Ohhh, I’m gonna have to re read that post now!
New Elstree Studio documentary with discarded Graflex.
- Thread starter Skelatorious
- Start date
Ohhh, I’m gonna have to re read that post now!
I like that theory buddy!
I believe that the rivets were installed by Obi-Wan in order to stabilize the energy matrix connected to the Kyber crystal following Anakin’s duel with him on Mustafar...things got shaken around a bit.
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That’s reasonable. Like, some kind of metal plug inserted into the bottom tube, with both the endcap and side rivets sunk into it for more structural integrity.
I’d say other possibilities would be an early attempt at affixing a d-ring on the side of the tube instead of the bottom (remember, both the Vader and Obi-Wan sabers have their d-rings on the sides of the hilts, not the endcaps), or a possible mount/reinforcement for insertion of a stunt blade.
Perhaps the Elstree saber was a failed prototype for a stunt, AND SO WAS THE HERO, before they moved on to the dressed-up pipe FX stunt.
These publicity photos were presumably taken with the best available hero props, sothe toe pic saber would therefore be an/THE onscreen hero, and not just some failed prototype they grabbed to use for the photos.
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It seems a little suspicious that two sets of rivets (which may or may not be the same size) were somehow added to the prop at different times. One pair in its first life as a flashgun, and the second to attach the d-ring when the flash was turned into a movie prop. Seems much more likely that all four rivets were added at or around the same time. So, what, it just so happened that they decided to use two rivets to attach the d-ring bracket—rivets which just so happened to look like the same (or similar) size and style as pre-existing rivets in the side of the flash tube? That seems too much of a coincidence.
The difference in size (and shape) is not that small: although the image is vague, I can say with certainty that the rivets are smaller than the ones used in the Elstree saber for the D-ring attachment. So they could have been added by the prop maker who used various sizes rivets for various reasons (I find an earlier side attachment test very likely) or they were there already (which I find less likely since you probably would have removed them). The T-tracks might be the reason they didn't remove these after all, if they mounted a clip in between the tracks.
Agreed!
IronDestinyProps
Well-Known Member
Well done roygilsing on another great set of reverse engineered photos! To my eye, those two rivets on the side seem to have a little taller crown than the flatter crowned general pop rivets.
It is my personal belief that the prop department may have tried to use this static hero prop initially as a rotating, bladed stunt and ran two wires down inside for the mechanism which required the drilling of the two holes on the side so the wires could have an exist. It may be reasonable to assume when they chose to make the in-house hilt for the saber ignition in Ben's homestead that they chose to use this hilt as the main hero, static prop belt hanger. They plugged the holes on the side with the rivets and later installed the grips around them.
EDIT: Or perhaps the prop department were messing with electronics options on the lower half of that particular flashgun, plugged the holes with rivets and decided to use it with the clamp and upper half of the hero hilt.
It is my personal belief that the prop department may have tried to use this static hero prop initially as a rotating, bladed stunt and ran two wires down inside for the mechanism which required the drilling of the two holes on the side so the wires could have an exist. It may be reasonable to assume when they chose to make the in-house hilt for the saber ignition in Ben's homestead that they chose to use this hilt as the main hero, static prop belt hanger. They plugged the holes on the side with the rivets and later installed the grips around them.
EDIT: Or perhaps the prop department were messing with electronics options on the lower half of that particular flashgun, plugged the holes with rivets and decided to use it with the clamp and upper half of the hero hilt.
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We already know how much trouble the FX heroes provided for the production. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they’d focused on getting the FX props working before moving on to the static props. Maybe the hero Graflex (partly or entirely) was a leftover from some early FX testing before they made the crude pipe stunt seen onscreen. Perhaps they’d planned for the prop to be an all-in-one: a hero which could have a blade installed for the FX scenes. Remember, the script didn’t show any fighting scenes with the Graflex, and so they would just have needed to stick in a blade and motor for the two scenes the saber is used in. Perhaps the FX pipe stunt we know was a last-minute replacement. Food for thought.
Hate to be 'that guy', but to me they look a little bit like screws? The heads look a little rounder than the standard flat head rivet.
Hmm, that very well could be.
I can recall being surprised when I finally saw those great hi res pics of the ROTJ Han blaster that sold at auction, and realizing that the fasteners holding the piston halves on were Phillips head screws! *GASP!*
And there were tiny round black stickers covering one or more of them.
To me, if you look close enough, you can see the small cross head of a phillips screw? Just my two cents really.
I love it, a new rivets vs. screws debate! If I unfocus my eyes, I can almost convince myself that they're square drive, but I'd lean towards rivets.
Bare with me on this. To my eye, the shape of the head looks far more rounded than a pop rivet. I’m no expert on rivets but the 3mm ones I have are very ‘flat’ rather than the rounded Phillips screw of a similar size.
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