Hello there!
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Welcome to the interest thread for my upcoming Obi Static run, which will be kicking off on the 31st of Dec.
Over the course of this year (2022), I’ve been painstakingly researching the original prop which was used by Sir Alec Guinness in the original SW movie. It has been a long and fascinating journey which ended up going far more in-depth than I had anticipated.
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Every aspect of each and every piece has been explored, to bring you what I hope will be an incredibly close representation of the original prop.
As always, I am aiming for 100% accuracy, right down to the materials and finishes which were used to create the vintage parts.
It has sparked countless discussions and introduced me to some fascinating people, who have been kind enough to share their knowledge and experience and helped to uncover some of the lesser-known aspects of some of the parts. A big shout out to everyone who has helped to make this happen, from long time RPF members (you know who you are ), to Veteran RR engineers and Heritage Trust members, and even a knight of the Realm and land-speed-record holder! No stone has been left unturned!
I’m immensely honoured that so many people have expressed an interest, and CAN NOT WAIT to finally see the resulting models turned in to a reality!
The initial models were made by meticulously referencing original vintage parts (very kindly provided by
DannyP91).
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These were then aligned with reference images and fine-tuned to capture any subtle details unique to those parts used on the original prop:
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High poly models were also made to create realistic visualisations of how the finished prop might look once weathered, and to show how everything fits together:
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After months of R&D and weeks of negotiations and discussions, we finally have manufacturers allocated for each and every part…. and prices!!
So here it is… A little later than expected… The final update before proceeding with the run!
First off let me apologise for the delay in announcing the final price, and getting the run officially kicked off. There have been a number of last minute tweaks to some of the models/finishes. This obviously kicks off a new round of quotations each time. The process of deciding where to get each part made has been an arduous one. I’m happy to say that I can now announce a final price based on the latest set of quotes. I am still actively seeking better offers on some of the parts though, so prices *could* change between now and the time of placing orders.
Without further ado, here are the prices for your consideration:
Complete Obi Static hilt: £495
This includes Chemically darkened/weathered parts and bead blasted Inconel 600 Emitter. All greebles, including WannaWanga Bubble Strip and D-Ring. Also includes choice of lettering on the Grenade ring and preferred stamping on transistor cans.
Price is inclusive of all fees except for shipping which will be invoiced on arrival of the parts.
Here are the prices for the various individual parts (most of which are available separately) So that you can make sense of things. As you can see, some are cheaper than you might have expected (hopefully). It’s my hope that this will offset the more expensive parts, and that everyone will be pleased with the Total hilt price. There was a point in the quoting process where I thought it might end up being much higher, so I’m happy to have been able to keep it below £500:
EMITTER - Two part Inconel 600 Derwent 8/9 interconnector assembly with bead blasted finish. Painstakingly researched over many months and drawing on the advice of veteran RR engineers as well as original blueprints/documentation - £120
I jumped the gun a little with the last update. So apologies for that. The prices I received for the Emitter materials were just so high, it got me spooked! So I started to explore alternatives. This was not entirely necessary... It turns out that the chemical compositions of the two alloys that were used for some variants of the balance pipe are VERY similar. So much so that they are (and were) interchangeable within the Interconnector. The balance pipes went through a variety of mods, where different combinations of the two alloys were tried and tested. With this in mind, we are going to go for full Inconel (both parts). There was indeed a point at which the balance pipes were configured this way. So, without knowing 100% which variant of the pipe was used for the actual prop, I’m happy to proceed with the all Inconel version.
I have now managed to get these at a price that I think is reasonable enough for everyone. It was a big worry that the price of the emitter would be so high that it would only be affordable to a handful of people, which would push the price up exponentially as people dropped out. I hope that the price I've secured is acceptable to everyone who has expressed an interest. It was the plan from the very beginning after all, to go with the more expensive, accurate materials. So hopefully it's around the price that people were expecting. Or maybe lower?
The parts will be bead blasted in the appropriate areas in order to give them a matte finish. As seen here:
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Machine finish can be arranged if preferred.
These will arrive fully assembled, but I can arrange for the two parts to be supplied separately on request. This might be preferable for those wishing to weather the two parts independently.
Please be aware that the correct method of assembly WOULD be permanent!
