Dooku & Sidious Sabers
- Thread starter AMSW
- Start date
They were a combination of chomed resin casts and machined parts. Anakin Starkiller is designing a Dooku and planning for a run. No one's done an accurate run of Palpatine sabers so Master Replicas is the best out there in my opinion. Dooku has a Covertek wheel which is a found part and grips which could have been pulled from something and Palpatine has LEDs that are inlaid around a beveled disk.
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4str0m3ch
Active Member
To me an accurate Palpatine saber would be a mixed material build with all the wonderful asymmetries. A lot of the ones available are idealised in the way that they go all metal and straight and pretty in design. The only reason I go with MR is because it was designed directly off the hero prop.
SP's is pretty much 1:1 with the MR. He successfully replicated that finish and color
I would wait for Anakin Starkiller's run if you want a static hilt. His will be the most accurate to ever be released.
thank you
Correction on a few of the points raised:
IIRC, Dooku's AotC was actually made in metal. Likely made from machined aluminium stock and (possibly) cast aluminium parts for the main hilt segments. The whole hilt, but the "knuckle" segment, has a polished metal finish. The prong that runs the length is aluminium. The one's made for RotS are resin casts off of this piece and vacuum metallized/chromed. The Hero AotC hilt was in the private possession of Christopher Lee in a bank box before he passed (don't know where it is now) and the chromed resin Hero for RotS was recently auctioned off by Nick Gillard.
Palpatine's RotS hilt(s) were made last-minute on production, literally while filming. Anakin was originally supposed to fight Windu, then it was Palpatine fighting Windu with Anakin being a wallflower, but then Lucas changed it last minute to Palpatine only and the thing was quickly designed and produced, essentially, for inserts. Palpatine still fights with Anakin's skinny-flex stunt during the sequence with Windu in every shot but for the close-ups of the hilt at the beginning of the fight, and the cg shot of it flying out the window. It's likely that the whole thing was 3D designed and printed, cast, and vacuum metalized, too, just due to production needs. They had enough time to make a number of them to get the color finalized as there have been a number of prototype pieces appearing over time in the wild. The MR is still the closest to accurate, IMO, but the color is inaccurate for both the hero and the V2. In that regard, there's not been an accurate Palpy hilt made and every replica made off of the MR since is inaccurate if they reproduce the color, too.
The chancellor's office hero hilt was colored gold and then overlaid with a gun-metal gray to make it resemble electrum. The rib and puck parts of the hilt are colored gold, and the cone (and possibly the nipple, too, with some further color for a gradient effect) is colored in the same fashion as the main hilt. The only possible metal parts on either version of the hilt is the emitter, which may have been machined brass. This can be seen in photos of the prop(s) today with the patina that has formed over time.
The Palpy V2 (Yoda duel) is the exact same prop but for different color and an addition of a Covertec wheel at the back of hilt. The emitter is potentially machined brass, but the body "wrap" around the main grip section is a blackened brass/bronze color. The cone and puck on this hilt is a dark patina bronze, with something similar for the nipple (with some extra work for a gradient effect). The rib section remains the same gold color from the Hero but in a duller finish.
I made my own Palpatine hilts from cast metal a year ago. They're not accurate as I wanted to add my own touches to them and wanted them more hand-made like the OT sabers. The V2 I still hold as the most beautiful thing I've ever made, but the Hero, which I tried to make in bronze to mimic electrum, turned out terrible. It's something I'd like to tackle again in future.
I'm also prepping to try my hand at making a cast-metal/machined parts Dooku, as well. I just need to finish the buck for the cast pieces.
IIRC, Dooku's AotC was actually made in metal. Likely made from machined aluminium stock and (possibly) cast aluminium parts for the main hilt segments. The whole hilt, but the "knuckle" segment, has a polished metal finish. The prong that runs the length is aluminium. The one's made for RotS are resin casts off of this piece and vacuum metallized/chromed. The Hero AotC hilt was in the private possession of Christopher Lee in a bank box before he passed (don't know where it is now) and the chromed resin Hero for RotS was recently auctioned off by Nick Gillard.
Palpatine's RotS hilt(s) were made last-minute on production, literally while filming. Anakin was originally supposed to fight Windu, then it was Palpatine fighting Windu with Anakin being a wallflower, but then Lucas changed it last minute to Palpatine only and the thing was quickly designed and produced, essentially, for inserts. Palpatine still fights with Anakin's skinny-flex stunt during the sequence with Windu in every shot but for the close-ups of the hilt at the beginning of the fight, and the cg shot of it flying out the window. It's likely that the whole thing was 3D designed and printed, cast, and vacuum metalized, too, just due to production needs. They had enough time to make a number of them to get the color finalized as there have been a number of prototype pieces appearing over time in the wild. The MR is still the closest to accurate, IMO, but the color is inaccurate for both the hero and the V2. In that regard, there's not been an accurate Palpy hilt made and every replica made off of the MR since is inaccurate if they reproduce the color, too.
The chancellor's office hero hilt was colored gold and then overlaid with a gun-metal gray to make it resemble electrum. The rib and puck parts of the hilt are colored gold, and the cone (and possibly the nipple, too, with some further color for a gradient effect) is colored in the same fashion as the main hilt. The only possible metal parts on either version of the hilt is the emitter, which may have been machined brass. This can be seen in photos of the prop(s) today with the patina that has formed over time.
