Luke TFA Behind the Scenes Lightsaber Community Build Thread

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

As far as your photo, I think I like the antique copper. It's a little darker. Also makes more sense seeing how copper was the rotj hero and because copper ages, perhaps that's the one.
Nice work and thank you.

antique chopper is on the left, vintage dark bronze on the right.

i too think as of right now its antique chopper, because if we were to take the vintage dark bronze and put it in the dark photo we have of the TFA saber, i think vintage dark bronze would be too dark..

i am probably going to swing by tomorrow and grab the vintage dark bronze and do some spray samples

 

[andrew25rs]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

As far as your photo, I think I like the antique copper. It's a little darker. Also makes more sense seeing how copper was the rotj hero and because copper ages, perhaps that's the one.
Nice work and thank you.

I'm interested in seeing how the Antique Copper turns out if you go for it. Like I said I had the Brass paint for about a year and I always liked how it turned out so I gave it a shot on this project. If the Copper color matches better I'll repaint that section as it should be easy to redo that bit and I'm all for a more accurate look.
All in all I'm quite happy with the whole thing and finally display this.

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

antique chopper is on the left, vintage dark bronze on the right.

i too think as of right now its antique chopper, because if we were to take the vintage dark bronze and put it in the dark photo we have of the TFA saber, i think vintage dark bronze would be too dark..

i am probably going to swing by tomorrow and grab the vintage dark bronze and do some spray samples

awsome, keep us posted. I know you will. I will stop off and get some oven cleaner to age this puppy and might pick up my black. I will wait for your update before I buy the other color. Also going to drill some smaller flat head slotted screws into the lever like shown in the vintage prop photos of the hero.

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

antique chopper is on the left, vintage dark bronze on the right.

i too think as of right now its antique chopper, because if we were to take the vintage dark bronze and put it in the dark photo we have of the TFA saber, i think vintage dark bronze would be too dark..

i am probably going to swing by tomorrow and grab the vintage dark bronze and do some spray samples

awsome, keep us posted. I know you will. I will stop off and get some oven cleaner to age this puppy and might pick up my black. I will wait for your update before I buy the other color. Also going to drill some smaller flat head slotted screws into the lever like shown in the vintage prop photos of the hero.

- - - Updated - - -

antique chopper is on the left, vintage dark bronze on the right.

i too think as of right now its antique chopper, because if we were to take the vintage dark bronze and put it in the dark photo we have of the TFA saber, i think vintage dark bronze would be too dark..

i am probably going to swing by tomorrow and grab the vintage dark bronze and do some spray samples

awsome, keep us posted. I know you will. I will stop off and get some oven cleaner to age this puppy and might pick up my black. I will wait for your update before I buy the other color. Also going to drill some smaller flat head slotted screws into the lever like shown in the vintage prop photos of the hero.

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I'm interested in seeing how the Antique Copper turns out if you go for it. Like I said I had the Brass paint for about a year and I always liked how it turned out so I gave it a shot on this project. If the Copper color matches better I'll repaint that section as it should be easy to redo that bit and I'm all for a more accurate look.
All in all I'm quite happy with the whole thing and finally display this.

as you should be. It turned out awsome. I like it the way it is

 

[andrew25rs]

Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

as you should be. It turned out awsome. I like it the way it is

Thank you sir. I thought about adding the slotted screws as well but at the moment we cant see them so for I know they are not there so didn't wanna make a modification that is permanent until I see proof. I really do hope they are there though. Always kinda liked those.

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I wonder if they are on both sides

 

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

awsome, keep us posted. I know you will. I will stop off and get some oven cleaner to age this puppy and might pick up my black. I will wait for your update before I buy the other color. Also going to drill some smaller flat head slotted screws into the lever like shown in the vintage prop photos of the hero. View attachment 665413

- - - Updated - - -

awsome, keep us posted. I know you will. I will stop off and get some oven cleaner to age this puppy and might pick up my black. I will wait for your update before I buy the other color. Also going to drill some smaller flat head slotted screws into the lever like shown in the vintage prop photos of the hero. View attachment 665413

i dont know if I'm going to use oven clean on this one... i know I'm going to weather the inside of the emitter... but with my v2 the oven clean made it blotchy which i wanted to achieve. this saber i would like a even dull shade across it... i dont know how to achieve this just yet...

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I was wondering about that. I know when we leave our aluminum ladders outside, they dull quite fast. Maybe I will let my saber sit out over night tonight and have a look when I get home tomorrow. It's really really humid here in Florida and that sun is a bi#$× !


To follow up on that, I decided to take a gritted sanding sponge to it first and I was amazed on how messy my hands got. Almost a grey hue covered my fingers and hands. Hopefully by doing this the humid dew will seep into my saber and the sun will do the rest. I will post results tomorrow and see. I don't really plan to paint this till the weekend so even if I need a few nights, it's no big deal. Natural weathering may be the way to go.

