Do we know who built Obi-Wan's saber?

[coolhanluked]

Even if they did have one of these on the Tunisia saber, I'm inclined to believe that they still had the neck screwed in to the wrong end of the frag body (the red end in this painted example) in Tunisia. As pointed out earlier, when the neck is screwed in to the wrong end of the frag body, the neck won't go in deep enough to hide all of the threads; and there is photographic evidence that seems to show the Tunisia saber had extra threads showing around the base of the neck. Perhaps the prop makers had a grenade with a frag body like the one in this photo, took that one fully apart, and then accidentally re-assembled it the wrong way around, without realizing. (Having a frag body with two square ends would make that accident more likely to happen.)

Either way, I'm inclined to believe that they built more than one OWK saber, but maybe only one of the ones that they built was accidentally assembled with the neck on the wrong end of the grenade frag body. Perhaps when a prop manager was packing up props to bring to Tunisia, they thought to themselves, "We won't need any close-up shots for the OWK saber outdoors on Tatooine. Which of these multiple sabers should we bring to Tunisia? I know. I'll bring this one here - the one with a more square end on the frag body compared to the other(s) - because it looks worse than the other one(s). It has a few threads sticking out. I don't know why, but who care? I'm not going to try to figure out why it looks different than the other ones. No one will notice. I'll save the better-looking one(s) for the indoor close-up shooting, when we return to England."

I can buy into this. Its possible.

 

[Halliwax]

I think 3 were built but only one existed at a time..

Built 1 for England, then took apart

Built new one in Tunisia, then took apart

There is also one that was built for chronicles, which I don’t think can be matched to anything on screen

So all 3 are different, to my understanding

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

Is it true that the Tunisia prop had the male balance pipe and the grenade flipped? the photos I've seen sure seem to point in that direction.

I don't know that we have any evidence on Male or Female balance pipe. I have a faux male one on my Tunisia saber. But, it's just a bit of artistic license.

 

[coolhanluked]

I think 3 were built but only one existed at a time..

Built 1 for England, then took apart

Built new one in Tunisia, then took apart

There is also one that was built for chronicles, which I don’t think can be matched to anything on screen

So all 3 are different, to my understanding

This thread is going faster than i can type on my phone (don't judge) I think you are correct in that assessment.

 

[chazzychaz]

I think 3 were built but only one existed at a time..

Built 1 for England, then took apart

Built new one in Tunisia, then took apart

There is also one that was built for chronicles, which I don’t think can be matched to anything on screen

So all 3 are different, to my understanding

Interesting, why would the prop guys disassemble?

 

[chazzychaz]

I don't follow you. What screws? The through rod assembly works no matter which way the frag body is flipped.

The small screws sunk into the clamp. or is that only on the chronicles photo?

 

[coolhanluked]

The small screws sunk into the clamp. or is that only on the chronicles photo?

I think that the chronicles/mechanismo photos were cobbled together for a photo shoot to look "cool" and technical. (which they don't. It looks like trash) I know I'm going to get some flak for this but thats what i see. From what we can see in the death star saber it looks clean. Like a hero prop. Even the Tunisia saber looks kind of clean. The chronicles saber looks like an after thought just like some of the other props "restored " for photo shoots. Starwars props do not make sense. They didn't think that they would be seen on screen In detail at the time to care. Definitely not for us to nitpick them like we do now. Starwars was a wambamthankyoumam movie that was disregarded as something anyone would want to see.

I want to remind everyone of that fact.

We are chasing unicorns here. I'm not trying to be "definitive" there is a lot to take in. But this was a b grade movie at best when they made it. It just happened to end up be something special and ground breaking. And here we are now. Dissecting every last little part of it. Do we have a SW sickness? Probably. But we are having fun right? We just have to remember/know that some things they did Probably won't ever make sense. As we all know and keep finding out.

Ok I am ready for the backlash.

 

[Mouse Vader]

Not from me.

 

[Halliwax]

Interesting, why would the prop guys disassemble?

These parts were rented from
Bapsty and had to be returned after filming,

When they did the shoots in Tunisia we know the gun laws were stupid strict over there, they had to cut up, weld the barrels, all sorts of things to the sterlings.

There is a theory that they had to source a grenade out there, because they couldn’t ship it to Tunisia. I have a hard time believing that

But with bapsty having such a huge surplus of supply’s they probably got another order of stuff to ship (for Tunisia, and after the first grenade was returned) and one of them was “hales grenade” the guy in charge of collecting the weapons for shipping didn’t take the time to pick the same one used prior (realistically no records like that were probably kept)

The stuff was rented, returned and thrown in a box or in a random pile.. so getting the same exact one again was a long shot

This is also why there isn’t a Obi saber today, she was dismantled and the grenade returned to bapsty, along with the Han Solos live fire.. which we now know the scope still lives with bapsty.. or what ever the company’s name is now that bought them out

 

[coolhanluked]

These parts were rented from
Bapsty and had to be returned after filming,

When they did the shoots in Tunisia we know the gun laws were stupid strict over there, they had to cut up, weld the barrels, all sorts of things to the sterlings.

