PZ's SW Prop Collection - UPDATE: Authentic Symmetrical Hales Grenade - All Real Parts Obi-Wan Lightsaber

[PrinceZip]

Hello there!

For a while, I've admired amazing Star Wars props and vintage parts in this community.
As I shift my own prop collection into rare vintage parts, I thought I would contribute back with this thread.
It will be regularly updated with new acquisitions that are noteworthy to showoff.

If you have any questions or would like me to take more photos as references, feel free to let me know!
Thank you for looking

- PZ

 

[PrinceZip]

I will start this thread nice and slow...
Here's my newest acquisition... Authentic Rolls-Royce Derwent Engine Female 'Balance Pipe - Large Assembly'



I know Sep 20 is the day we all agreed to storm Area51, but I decided to go early and found this!
I also saw a huge stack of female NOS BPs in there!
It's a minty mint vintage balance pipe from the 1st ever Derwent engine found in the RPF community.

It's my first time seeing this part in person, and it's quite something,
The weight and coloration of Inconel is unlike any other metal,
And the engravings are so intricate (the letters are even written in cursive haha)

Absolutely love this new acquisition, it's in such good condition, yet retains the 'right kind' of weathering, such as the heat marks that are present in the real Obi saber as well. Also, its historical significance to theRPF in starting the everlasting crazy hunt for Derwent engines makes this more special to me.

Huge thank you to teecrooz Edraven99 mugatu
They are absolute legends and godsends.
Without their help, this would not have been possible
(Just gonna add that they don't have any BP to sell, so please don't spam them lol)

Enjoy these pics!

 

[mugatu]

Holy Moly those photos really spotlight the beauty of this piece. Congrats, again, Kevin!

 

[russellsch]

Such a great piece! & great photos too, thank you

 

[fezfox]

Welcome to the club!

 

[Halliwax]

Wicked hard part to find, congratulations on over coming this huge struggle

 

[PrinceZip]

Thank you russellsch fezfox Halliwax and Andy!
I definitely had a sigh of relief after getting the BP, as it's arguably the most difficult to get found-part in Star Wars collecting...

After a lazy weekend, I decided to pull other Obi parts out of the storage and take some more pictures
Female Derwent BP, Browning ANM2 Booster, Armitage Shanks Handwheels, Exactra 20, and Graflex




Team Aero - Probably the hardest parts for completing an authentic Obi saber...
I've seen so many people either getting stuck in BP or Booster
Luckily, the Booster was the first part for me to find.




The Usual Suspects - These are pretty easy parts to find, and I don't really care for them too much.
If there's a situation where I need to evacuate out of my house quickly, I'll probably forget about them to be frank lol




A Couple of Sink Knobs - literally just an old pair of 'Cold' and 'Hot' sink knobs...
My friends and family are definitely making fun of me for these



Anyways, the missing part for now is a Hales grenade.
Thankfully, I've been offered a museum quality, mint condition Hales, and I'm eyeing to get that.
So hopefully, it won't be too long until all the infinity stones Obi parts are in my hand!

 

[OdiWan72]

What a sight!

 

[mugatu]

So beautiful to see all those pieces. They clean up very well!

 

[m4vrick]

So, one conclusion: We should storm area 51? Or more often?

 

[PrinceZip]

So beautiful to see all those pieces. They clean up very well!

I totally forgot to talk about this....
But, some people with eagle eyes like mugatu may have noticed some changes to the female BP.



Left: Before -> Right: After
Nothing too fancy, just lightly polished the outer ring with jeweler's polish.
The process made the BP look more minty, but I may dull it down in the future to better match screen reference photos.

Also, I want to darken the inner ring with holes, but not exactly sure how to tackle this, as I don't want to make any permanent mods.
Here are some options that I'm currently thinking...
1. Paint
2. Powder (makeup powder or model weathering powder) -> then seal it with light matte clear coat
3. Bluing (not even sure if Inconel will take bluing)

Has anyone tried darkening the inner ring of a BP before?
Any tips are welcome!

 

[russellsch]

I painted mine, because it could be easily reversed. I didn't paint it even, I tried to match the uneven burnt way of the outside area.

 

[PrinceZip]

I painted mine, because it could be easily reversed. I didn't paint it even, I tried to match the uneven burnt way of the outside area.

that looks amazing! seems like the primer layer is omitted, making the paint job kinda see-through to the bare metal. Love the result

 

[Halliwax]

Just wicked!!!!

 

[Edraven99]

Just do what Roman did... he threw his into a fire pit

 

[PrinceZip]

Taking a brief break from stressful Obi parts this week, I focused on finishing my Exactra 19, 20, TI-2000 collection.

After lots of buying and selling (probably went through about 10+ calculators), I finally feel satisfied with the Exactras here.



Triple blue
TI-2000 on the left was very difficult to find, but luckily a source in Germany came through for me. It's got a beautiful light blue PCB with frosted, flat bubbles. I feel very lucky to have found this frosted, flat bubbles, which I believe to have been used for Vader ESB Hero saber.

Exactra 20 in the middle has the highly coveted red LEDs with frosted, rounded bubbles. It was pure luck that I even own this; I wish I can have another because it's so beautiful, and the LEDs glow like jewels under light.

Exactra 20 on the right was just bought from Ebay. It has a dark blue PCB with a clear, flat bubble strip.



I used to think that there was only one version of regular blue PCB, but it turns out there's 2: light blue vs. dark blue.
I personally think the light blue variant was used for Vader ESB Hero because of the casino reference pictures that show light hue under the bubbles. However, the Propstore photos show slightly darker blue.

Still not sure which one I should use for Vader ESB; if you have any idea, please let me know!





It's crazy how many small variants exist in Exactra calculators lol
As always, it seems the prop makers picked the rarest of the rarest variants for screen used sabers.
For now, I'm happy to leave behind Exactra hunting

I can't make any promises on those super rare red LEDs, but if you need any assistance with Exactras, just let me know.

 

[PrinceZip]

I'm finally reaching the last stretch of this real parts Obi saber journey

Fresh out of the UK (and dug up from the ground)
One of my newest acquisitions is this...
Hales No.3 Mk.1 Rifle Rod Grenade



At the time of purchase, about 5+ Hales grenades were available at the time.
Some had thick frag cubes, some were very slim with varying degrees of conditions.
Sadly, a lot of the surviving grenades are not holding up too well.
But, this is the one I ultimately picked.



If looked closely, you'll realize that frag cubes are all in different thickness.
Some are fat, some slim, and some medium sized.

Since I am going for Tunisia spec for this real parts Obi build,
This rare grenade with alternating frag sizes seemed the most accurate,
as the real one also seems to have cubes in different sizes.

(Does anyone else have this type of frag body? I don't think I've ever seen one like this yet)



Sadly, it's missing the windvane ring, but I didn't have to pay a fortune to get this.
And had no trouble importing it to the US, so I'm still grateful.

Anyhow, the end is so near!
Just a few more greeblies and the windvane ring

 

[Bradberry00]

Glad you were able to pick it up!

 

[PrinceZip]

Very grateful that the UK customs didn't try to do anything funny with it

 

[russellsch]

Congrats sir, she a beauty!!