I have a thread buried in the Junkyard but as per the way these are made, I can only make so many and had openings for four and those are already filled. Once the new forge is set, I can knock those out and I can start taking on another run.
Lineage Foundry Cast ANH Kenobi Stunt Hilts
newmagrathea
Sr Member
I have that same motor in my truck, it's pretty good. I figured that you'd go with something smaller diameter and not as long.
I've been reconsidering this idea. It works perfectly for the ANH Luke Stunt; it fits damn perfect into a Graflex. However, considering the Luke Stunt was just a tube, my line thought was that they originally were intending to put it into a Graflex, but for stability sake, switched to a steel/aluminium tube. These motors have the torque power to spin the rod assembly consistently and my original idea was the prop folks carried that thought to the Ben Stunts. But after modifying my 3D model so that it overlaps the eBay wood buck photo 1:1, when new buck comes in, I'll be able to consider the idea further; whether to keep it or switch to something like a car or boat motor.
In any case, a detail Brandon mentions is that there are threaded holes on the saber body that shows how the motor was mounted. Working from the experience I had, the motor would've had to have been mounted with grub screws (to fit under the clamp) on either side of its "shell" to the hilt itself. Knowing that gives me a size reference to work from and when I finish the next one, I know what to look for.
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New buck arrived, quite literally, just now and I couldn't be more pleased! I re-scaled my final model and retooled some elements with it, and it's so much more accurate than before. I dare say, barring my alterations to the spacing between the pommel and booster, this thing is now spot on to the original wood buck used---At most, within a 2% margin of error--- and this time round, the two halves align perfectly. Also, from the printing, it even has wood grain!
Just having this in hand, I'm gaining all new insights on not just the V2, but the V3, the eBay raw cast, and most importantly, the construction of the subsequent stunts based on the dimensions of all three. As much as I hate it, I may have to introduce a V3 into my collection just for reference sake. I'm even more convinced now that the V3's main body wasn't even machined. Perhaps for the clamp/booster section just to get the clamp to secure more adequately, but the rest must've been just chucked on the lathe and slapped with sandpaper. It just has too many similar, near perfect details to the raw cast.
I really can't be any more excited about this piece. I'll be prepping it today for casting on Sunday (weather permitting) and proceed from there. I'll be melting down my last prototype for the fifth time and, hopefully, get it right this time round.
Stay tuned, kiddies.
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oh my freaking god, I'm so excited reading this! if you make another run of this new master, I'll have to save up.
Can you tell us some things you've learned about the details of the V3 and V2? The idea of the V3 just being sanded makes a LOT of sense. My question there is, when was the V2 lathed and cleaned up.. maybe for the belt hanger use? both of these were apparently strong enough to fight with backstage
Can you tell us some things you've learned about the details of the V3 and V2? The idea of the V3 just being sanded makes a LOT of sense. My question there is, when was the V2 lathed and cleaned up.. maybe for the belt hanger use? both of these were apparently strong enough to fight with backstage
I haven't even started the one I listed, yet! :lol However, everything I make for that run and thenceforth will be off of this master. I really can't state just how pleased I am with it.
I only know what I've researched, hypothesized, and then experimented with during my trials trying to make this thing from a similar "square one,'' so I only can tell you what I think based on those experiences. For your question though, I have no question that the V2 was machined during production of ANH as it is now. It was as we see it now, minus 40 years of use, that is. It wouldn't have been possible for it to maintain as much original paint as it has currently had it been machined down as extensively as it shows to have been, based on the size of it to the raw cast and V3. It would've been left bare had it been.
To that point, our man Brandon Alinger stated that he believes that the only stunt used in ANH during filming the duel was the V2, and after my doing, I'm keen to believe it. In fact, I believe the SS/V3 didn't get any action until production of ESB started when they needed a practice-fencing sword. From all I've studied and seen in what images are available during the duel on the Death Star, I'm fairly certain what we see is only the V2. The emitter flange/face plate on the V2 is a smaller diameter than that of the V3's or raw cast's, and from on set images available, they seem to all line up on that basis. I also believe that's where much of the V2's emitter plate's dings came from. Not just from contact during fencing, but primarily from the saber being rigged with the dummy drop when Vader strikes at Ben Kenobi and, possibly, for the close-up of it falling onto his robes. The V3 was then merely a back-up in case the V2 crapped out.
We know the V3 was cleaned up to a semi-current state in the walkway rehearsal photo for RotJ, at that point. So somewhere between that, the Throne Room showdown, and it winding up in California, was where it came to look as it does now. I can't decide currently if it had been sanded down at that point for RotJ, or had it been machined and prepped as a back-up for ANH in case the primary fencing sword (the V2) had a motor failure and the production/George decided it would be better to just scrap it entirely. All evidence thus far makes me believe the latter. Even more simply, we can just go off on how much paint we see it still have in the ESB rehearsal photo of Mark Hamill (yes, I believe that to be the V3 and none else) up until he uses it again for RotJ in the BTS photos there. I'm also fairly certain that it didn't have a dedicated clamp (the one we see it with now) until late, post-ESB, pre-pro RotJ, just going by the timeline of what it was used for during ESB and the double duty it pulled later, by being not just the fencing stunt but molded for stunt casts for the Stateside shoot, which later informed the design of the Yuma/Hero.
