mortifactor
Well-Known Member
Re: mortifactor's first prop build - Graflex ESB
Made some progress the last 2 days.
I decided to save the near pristine 3-cell for an ANH,
This ESB one has to look like it went through Dagobah and fell down a hole in Cloud City! I'm slightly disappointed at how good a condition the other one is in. Didn't it get the used future memo!?
Grips
First up, I got a £3 mitre box and clamped a solid object as a "stop" with the cut line coming at 92mm from the stop. This means accurate cuts from only measuring once. No markings needed, just chuck it in and cut.
A new day, with a much better mini tenon saw (known as a razor saw)
The dremelling of the grips was a tense moment, so no photographs lol. I actually ruined 2 grips, so I took it easy and finished them with a jewellery file. Bit of furniture polish and it looked good.
This is what I ended up with (note the slightly battered clamp with a small rust outbreak - this is just from the garden!)
After looking at some pics, including our favourite wampa cave close up, I saw that the grips were misaligned with the clamp, and the d-ring kobold clip was in line with the clamp.
Screws
I notice a lot of people use unpainted screws, but to me, they look black (with a bit of paint scratched off). I tried to put together some images to see what you think. Apologies if this is already common knowledge!
Silvery screws would just be too damn reflective to miss in these pics. I also notice what looks like a small black screw in the place of the original graflex screw (through the clamp, to the top half). Does anybody know what kind of screw this is? Might have to hunt some small machine screws.
Unfortunately I broke 2 2.5mm drillbits, so have to wait for some better ones before I can commence my own screwing. I did manage to get 2 in place though, and I scratched a bit of paint off and am quite pleased with the effect. Very subtle weathering just to make the whole thing scream "real/used" and not "licensed product!"
Here is where I am at currently. Will finish the screws tomorrow.
A nice and dirty Graflex!
The beer tab is staying on for the time being, until nearer TFA. If the rest of the saber is the same for the new film, I'll put back the glass eye and carry it as a TFA saber for the hype. Afterwards its getting the chop!
Tips
If anyone is about to do their own, I'll try to add to the great advice already on the forum
- Grips + epoxy can be slippery, I had to do 2 at a time (so 3 batches of epoxy) to be sure I got it all right
- Visible epoxy under grips - I went under the grips with a very long brushed felt tip (sharpie type thing that was super pointy) and managed to colour the crystal looking epoxy excess black. It is now invisible!
- Hitting your grips with cutlery and scratching down the top ridge gives a satisfying knocked-about appearance.
Hopefully I'll get it 100% finished in the next few days and get some nice pics up. Next up will be ANH! (although I have to acquire a graflex red button first)
Made some progress the last 2 days.
I decided to save the near pristine 3-cell for an ANH,
This ESB one has to look like it went through Dagobah and fell down a hole in Cloud City! I'm slightly disappointed at how good a condition the other one is in. Didn't it get the used future memo!?
Grips
First up, I got a £3 mitre box and clamped a solid object as a "stop" with the cut line coming at 92mm from the stop. This means accurate cuts from only measuring once. No markings needed, just chuck it in and cut.
A new day, with a much better mini tenon saw (known as a razor saw)
The dremelling of the grips was a tense moment, so no photographs lol. I actually ruined 2 grips, so I took it easy and finished them with a jewellery file. Bit of furniture polish and it looked good.
This is what I ended up with (note the slightly battered clamp with a small rust outbreak - this is just from the garden!)
After looking at some pics, including our favourite wampa cave close up, I saw that the grips were misaligned with the clamp, and the d-ring kobold clip was in line with the clamp.
Screws
I notice a lot of people use unpainted screws, but to me, they look black (with a bit of paint scratched off). I tried to put together some images to see what you think. Apologies if this is already common knowledge!
Silvery screws would just be too damn reflective to miss in these pics. I also notice what looks like a small black screw in the place of the original graflex screw (through the clamp, to the top half). Does anybody know what kind of screw this is? Might have to hunt some small machine screws.
Unfortunately I broke 2 2.5mm drillbits, so have to wait for some better ones before I can commence my own screwing. I did manage to get 2 in place though, and I scratched a bit of paint off and am quite pleased with the effect. Very subtle weathering just to make the whole thing scream "real/used" and not "licensed product!"
Here is where I am at currently. Will finish the screws tomorrow.
A nice and dirty Graflex!
The beer tab is staying on for the time being, until nearer TFA. If the rest of the saber is the same for the new film, I'll put back the glass eye and carry it as a TFA saber for the hype. Afterwards its getting the chop!
Tips
If anyone is about to do their own, I'll try to add to the great advice already on the forum
- Grips + epoxy can be slippery, I had to do 2 at a time (so 3 batches of epoxy) to be sure I got it all right
- Visible epoxy under grips - I went under the grips with a very long brushed felt tip (sharpie type thing that was super pointy) and managed to colour the crystal looking epoxy excess black. It is now invisible!
- Hitting your grips with cutlery and scratching down the top ridge gives a satisfying knocked-about appearance.
Hopefully I'll get it 100% finished in the next few days and get some nice pics up. Next up will be ANH! (although I have to acquire a graflex red button first)
