Graflex Flash 'a more elegant weapon for a more civilized age' - (advice Needed)

[theJUDGE]

Hello therpf members, this is my first post onto this amazing website, but i have been reading the posts here for years. I have finally started on one of my dream projects and would like to ask a few questions and hopefully get some help. I recently purchased a graflex 3 cell flash and want to get into jedi worthy shape. It shows some age, but i like this since it was made a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. However, it needs some attention to make it nicer. It came with the blast tech Luke ANH kit assembled on it. I would like to put a more accurate bubble strip on it, and look into getting some plastic grips (i am okay with the D-ring). Any ways here are my questions:

1. the "bunny ears" section at the top swings left and right, it is pretty loose. Is there any way to tighten this or stabilize it?



2. the attachment of the top half to the clamp, as well as the attachment of the bottom half to the clamp is fairly loose. It wobbles when held in the hand. is there anyway to tighten this up or fix it with modification?



3. is there any way to find the tiny screw that would have been on the graflex clamp (that held the clamp on to the top half)? I know people usually take this off in their conversions, but i feel it may help with some of the wobbly-ness. Perhaps someone would have one laying around they don't want/need any more?










Thanks again for any help and advice . I am looking forward to working on this project and learning more about the hobby.

 

[thd9791]

1.) I've posted on here about this a few times. Yep, this is how Graflex's are. Some people put a drop of epoxy or superglue on the rivet to hold it in place. I personally found/cut two tiny bits of something soft (I used a pencil eraser) and wrapped them in electrical tape. These tiny things I then stuffed into the back corners of the "emitter" where the bunny ears turn straight...anchoring the bunny ears in place. I can always take them out if I want to

2/3.) Mine is a little wobbly too. The mechanism is made up of the cut-out on the halves...and the tabs inside the graflex clamp. There may be something you can do to the tabs to make them more snug when clipped together. Maybe make them bigger or longer? I have the little screw in mine and it helps for the top half but not the back. Also make sure you attach your new grips while the back half is pushed forward (half off). The back needs room to move forwards and turn to come off. I put my grips on too high and can't take my back half off..until I upgrade my grips haha.

 

[Organic Mechanic]

Welcome theJUDGE! The only way to get an accurate bubble strip, that I know of, is to get yourself an Exactra19, or 20. The best grips going are Gino's.

Let's see how best I can answer your other queries.

1. the "bunny ears" section at the top swings left and right, it is pretty loose. Is there any way to tighten this or stabilize it?

Drop of superglue, or maybe some gentle squeezing of the tabs that come up from the body would work well. The thing shouldn't be solid, just slightly stiff to move.

2. the attachment of the top half to the clamp, as well as the attachment of the bottom half to the clamp is fairly loose. It wobbles when held in the hand. is there anyway to tighten this up or fix it with modification?

OK, this part takes some patience.

Tear your flash completely down into it's 3 component pieces.

By squeezing the clamp closed by hand, you will free the lever from the clamp bar. You will see that it's a threaded rod with a square block on the clamp end. This block fits into the square hole in the clamp bar, and prevents spinning.

Once squeezed, you'll be able to tighten or loosen your clamp by spinning the clamp lever. This will tighten up your flash assembly.

BE CAUTIOUS!!! These things are OLD. You want it tight, but if you have to work to close the clamp lever, it will probably snap. So go just tight enough to hold the flash body, and no more.

3. is there any way to find the tiny screw that would have been on the graflex clamp (that held the clamp on to the top half)? I know people usually take this off in their conversions, but i feel it may help with some of the wobbly-ness. Perhaps someone would have one laying around they don't want/need any more?

After doing what I said above, you won't want the screw any more.

Thanks again for any help and advice . I am looking forward to working on this project and learning more about the hobby.

You're more than welcome. Feel free to ask any more questions you may have. Let me know if I've been unclear with anything above, and I'll try to explain it better.

Looking forward to seeing your build. :cool

 

[theJUDGE]

Hey guys! thanks for the input. I see that Rebelscum makes a neat cast of the bubble strips... may just pick one up . I plan to tear into this thing soon and put my touches on it, but i want it to remain aged and "used". I like how VFX Freak got some of Gino's grips and weathered them by throwing them around a bunch. I am inspired by so many of the threads i have been reading up on here, this website is so amazing, a great resource to everyone!

 

[theJUDGE]

I tightened the clamp like advised, and it worked perfectly. I gave it two turns and now it feels pretty tight. I have yet to address the bunny ears, but it shouldn't take too long. I also want to put together a display for the graflex, I was thinking of making one myself. Here is a picture of one i made for another saber i have yet to finish. I want to use the same colors but include a clear plastic cover.

 

[BillyTheKid]

theJUDGE, that looks pretty good! I bought a 3-cell Graflex off ebay a few months ago and I went about trying to turn it into a Luke ESB saber. I bought the grips and screws from the custom saber shop, but i found an original red button from another graflex on ebay and I already had a circuit board card that I put in the clamp. I went online and found metalized mylar tape to put around the middle band. I also got access to a drill press and drilled holes in the bottom of the hilt to put the screws in.
the only thing I have to track down now is a clamp from an original Kobold flash gun to put on the bottom for the D-ring. I wanted to use as many original pieces as i could.

