I'd caution against using it as a ref.
VM - the ref pick you show looks like the emitter face is bare metal but I'm with you that everything in the actual film I've seen the face is painted black & has chips (& thus provides the evidence that it stayed still in use). As for colour match of the weather-vane - in the pic you posted it looks a brass colour to me that has then been toned down a lot. Look at the amount of light on AG's fingers, which are right next to it, it's well lit yet the tone is not that far off that of the emitter which we're pretty sure is matt black. The usual cautions apply, of course, to interpreting single photo's as evidence. Even using the screen footage the WV is pretty dark in tone. Your paint test looks right when in shadow but that part is not in shadow in your OW ref pick. In all of them it's impossible to tell if it's metallic or not.
VM - the ref pick you show looks like the emitter face is bare metal but I'm with you that everything in the actual film I've seen the face is painted black & has chips (& thus provides the evidence that it stayed still in use). As for colour match of the weather-vane - in the pic you posted it looks a brass colour to me that has then been toned down a lot. Look at the amount of light on AG's fingers, which are right next to it, it's well lit yet the tone is not that far off that of the emitter which we're pretty sure is matt black. The usual cautions apply, of course, to interpreting single photo's as evidence. Even using the screen footage the WV is pretty dark in tone. Your paint test looks right when in shadow but that part is not in shadow in your OW ref pick. In all of them it's impossible to tell if it's metallic or not.
Hahahaha
Good call MV - i suppose the V2s brown tones are something to think about as well.
Im existentially worried the emitters werent supposed to spin and they just broke. The blades were meant to spin and after breaking were just held to the blade tang none the wiser
But the v2 was specially made to do that were thinking?
Anyway, color wise i vote for browns with hilights, or would like to see off brown tones under lighting experiments
Good call MV - i suppose the V2s brown tones are something to think about as well.
Im existentially worried the emitters werent supposed to spin and they just broke. The blades were meant to spin and after breaking were just held to the blade tang none the wiser
But the v2 was specially made to do that were thinking?
Anyway, color wise i vote for browns with hilights, or would like to see off brown tones under lighting experiments
I wasn‘t able to make out a spinning OWK saber emitter when I went though the duel footage frame by frame. And I don‘t think those emitters broke during ANH production. Possibly during ESB rehearsals, where much heavier beating happened, or during RoTJ.
Jon never mentioned a spinning emitter during our conversations.
The spinning emitter is my biggest question, I swear to this day I’ve seen black and white footage of it spinning.
For the life of me I can’t find it, but I distinctly remember because Guinness used a line not on screen and it stuck out with me
But if at this time the emitter is not spinning, it brings up another question (or never spun)
Guinness in a interview mentions he uses his thumb to slow down the blade by pressing it up against the emitter.. we can see wear marks on the paint.. during filming as they get worst and bigger..
I don’t want to derail your thread with my crazy thinking, but the spinning emitter has bothered me ever since the 4k came out
I know there is a collar inside between the emitter and hilt, so the theory of the emitter being cut off after ANH isn’t possibly..
There must have been a O ring or press fit bushing that held them together
I experimented with both, a o ring and bushing, and made a brass press fit bushing to keep the emitter locked in place
Jon also mentions he used paper shims.. so maybe the emitter was jammed on there with shims?
I don’t know.. but this emitter has had my mind spinning since the 4k release
Again. I don’t want to derail your thread vadermania
But that spinning emitter has me stumped.. did jon ever mention the hilts were 1 solid piece?
For the life of me I can’t find it, but I distinctly remember because Guinness used a line not on screen and it stuck out with me
But if at this time the emitter is not spinning, it brings up another question (or never spun)
Guinness in a interview mentions he uses his thumb to slow down the blade by pressing it up against the emitter.. we can see wear marks on the paint.. during filming as they get worst and bigger..
I don’t want to derail your thread with my crazy thinking, but the spinning emitter has bothered me ever since the 4k came out
I know there is a collar inside between the emitter and hilt, so the theory of the emitter being cut off after ANH isn’t possibly..
There must have been a O ring or press fit bushing that held them together
I experimented with both, a o ring and bushing, and made a brass press fit bushing to keep the emitter locked in place
Jon also mentions he used paper shims.. so maybe the emitter was jammed on there with shims?
I don’t know.. but this emitter has had my mind spinning since the 4k release
Again. I don’t want to derail your thread vadermania
But that spinning emitter has me stumped.. did jon ever mention the hilts were 1 solid piece?
Mouse Vader
Sr Member
All that follows I'm ref. to V2.
I will say no more. Sorry I mentioned it in the first place.
Might this indicate that it was tried in development then abandoned/changed by the time the duel was filmed ? & this was footage of the trials. Rather like the base 1/4" jack plug from Jon's drawing still seems to be present on Luke's motorised stunt but was not in used for filming.
This being the case now (or for ROTJ) provides no evidence at all that this was the case for ANH. I do think it's true but there is no evidence contemporary to ANH that I know of for this.
Paper & internal 'collar'. I think this is true ever since I saw this photo. That joint looks very suspicious (no high light line as seen above & below).
I will say no more. Sorry I mentioned it in the first place.
Mouse Vader
Sr Member
That was more for Vadermania. He's trying to do a build thread & I should have left it alone. (I've been doing research & I seriously think I have Asperger's syndrome. Would explain a huge amount of my life not to mention all the sh!t & misunderdstandings I've got myself into here. See - doing it again off topic!)
I've recently completed my working "as-built" stunt prop, and I'll do a write up in my thread as soon as the paint dries tomorrow, but without derailing Vadermania's thread too much and add to this discussion, I have thin paper shims in mine to ease tension off of the d/s, and to keep the whole emitter assembly from "sticking" when it spins.
I am almost 100% certain the emitter was a separate piece, judging not just from the original buck and Brandon Alinger's statements, but from a practical machining stand-point. I just played with my hilt and for those seeing a static emitter, that is more than achievable, and more than likely an agreed upon result. As in, it spun with the d/s and nipple assembly originally, but for a number of reasons I'll get into in my own thread, it may have been a conscious choice to have the emitter loosened from the d/s and nipple. Once in place, the nipple secured to the d/s, the entire assembly is adequately held together; it doesn't need to be secured to the nipple to function.
Matter of fact, it seems to function better without it...But I'll get into that later.
I am almost 100% certain the emitter was a separate piece, judging not just from the original buck and Brandon Alinger's statements, but from a practical machining stand-point. I just played with my hilt and for those seeing a static emitter, that is more than achievable, and more than likely an agreed upon result. As in, it spun with the d/s and nipple assembly originally, but for a number of reasons I'll get into in my own thread, it may have been a conscious choice to have the emitter loosened from the d/s and nipple. Once in place, the nipple secured to the d/s, the entire assembly is adequately held together; it doesn't need to be secured to the nipple to function.
Matter of fact, it seems to function better without it...But I'll get into that later.
Mouse Vader
Sr Member
Vadermania - you're very quite. Are we scribbling all over your thread ?
No no, please continue with the discussion. I‘m visiting my mother and my sister on the weekend for the first time since Christmas, bad internet connection and all. Will be back Sunday evening German time.
UPDATE 5: the aluminum blanks are finished:
I haven’t seen them in person yet, will pick them up at the shop tomorrow. From what I can see on the pictures that I have been sent, the aluminum blanks look very good.
I haven’t seen them in person yet, will pick them up at the shop tomorrow. From what I can see on the pictures that I have been sent, the aluminum blanks look very good.
Beautiful!
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