I’m open to the idea of going down a less permanent rout such as an epoxy adhesive if this is preferable. It could give people the option of disassembling further down the line.
HALE’S RIFFLE GRENADE SECTION - Blackened Low Carbon steel shell with chemically darkened brass parts and custom, hand stamped ring. Painstakingly researched from a variety of vintage sources, and then finely tuned to match the one used on the original prop - £120
Over the course of the past few months a number of interesting quirks, specific to the grenade used on the prop, have revealed themselves to me. Due to the steps that I went through in researching and modelling the parts, it became apparent that the grenade used on the prop is NOT typical of the majority of vintage No3 MK1 grenades in circulation. Having first based my model on a genuine vintage example, I had difficulty in matching my model to the prop references. I first put this down to a possible mistake on my part, but after cross referencing the various references, and double/triple checking everything, it became apparent that the top of the grenade section (where the neck threads in to the grenade body) is narrower than usual. Knowing full well just how contentious this would be, I reached out to community veteran,
teecrooz (who has certainly seen their fair share of vintage parts!) and it appears that some variation in the size of the neck base (and thread) HAVE been observed! It would appear that the grenade used on the prop is the narrower (apparently less common) variant. I can confidently state this, based on the fact that the major diameter of the larger thread size actually sits outside the diameter of the top of the grenade section.
This has been corroborated using 2D photogrammetry (photoshop measuring tools) by setting the measurement scale to known values such as the balance pipe diameter, and the clamp length. It all checks out.
The Ring section of the windvane will be supplied to me plain and unstamped. I will be stamping these myself by hand, and so will be happy to stamp them with either the “Cotton Powder” or Roburite and Ammonal” lettering. Or, if you prefer, they can be left blank.
All parts will be chemically blackened by default, but can be supplied in machine finish if preferred.
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CLAMP - Replica Graflex Clamp. Painstakingly researched to replicate the early Folmer clamp (with domed, un-plated rivet). Dull/Matte Chrome plated - £50 (Not Sold Separately)
I’ve done EVERYTHING within my power to get this and all the other parts at the lowest price possible! The Clamp has proved to be one of the more expensive and troublesome parts however. Mostly on account of it being made up of multiple parts and requiring a variety of different processes. This is still a relatively limited run too. The lower prices that people have become accustomed to are only really achievable in much greater numbers! I have tried my best to balance out the price of the other parts in order to achieve an overall hilt price that is affordable. So, in actual fact, the clamp is being made at a loss based on the above target price, which I have absorbed with a slight increase to other parts where possible. For this reason, It won’t be possible to offer the clamp separately unfortunately. I also need to request that people please include it in their full hilts. If too many people were to choose to exclude it from their order, it would increase the price even further for everyone else, and could result in it having to be pulled. I did consider sourcing a third party clamp, which would obviously have brought the overall cost of the full hilt down. This is something I’ve done before, but on this occasion, I felt that it was important that the clamp be my own design/work. I have gone to great lengths to ensure that it is as accurate to my vintage reference as humanly possible, and will sport a rounded/un-plated mild steel lever rivet. I am going with bright chrome plating that I believe should accurately replicate the finish of the vintage Folmer clamp. By default, the clamp will be an unaltered, Folmer style Graflex clamp. I considered adding the additional holes to the design for quotation, but I figured that not everyone will want to use it to build a 100% accurate representation of the Chronicles prop. They are easier to add and well, impossible to get rid of. So I’ve opted for an undrilled clamp. It will be accompanied by a drilling template however, as well as pre-cut, self adhesive foil sections, (accurately cut using my vinyl plotter to match the damage pattern seen on the original prop), to be applied if desired.
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Transistors/Washers – 2X Marconi Eliott transistor replicas with custom made aluminium washers - £20
I’ll be supplying two of each of these for those wishing to include both washers (as seen on the Tunisia hilt). The transistor replicas are modelled from the transistor cans found inside the Anita 1011 desktop calculator. The one and only vintage part that I can claim to have independently identified. The transistors will be Matte Tin plated to match the finish of the vintage part, but will sport a threaded bar and nut in order to fix to the clamp. I have investigated the labelling on the original prop and personally, I lean towards the MA15 and MA34 labelling. I came to this conclusion by overlaying the various stamps over the prop references. To my eyes, the MA15 and MA34 line up best. I realise that this may be contentious though, so I am happy to apply the labelling of your choice from these examples:
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I have sourced an appropriate ink that is designed for permanent rubber stamping on metal.
