ANH Vader Stunt Lightsaber
- Thread starter thd9791
- Start date
SO, those black caps? I think I found them.
I want to thank teecrooz for pointing me towards an Alien prop, and user Septic for pointing me towards the right kind of part and a whole other forum devoted to that movie. I did a little digging, and it's not exactly the part from Alien, but one like it.
These are funny things, they're generic model-making parts.. they are not caps but solid pieces of plastic with flat bottoms. This is the right size for the Barbican. Maybe even the black thing on the pommel too... not sure about that one. They fit perfectly in the bolt holes. My countersunk holes are a little smaller than the Barbican ones, maybe by less than 1mm, which accounts for less exposed metal around the part. They exactly match the head size for the M6 bolts I use.
(click on pictures for larger version if you want)
So, since they're plastic and injection molded they are not all perfect looking. Some have flashing or rough lines, which seems normal. And get a load of this. They are clear. *Some do appear to be available in white, which is a possibility too!*
Even the similar part on Alien is clear originally. Maybe they got a layer of primer before the paint, because it does kind-of look white underneath the black paint. The alien prop is coated in that mystery green paint. I painted these with some Rustoleum flat black and shined them up with a paper towel. Looks like the Barbican used a satin paint.
As usual with the way the hobby is, message me for the model number and specifics. I don't care if my inbox blows up, I just want to protect this part from scalpers, parts flippers, etc. This is not a rare item and I'd like to keep it that way.
I'm going to put these in silicone and pour black onyx casts for myself. They're tiny, so I will have a lot of extras and I can make them available for a hell of a lot cheaper than I paid to get these here) more on that in the proper forum section.
Neat huh? I can't get over that they're flat, it's so funny to me and I can't explain why
I want to thank teecrooz for pointing me towards an Alien prop, and user Septic for pointing me towards the right kind of part and a whole other forum devoted to that movie. I did a little digging, and it's not exactly the part from Alien, but one like it.
These are funny things, they're generic model-making parts.. they are not caps but solid pieces of plastic with flat bottoms. This is the right size for the Barbican. Maybe even the black thing on the pommel too... not sure about that one. They fit perfectly in the bolt holes. My countersunk holes are a little smaller than the Barbican ones, maybe by less than 1mm, which accounts for less exposed metal around the part. They exactly match the head size for the M6 bolts I use.
(click on pictures for larger version if you want)
So, since they're plastic and injection molded they are not all perfect looking. Some have flashing or rough lines, which seems normal. And get a load of this. They are clear. *Some do appear to be available in white, which is a possibility too!*
Even the similar part on Alien is clear originally. Maybe they got a layer of primer before the paint, because it does kind-of look white underneath the black paint. The alien prop is coated in that mystery green paint. I painted these with some Rustoleum flat black and shined them up with a paper towel. Looks like the Barbican used a satin paint.
As usual with the way the hobby is, message me for the model number and specifics. I don't care if my inbox blows up, I just want to protect this part from scalpers, parts flippers, etc. This is not a rare item and I'd like to keep it that way.
I'm going to put these in silicone and pour black onyx casts for myself. They're tiny, so I will have a lot of extras and I can make them available for a hell of a lot cheaper than I paid to get these here) more on that in the proper forum section.
Neat huh? I can't get over that they're flat, it's so funny to me and I can't explain why
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Poikilotherm
Sr Member
here are the pics from my model, as you might know from my WIP thread, matched in perspective on more than 12 photos of the real prop.
and from the bottom to really show how assymetrical the placement is:
by the way, which version are you doing? is it a mix with square shroud and bolts? I thought the bolts were added after the shroud was rounded up.
and from the bottom to really show how assymetrical the placement is:
by the way, which version are you doing? is it a mix with square shroud and bolts? I thought the bolts were added after the shroud was rounded up.
Wow, great model! You’re absolutely right, when I eyeballed each bolt I rotated the saber and thought I did it all wrong… they’re so asymmetrical it kind of looks bad haha
I only eyeballed 4 photos so my bolts are a little wacky I guess lol …I’m doing this version
Again, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. You really impress me tom with what you can do with such limited tools
Keep up the great work brother
Thanks to kurtyboy for this image, I'm going to vote NO on there being a greeblie on the back of the emitter shroud. They might have put it on when molding it to make it look more like an MPP ...The T track piece might still be there considering it appears before ESB, and I wonder if the Mystery part is on there!
Any other opinions?
Any other opinions?
Benjo
Active Member
That's pretty interesting. Difficult to know what was there on ESB production and what was replaced. To me, everything seems to tell they didn't care that much about details since ESB production. As long as a prop could do the job on camera they didn't pay attention that much to things like the mystery part or the T track under the shroud.
Though, might be off topic but I still have an interrogation about that prop during ROTJ. why would they modifiy then cast the « proto » barbican that way for the hand injury resin stunt cast ?
I mean, there's the MOM Vader wich is a not that close attempt to reproduce the MPP features, why did they cast another different stunt prop ? Why did they resculpt the square shroud ?
Maybe it's not the right thread to talk about that but, what if the actual Vader ROTJ hero lightsaber was the Barbican as it was when cast in resin for the hand injury scene ?!
Though, might be off topic but I still have an interrogation about that prop during ROTJ. why would they modifiy then cast the « proto » barbican that way for the hand injury resin stunt cast ?
I mean, there's the MOM Vader wich is a not that close attempt to reproduce the MPP features, why did they cast another different stunt prop ? Why did they resculpt the square shroud ?
Maybe it's not the right thread to talk about that but, what if the actual Vader ROTJ hero lightsaber was the Barbican as it was when cast in resin for the hand injury scene ?!
No these are good questions, I was hoping to hash out more of its lifespan on this thread.
Our eyes might be playing tricks on us, since the moving scenes on the catwalk are the same hilt as the ones staying still but they look different.
As for the ROTJ, yea, all evidence points to them not caring and just molding it. I noticed today they painted in the split holes. That means when it was molded it had the shorter plug in the emitter. That’s really only good for stand-in blades. Looks like they a couple bolts and plugged the lower holes…and the end cap hole, so that shows me it was prepped for being in a liquid mold.
Weirdly… yea they modified the saber to look more like an mpp. It was meant for a close up shot, which may add something here. The big square thing would have been too obvious. My thinking is that they had to shoot with the LV Stunt while the costume dept was making this and the barbican was available?
today, there are seven grips on the Barbican, if you count the missing one of course.
So I’m not crazy! Thank you
I’m digging around trying to find more esb reference, it almost looks like foam grips on there
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