ANH Vader Stunt Lightsaber

Some one say nipple?

Last time I saw roy, seth and Tom all in the same place at the same time, a hotel burned down and they all got arrested

I’m watching you guys.... better be behaving

Guys, this is the Barbican too. I found the block on the shroud this afternoon
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So, I'm of the belief now that the ANH Vader Stunt has a solid back, and 2 collars and a black bolt with washer to make up the decoration at the butt of the saber, thanks to some of the new ESB Doc videos.

I believe the current bottom section acts as a bushing, and the black bolt/washer goes into this 1/4-20 hole or whatever

Saber with one piece...
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but it looks like it fell off
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First - probably not the right thread for this - is this the notched MPP stunt?
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Onto what you believe to be an endcap on the Barbican, I'll have to disagree thd9791. I think these are two different takes. The "fighting take" of the duel is the Barbican vs the pipe and/or gaffered Graflex, and this new footage here from the SW youtube channel is a special effects take for the hand being cut off (to me it seems every time there's a new take they swap out the sabers). The bottom of that honestly looks like the motorized Graflex bottom to me:
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I don't think the Barbican would not have a cap in ANH, then have a cap and loose it in ESB, then be replaced post-RotJ. Because the resin casting from RotJ seems to be a good indication of condition. I think they actually took pretty good care of it after ANH, it still has that little bit of T-track on it!
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Also - I was looking for this thread the other day; is this the Barbican in RotJ? Because when it swings you see an open pommel

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edit: looks like a hole in between the grips to me too, but quite grainy
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The MPP bottoms are quite distinct... And it can't be the Graflex stunt. Thoughts?
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So, I don't know much about the bottom, just that I see a black headed carriage bolt and washer in the center, and the second flange is newer metal than the body, but the top...

I noticed the top is all one piece. The reflections in the corners, just like the ROTJ Luke Hero saber most likely is because of the radius' in the corners, meant to me the beveled top and the collar might be all one piece. So I sloppily drew some shapes (because I'm only so good at this) to see where things might be inside. I know there's a bit of an angle issue here, but I wanted to share anyways.

I think the opening in the top is covering the seam-line beteeen main tube and the current replacement core. I think this core was put in to mold it for the ROTJ Vader hand gag. Obviously the current D ring was added after that.. anyway, we don't have good shots down the nose of this thing and I always wondered if the opening in the shroud was the size of the core. It's not! smaller! And given the set screws we sort-of know... there must be a milled slot that goes at least halfway up the collar thickness.

The red is the main tube and the core (white circle). The green is the opening of the shroud. Blue is mu guess where the milled slot is, maybe higher. Does this make sense?
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Top is definitely one piece I think - my own theory is that it was cast when the Obi stunts were being cast (it would certainly be more efficient that milling those shapes)

Here's the best shot down the nose for ya:
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I think it may be a remnant of the original ANH set up - which was slid to the back to act as a counterweight for ESB (the brought back up when it was no longer for dueling) - I don't have any actual evidence for that though. I also see a tube in the middle of the hole - which would make it similar to the touring saber setups -
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I definitely think you're right about the milled step inside the shroud as well. That's what I did on mine! I should have made it up higher in collar as you said though - I'll probably be updating mine since it would make it more secure on the tube body - something like the 2nd pic
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Top is definitely one piece I think - my own theory is that it was cast when the Obi stunts were being cast (it would certainly be more efficient that milling those shapes)

Here's the best shot down the nose for ya:
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I think it may be a remnant of the original ANH set up - which was slid to the back to act as a counterweight for ESB (the brought back up when it was no longer for dueling) - I don't have any actual evidence for that though. I also see a tube in the middle of the hole - which would make it similar to the touring saber setups -
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I definitely think you're right about the milled step inside the shroud as well. That's what I did on mine! I should have made it up higher in collar as you said though - I'll probably be updating mine since it would make it more secure on the tube body - something like the 2nd pic
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Niiice work, I remembered your project.. you added a bit of tape to the back of the saber for friction right? That was a slick looking hilt, if I do say so myself.