The washers have been designed to match the diameter/hight observed on the prop and fit over the top of the transistor. They will be bead blasted for a matte finish.
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SPACER - Based on the Browning 303 Flash hider and cut to the correct length to correctly space the grenade/booster bellow the clamp. Chemically blackened steel and Chromed interior. - £30
The spacer for this replica is based on the original flash hider that connects to the Browning 303 muzzle. The vintage part is often used as a spacer underneath the clamp on account of it threading in to the booster. The flange is just the right diameter to slot in to one end of the clamp, making everything nice and snug. It is cut to length to give the exact amount of overlap between the clamp and the grenade section seen on the original prop. It will be chemically darkened with a chromed interior (as seen on the vintage part).
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BOOSTER - Blackened steel Browning 303 muzzle. With Chromed interior. - £40
The booster section is based on the Browning 303 muzzle. Painstakingly modelled from a vintage piece, and fine tuned to match the one seen on the prop. It will be chemically blackened with chromed interior.
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HANDWHEEL - Exact replica of AS Handwheel with Bright Chrome plated Brass and plastic parts. Pre-drilled and includes WannaWanga D-Ring. Comes with “C” (Cold) cap and blue indices - £70 (Not Sold Separately)
Whilst this run is proving to be bigger than any previous run that I have done so far, the numbers are still relatively low for injection moulding. The prices for the handwheel parts are as low as I could get them. Hopefully people can bare the setup costs involved for these kinds of parts in mind. The moulds are essentially one off CNC’d chambers, with multiple parts. The vast majority of the cost for these parts in particular are in the manufacturing of these moulds. So, like the Clamp, the cost price for the handwheel is higher than I would have liked, and similarly, it cannot be sold separately unfortunately, as the price listed is actually slightly less than the cost. The fact that it is being made at a slight loss to me, has been absorbed by increasing the price of some of the parts which came in lower than expected. Due to the
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Coach Bolt/Emitter insert - Stainless Steel Coach bolt and emitter insert. - £45
This is the method for keeping all the parts together. The Bolt has an 8mm block which fits inside the square hole in the handwheel, and the Emitter insert includes a grub screw which grips the emitter from the inside out
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PAYMENT:
I plan on hitting the order button for all of the parts on Dec 31st. Upfront payment for the parts will be required by this date in order to secure your place on the run.
Unfortunately, I’m not able to offer credit, or instalments personally, but invoices will be sent out via PayPal, which does allow for the use of PayPal Credit or Pay-In-Three.
The above prices are inclusive of any fees, but do not include Shipping.
A second invoice for Shipping will be sent out once the parts have arrived and are ready to send out.
I’m happy to hold on to people’s orders if they wish for me to carry out a full weathering commission. I’ll go in to more detail of what this would entail, along with pricing as soon as possible.
Shipping is currently looking something like this but could be subject to change by the time of shipping:
- UK = £15
- EU = £20
- USA = £30
- SOUTH AMERICA = £40
- JAPAN = £28
- AUSTRALIA = £41
**Buyer is responsible for any additional import duty/tax.**
All UK orders will be sent via Special Delivery. International orders will be sent via UPS (including full insurance).
What happens next?....
Over the next week or so, I’ll be contacting everyone on the list to confirm their order and to request the information I need in order to invoice them (email/contact telephone number/shipping address).
I’ll then begin sending out invoices. There is no need to pay the invoice until the 31st of December, although you’re free to do so obviously. As soon as payment is received, I’ll mark you down as having paid.
The order for all parts will be placed by the end of the day on 31st of December 2022 with a lead time of 15 – 25 business days.
I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally get this run off the ground! It’s been an incredible amount of work, and quite the investigative rabbit hole! But I’m immensely proud of the models that have been produced as a result, and so grateful for the support that you’ve all shown in following its progress and taking part!
I can’t wait to finally get these made and sent out to you all, and to finally handle what will be an incredibly close representation of the original prop!
Thanks everyone!
All the best, and MTFBWY – Always!
Dave
). Thanks Dave- I will say it again: UH-MAY-ZING!!!
