I will add that its not crazy to think that production wouldnt destroy a rare vintage item either. They do not care one bit about anything other than getting what they want. You know this as well as i do.
My Beginners Vintage Graflex Builds & Now More! Heiland Vader Update
- Thread starter NathanM
- Start date
NathanM
Well-Known Member
I remember seeing in my research that there were blank bottoms somewhere as well.
We both have experience with how productions handle these things, you more so than me actually being in that department but I've spent my fair time amongst these people as well, documenting their work and build processes. I daresay, to all my different types of friends and co-workers in productions, props, armory, and SFX are the best, most nerd-filled departments in production, lol.
I had this discussion with my wife, a producer on the show I was on, about the odds of the prop department using repro's or vintage for TFA. I guess I looked at it as those prop builders along with JJ at least have a love of the source material and JJ's approach to doing it with practical stuff in reverence to the orginal, I would not be surprised at all if they went out and got the actual items for modifying as they could do an offical screen used build for an iconic prop the way the old guys did it. While the price is higher it's a drop in the bucket of the overall budget, really.
I don't know the prop guys in particular on TFA but I could imagine, they themselves, would want to build accurate replicas from the ground up. My wife, who is a budget centric person, agreed that it wouldn't amount to much to just buy the vintage ones for modifying. But that's all obviously just speculation.
Totally. But also, like I said, given the chance to hand-build an iconic piece for the next major trilogy, wouldn't you salivate at the chance to build it "right."
NathanM
Well-Known Member
Also, it makes sense that the bottom and clamp were covered up. The more modern approach on this big of a project is to cover up stuff like that that would be on the vintage pieces if not for "realism" but also to avoid logos etc. In the 70's on a 'low-budget' trash sci-fi movie? Who gives a ****, lol. Reagrdless I love discussing the philosophy behind these things.
I know that when i saw tfa i was like finally they used a graflex again. And reading that jj was trying to get back to the roots for the fans. The reason im on the fence is i did some time in a couple of the bigger hand prop houses. I won't say the names here as to not put them on blast) They could care less about recreation of a prop using the real parts. They made fun of my all real parts dl44s. They were like "who cares we made lots of those" and i was like yeah but not accurate to the original prop. And they said "who cares thats not how things are done any more". I was part of prop recreations for sequels to movies that were real part props. I watched them spend thousands of dollars and days on end machining parts you can still get today for 20 bucks. They didn't care one bit and laughed at me for finding the parts and bringing up the accuracy and cost issues even tho production wanted an identical prop or props. I even encountered this "attitude" on mando.
It doesn't mean that jj had that "attitude ". It just is what they do.
It doesn't mean that jj had that "attitude ". It just is what they do.
I'm not trying to derail your build thread. I'm sorry if this is getting way of topic. Also this is your build thread so if you would like me not to share some of my builds on here for you to see i could pm you.
I won't post anything on here thats not relevant to what you are building.
I did put together a tfa graflex. I saw the first showing at midnight here in CA. Ran home grabbed a beer and opened my graflex box at 3am! I wanted to visualize what i just saw in the movie. Once again i didn't put too much time into it. Cuz i only do ot props but i had the parts. It was an instant gratification thing for me. Its now a bespin version. But here it is. The only picture i ever took of it.
I did put together a tfa graflex. I saw the first showing at midnight here in CA. Ran home grabbed a beer and opened my graflex box at 3am! I wanted to visualize what i just saw in the movie. Once again i didn't put too much time into it. Cuz i only do ot props but i had the parts. It was an instant gratification thing for me. Its now a bespin version. But here it is. The only picture i ever took of it.
I have made the tracks in the lower tube longer to get the stamping in the orientation I want
NathanM
Well-Known Member
I guess with that, is there a better orientation for stamp alignment and d-ring drilling I should be looking for? I've seen it all over the map in my searches.
NathanM
Well-Known Member
Luke Graflex builds are on hold until I get some more parts. I originally opted for Wannawanga pre-cut ANH T-tracks but also got the grip guide mistakenly thinking the pre-cut grips would fit the guide. Welp, I was wrong, lol.
So, I ordered uncut t-track which I’m more confident in cutting and shaping now so I’m looking forward to that.
In the meantime that gives me some time to start putting together my Heiland Vader build.
