Paper Graflex Saber

[Sporak]

...a couple of kids during the holidays...

My son's friend spent a few days here during Christmas break...he always wants me to make him a lightsaber...so I came up with a quick project that kept both boys interested for a couple days...Using some paper towel rolls...

All paper, well, posterboard for the parts...and aluminum tape here and there...and made a "belt loop" out of picture wire.

I didn't have any silver spraypaint on hand so we just used a light grey for the base...

I took some shots of my real bubbles and eye and red button and we just cut em out and stuck them on

I decided to simplify...but they could be built up as well.

The boys then added details like the screws and clamp detail, switch etc...

Hey, and they work too...

Here's my parts set if you want to try this...

Have Fun...

 

[glim999]

that's pretty cool

 

[RedTwoX]

:thumbsup Great project. I bet the kids loved it.

 

[B-Wing]

Those look great. I bet the kids enjoyed those as much as anything they got for Christmas. I will have to try making some with my kids one rainy day. What did you use for the grips?

 

[Sporak]

Thanks guys...yeah it was great fun not to have to be so precise...

Just the same posterboard...
I measured out 1 inch then marked the quarter inches...bent one way in the center and the two sides the other... Prepainted the sheet black and marked them with a black pen.

You could really go into detail with these, we just chose not to.
My son wants to try an Obi ANH

It could be done, but oh the folding LOL...

Originally posted by B-Wing@Jan 8 2006, 09:17 PM
What did you use for the grips?

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[vadermania]

That is so cool. BTW, do you know that there were paper lightsabers used in the original trilogy? When I visited the LFL archives in 1995, I found a full box of paper Graflexes sitting in a shelf. My first guess was that these were the result of a Marin County school contest "who makes the best paper lightsaber", but Lorne Peterson told me that they were screen-used in some wide shots of ESB. Hamill complained that when he was running the heavy metal Graflex prop was bouncing heavily on his belt and hit his family jewels from time to time, so they've made some quick and lightweight paper versions for wide shots. Funny, eh?

Tom

 

[dcarty]

LOL-- What a great project. I can't wait until my kids are old enough for that sort of thing. Thanks for sharing Sporak


Vadermania--interesting revelation. Paper sabers who'd have thought?


Cheers,

Dave C

 

[Sporak]

No, I didn't ...Wow.
Well, I can add it to the official collection then
Do you remember how detailed they were?

Originally posted by vadermania@Jan 9 2006, 09:44 AM
That is so cool. BTW, do you know that there were paper lightsabers used in the original trilogy? Tom

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[Sporak]

My son is who got me into this madness seriously LOL...especially on the SW stuff...

Dave, Please let your kids handle your stuff...you'll have a lot more fun with them (the props and your kids) that way
They will make these things become real.
And they'll be the envy of all their friends too Ha.

Originally posted by dcarty@Jan 9 2006, 09:56 AM
LOL-- What a great project.  I can't wait until my kids are old enough for that sort of thing.  Thanks for sharing Sporak
Dave C

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[tgreco]

someone needs to add this to the free paper props thread

 

[vadermania]

Originally posted by Sporak+Jan 9 2006, 10:25 PM--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Sporak @ Jan 9 2006, 10:25 PM)</div>

No, I didn't ...Wow.
Well, I can add it to the official collection then
Do you remember how detailed they were?


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@Jan 9 2006, 09:44 AM
That is so cool. BTW, do you know that there were paper lightsabers used in the original trilogy? Tom

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[/b]

to be honest, they looked very simple, by far not as "accurate" as yours. In close-up, they were not much more than posterboard tubes wrapped in silver aluminium foil, with a ring attached to the bottom and simple black paper stripes for the rubber grips. But if you look at them from a distance, it was hard to tell. These props were only used in wide shots, they were always in motion, which would add natural motion blur to the image, too. Most of them were made for Luke's Jedi training on Dagobah and for other scenes that required the actor running in full gear. Not sure how much of them ended on screen, though.

Tom

 

[p0sitr0nic]

Sporak, soo freakin cool... Ive always grabbedthe empty paper towel roll and imagined xD

As for a paper/cardboard prop, thats very interesting... i may attempt one.

 

[DCB]

Wow, that's actually pretty cool. Making them would be a fun school holiday project for the kids. Then, if you had a handycam and were able to roto, they could have fun making duelling movies. And if it breaks, well it's no big deal. And it would be pretty hard to hurt each other with carboard tubes too.

 

[Fetthunter]

Originally posted by tgreco@Jan 9 2006, 05:33 PM
someone needs to add this to the free paper props thread

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It would be a nice addition.

Sporak posted this one on the free paper props thread (page 3):

 

[Darkknight0667]

I made my son a Vader-inspired one about a year ago. Paper towel tubes are the perfect size for their little hands. You can take a length of foam pipe insulation and use that for the blade. Then, the little monkeys can whack at each other all they want and nobody gets hurt.