Edraven99's Collection Tread - Long Overdue Updates

[Edraven99]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

As far as those AS handwheels ... I never understood why the cubes were flipped in the first place ... putting together the OB1 props it makes little sense and compared to the later ROTS OB1 saber all cubes were 'flipped' back to the original position as on the vintage handwheels. So were those OB1 ANH cubes flipped and all other vintage parts cobbled back together after production in need for several publicity shots when STAR WARS turned to be a blockbuster and huge success? One of my AS handwheels is also quite stuck and I was adviced to use some WD-40 as well as the square metal part of a seperated regular doorhandle to use as a tool ... perhaps this might give you some ideas to loosen all the 4 parts?

Chaim

I never understood the whole "flipped cubes" thing myself (or really what everyone meant by it) until I finally got my booster and did a test assembly.

I was confused because the booster sits fairly high up on the handwheel and there was a pretty decent gap in between the booster and the handwheel - too much of a gap from what I could tell from the Obi lightsaber picture in "Chronicles".

But as Chris and Charlie informed me, this was because I hadn't flipped the cubes...

Here's what I mean:

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread



So how much of a gap are we talking? I haven't tried any test assembly yet hence I was not aware of the gap ... besides there's supposed to be a bit of a gap as seen in above picture, yes? But I understand the why of the cube flipping if that brings those parts any closer

Chaim

 

[roygilsing]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

Ok... follow me on this... and someone please correct me if my eyes are playing tricks on me...
...
But if you look at Roy's screen grab, is it me or the screw/rivet head a noticeably few millimeters wider than the fin?

View attachment 423827

Almost, dare I say, the same amount of "overhang" as a 1/8" rivet head??

I don't know about that; it doesn't seem to me as wider. I can do a check in Photoshop later, but to me it looks like the same width.

But there's something else quite shocking, thd9791 mentioned this to me as well: if you look closely to the T-track and consider the front one, which is aligned with the clamp as 12 o'clock, then the 2 o'clock and 6 o'clock tracks are completely lumpy, with the fins almost gone. How would that have happened? And has it ever been seen on any other version? The one from the archive has normal looking T-tracks. Was this ever discussed anywhere?


Roy

www.wannawanga.com

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

You know how sometimes shots in movies are not what they were really filmed like? I suspect they had the saber shot kind of upside down hanging on a piece of cardboard covered with fake snow and then one of the crew is holding the saber from behind ... moves and wiggles it ... and drops it when asked to ... onto the floor ... thus bumping the T-track ... and of course Lucas or Kershner wanted it more and intense ... so many shots were repeated. Anyhow that would be a plausible suggestion towards those crooked T-tracks in my opinion Please correct me if I'm mistaken and any of you guys actually know how these T-tracks were so heavily damaged . . . I do have a vivid imagination

Chaim

 

[roygilsing]

Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

You know how sometimes shots in movies are not what they were really filmed like? I suspect they had the saber shot kind of upside down hanging on a piece of cardboard covered with fake snow and then one of the crew is holding the saber from behind ... moves and wiggles it ... and drops it when asked to ... onto the floor ... thus bumping the T-track ... and of course Lucas or Kershner wanted it more and intense ... so many shots were repeated. Anyhow that would be a plausible suggestion towards those crooked T-tracks in my opinion Please correct me if I'm mistaken and any of you guys actually know how these T-tracks were so heavily damaged . . . I do have a vivid imagination

Chaim

Sounds plausible Chaim. They probably had to try many times to wiggle and shake the saber which Luke (or stand-in) had to catch! Haha!
Or they broke so many T-tracks that they didn't have any decent ones available any more.

Roy

www.wannawanga.com

 

[James Kenobi 1138]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

IIRC the saber was gently 'thrown' by Mark in the Wampa cave and the footage was reversed for the 'force grab' scene.

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

I knew something was reversed ... thanks James ... still Mark could have dropped the saber though ... several times perhaps, no?

Chaim

 

[clancampbell]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

While we're still talking about screws/rivets....this pic of Luke shows a damaged T Track right at the fastening point...the kind of damage that regularly happens when you try to rivet
hard plastics.....
..
and it might be just me, but these LOOK like rivets.......ach, i'm so confused......

Rich

 

[clancampbell]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

OOPS! Double post....

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

I see your confusion ...so you had to double post for us to stay on target?

:lol

Chaim

 

[thd9791]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

It hanks Roy! To me, they look extremely deformed, melted even not cracked or bent. See how the edges are up away from the graflex and the shape is squashed? My first thought is that some track was cast, and these poorly. I could be wrong

also, that screw (or rivet) closest to us in that shot IS farther from the fin, but only on one side. The other is in line with it, I think that screw is just off center.

