ALL Sandstorm, Ewok village, Endor Landing platform (footage with Prowse and Hamill together, with the V2, that is) and Death Star duel footage was shot in England. In this footage, the V2 is the primary belt hanger hero and the V3 is the dueling stunt...
Then they travel to the US and bring the V2 and V3 with them...
During that time the Yuma dueling hilt is created....
The Yuma and Crescent city footage is then shot in the US. The Yuma replaces the V3 as the primary stunt with a rod while filming in Yuma. The V2 goes into private hands and the V3 goes into the archives...
Main production wraps..the ISYHCANL insert shot is completed with a new, but simplified box, on the cleaned-up Yuma saber and a stand-in for David Prowse is employed. After that, yet another box is installed in the Yuma saber with a sliding clamp card and electronics and the cut saber construction footage is filmed. Then, the Yuma Hero is retired to the archives...
Exactly...
Which is why I posted this three pages ago talking about prep.
The booster in ROTJ is kind of like the screws on the graflex in ESB. It seems random that they are silver sometimes, but not others. But when you look at production order, not scene order, you see that the silver screws are in scenes shot in Norway.
Here's my theory, probably full of holes:
ANH
Shared stunts are made from scratch. V3 is a bit undersized, likely not fully completed. Emitter rotates, but no motor. V2 gets motor and Graflex clamp with long lever.
I think both are painted to relatively match the Obi-Wan hero. Maybe not at the same time or in the exact same way, but painted none the less. This includes black grenades and boosters.
At some point the pommel of the V2 comes loose, so the black booster gets covered with gaffer's tape to help keep the pommel in place.
ESB
The V2 and V3 are used in rehearsals. The tape has been removed from the V2. Both are rigged to hold non-motorized blades, the engine is pulled from the V2. The V3 still has no clamp. At this point the both have banged up paint jobs. Rattle can paint on bare aluminum scratches so easily. I can see them looking the way they do just from banging around in a box or not properly stowed.
At this stage they are basically identical. The worn paint is obviously unique, but the weathering style is similar. The V3 is a little smaller, and has the more visible seam line, the V2 has a darker booster and a clamp with the long lever.
ROTJ
In England the V2 is pressed into service looking much like it did in ESB BTS images. The booster is still mostly black, but whatever pattern damage to the paint that removing the gaffers tape gave it (mottled random glue splotches) basically sets the stage for how it will continue to be worn down as it is handled.
The V3 is made into the stunt version, so it is given a graflex clamp and PCB card from ESB leftover parts.
By the time they get to Yuma, the V2 has looks more like it does now with more paint having flaked off. The V3 is not needed because the Yuma has been made from scratch as part of the prep for shooting, likely based on a resin V3 copy. The V3 is not used for the rest of the production.
For the pickup shots, the Yuma was repainted to look "new." The box was slightly altered after the INSYHCANL insert for the cave-build scene.
POST ROTJ
The V2 vanished. The V3 was repainted and given a new edge card to better resemble the hero.