There is a theory that they had to source a grenade out there, because they couldn’t ship it to Tunisia. I have a hard time believing that

But with bapsty having such a huge surplus of supply’s they probably got another order of stuff to ship (for Tunisia, and after the first grenade was returned) and one of them was “hales grenade” the guy in charge of collecting the weapons for shipping didn’t take the time to pick the same one used prior (realistically no records like that were probably kept)

The stuff was rented, returned and thrown in a box or in a random pile.. so getting the same exact one again was a long shot

This is also why there isn’t a Obi saber today, she was dismantled and the grenade returned to bapsty, along with the Han Solos live fire.. which we now know the scope still lives with bapsty.. or what ever the company’s name is now that bought them out

I basically wrote the same thing. You beat me to the post. Good info here.

 

[scarf man]

*Bapty & Co. was an armorer dealing in live firearms for films, only two components of the prop were gun parts. I find it unlikely that an inert grenade and a cut up flash hider were returned. The booster and bearing may have been sourced elsewhere, the aviation scrapyard for example (the ANM2 Browning was used on aircraft), the grenade may have come from a military surplus store. There are too many possibilities to pin down.

Working from the reference that we have, I believe that metal tape was covering the clamp screws during filming. We have corroborating evidence that tape was used on other saber props to cover the graflex logo. I’m into the two hero prop theory, but I definitely think the Chronicles prop was one of them.

 

[Halliwax]

I basically wrote the same thing. You beat me to the post. Good info here.

My doppelgänger!

 

[Halliwax]

*Bapty & Co. was an armorer dealing in live firearms for films, only two components of the prop were gun parts. I find it unlikely that an inert grenade and a cut up flash hider were returned. The booster and bearing may have been sourced elsewhere, the aviation scrapyard for example (the ANM2 Browning was used on aircraft), the grenade may have come from a military surplus store. There are too many possibilities to pin down.

Working from the reference that we have, I believe that metal tape was covering the clamp screws during filming. We have corroborating evidence that tape was used on other saber props to cover the graflex logo. I’m into the two hero prop theory, but I definitely think the Chronicles prop was one of them.

We have a photo with the grenade with a bapty tag and inventory number

 

[scarf man]

We have a photo with the grenade with a bapty tag and inventory number

Is it confirmed to be a Bapty tag, or does it just say BP and we’ve assumed?
I’ve seen the photo you’re referring to, but no context as to where it was found, just a pic on the net.

I’m only being argumentative as a means to keep avenues open to ideas and discussions. Deductive reasoning can lead to many different hypotheses.

 

[AnubisGuard]

We have corroborating evidence that tape was used on other saber props to cover the graflex logo.

In ANH?

 

[scarf man]

In ANH?

The debate is still open as far as I’m concerned.

Debate! Chrome tape on the ANH Graflex

Not since rivets vs. screws is there potential for such a heated debate! As saber parts became known, the notion of chrome tape covering the Graflex logo became known. At first, it was thought that the ANH saber had a single small strip and the ESB had the wider textured tape. As better...

www.therpf.com

My opinions have shifted and are always in flux on certain details of props.

 

[Serenity]

Looks like it says "BAP" on it. The photo is from a Star Wars magazine that came out a few years ago. No definitive proof that it was ever used in the movie and I don't want to get my own thoughts mixed in with facts, so here's the photo:

 

[ataru72ita]

Love these discussions!
Love the saber, following with great interest!

Regards,

Alberto

 

[scarf man]

Looks like it says "BAP" on it. The photo is from a Star Wars magazine that came out a few years ago. No definitive proof that it was ever used in the movie and I don't want to get my own thoughts mixed in with facts, so here's the photo:

View attachment 1345194

I stand corrected on the “BAP” label. It still doesn’t add much either way IMHO.
I’d rather be at an impasse and still thinking, rather than call it confirmed and move on to something else and never give it much thought again.

 

[chazzychaz]

These parts were rented from
Bapsty and had to be returned after filming,

When they did the shoots in Tunisia we know the gun laws were stupid strict over there, they had to cut up, weld the barrels, all sorts of things to the sterlings.

There is a theory that they had to source a grenade out there, because they couldn’t ship it to Tunisia. I have a hard time believing that

But with bapsty having such a huge surplus of supply’s they probably got another order of stuff to ship (for Tunisia, and after the first grenade was returned) and one of them was “hales grenade” the guy in charge of collecting the weapons for shipping didn’t take the time to pick the same one used prior (realistically no records like that were probably kept)

The stuff was rented, returned and thrown in a box or in a random pile.. so getting the same exact one again was a long shot

This is also why there isn’t a Obi saber today, she was dismantled and the grenade returned to bapsty, along with the Han Solos live fire.. which we now know the scope still lives with bapsty.. or what ever the company’s name is now that bought them out

Thanks Halliwax, much appreciated. So let me ask this, since the chronicles pic is of a prop that was not seen on screen, what is the best photoref to go from please.