First of all I think I've mentioned this before but I am absolutely terrible at documenting projects. That being said I'll explain as much as possible and show you the images I did capture.
This year I decided to finally put together a collection of Original Trilogy sabers. I've had this MR Force FX Vader ESB since it came out in 2005. Although I've never been a fan of the FX sabers, the hilt was actually really nice compared to MR previous offerings. This one showed better dimensions than the previous 2003 ANH saber that was way too thick and a bit longer.
I few months ago I finally decided to remove the blade with the intention to find a way to accurize it some day, and I finally did it. I had just recently finished a Heiland synchronar and realized that the dimensions were actually amazingly super close. So I went on Ebay and found one of those cheap Heiland add-ons/ extensions ( if youve ever looked for a Heiland flash these pop up all the time). I went for the one with the one that has the reflector bowl because I noticed it came with two additional shroud screws and I had ruined the one that came on the MR FX while removing parts.
The main thing I was after on buying this was the guts. Upon closer inspection ( after receiving the flash parts) I notice that the guts wont just slide in there as I had hoped, but they were too far off. So I got my dremel and some sanding wheels and went to town on the hilts interior walls. After a while I start to realize I'm never gonna finish shaving the interior of the hilt. However the Heiland guts were made os a softer metal that would shave down a lot faster ( not to mention all the shaving I had already done on the hilts interior)
Sure enough once I got the dimensions for it to slide in, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the connectors on the electronic guts of the Heiland lined up beautifully with the MR FX hilt. I ordered some of Roy's cables and installed them to add the finishing touch.
Now the reason why I chose to just modify this hilt instead of buying another full Heiland is because it has all the "right" ( replicated) markings of an MPP. It even has the two holes that were meant to hold the MPP plaque. Also the bottom cap looks a lot better and closer to the MPP cap, than the average Heiland squared off cap. ( BTW if you look closely that my ANH Heiland, you will notice I got really lucky and found a flash that had the correct shape of the connectors and the better looking bottom cap.)
Anyways, there you have it. It was a lot of fun to do this and I am very pleased with the results. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Cheers!
This year I decided to finally put together a collection of Original Trilogy sabers. I've had this MR Force FX Vader ESB since it came out in 2005. Although I've never been a fan of the FX sabers, the hilt was actually really nice compared to MR previous offerings. This one showed better dimensions than the previous 2003 ANH saber that was way too thick and a bit longer.
I few months ago I finally decided to remove the blade with the intention to find a way to accurize it some day, and I finally did it. I had just recently finished a Heiland synchronar and realized that the dimensions were actually amazingly super close. So I went on Ebay and found one of those cheap Heiland add-ons/ extensions ( if youve ever looked for a Heiland flash these pop up all the time). I went for the one with the one that has the reflector bowl because I noticed it came with two additional shroud screws and I had ruined the one that came on the MR FX while removing parts.
The main thing I was after on buying this was the guts. Upon closer inspection ( after receiving the flash parts) I notice that the guts wont just slide in there as I had hoped, but they were too far off. So I got my dremel and some sanding wheels and went to town on the hilts interior walls. After a while I start to realize I'm never gonna finish shaving the interior of the hilt. However the Heiland guts were made os a softer metal that would shave down a lot faster ( not to mention all the shaving I had already done on the hilts interior)
Sure enough once I got the dimensions for it to slide in, I was pleasantly surprised to find out the connectors on the electronic guts of the Heiland lined up beautifully with the MR FX hilt. I ordered some of Roy's cables and installed them to add the finishing touch.
Now the reason why I chose to just modify this hilt instead of buying another full Heiland is because it has all the "right" ( replicated) markings of an MPP. It even has the two holes that were meant to hold the MPP plaque. Also the bottom cap looks a lot better and closer to the MPP cap, than the average Heiland squared off cap. ( BTW if you look closely that my ANH Heiland, you will notice I got really lucky and found a flash that had the correct shape of the connectors and the better looking bottom cap.)
Anyways, there you have it. It was a lot of fun to do this and I am very pleased with the results. Hope you guys enjoy it.
Cheers!