The Palpy V2 (Yoda duel) is the exact same prop but for different color and an addition of a Covertec wheel at the back of hilt. The emitter is potentially machined brass, but the body "wrap" around the main grip section is a blackened brass/bronze color. The cone and puck on this hilt is a dark patina bronze, with something similar for the nipple (with some extra work for a gradient effect). The rib section remains the same gold color from the Hero but in a duller finish.
I made my own Palpatine hilts from cast metal a year ago. They're not accurate as I wanted to add my own touches to them and wanted them more hand-made like the OT sabers. The V2 I still hold as the most beautiful thing I've ever made, but the Hero, which I tried to make in bronze to mimic electrum, turned out terrible. It's something I'd like to tackle again in future.
I'm also prepping to try my hand at making a cast-metal/machined parts Dooku, as well. I just need to finish the buck for the cast pieces.
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Thank you for this write up 
I'll have to look into the Dooku and it's materials for AOTC but I just assumed since the ROTS was resin it was also in ATOC.
Edit- So the emitter and grip cage (not sure what to call it) were machined in aluminum for AOTC? If so that's crazy! Was that done with CNC machining back then?
I'll have to look into the Dooku and it's materials for AOTC but I just assumed since the ROTS was resin it was also in ATOC.Edit- So the emitter and grip cage (not sure what to call it) were machined in aluminum for AOTC? If so that's crazy! Was that done with CNC machining back then?
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So once again, MR straying away from prop accuracy and instead opting for idealization. Not surprising
You'd have to think about master replicas as a company meant to serve the average star wars fan instead of people like us on the rpf who love a perfect replica. Most people would look at a wonky designed product as cheap or poorly made and with the price points I feel no one would have bought anything if they were 100 true in design.
I disagree, especially with how "True-to-the-prop" and "Hardcore Collector" they were advertised as. These also had a retail price of around $300 - 500 back in the day. If anything, the average fan would instead opt for the cheaper Force FX line
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I know a lot of people who prefer idealized hilts rather than dead-on prop accurate. I'm just commenting on how unsurprising it is that MR didn't get these hilts right in the sense of being "the most accurate" contrary to popular belief
I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I know a lot of people who prefer idealized hilts rather than dead-on prop accurate. I'm just commenting on how unsurprising it is that MR didn't get these hilts right in the sense of being "the most accurate" contrary to popular belief
Yea I agree, the whole "most accurate" thing with Master Replicas is pretty misleading
The emitter can be machined on a lathe, radii can be done by hand without issue; it requires steady hands, but not impossible. The grip section could also be made from two aluminium tubes, but it could also be made from something else and sandcast. The curved section that bridges the emitter and grip section is what makes me believe that it could've been a sandcast element. It too can be made with just a metal tube, the notches being how they got the tube to bend, but the grit in the grooves looks like what I get when I cast my ANH stunt hilts.
I don't know how this completely missed the site's attention but, apparently, we've all been wrong about the Sidious/Palpatine Hero hilt: there is indeed a metal copy. It doesn't say what the background and from whose collection this came from, but Propstore's pretty good about authenticating their wares, so this is a pretty special piece because that means this is the only metal copy. Beyond this, there are no other known metal hilts for Palpatine in RotS. Everything else must've been cast from this piece.
Taken from the Propstore auction page:
Some quick observation and speculation to how they made this piece: if this is all aluminium, and there are definite seams separating the wrapping to the ergonomic grip, how I would approach making this would be to have the main exposed grip bar alu and the wrapping come from a tube. I would do the basic cut-outs of the exposed grip area underneath, slide that over the bar, and then grind out the ergonomic/organic shapes from there. The brass is cut on the lathe, even the "nipple" endcap. The nipple is angled on one side after it's fastened to the end of the hilt to point down rather than outward. In fact, judging from how off center it is, the piece was likely shaped together with the rest of the hilt. The copper cylinder might just be for decoration but that screw is likely functional in keeping the wrapping and grip together.
I've been wanting to remake my Hero Palpy hilt ever since I made it, but now with this dropping, I may have the actual incentive to try and make it as they might've done for this during production of RotS. Maybe even better, using real metal they tried to replicate the finish in paint here.
Taken from the Propstore auction page:
Some quick observation and speculation to how they made this piece: if this is all aluminium, and there are definite seams separating the wrapping to the ergonomic grip, how I would approach making this would be to have the main exposed grip bar alu and the wrapping come from a tube. I would do the basic cut-outs of the exposed grip area underneath, slide that over the bar, and then grind out the ergonomic/organic shapes from there. The brass is cut on the lathe, even the "nipple" endcap. The nipple is angled on one side after it's fastened to the end of the hilt to point down rather than outward. In fact, judging from how off center it is, the piece was likely shaped together with the rest of the hilt. The copper cylinder might just be for decoration but that screw is likely functional in keeping the wrapping and grip together.
I've been wanting to remake my Hero Palpy hilt ever since I made it, but now with this dropping, I may have the actual incentive to try and make it as they might've done for this during production of RotS. Maybe even better, using real metal they tried to replicate the finish in paint here.
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