 

[Edraven99]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

A minor update to the Vader build...

Since my MPP clamp is missing the pin that holds the lever in place (you can see in my previous pictures that it obviously broke somehow and someone replaced it with a teeny tiny cotter pin) , I figured that I'd pirate the pin from the Parks clamp that I bought to complete the Vader ESB look.

I also figured that it would be a quick and easy job to do... of course it wasn't.

While tapping out the pin from the replica Parks clamp lever was relatively straightforward and easy, the cotter pin on the real lever was wedged in pretty good and it tool a little more effort than I was anticipating to finally hammer and pull the pin out far enough so that I could remove the lever from the clamp base:

All that was left to do now was to take the clamp pin and insert it into the real base... simple, right? Nope... of course not.... turns out that the real pin was a little thinner than the replica that Parks made so it wouldn't fit into the hole. So I took out my handy hobby file and started to try and shave some material away so that it would fit.

Kids, let me tell you how much of a pain in the ass it is to try and file something that small. It took a little patience, but I finally got the pin down to a size small enough that I could hammer it through. It was worth it, however, as the results speaks for itself:

A minor victory, but I'm happy with it.

Now I need all of your opinions... I'm still working on a way around my clamp sleeve issue, and I *think* I may have found a solution....

How does this look look to all of you?

 

[thd9791]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

Nice work! especially on something that tiny.

Are those like..O rings? I thought you found a sleeve for a second, and that little bit of glue residue just adds to the image. I like it!

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

Very nice indeed

As for the ridge you've created on the edge of the clamp instead of a real plastic sleeve . . . it's a tid bit to high in my opinion ... it should hardly be visible.



So do tell what did you use?

Chaim

 

[Edraven99]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

So do tell what did you use?
Chaim

Well, before I received my clamp from Parks, impatient boy that I am, I tried to look for other solutions to my sleeve problem. So, I went and bought a Master Replicas Force FX clamp off of Ebay.

Unfortunately, it was a solid plastic piece and did not separate into a clamp and sleeve part. For those of you kids who are thinking about trying this at home , what I've learned is the first Vader Force FX that Master Replicas came out with, an ESB version, came with a clamp that *did* separate into component parts. The clamp that I purchased was a "newer" ANH version, which did not.

Anyways, after I found out that my real MPP clamp could not take a sleeve underneath it, I tried to think of other solutions; one of these is what you saw in the picture. I sawed off the raised ends to that MR Force FX clamp.

It looks pretty good I think. The two problems that I can see are

1. I'll have to glue the rings directly to the clamp or the flash in order for this to work
2. As Chaim pointed out, the raised ridges are slightly too tall

Which leads me to...

Are those like..O rings?

My wife had actually suggested the exact same thing... so I went out and bought a pair to see what it would look like.

Exhibit A (plastic rings):

Or Exhibit B (O-Rings):

I'm leaning towards the O-Rings at the moment simply because I don't have to mess with any gluing, and although it's tough to tell from the pictures, it has a slightly lower profile than the plastic rings...

So once again... what do you guys think?

 

[Sym-Cha]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

I suppose you've read about those 135 mm black film canisters used to hold negative or slide 135mm film for analog cameras ... of which you would need at least 2 just for the plastic edge in your case, unless they do totally fit better underneath your clamp than your Parks sleeve? :unsure

Chaim

 

[Edraven99]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

I suppose you've read about those 135 mm black film canisters used to hold negative or slide 135mm film for analog cameras ... of which you would need at least 2 just for the plastic edge in your case, unless they do totally fit better underneath your clamp than your Parks sleeve? :unsure

Chaim

Nah... the Parks sleeve is literally a millimeter thick... I don't think I'll be able to fit anything under this particular clamp. The only thing I can do is try to "fake" it...

 

[Edraven99]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

Here's a comparative picture with the Parks sleeve to give you a better idea of the ridge height in comparison to the O-rings

 

[thd9791]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

The O rings actually look better, in my taste. Do they wrap fully around the tube, and if so, how does the bubble-strip side look with a continuous black rim behind it? Since the sleeve stops before then

 

[roygilsing]

Re: Edraven99's Real Parts Lightsaber Build Thread

I would go for the O-rings! No gluing needed and it is pretty smart, very Prop-maker-like. Besides, you will give you're wife a good "you see I also helped a bit"-feeling
You might try to sand them a bit, so they're not too glossy.


Roy

www.wannawanga.com