 

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I was wondering about that. I know when we leave our aluminum ladders outside, they dull quite fast. Maybe I will let my saber sit out over night tonight and have a look when I get home tomorrow. It's really really humid here in Florida and that sun is a bi#$× !


To follow up on that, I decided to take a gritted sanding sponge to it first and I was amazed on how messy my hands got. Almost a grey hue covered my fingers and hands. Hopefully by doing this the humid dew will seep into my saber and the sun will do the rest. I will post results tomorrow and see. I don't really plan to paint this till the weekend so even if I need a few nights, it's no big deal. Natural weathering may be the way to go.

i was thinking the same... i live very close to the water, i mean 30 second walk to the beach. all of our building staging is aluminum and dulls quickly in the air. but leaves it a caulky white.. i was even thinking of maybe just a ammonia vapor bath... i dont know yet..

could try getting a glass jar large enough for the whole saber to fit in, fill it to the top with water, let the saber be submerge in the water, cap the jar and let the glass jar soak in the sun. I've heard of people doing that to remove the shine from aluminum.. idk if its true or not

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I took the shine off (a little) with a sanding sponge. It gave it some nice scuffs and that used look however I still would like to dull it up a bit more. I placed mine of the porch out back to let the night dew on it and I will see what the sun does after.

I don't know why I almost bypassed using my airbrush. I have a full set up with a compressor and spray booth. I'm going to my hobby store tomorrow and getting some black and aged copper and I will go that route instead of spray paint

 

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I took the shine off (a little) with a sanding sponge. It gave it some nice scuffs and that used look however I still would like to dull it up a bit more. I placed mine of the porch out back to let the night dew on it and I will see what the sun does after.

I don't know why I almost bypassed using my airbrush. I have a full set up with a compressor and spray booth. I'm going to my hobby store tomorrow and getting some black and aged copper and I will go that route instead of spray paint

thats an idea!! airbrushing some age to it!!

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

thats an idea!! airbrushing some age to it!!

have you tried the tamiya weathering sets. It's kind of like makeup but they are specifically made to weather to any finish. They work great and the best part is, you can wipe it off with a little soap and water before it cures if you don't like it. I used it for E11 and was really impressed with the outcome

 

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

have you tried the tamiya weathering sets. It's kind of like makeup but they are specifically made to weather to any finish. They work great and the best part is, you can wipe it off with a little soap and water before it cures if you don't like it. I used it for E11 and was really impressed with the outcome

no?! I've never heard of that, googling now

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread


this is one of the 4 sets. This is also a little taste of what you can do with a little practice

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

I bought some copper paint to use with my airbrush. It was lighter but I figured I can darken it a bit. I shot it but wasn't thrilled with the outcome. The photos is my airbrush mixing job.

I went to lowes and bought the dark metallic copper. I think it looks better but needs to dry. I used satin black airbrush paint for the grip. I will post photos later once I remove the tape. I think I'm going to shoot a matte clear coat over it.

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

Ok, once I started I just kept going. I'm a fan of weathering so here it is. I went with dark metallic copper, satin black, alot of drybrushing, airbrushing, as well as using some tamiya weathering. For those of you don't know about this stuff, it's really easy to use and works great. Also shot a few coats of clear satin polyurethane over the entire saber. Also drill some screws in the clamp. It may be over kill, but I like it.

 

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

Ok, once I started I just kept going. I'm a fan of weathering so here it is. I went with dark metallic copper, satin black, alot of drybrushing, airbrushing, as well as using some tamiya weathering. For those of you don't know about this stuff, it's really easy to use and works great. Also shot a few coats of clear satin polyurethane over the entire saber. Also drill some screws in the clamp. It may be over kill, but I like it.
View attachment 666254View attachment 666255View attachment 666256View attachment 666257View attachment 666258View attachment 666259View attachment 666260

kevin it came out great!!! did you use any oven clean or is that all paint weathering on the aluminum? really great work! i love this thread!

 

[kevin926]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

No oven cleaner. I dulled it down with a sanding sponge and let it sit outside for a couple of days. Then I used a satin clear coat to keep that dull look. Then after paint and assembly I weathered the heck out of it. I'm a sucker for weathering as you may see in all of my (too many)projects.

 

[Halliwax]

Re: Anakin Starkiller Luke TFA Lightsaber Build Thread

No oven cleaner. I dulled it down with a sanding sponge and let it sit outside for a couple of days. Then I used a satin clear coat to keep that dull look. Then after paint and assembly I weathered the heck out of it. I'm a sucker for weathering as you may see in all of my (too many)projects.

glad to know you can achieve that dull look just with paint! i think i may actually give it a try