I like to see other people on this forum who share the same zeal for lightsaber replicas that I do. Keep up the good work Bro!!!!

 

[theJUDGE]

thanks for sharing about your project BillyTheKid! it is good to hear from others about their passion for all things star wars. Building a (mostly, as close as i can get) accurate lightsaber is a bit of a childhood dream (as i am sure it is for many many people). The feel of holding it in your hands and looking at it is great, but it is leaving me wanting to do even more stuff in the future (a lot of people get this itch i hear lol). I have built a luxeon led lightsaber (the one pictured in the stand above) but i like how the graflex is more realistic and mature in my opinion. I have a special tribute to the OT sabers in the works, but i don't know when i would ever finish because i am using all vintage found parts. Keep on building your saber man and good luck with the Kobold flash!

 

[NeoRutty]

Hey Judge...

I've been looking around to build a saber like you've displayed in this post, the "ROTJ" Vader (not sure exactly what it's name is these days... I've seen much past discussion on this board). It may be the messiest, but it's awesome.

Do you have any pics of your build? I've seen tutorials for making the shroud, but those tutorials look wrong to me (I spent 10 years putting things "on model" in my job, it drives me nuts when it's wrong)

If that saber is a scratch build, I would love to see how you went about it...

 

[theJUDGE]

Thank you for your interest in that saber NeoRutty! i will post some pics of it when i can dig around and find them. It is a scratch built piece i started years ago when i was frequenting thecustomsabershop forums. The main hilt piece is from a master replicas FX anakin hilt that i stripped down. The grips are regular rubber stick on grips. The shroud is indeed made using the tutorial from the sitharchives website. It is not movie accurate, but i thought it would be fun to make for an LED lightsaber. Other parts include hardware store hex bolts and brass latch (not accurate). A scratch built "clamp" - the activation box is unfinished still, and the band was the anakin FX band with the textured grooves filled in with epoxy putty, sanded down, then painted.

 

[theJUDGE]

I chose a green luxeon V LED because it is my favorite lightsaber color, and i thought it would be cool if luke took his father's lightsaber after his death and used it as his own. Anyways here are some more pics showing the electronics/lights involved. The stand also has a light that can illuminate a crystal or shine the saber from underneath.








this last pic was with a filter to produce the "white core" in the blade

 

[Trooper_trent]

I really like that display stand. Tell me more about that. Congrats on your first Graflex. This is and always will be the definitive prop of all props to me.

 

[theJUDGE]

As far as the build process, i have only a few pics that sort of show how i prepped for drilling the hex bolts. I masked the areas with stickers i found in the office supplies section that were the same size as the bolts. I placed them by eye balling it. Next i used a hammer and pin to score a spot to place the drill bit. i placed the hilt in a v-block and placed under a drill press. I drilled each hole one by one using lots of oil, followed by countersinking the holes with a special drill bit.

The d ring assemblies are custom as well (inaccurate) but they serve well. There are currently 6 grips because the hilt has holes where the original anakin grips were placed. I intend to take a sheet of stainless steel and make a "band" to place over the lower section so 7 grips can be used. The stand was made using an old wooden child's shelf with a heart shaped cut out that i found at a garage sale or something. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Thanks.

 

[theJUDGE]

Hi there Trooper Trent! I made that stand a long time ago out of a girly brown wooden shelf if found at a garage sale or thrift store. I had to cut it up alot with my dremel and move around the pieces. I built the box part to house the electronics, the back has a hinged back door to access the batteries. It has an engraved aluminum plate that proudly says star wars. The metal poles are stainless steel i had laying around, help in place with modified rubber grommets from radioshack. the bottom is sticky felt lined, and the parts the come into contact with the saber are felt lined. Here is the closest pic i could find on google of what it was made out of.
View attachment 184796

 

[Imperial Weapon]

Thank you for your interest in that saber NeoRutty! i will post some pics of it when i can dig around and find them. It is a scratch built piece i started years ago when i was frequenting thecustomsabershop forums. The main hilt piece is from a master replicas FX anakin hilt that i stripped down. The grips are regular rubber stick on grips. The shroud is indeed made using the tutorial from the sitharchives website. It is not movie accurate, but i thought it would be fun to make for an LED lightsaber. Other parts include hardware store hex bolts and brass latch (not accurate). A scratch built "clamp" - the activation box is unfinished still, and the band was the anakin FX band with the textured grooves filled in with epoxy putty, sanded down, then painted.

Can you (or any or anyone reading this) provide a link for the tutorial of the shroud? this is exactly the sorta level of accuracy I'm looking for in making a DV 6 saber, I have to say well done!

 

[mrwax]

Here's an archive of the shroud tutorial:

Darth Vader's ROTJ Lightsaber Tutorial: the Emitter Shroud

Here's the full ROTJ Vader tutorial:

Darth Vader's ROTJ Lightsaber Tutorial: Main Page

And here's the whole site if you want to poke around more:

Wayback Machine

 

[Imperial Weapon]

Here's an archive of the shroud tutorial:

Darth Vader's ROTJ Lightsaber Tutorial: the Emitter Shroud

Here's the full ROTJ Vader tutorial:

Darth Vader's ROTJ Lightsaber Tutorial: Main Page

And here's the whole site if you want to poke around more:

Wayback Machine

thank you so much for this.