I originally had the intention of doing a big write-up on these hilts but, honestly, I think the photos speak for themselves (and that I also forgot what I was going to write about). So here's a big ol' photo-dump with some goofy video.

Some of these were made with the lesser casts for myself to get my hands used to the work, so there's some pock-marking on on a few of these that aren't on my more pristine casts. Otherwise, this is it; these are the hilts as originally made---everything!


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So much saber yumminess, Im drooling
 
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Remind me again what's going on with that blade? I see there's just a tang-sized hole in the emitter.

For the stunt blades? The blade for that is the VHF antenna with the innards pulled out and fitted with the plug/collar system talked about before for the stunt blades. The plug on the inside is 14x15mm to better fit around the tang. The collar is interesting because I never really realized what it could possibly be for until I machined one and fitted it over the blade and plug: it's most likely to keep the base from splitting.

The emitter for the V3 stunt is just bored out for the tang to fit in/pass through, based on what Halliwax has stated, that there isn't a recess on the V3 for a V2 nipple-like plug. I've kept it flush to keep in line with how all the stunt blades thus far have been documented as being; blades with collars on the larger diameter ends. The grub screws keep the blades secured to the tang via a recess cut into it (like mentioned on the V2's d/s to sport) and the whole blade set up secures the emitter to the hilt. The base of the tang on mine has a notch ground into it so I could have a shaft collar fitted to keep the blade and tang secured to the hilt. Leverage on the whole set up makes the balance point somewhere between the emitter plate and the blade collar/plug.
 
I originally had the intention of doing a big write-up on these hilts but, honestly, I think the photos speak for themselves (and that I also forgot what I was going to write about). So here's a big ol' photo-dump with some goofy video.

Some of these were made with the lesser casts for myself to get my hands used to the work, so there's some pock-marking on on a few of these that aren't on my more pristine casts. Otherwise, this is it; these are the hilts as originally made---everything!


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Can‘t stop myself looking at these beauties and studying every detail of them. Superb. You have my absolute respect Sir!
 
I've done this for the earlier prototypes I've worked on but haven't yet for my latest master hilts, but here are some comparisons of my latest hilts with my 3rd prototype (the tall Obi-stunt) and my first-run modular Starkiller V2 I've held on to. It's fun to see the brief history of this in the work birthed from my foul-ups.

You can see the size disparities between from what I started with and where it is now.

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My third prototype, the Obi-stunt in these photos, is very similar in size and shape of the Starkiller V2. The printed buck for that prototype was upscaled to account for the shrinkage of the casting process and the subsequent machine work to be done, which at the time, I thought was the correct course to go for this. I can't say for what Starkiller did but in comparing his and mine, his V2 is almost the size in girth at the clamp section to that of the casts I've produced. By enlarging it like that, it takes the measurements existing on the V2 and blows it up so it becomes a bit tall and a bit big. That lead to a lot of details I was just not able to recreate that exists on the real finished thing.

One of the things that just drove me nuts was getting the lever thread to stick out of the clamp square that little bit like the real thing.

SWCA BrandonA V2.jpg
DSC00055.JPG


I managed to get it in the end but I'm still iffy on whether or not I should leave the lever's square washer or not, just to get the lever thread to poke out just a bit more. Ultimately, it just came down to the cast and leaving it as it was.

Here you can see just how long (and expensive) it took to learn that lesson.

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My first buck for my earliest experimentations at the start of the thread to the latest and most accurate incarnation. The majority of my earlier prototypes came from the second master in the line-up. Closer to what I'm using now but still off in a number of areas beyond its length. The white one was something I never got around to using as the print had just all sorts of shrinkage issues that I couldn't salvage (and it was a bit too ovaloid).

The most current buck I use comes with a modular pommel, one I can swap out with a the "pommel plug," so I can produce the replica casts and still a pommel separately to cut down on having to mold often. I have another emitter to cast separate emitters as well, so I can lop off as many emitters from casts as I need to keep for current V3's.

And as for emitters, here's the emitter on my V2. "No breaks," as Brandon says.

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I've done this for the earlier prototypes I've worked on but haven't yet for my latest master hilts, but here are some comparisons of my latest hilts with my 3rd prototype (the tall Obi-stunt) and my first-run modular Starkiller V2 I've held on to. It's fun to see the brief history of this in the work birthed from my foul-ups.


And as for emitters, here's the emitter on my V2. "No breaks," as Brandon says.

View attachment 1366944 View attachment 1366945
Wow - what a journey. It is great seeing the development of what you learned.

In trying to explain this run to my girlfriend, she just refers to your username as P3 or P Cubed, thought you'd get a kick out of that

Also, no breaks... are we looking at the nipple and then the inner sleeve stacked underneath it?
 
Wow - what a journey. It is great seeing the development of what you learned.

In trying to explain this run to my girlfriend, she just refers to your username as P3 or P Cubed, thought you'd get a kick out of that

Also, no breaks... are we looking at the nipple and then the inner sleeve stacked underneath it?

That's funny you say P^3 because on another forum I was a part of for a number of years, I was also called P^3 there too.

That is the the latest set-up for the emitter on my V2, and that's just the nipple sitting on top of the bore through the emitter. I've done away with the reinforced sleeve in the emitter neck and have stuck with the collar made from the lower emitter neck.
 
So the first two runs are practically done; however, I am not. The work continues.

While I wait for everyone to get out of the holiday slump, I've been experimenting on an earlier cast when I was working with extruded metal. What I've been doing is seeing if I can refine the work done on the booster on the V2's a bit more.

What I've been doing recently is machining the entire surface of the cast hilts down to a V2 to clean it. While I like the results, and it feels right, when it comes to the booster, it isn't exactly as it is in the photos of it recently. My current abilities leave it sitting near flush with the clamp while in the photos, there's a small lip. I know I can't replicate exact details to the real things, it's not feasible, I can get close---I know I can.

