Best way to paint ROTJ Luke lightsaber rings?

[_Lee_]

So whats the best method for painting the rings/ridges on a Luke ROTJ saber? Specifically a metal machined one? I was thinking about masking the whole piece, paint black and then take the paint off the outer edges whilst leaving the winners black-is this a good method?

 

[SethS]

If it's all metal just spray it down matte black and use a scouring pad or superfine sandpaper to take it off the rings. Tape off everything else.

 

[Sundowner]

The method I used was to paint it and take a rag with mineral spirits and rubbed the rings till the paint was gone.

 

[kevin926]

Not too sure how everyone else did it. When I painted mine, I started masking every part I didn't want painted. I wasn't too impressed with the masking outcome so I decided to just spray the area and clean off the excess with a plastic knife as a scraper. Being metal, it came off pretty easy.

 

[Edraven99]

The method I used was to paint it and take a rag with mineral spirits and rubbed the rings till the paint was gone.

I've been told to do that as well... but with acetone.... my question is, is there a danger of "bleed"? I don't ant to mess up my pained grooves while I'm cleaning off the rings....

This will be for a 'Hero' ROTJ so pristine rings are also a must....

 

[kevin926]

Are we getting ready for nicksdad hero? Me too! Lol

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I've been told to do that as well... but with acetone.... my question is, is there a danger of "bleed"? I don't ant to mess up my pained grooves while I'm cleaning off the rings....

This will be for a 'Hero' ROTJ so pristine rings are also a must....

I like the dry scrape method. Works fine. No bleeding

 

[Edraven99]

Are we getting ready for nicksdad hero? Me too! Lol

You betcha!! I also have a Rylo reveal in kit form that needs to be painted as well that I haven't gotten around to doing....

 

[Sundowner]

I've been told to do that as well... but with acetone.... my question is, is there a danger of "bleed"? I don't ant to mess up my pained grooves while I'm cleaning off the rings....

This will be for a 'Hero' ROTJ so pristine rings are also a must....

It worked fine with no running or bleeding. It took a bit of elbow grease to get the paint off so if you get some of the acetone on a part of the inner ring, you'll be fine as long as you dont start to rub it.

 

[thd9791]

I'd love to know a method for resin sabers. I have a ROTJ one to paint here and if I scrape away paint, I just get black resin :lol

 

[newmagrathea]

I've been told to do that as well... but with acetone.... my question is, is there a danger of "bleed"? I don't ant to mess up my pained grooves while I'm cleaning off the rings....

This will be for a 'Hero' ROTJ so pristine rings are also a must....

Yes some bleed will occur if you use mineral spirits unless you are super careful. I think for the V2 it’s ok, but for the hero scraping/sanding will yield better results.


Anyone else having issues with quoting someone and the spaces not working?

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I've only done one years ago, but I painted the black and then wiped the raised area with thinner. If you're careful it won't require any touchup.

 

[division 6]

Other methods.

Mask off with painters tape.
Mask off with a coat of liquid latex.

Spray paint.
Remove masking.

 

[PoopaPapaPalps]

As metal sabers go, the simplest is just spray it black and then scrape the rings off. For resin, masking with latex or tape will do it. Then again, one can do that method for both and get equally good results.

 

[Sundowner]

If you do use the method of scraping, I would use plastic tools over metal. You're less likely to really scratch up the metal underneath. I've used plastic tools for shaping clay in the past.

 

[cboath]

You can also get 1/8" wide tape from amazon to mask the rings with.

https://www.amazon.com/Chartpak-Gra...UTF8&qid=1478115575&sr=8-8&keywords=1/8"+tape

 

[Edraven99]

You can also get 1/8" wide tape from amazon to mask the rings with.

https://www.amazon.com/Chartpak-Gra...UTF8&qid=1478115575&sr=8-8&keywords=1/8"+tape

I did try experimenting with masking... but it's a bit of a pain in the ass...plus with the Nicksdad saber, the rings will be uneven....

 

[division 6]

If you go the tape route just measure the width of each ring, lay out you tape on a solid cutting surface, mark and cut.

 

[cboath]

I did try experimenting with masking... but it's a bit of a pain in the ass...plus with the Nicksdad saber, the rings will be uneven....

I used it on my V2 and it came out great. Granted, those were even rings. In this case, at worst, most rings are that wide so you could mask those then just have to clean a couple.

 

[russellsch]

Once the paint was tacky-ish, I just used my thumbnail. I even had a plastic knife in my hand, but when I tested the tackiness of the paint with my nail... I just kept going.

 

[Darth Lars]

I first used aluminium primer, sandpapered that off, then paint and sandpapered that off. I had the fine sandpaper glued to a flat piece of aluminium using contact cement. I chose a flat-surfaced sanding block like to make sure that the sanding was perfect and not inside the grooves.

If you go the tape route just measure the width of each ring, lay out you tape on a solid cutting surface, mark and cut.

It would be much easier to use two strips of thin masking tape per ring. It does not matter if the tape overlaps.