Darth Vader ANH V2 Clamp Card LEDs…

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LOVE the card—thank you!

I also agree with your assessment that the “Black Bars” ANH MPP should actually be regarded as the V1 / Primary Vader Hero from ANH.

A question for discussion: While we don’t know for certain that similar photos don’t exist for the V2, do the photos of the V1 (seen in the CHRONICLES book, etc.) not indicate that the production team considered it the hero, since that was the one they photographed?
 
A question for discussion: While we don’t know for certain that similar photos don’t exist for the V2, do the photos of the V1 (seen in the CHRONICLES book, etc.) not indicate that the production team considered it the hero, since that was the one they photographed?

I view it as similar to the V2 ROTJ Skywalker saber…while the V2 was in the majority of key shots for the movie, the production team designated the ISYHCANL as the “hero”…

Plus, I prefer the “Black Sidebars / LED clamp card” version over the “Bent Nail / Silver Sidebars” version, so it’s really also convenient for me to support this narrative. :)
 
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Very cool! I also prefer this version. I was able to get a hold of some of the LEDs, but now I just need a clamp card and to figure out how to get the LEDs off the old card and on to the new one.

Oh and an MPP, but thats another story.
 
Not screen accurate, but just scored this out of an SR-10
Blue card, hybrid LED/Bubble. Probably going to cut it down and remove every other LED to create some spacing
CardandLEDs.jpg

Calculator details, since like the exactra there is no consistency across the model
IMG_0517.JPGIMG_0519.JPG

Was considering transferring them to my Slothfurnace card, but just realized the card won't fit in the clamp I got from the custom saber shop. Hopefully the black bar clamp I ordered from Roman's has a more accurate dimension.
 
Not screen accurate, but just scored this out of an SR-10
Blue card, hybrid LED/Bubble. Probably going to cut it down and remove every other LED to create some spacingView attachment 1730118
Calculator details, since like the exactra there is no consistency across the model
View attachment 1730119View attachment 1730120

Was considering transferring them to my Slothfurnace card, but just realized the card won't fit in the clamp I got from the custom saber shop. Hopefully the black bar clamp I ordered from Roman's has a more accurate dimension.

If you are willing to harvest the red LEDs and re-solder them to another board, I have a blue slothfurnace card that you can have for that purpose.
 
TI-2550 LEDs.jpg

Here's a few notable points in my quest to upgrade my Vader Saber that might help add to the conversation. I was able to obtain LEDs from a TI-2550. At first I tried using a soldiering iron to remove them. That proved futile. I couldn't get all the points hot enough at the same time so they would break in the process. Then I switched to a heat gun. That did the trick. I had hopes of mounting a Exactra 20 style bubble strip on top but the leads from the LEDs prevent the strip from making contact with the PCB.
bubble idea2.jpg


Here's its current state:

My vader compare July 2 2024 blur sm.jpg
 
Nice work. Maybe you are doing a cool custom hybrid, but as you probably already know, the ANH black sidebars with red LEDs version did not have a bubble lens strip. The ANH silver sidebars version had a bubble strip without large LEDs (and possibly a bare circuit board under the bubble strip.)
 
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