Just a quick bump.
Some things are getting in the way of getting this done quicker (predominantly filming the process for an old teacher of mine) but it's looking like December will see some real progress on this.
Some things are getting in the way of getting this done quicker (predominantly filming the process for an old teacher of mine) but it's looking like December will see some real progress on this.
(Was saving this spot for the post following but I totally botched posting it.)
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Happy Chringus, everyone!
I pulled this cast a day ago and by far it is the best, most pristine of all my tests. It is near-perfect! I'm still working things out and would go with this for further machining but the dread enemy, air pockets, continues to prey on my OCD. I'm not just wanting to get a cast to fully replicate the method of the finished V2/V3, but I want to replicate getting the raw casts as well.
After this experience, I'm beginning to think that the pour spout going the length of the seam (meaning the original box mold would be sat upright instead of horizontally like I have) was by choice. Would the seam line be enough to let air out so that the cavity fills in completely, I wonder? I previously added the air traps where the dips were occurring to remedy them, but it just wasn't...right. The eBay casts didn't have them and I'm sure the cast vadermania has didn't have them either.
I'm going to alter my box mold and cast yet another piece as the month wraps up and marches into the new year. Hopefully this will yield the results I'm after and I can get a-goin' on the run!
I pulled this cast a day ago and by far it is the best, most pristine of all my tests. It is near-perfect! I'm still working things out and would go with this for further machining but the dread enemy, air pockets, continues to prey on my OCD. I'm not just wanting to get a cast to fully replicate the method of the finished V2/V3, but I want to replicate getting the raw casts as well.
After this experience, I'm beginning to think that the pour spout going the length of the seam (meaning the original box mold would be sat upright instead of horizontally like I have) was by choice. Would the seam line be enough to let air out so that the cavity fills in completely, I wonder? I previously added the air traps where the dips were occurring to remedy them, but it just wasn't...right. The eBay casts didn't have them and I'm sure the cast vadermania has didn't have them either.
I'm going to alter my box mold and cast yet another piece as the month wraps up and marches into the new year. Hopefully this will yield the results I'm after and I can get a-goin' on the run!
CAKComedyProps
Active Member
Looks great, can’t wait to see the new cast finished. Merry Christmas and happy Life Day as well!
That’s really cool. I applaud your persistence!
Thanks, fellas! All this is going to pay off. I swear it!
No doubt.
BUMP!
One year on and I'm still fighting with this thing!
I've done casts since my last posting but none to the standard I'm looking for. And pockets/partial fills are still plaguing me and I'm having a hell of a time trying to fix them. Whether it be heating the liquid alu longer or pouring slower/faster, this process is very touch-and-go and there's always some quirk in each one that makes me want to do it all over again. I really wish there were more people who still bothered with this method locally that I can go and seek advice and help from. It'd be a lot quicker learning having someone there yelling when I'm doing something wrong, instead of me figuring out as I go.
One positive though (literally), is that after all my doings, I'm fairly apt at making clean sand molds now. I can get clean sharp details that stay and hold their shape. Before, I'd always have chipping and edge damage in the positive and having to fix the casts later with rasps. I may switch to building a more expensive, but longer lasting, forge after my current reinforced plaster set-up fails. It'll take more time and finances to invest in making but I'll be able to make casts quicker and more efficiently once I do. Once I get that down, I'll post my findings and some more photos, and then I'll start thinking about starting up on my run.
It ain't over until it's over, folks!
One year on and I'm still fighting with this thing!
I've done casts since my last posting but none to the standard I'm looking for. And pockets/partial fills are still plaguing me and I'm having a hell of a time trying to fix them. Whether it be heating the liquid alu longer or pouring slower/faster, this process is very touch-and-go and there's always some quirk in each one that makes me want to do it all over again. I really wish there were more people who still bothered with this method locally that I can go and seek advice and help from. It'd be a lot quicker learning having someone there yelling when I'm doing something wrong, instead of me figuring out as I go.One positive though (literally), is that after all my doings, I'm fairly apt at making clean sand molds now. I can get clean sharp details that stay and hold their shape. Before, I'd always have chipping and edge damage in the positive and having to fix the casts later with rasps. I may switch to building a more expensive, but longer lasting, forge after my current reinforced plaster set-up fails. It'll take more time and finances to invest in making but I'll be able to make casts quicker and more efficiently once I do. Once I get that down, I'll post my findings and some more photos, and then I'll start thinking about starting up on my run.
It ain't over until it's over, folks!
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