Since I got Starkiller's "Perfect Cast" that I want to make into a filming-era copy of the V3, I wanted to see if I could summarize what I understand about the timeline of the V3 as it was in ROTJ filming, and to ask what I'm missing reference-wise. Hats off to the RPF saber makers for all the runs we're privileged to get for all these secondary sabers.
ANH: They make a number of stunt sabers based off the heroes --
Vader - the motorized "Barbican" with its original square shroud
Luke - the motorized tube saber
Kenobi - a wooden buck is made from the hero and multiples are cast alongside some R2 parts. The "V2" is machined clean and motorized. It's used for stunts. Another copy is cleaned up and used for some bladed shots - this becomes the "warehouse" saber.
The motorized stunts are finicky, and eventually the Barbican is abandoned and Vader just uses the Luke tube, and the v3 isn't mechanized or used. It and the other unused casts go in the prop box.
ESB: Production makes new non-motorized stunts --
Vader - gets a new MPP-based stunt. The Barbican also has some additional changes, but the MPP stunt is primarily used.
Luke - several stunts are made, and they and the hero have problems during filming with adhesives and buttons and everything else. Eventually some of the stunt parts get cobbled together as the Ranch saber.
Kenobi - the stunts from ANH get used for practice (especially the V2 and Warehouse), and Hamill really prefers using them over the Graflex and its gripped stunts when they're not filming. Vader's actors even practice with them here and there.
ROTJ: Production is a huge undertaking, and they reuse whatever they can --
Vader: the hero and stunt MPPs make it over from ESB production. The Barbican gets sent over for resin replication for gags at some point so that the MPPs aren't harmed. One of the Luke ESB stunts becomes the DV6 for some reason. Maybe because the barbican is unavailable to bang around?
Filming starts with the infamous sand storm scene, and Hamill points out that they shouldn't reuse the Graflex, so the prop guys go cut off the blade from the V2 (probably on-hand for practices) and Hamill starts using that over the next few filmed scenes in the desert and Ewok village. The prop guys pull out the V3 and do some clean it up (exact alterations vs ANH unknown). It also gets used for resin copies for various things, and it and its copies are used alongside the V2 for stunts, gags and sometimes as a hero stand-in (Barge climbing, the Endor handoff). It seems to become the eventual "standard look" for the Luke saber, with the golden neck, black grip section, and less "mottled black" body than the V2.
Eventually during filming the Death Star duel, Mark Hamill breaks the blade and emitter. It gets reassembled, possibly with a new emitter section, and a tang is used to keep it together but its days as a V2 alternative are over. This is why the existing resin copies have a much cleaner neck than the current V3.
The crew heads out to Yuma, and they need a new short blade stunt. They scratch-machine a new copy of the V3 and it becomes the Yuma stunt saber, alongside the V2 and the resin copies of the V3 they're using for the non-fighting stunts.
They decide to film a lightsaber closeup shot for the hallway handoff. When looking at the props, they select the Yuma stunt as the cleanest variant. They strip it down, repaint it, and alter the control box to no longer look like a Graflex clamp. They then further modify the Yuma control box with electronics for the unreleased cave scene.
Post filming, the Barbican gets further cleaned up and becomes the go-to reference for building promo sabers. The repaired V3 gets cosmetically altered and sent off for an exhibit with the DV6, and eventually becomes the Luke saber for 90s kids thanks to the "Power of the Force" line of toys and various prop books.