Because an MPP is not foreseeable as a possibility currently I decided to pick up some bits and bobs in the Heiland family to build an idealized Vader hilt with features from a bunch that I like.
These are the vintage pieces I’ve compiled:
Right now the plan is to use a Heiland shroud, the 3-cell tube, vintage Exactra green PCB, repro Exactra bubble from eBay, a repro bulb switch (Wannawanga), Wannawanga wires, Romans black side clamp, and the pre-cut slopes tracks (x7) that I ordered from Wannawanga.
Definitely a mish-mash.
I’m not sure if I’ll stick with the matching chromed 3-cell base or swap in the 2-cell knurled base with a different more matte finish. That’s easy enough to see after installing the tracks though I may run into a height issue as the chromed out bottom screws in further than the matte knurled bottom.
I’ll test the length of both and post my findings next.
So, I ordered uncut t-track which I’m more confident in cutting and shaping now so I’m looking forward to that.
In the meantime that gives me some time to start putting together my Heiland Vader build.
Because an MPP is not foreseeable as a possibility currently I decided to pick up some bits and bobs in the Heiland family to build an idealized Vader hilt with features from a bunch that I like.
These are the vintage pieces I’ve compiled:
Right now the plan is to use a Heiland shroud, the 3-cell tube, vintage Exactra green PCB, repro Exactra bubble from eBay, a repro bulb switch (Wannawanga), Wannawanga wires, Romans black side clamp, and the pre-cut slopes tracks (x7) that I ordered from Wannawanga.
Definitely a mish-mash.
I’m not sure if I’ll stick with the matching chromed 3-cell base or swap in the 2-cell knurled base with a different more matte finish. That’s easy enough to see after installing the tracks though I may run into a height issue as the chromed out bottom screws in further than the matte knurled bottom.
I’ll test the length of both and post my findings next.
NathanM
Well-Known Member
Someone else mentioned that and I think in Dustin's (NewMagrathea) video he tested it out and it did (the end cap).
I think for this one, because it's a non-specific idealized build, I'm going too keep repro bits as limited as possible if I already have a solid substitute. I feel like if I go down the path of replacing bits I should've just bought a full on repro kit. I bought the MPP switch because I wanted to see it on this build but I may just keep the Heiland switch on there too.
Thanks for the tip though! Who knows, I may end up going that route for the base cap if the desire strikes. I also wanted to not put too much money into this build as I had no plans to do it before but found cheap-ish Heiland parts that looked fun to try.
PrinceZip
Master Member
You know, that's how it starts...
You begin with Heiland, then MPP replicas, and
Before you know it, you're hunting for vintage MPPs lol
It's the black hole of SW collecting
We only have the wampa cave and the ranch saber for reference
PrinceZip
Master Member
Many people are dead-set on finding Wampa Cave alignment Folmers and such,
But the secret trick is that Graflex end caps can be rotated.
You can just drill 2 holes for leverage and rotate and orient the endcap whichever way you want.
NathanM
Well-Known Member
Started the conversion of the Heiland.
I took apart the emitter section in prep for installation of the switches etc.
I had no idea the whole bulb company would come out! Interesting.
After those were dealt with I opted to just install 1 of the 7 pre-cut t-tracks.
I wanted to align one with the shroud and then I’ll hand place each one after but I wanted to give the one time to cure and act as a solid baseline for the rest.
I opted for E-6000 though I usually use two part epoxy for projects I’d never used this before.
It’s a nifty little adhesive and I realized after gluing the track down, I should’ve kept minimal glue from the edges and centered in the glue track. But a toothpicks worth of edging after some drying removed the glue that had seeped out the sides and left a clean look. Good to know going forward and so easy to deal with in regards to the E-6000.
I took apart the emitter section in prep for installation of the switches etc.
I had no idea the whole bulb company would come out! Interesting.
After those were dealt with I opted to just install 1 of the 7 pre-cut t-tracks.
I wanted to align one with the shroud and then I’ll hand place each one after but I wanted to give the one time to cure and act as a solid baseline for the rest.
I opted for E-6000 though I usually use two part epoxy for projects I’d never used this before.
It’s a nifty little adhesive and I realized after gluing the track down, I should’ve kept minimal glue from the edges and centered in the glue track. But a toothpicks worth of edging after some drying removed the glue that had seeped out the sides and left a clean look. Good to know going forward and so easy to deal with in regards to the E-6000.
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