And it's not just replicating a detail...It's understanding why. Why was it done and what was it to accomplish?

SWCA BrandonA V2.jpg


I know the booster on the V2 is machined, comparing it to the raw casts and the V3 pretty much spells it out. If it was left untouched as the V3's is, once the clamp section is appropriately cut to size, one side of the booster would jet out farther than the other; a definite show of how uneven and wonky these cast hilts are.

I currently cut the booster down so the entire surface is even but that leaves me with my current oddity. This is my current test cast with cutting down the one side that jets out disproportionately, but not low enough to be even with the smallest side. Any part of the surface that isn't clean, I take a rasp and sandpaper to. These are the results:

- The pic on the left show the side with the lowest profile while the right shows its opposite side.

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I've not got an extra clamp to fit on this to see how this compares with the V2 and V3 I have on hand for myself, but if this works out, I'll see if I can't apply this technique to other cast hilts and see how they fare (though, depending on each one's idiosyncrasies, the results may vary).

Also, some of you keen-eyed might be wondering, "That cast looks pretty good. Why is it being used as a test cast?"
Answer: Because it's made with extruded aluminium and not casting aluminium.

What's the difference? Loads, but I'm not well-versed in all of this yet to explain it all.

For the sake of this project, I will say that the extruded alu's finish and patina doesn't end up resembling the real deal like the photos show, and more importantly, extruded alu shrinks a great deal. In comparison to the casting alu, cast alu shrinks ~6%, whereas extruded shrinks ~9-11%. So quite a considerable amount.

Here's a couple photos to show the color difference. Notice the bright, white-gold finish on the extruded alu test cast in comparison to the duller gray of the casting alu V3 next to it.

20201227_114150.jpg
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Extruded alu, once cast, also results in heavier "orange-peel" texture on the surface, it's softer, and not as mechanically strong as it was when it was extruded. Things that the casting alu has great improvements over. The only plus I've seen with the extruded alu over the casting alu in my previous castings is that extruded alu has far fewer blemishes than the casting alu picks up. The only problem is that it shrinks a great deal...and is weaker...and not the right color...

Although I've switched to using casting alu and believe this is what the originals were made of, I've yet to rule out the possibility of these being made of extruded aluminium either. The possibility that they were is just the same as the casting alu. It is just as likely that the prop dept and the people tasked in making the stunt hilts didn't have materials on hand to make these, and used what was around the shop used for general construction---extruded aluminium---to cast the stunts; as it is that they made these from the salvage material from aircrafts and automobiles. Unless the originals are ever subject to metallurgical analyses, the world may never know.

One thing I'd also like to further experiment with once I get my fuel tank replenished is the V3's clamp section. I know it the clamp section is turned down but it's cut less then the V2's diameter and it is cut a little bit longer into the booster. There's still some things I want to try.

(If I can steal a photo from vadermania project thread)

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really creative, and sharp - I never would have given thought to other types of Alu that was melted down.

do you have any ideas why they would metal/foil tape the turned sections of the pommel? Like, this metal can't rust or flake (like the clamp) I don't think..
 
do you have any ideas why they would metal/foil tape the turned sections of the pommel? Like, this metal can't rust or flake (like the clamp) I don't think..

I think it may have been a quick-n-dirty way to have it shine without having to maintain it. Maybe also to hide the hole in the pommel. I think the V3 redress was just to make it look a little bit better without having to do much, if any, work at all.

Thanks for taking the time to do these updates. I really enjoy the read.
looks fantastic!

Thanks, I don't know how many people actually care about the nitty-gritty about making these things but as long as I'm an obsessive freak over these, I'll keep posting on my constant tinkering and musings derived from them.
 
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Thanks, I don't know how many people actually care about the nitty-gritty about making these things but as long as I'm an obsessive freak over these, I'll keep posting on my constant tinkering and musings derived from them.

You’re in probably the only place where people do care, and we really appreciate your dedication! My V3 arrives tomorrow and I can’t wait!
 
Just this past Christmas, I sent one of my faulty casts to vadermania in thanks for all the info he's provided over the years to help past, current, and future projects regarding these lightsabers.

He recently sent me these photos (giving me permission to share as well) comparing the raw casts I've made to that of the production-made cast he converted to a V3 yonks ago.

My god, is it close...

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There are some areas that could do with some minor tweaks and I've already made them on my 3D model. I've modelled some of the parallaxing in the available photos which has scrunched some areas a little too close and some parts a little too tall; I've corrected these areas along with beefing up the booster a tad to closer match after shrinking from the casting process.

Oh! And I keep forgetting that I brought this up in the run, and not mention it here, but here's further evidence that the only part that was machined on the real V3 was the clamp section.

On the V3 resin stunt, if you look under the clamp and above the booster, you'll see the plunge cut of the raw cast--- uneven as it's been cut down---and the top of the booster slightly lower than where the plunge cut is.

Resin Stunt V3.jpg
 
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thd9791 was kind enough to share some photos of my V3 cast from the run with his vadermania scanned-from-source replica and, if I can take time to pat myself on the back here, if this isn't as close to being-on-the-money as possible, I don't know what is.

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I've mentioned before in the past in this thread and on the other that every cast comes out differently when I pull them from the molds, they lose ~6% surface area, so to get as close as I have have using the closest methodology possible today to reproduce what was done then...

han solo GIF
 
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lol here is the ridiculous wide shot of that photoshoot.
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Yea, this interpretation of these cast stunts is pretty darned spot on. This is a good comparison because the scan was done of an unfinished hilt. So my graflex clamp has been bored out more than the V3 to get it to fit around the body, it's a little bigger than the V3 in that area.
 

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