There's a thread for Anakin Starkiller's ROTJ V2 lightsabers, but no one started one for Nicksdad's ROTJ "Hero," so I figured I'd do it. I know several people have posted their completed sabers in the Project Run thread, but that doesn't really seem like the best place for them, in my opinion.
Anyway... here's mine, which I just got around to finishing recently.
After breaking it down into its component parts, I de-burred and cleaned up the machining marks with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper, and then went at it with a green Scotchbrite pad followed by #0000 steel wool - I wasn't going for "new and polished"... I'm always more interested in "old and worn." I gave everything a light pass with Easy-Off oven cleaner, just to knock the shine down a bit.
For the paint I used Krylon flat black (with no primer). I first tried Krylon satin black but it was way too glossy, so I stripped it off with an acetone bath and a chip brush. Strangely the flat black provided a better satin finish. After letting it sit for 24 hours I sanded the paint off the ribs with a 240 grit emery board.
I finished drilling through the side hole on the emitter nipple and tapped it for an 8-32 set screw. I slightly darkened the interior of the emitter socket with diluted Birchwood Casey aluminum black, applied with a paintbrush.
I had a friend at work turn a new neck piece for me out of brass (I asked him because he enjoys doing precision metal work - he calls it his "shiny therapy"). I sandblasted it and then rubbed it down with #0000 steel wool. A couple hours of ammonia fuming gave it a nice patina and I rubbed it down again with the steel wool. I had a moment of doubt when reviewing all of the reference pics, so I went ahead and gave the copper neck piece the same treatment. I think it looks pretty good, but I'm gonna stick with the brass replacement - it just looks more "right" to me.
For the rails on the control box I first used straight-up Tamiya medium gray paint. After looking at it for a few days I thought it was a bit too light, so I mixed up a darker grey color (which I think might be a bit too dark ). I then finished them off with brass foil tape. After buffing both the brass tape and the circuit card with an ultrafine grit 3M sanding sponge (and wiping them down with alcohol) they got the ammonia fume treatment as well, and then a bit of polishing with steel wool. I then airbrushed the back and the edges of the circuit card with Tamiya clear blue. As a bonus, this provided some slightly extra thickness and therefore friction, so it isn't so loose in the rails now.
I darkened the interior of the box a bit with diluted aluminum black, applied with a q-tip. I cobbled together a circuit board from a couple different sources... I'm not sure what they were exactly - perhaps some sort of power control modules - but the miniature lighting guy at work was giving them away, so they were free. I dressed in a couple electronic components from a spare control box that I got from Rylo, which was left over from his Elstree Reveal saber run.
I sandblasted the tri-ring and gave it a short soak in Modern Options Sophisticated Finishes Instant Rust solution. The stuff works great (and fast!), but it came out as bright orange rust. So I burned it with a propane torch. Better, but too dark - back into the rust solution. I did this a few more times until I got something that I liked. As a bonus, I got to see a nifty green flame! (since one of the ingredients of the rust solution is copper sulfate)
The last step (before reassembly) was to add a small bit of "gunk" in the grooves and crevices. You can see this if you look closely at some of the pics of the original prop. I didn't go crazy, as the original still appears to be pretty clean in all of the photos that I've seen of it. I first tried airbrushing Tamiya flat base into the crevices of the bare aluminum parts - it dried as a chalky, white haze. I then rubbed the parts down with a rag which removed most of it. I left it as-is on the main body and the pommel, but I went back in with an off-white mixture of oil paint thinned with turpenoid on the emitter (applied with a fine paint brush). Then I mixed up a dark grey color for the grooves of the black painted areas on the grip. One final step was some minor scraping-off of bits of black paint here and there.
Anyway, there you have it. Feel free to contribute your own.
Anyway... here's mine, which I just got around to finishing recently.
After breaking it down into its component parts, I de-burred and cleaned up the machining marks with 400 and 600 grit sandpaper, and then went at it with a green Scotchbrite pad followed by #0000 steel wool - I wasn't going for "new and polished"... I'm always more interested in "old and worn." I gave everything a light pass with Easy-Off oven cleaner, just to knock the shine down a bit.
For the paint I used Krylon flat black (with no primer). I first tried Krylon satin black but it was way too glossy, so I stripped it off with an acetone bath and a chip brush. Strangely the flat black provided a better satin finish. After letting it sit for 24 hours I sanded the paint off the ribs with a 240 grit emery board.
I finished drilling through the side hole on the emitter nipple and tapped it for an 8-32 set screw. I slightly darkened the interior of the emitter socket with diluted Birchwood Casey aluminum black, applied with a paintbrush.
I had a friend at work turn a new neck piece for me out of brass (I asked him because he enjoys doing precision metal work - he calls it his "shiny therapy"). I sandblasted it and then rubbed it down with #0000 steel wool. A couple hours of ammonia fuming gave it a nice patina and I rubbed it down again with the steel wool. I had a moment of doubt when reviewing all of the reference pics, so I went ahead and gave the copper neck piece the same treatment. I think it looks pretty good, but I'm gonna stick with the brass replacement - it just looks more "right" to me.
For the rails on the control box I first used straight-up Tamiya medium gray paint. After looking at it for a few days I thought it was a bit too light, so I mixed up a darker grey color (which I think might be a bit too dark ). I then finished them off with brass foil tape. After buffing both the brass tape and the circuit card with an ultrafine grit 3M sanding sponge (and wiping them down with alcohol) they got the ammonia fume treatment as well, and then a bit of polishing with steel wool. I then airbrushed the back and the edges of the circuit card with Tamiya clear blue. As a bonus, this provided some slightly extra thickness and therefore friction, so it isn't so loose in the rails now.
I darkened the interior of the box a bit with diluted aluminum black, applied with a q-tip. I cobbled together a circuit board from a couple different sources... I'm not sure what they were exactly - perhaps some sort of power control modules - but the miniature lighting guy at work was giving them away, so they were free. I dressed in a couple electronic components from a spare control box that I got from Rylo, which was left over from his Elstree Reveal saber run.
I sandblasted the tri-ring and gave it a short soak in Modern Options Sophisticated Finishes Instant Rust solution. The stuff works great (and fast!), but it came out as bright orange rust. So I burned it with a propane torch. Better, but too dark - back into the rust solution. I did this a few more times until I got something that I liked. As a bonus, I got to see a nifty green flame! (since one of the ingredients of the rust solution is copper sulfate)
The last step (before reassembly) was to add a small bit of "gunk" in the grooves and crevices. You can see this if you look closely at some of the pics of the original prop. I didn't go crazy, as the original still appears to be pretty clean in all of the photos that I've seen of it. I first tried airbrushing Tamiya flat base into the crevices of the bare aluminum parts - it dried as a chalky, white haze. I then rubbed the parts down with a rag which removed most of it. I left it as-is on the main body and the pommel, but I went back in with an off-white mixture of oil paint thinned with turpenoid on the emitter (applied with a fine paint brush). Then I mixed up a dark grey color for the grooves of the black painted areas on the grip. One final step was some minor scraping-off of bits of black paint here and there.
Anyway, there you have it. Feel free to contribute your own.
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