My Beginners Vintage Graflex Builds & Now More! Heiland Vader Update

nice! excited to see how this plays out

Technically the Vader belt-hanger and the "found in an Elstree Studios dumpster" Graflex saber from production are the only sabers with bubble strips still around from filming. Vader's... they milled off the upper corner with a groove.... the Elstree saber, they did what I did and made a trapezoid shape by just sanding off the corners.

There are lots of ways to fit an exactra lens in there like sanding the whole thing thinner, but taking the corners off leave the bubbles flush with the clamp face!
 
nice! excited to see how this plays out

Technically the Vader belt-hanger and the "found in an Elstree Studios dumpster" Graflex saber from production are the only sabers with bubble strips still around from filming. Vader's... they milled off the upper corner with a groove.... the Elstree saber, they did what I did and made a trapezoid shape by just sanding off the corners.

There are lots of ways to fit an exactra lens in there like sanding the whole thing thinner, but taking the corners off leave the bubbles flush with the clamp face!

I'm definitely leaning towards the trapezoid option at this point.

I received the TFA board that comes with Roman's assembled bottom kit. He forgot it in the order so sent it along seperately so that was great! It's interesting as it seems to be taller than the ESB board I ordered from Sloth so I have to file it down so the clamp can close. Looks like sandpaper is in my future regardless.

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I also got in the second flash so I'll post that shortly with some images. It's an interesting piece and I have some questions on it.
 
I received my second full Graflex.

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Definitely not as clean as the first. There's some minor chrome loss on the lower part.

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Some minor rusting on the exterior and in crevices and grooves as well as the interior. ANy advice on how to treat those bits to stop it? It doesn't look too bad so maybe leave it as is?

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Finally, the metal collar of the bunny ears is held in by a retaining spring. It's odd too as it looks to be original. The clip locks in on the small nipple and stays in place really well. Anyone ever seen this before? I guess I'll be on the lookout for a spare full one or maybe just leave it as the oddity it is?

I plan on using this Graflex as the base for my ESB build. In my head cannon I'd guess that the ESB version is a bit more well worn than the ANH one. Obi Wan would've cleaned and maintained Anakin's version in preparation to give it to Luke at some point. And after the events of ANH it saw some wear to it as it progressed through ESB. That's my facts and I'm sticking too it, lol.

Next bit of this is waiting for my WannaWanga parts order for the ANH build. I'm also debating on hunting down a legit Kobold piece and Otis elevator board as well to get this ESB build as close as possible to original parts. Guess that's me putting it out there that I'm interested in the parts if you have them for sale.

Thanks for looking!
 
Oh my gosh thats a weird one - looks to be a DIY repair by the photographer

Otis boards are very close, the real board hasnt been IDed yet so there may be others out there that are more accurate

And i would smear some renissance wax on that rust just to be safe, or caranuba wax of somekind as a second choice. Shouldnt continue if you keep it dry and generally free from oils ir acids lol
 
Oh my gosh thats a weird one - looks to be a DIY repair by the photographer

Otis boards are very close, the real board hasnt been IDed yet so there may be others out there that are more accurate

And i would smear some renissance wax on that rust just to be safe, or caranuba wax of somekind as a second choice. Shouldnt continue if you keep it dry and generally free from oils ir acids lol

Yeah I wasn't sure if it was DIY or not. Just weird that the fragment appears to be OEM but the fix is very clean and what would cause it to break that way lol?

I guess I'll hold off on the Otis board as well. Seems very hard to get as it is anyways.

I'll definitely go the wax route so thanks for that. It's not too bad as it is but worth impeding at the very least.
 
The originals have a piece of springy steel that hugs the ears, shouldn't be too hard to make one! The spring is a clever fix but finding that part of a bunny ear assembly on its own may be a bit tough. For a while Graflex slave units were common and inexpensive but I haven't seen them for a while
 
The originals have a piece of springy steel that hugs the ears, shouldn't be too hard to make one! The spring is a clever fix but finding that part of a bunny ear assembly on its own may be a bit tough. For a while Graflex slave units were common and inexpensive but I haven't seen them for a while
I may just stick it out and look for a donor piece.
 
I have another update!

I recently acquired this, what I lovingly call, C-3PO Graflex, lol.

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It's got a lot of brassing to it. The chrome seems to have been vigorously rubbed off. I expected it be in better condition but it actually works out as a good donor bit of kit. I have another one coming which will put me at almost 4 complete flashes.

With the previous 3-Cell flash I purchased, the bunny ears needed some attention so I'll remove the ones from these to replace on the better complete kit.

The red button and glass eye are nice as well so that helps with my ESB build as the red button goes.

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The bottom tube will accompany my original 2-cell top for a full build, so overall, I'm happy.

This buy was a learning experience though as I leapt in head first without seeing how deep the bottom was and hit my head. Mess-ups are good though.

In the next update, I'll be posting all the anicillary goodies and do-hickeys I needed to do a proper build. So exciting!
 
Received my extra Exactra Screws today.

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Unfortunately it looks like two of them are not the same as the 19/20 versions. Not sure what that means as they came from an EX-31 and I thought they were all the same, but apparently not, lol. Oh well. Time to find one more. Parts hunting is exhausting and I'm new at this. I can't imagine what you 'old-timers' have been through in this journey of discovery and expenditures.

Next up should be the materials needed to make a build happen. I think I'll have that shored up tomorrow. Thanks for following along!
 
oh damn, too bad. sorry about that. I took my screws from an exactra 31 for my saber too, it worked perfectly :(
 
oh damn, too bad. sorry about that. I took my screws from an exactra 31 for my saber too, it worked perfectly :(
No worries. A solid learning experience still. I'll make mistakes and I'm fine with that. I should've just sourced the calculator myself and done it that way instead of cutting corners trying to find an 'easier' solution.
 
Alright!!!

My last Graflex (for now, lol) arrived.

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It's one of the more interesting ones yet.

The glass eye is not present but I have an extra! It does have that cable adapter though.

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Maybe worth modifying by removing the knurling? And seeing if I can get a glass eye in there?

Funny enough, it won't screw all the way in either

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I believe was one of the things noticed on one of the sabers at one point? Am I mis-remembering? Maybe that's why, because it was an adapted piece? Or was that more considered an issue with the electronic function of them and it interfering with the interior components?

There was a bit of grime/corrosion on the base of it but most of it was removed with a quick cleaning. The rest is okay as it will be covered up by grips eventually.

Before:
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After:
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It also has the often missing(?) clamp screw. Was this on any of the versions across the films?

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I'll do a group pose shortly. Still waiting on stuff to get going on builds but things are coming in. Can't wait!
 

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