Also... is that one of the Energizer casts?! I never knew there was a pipe down there. That looks like one of the resin pieces too, not the original which had a metal D ring block. I always figured they made the original energizer top out of wood (or cintra if it was around) and molded it

So, this idea of yours would mean the top is cast metal... I could believe it, it's not smooth by any means. I wonder what PoopaPapaPalps thinks of the surface of the Barbican shroud?
 
Thanks and yeah it was just tape holding it on! The friction fit surprisingly works.

That is one of the energizer casts that was auctioned awhile back! (the propstore one specifically). I think it was to take a touring blade like the one at Rancho Obi-Wan. There's set screws on them too!
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The actual bunny saber has something similar:
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Regarding the shroud - in some pics the shroud actually looks like a different color compared to the aluminum tube:
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And this is half joke but half serious -
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(woodgrain??! :lol: )
 
The endcap was certainly made on a lathe so why not the shroud? Plus it seems easier to make that chunky shroud on a lathe than to go through the trouble of casting it. A piece of round aluminum stock can be quickly squared off with a four-jaw chuck (link) and then turned to have cylindrical features. Once you have your rectangular prism faced off (assuming it wasn't already square bar stock to begin with), the remainder would be done in three quick operations:

- Drill/bore the central hole all the way through
- Drill/bore a recess into the free end for the 1.5" tube
- Flip the part around in the chuck and turn down the outside of the emitter end

Then band saw and belt/spindle sander for the angled emitter and scoop on the bottom of the collar (with how crooked the collar scoop is I don't think a mill was involved).
 
Well, everything was done in a roundabout way on ANH (ex. why cast the obi stunts..). But yea I realize it could be done in a lathe easily - using square stock would be much faster. It's that weird swoop on the collar that threw me off - but it could be belt sanded as you said. Perhaps I am mistaken then ha
 
I'd probably put my vote in for the shroud being machined out of stock than anything else. Which is even more puzzling if they had large enough stock to do that, why bother with casting the Kenobi stunt hilts?
 
So, things in the archives sometimes end up different than they were during filming. Think of the red button placement on the Skywalker Ranch Saber.

(click for larger)

These sabers were made as copies of the Barbican right? They have the box on the right side
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The Barbican in the Archives seems to always have the box on the back
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And during filming.. I'm seeing it towards the front.
Vader's hand is right over the clamp area, so it probably isn't on the back
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but in these? (Thanks Brandon A)
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I also don't know if I see T track on both the front and back, or the shroud gets flipped!

Anyway, I'm wondering if we can nail down the positioning of the clamp on this thing. Having it on the back.. I only see it in the archives/touring and in the promo sabers it's on the side, which I thought were copies of it
 

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For years my favorite version of the Vader hilt was the converted Graflex style as seen in the Lucasfilm Archives book, seeing as how iconic and beautiful the Graflex flash is, but about a decade back now the Barbican slowly but surely took the throne as my absolute favorite Vader hilt. There is something I really like about the MPP clamp facing up on the back as opposed to the front and having it lined up with the emitter shroud rather than being canted off to the side like the Graflex. I used to not care for weathered sabers as an early prop replicator but as I've studied the actual props and see all the better reference pictures, I've grown to really love the look.

Out of curiosity does anyone make this piece that sits underneath the back of the shroud? The rectangular box between the domed rivets? I've searched for a while but can't seem to find anything. If anyone is planning a run of those I'd happily pick up a few.

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I'm not necessarily interested in the identity of the part so much as interested in acquiring several replicas of it. Even if it's a "close enough" for when I build my personal Vader sabers. Though I'd imagine identifiying it might help with replication. lol
 
Would be simple to model/print (or shop out metal printing?) with dimensions and a few good pics.
 

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