New Elstree Studio documentary with discarded Graflex.
- Thread starter Skelatorious
- Start date
lonepigeon
Master Member
So, whos got a line on vintage pop rivets
I see ears...
AnubisGuard
Master Member
I do. In fact, given their size and position relative to the d-ring, they appear to be the ones Roy perspective matched from the promo pics. The ones facing camera appear like they might be larger. (Though I realize bloom in the camera lens may be messing with that.)
I wonder if those rivets maybe held an early/abandoned motor/blade assembly inside the bottom tube before the stunt saber was made.
Okay. The rivets on the left match the toe pic saber. The rivets on the right are an all-new mystery.
I must also retract my earlier statement—if the toe pic saber was indeed photographed for post-production publicity stills, that means the Tunisia saber is not the toe pic saber, since it has two sets of mystery rivets. Which means two separate props using the same build technique.
The one and only conclusion I can draw from the available information is that they were worried about the aluminum d-ring bracket and/or the bottom tube’s thin brass not being able to handle the rigors of filming and hanging/bouncing from a belt. So, they installed some kind of inner core in the bottom of the flash tube, then riveted it from both the bottom AND the side of the tube for extra strength.
I must also retract my earlier statement—if the toe pic saber was indeed photographed for post-production publicity stills, that means the Tunisia saber is not the toe pic saber, since it has two sets of mystery rivets. Which means two separate props using the same build technique.
The one and only conclusion I can draw from the available information is that they were worried about the aluminum d-ring bracket and/or the bottom tube’s thin brass not being able to handle the rigors of filming and hanging/bouncing from a belt. So, they installed some kind of inner core in the bottom of the flash tube, then riveted it from both the bottom AND the side of the tube for extra strength.
Also, you can JUST see the glint of an off-center/left d-ring bracket rivet in the Tunisia pic, which confirms that the two-rivet/Elstree style d-ring clip WAS on the screenused prop(s).
Kudos to lonepigeon for dropping in and knocking over the applecart with this one shocking photo!
Kudos to lonepigeon for dropping in and knocking over the applecart with this one shocking photo!
AnubisGuard
Master Member
That's been my hypothesis too. And I think we can safely discard the idea that the rivets are left over from a prior owner.
Alli know is, if/when we get this all nailed down and I (finally) do my ANH conversion, I'll be dropping a wood plug down the bottom tube and driving all the rivets into it.
It only makes sense. It’s too coincidental to have TWO flashes which had rivets added for some unknown reason in their first life, or two flashes (three, including the Elstree) which were abandoned attempts at a motorized FX.
Also, I have to ask...how sure are we of the timeline for the publicity photos? I was not entirely convinced that any or all of them were post-production (except, of course, for the Bob Seidemann stills). Is it possible that they’re pre- or early-production, and that the second set of rivets was added to the toe pic saber during location filming? The “new” set of rivets does look bigger than the ones we already knew about. Maybe they were an emergency, on-set addition.
Or, perhaps the toe pic saber was designed as more of a close-up hero, with only one set of rivets (which would be less obvious, especially given their placement on the usually-unseen side of the prop), and the Tunisia saber was built to be a little more rough-and-tumble, and less pretty for the movie camera and the publicity stills.
We need more info, but the Tunisia prop is presumably hanging backwards (clamp facing him, rivets facing out) on Hamill’s belt in the photo, compared to how it usually does (clamp facing out, rivets facing him).
Cody1138
Well-Known Member
I do see two rivets. combining an earlier theory that the rivets may have held a mechanism in place or provided extra support for the D Ring, then two sets would make sense. However, if the orientation Roy has shown of the rivets in relationship to the grips and d ring (which I think is right) then the clamp is against Mark's leg in this photo.
PrinceZip
Master Member
lonepigeon
Do you have the original/enlarged version of this reference photo you found today?
Do you have the original/enlarged version of this reference photo you found today?
Well, one has four rivets in a scene ostensibly shot before the publicity photos, which feature a prop with only two rivets. Either the toe pic photos were shot before the Tunisia scene was filmed, or we’re talking about two separate props.
Exactly.
It should also be noted that each of the d-ring bracket’s two rivets lines up with one of the spaces between the grips. Adding two rivets to each of those two spaces provides both a symmetrical look AND structural strength, if the six total rivets were indeed locked into an inner core which was secured into the bottom of the tube.
... or the second pair of rivets is simply obscured by Luke's hand/is facing away from the camera in the toe pic photos... Which scenario seems more likely?
When zooming in on this now-infamous photo, I see no sign of the other set of rivets. Anyone care to brighten/enhance the image to confirm? It’s really, really hard to see the spot where they’d be, though. The shadows and Hamill’s leg obscure almost all of that space.
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AnubisGuard
Master Member
I gotta say, this is the most excited I've been about a prop discovery in a long, long time. Who thought there'd be anything new to learn about the ANH Graflex?
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