Obi-Wan's Revenge of the Sith lightsaber. How many variations are there?

[BRRogers]

You can see the copper tube they attached on the pommel. The threaded rod on the front would probably be the other point of balance.
IE, they had monofilament wound around the bar from above. As they pull the slack on the filament up it dramatically rolls the hilt before being picked up. Kind of in keeping with the blue fishing line….
Scrutinizing the auction photo on the Gillard hilt reveals some surface marking on the pommel where the tube would have been temporarily attached.

 

[Joek3rr]

View attachment 1906132
Some color modding here but primarily to highlight the notable differences between the hilts and their coloring. Propstore not helping with the way they light and crop things-
Also trying to keep the hilt angle relatively the same to poibt out differences in length features.
Rymo’s thread with photos of the exhibit hilt has muuuch better photos: just not the angle I need for the side by sides.

View attachment 1906106

*edited the list above, thanks for the guidance Teecrooz.

Adjusted for being re informed
Worth noting we don't officially know which hilt would be the ILM digital model reference, the MR reference being the current assumption.

So which one is in the Archive and shows up on the Star Wars website?

And just a slight aside, the Hasbro toy from 2005 has similar color scheme as the "ILM" version.

Rebelscum.com; Star Wars Toy News Archive

Rebelscum.com Star Wars Toy News.

www.rebelscum.com

Possibly they sent photo references out of that hilt?

 

[Gregatron]

View attachment 1906291
View attachment 1906292
You can see the copper tube they attached on the pommel. The threaded rod on the front would probably be the other point of balance.
IE, they had monofilament wound around the bar from above. As they pull the slack on the filament up it dramatically rolls the hilt before being picked up. Kind of in keeping with the blue fishing line….
Scrutinizing the auction photo on the Gillard hilt reveals some surface marking on the pommel where the tube would have been temporarily attached.

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

 

[BRRogers]

ILM = Archives hilt

 

[thd9791]

I am kind of a fan of the black insert in the top of the windvane, I don’t know why but whatever that is it adds a nice complicated touch.

 

[sakanade]

Not sure if it has been asked but any idea what's going on with the pommel on the #373 prop? Would it have been chromed to match the rest of hilt or did it look like the #689/Gillard originally?

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

I always thought this one had a brass and copper machined neck that had been polished with some scotchbrite to give it a satin sheen and then clear coated

 

[Gregatron]

I always thought this one had a brass and copper machined neck that had been polished with some scotchbrite to give it a satin sheen and then clear coatedView attachment 1906548

That gold neck is vexing.

99% of replicas just go with shiny brass, but the actual prop looks like either gold paint or brass with a matte clearcoat.

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

That gold neck is vexing.

99% of replicas just go with shiny brass, but the actual prop looks like either gold paint or brass with a matte clearcoat.

I talked to Steve Dymszo years ago about the props he examined in the archives while designing for MR and he said that a lot of the props had a dulling coat of something sprayed over them after AOTC.

I specifically remember him saying that the metal dooku saber looked like it had been sprayed with a matt clearcoat

 

[Gregatron]

I talked to Steve Dymszo years ago about the props he examined in the archives while designing for MR and he said that a lot of the props had a dulling coat of something sprayed over them after AOTC.

I specifically remember him saying that the metal dooku saber looked like it had been sprayed with a matt clearcoat

Hmmm.

Aside from a deliberately aesthetic choice, the only other reason I can see for doing that is to minimize bluescreen/greenscreen reflections.

As can be seen in the ROTS DVD features, they bit the bullet and went with a shiny gold Threepio suit...but then also had to digitally paint out all of those unwanted reflections of the crew, camera equipment, greenscreens, etc.

So, to avoid more headaches, they must've dulled down various props.

 

[teecrooz]

 

[Halliwax]

The matte clear has been a trick the industry has used for years

The tail light section of steve mcqueens bullitt mustang was sprayed clear, along with the stainless trim to try and avoid the shine and shimmer from the hot Cali sun

What steve dymszo’s comment makes total sense to me

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

It also might have been done post production. It could be a preservation thing or something done for 3d scanning.

 

[Halliwax]

So we all agree this is a 100% metal prop?

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

I'd love to say "yes!" But honestly, I'm having trouble being 100% sure what I'm seeing.

 

[BRRogers]

I always thought this one had a brass and copper machined neck that had been polished with some scotchbrite to give it a satin sheen and then clear coatedView attachment 1906548

Turned brass and copper, smooth finish, a “touch” darkened, with matte clear. I agree,
somehow Rymo’s thread photos were the latest I had seen but the quality of these makes it pretty clear.
Matte clear is pretty common across theatre productions as well because of the stage lights doing the same thing, you don’t want those crazy hot spots/ refractions.
Clamp box, body, pommel, and emitter all turned metal, still scrutinizing the grenade and booster on this one though

 

[BRRogers]

Throwing it out there- this exhibit hilt is probably the basis for at least the pommel and clamp castings.
The only one with matching machined marks on the pommel (Tom’s cast middle)

 

[Anakin Starkiller]

Interesting. But, if I remember correctly, this pommel has a pilot hole and circular recess around it on the bottom. And Tom's casting is completely flat

 

[thd9791]

My casting, as I understand it, is of a rubber master, it’s why there’s a crack/wrinkle on the bottom.

What if this aluminum master was molded for the rubber stunt and then someone molded the rubber stunt for whatever I have..

 

[sakanade]

So we all agree this is a 100% metal prop?
View attachment 1906570

Can we all 100% agree that we need a replica of this prop?

But yeah IMO it looks all metal.