Rebel / Alliance Rank Badge Tutorial

[Mara Jade's Father]

I did this project/tutorial about 10 years ago. This is not a major project but it is something simple you can do quickly and with little skills, tools, and supplies.

Rank Pips: These are 15mm in diameter and 5mm thick. You can make them yourself or get the found item they are believed to be.

EAO Series 01/31 Pushbuttons lens.
http://www.eao.com/eus/en/products/condensedcatalogue/byseries/SERIES_31.pdf
BTW: the rectangular ones are for imperial ranks.

the round lens for series 31:
RED = part number 31-933.2
BLUE = part number 31-933.6

This info is about 10 years old: I have called around and I have found no min for orders in many cases. The SRP is $1.15 each. The only way I found to get a discount is to order $250 worth of items and get them for $0.98 each. Hardly a huge savings.

Distributors of EAO switches in your area:
Switches, industrial switches, 8mm 16mm 22mm 30mm switches, pushbuttons, emergency stops, rotary and selector switches, indicators, sub-miniature, key-lock switches, rugged keyboards, PIN-entry keypads

Backing:

50x50mm with rounded corners (this size can be used for Commander (blue) and Major (red). For other ranks, you will need to scale up/down as needed. For other rank information check here for inspiration.

If you cannot cut sheet metal or get the backing milled from metal as in my picture (backings made by Corellian Exports):

You can opt for cut to size plastic and silver/chrome spray paint as seen here:

I added a military ribbon clutch pin bar on the back.


Applying pips to backing:

You will need:
-silicon general purpose sealant
-wax paper
-super glue gel

1. insert a generous amount of silicon sealant into the hollow back of the buttons. Put enough so that it will overflow (don't worry about making a mess this stuff peels right off when dry).

2. Flip over face up onto the wax paper. Press down so that the excess sealant squirts out the side. Once again don't worry about a mess.

3. Allow to dry

4. Lift he buttons from the wax paper and peel the excess sealant from the buttons. The result will leave a translucent flat backing to the button.

5. Add one drop of super-glue Gel to the flat sealant area of each button and place onto the square badge.

 

[ID10T]

Bookmarking this ancient post. I'll probably make some for myself.

Thank you for posting.

I hope the "real" lenses can still be had (links are not working right but it may be because they are PDFs- I don't know but I'll try on a PC in work rather than he Macintoaster.

 

[OB10]

No, the old PDF link is defunct on my PC, too. But the main webpage is: Welcome to EAO, and they have a bluezillion catalogs of parts at Downloads. I think (using the term loosely) that the current version of the relevant catalog might be at https://eao.com/fileadmin/documents/PDFs/en/01_main-catalogue/EAO_MC_31_Main-Catalogue_EN.pdf. I wonder if some of those rectangular ones are the correct ones for the Imperial rank badges...

I think the direct link for the red lens is Produkte der EAO AG - Your Expert Partner for Human Machine Interfaces
and the blue looks like it should be Produkte der EAO AG - Your Expert Partner for Human Machine Interfaces

 

[ID10T]

Thanks a ton for that.

I “wasted” my searching time today working on my water bottle, so I didn’t get a chance to dig into this. Check it out, if your bored.

 

[ID10T]

I just had a look and I think the raw lenses can be ordered; probably in bulk, but that's OK.

And I agree with you that the rectangular ones are more than likely to be the "Imperial" ones.

I have to say I do like the look of the "buzzer" top button. That's neat.

 

[ID10T]

Here's a source in the USA:

https://www.newark.com/eao/31-933-2/lens-round-red/dp/90B0153?ost=31-933.2

119 (red) in stock at the moment, but no blue... I might be placing an order! Thanks again!

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I am glad that someone is finding this old info useful.

 

[ID10T]

Well, I understand going to alternate methods when the screen used part cannot be located; but, the correct lenses are available and cheap (red ones anyway) so no reason not to do these “right”.

The newer milled style ones being printed is fine although I assume the originals were aluminum.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I researched the rebel ranks back around 2001-2002. Although the info I posted above is 2011, the info and my projects were done back then.

I honestly don't recall if I came up with the idea that the badges were old electronic buttons. I think I felt like the rank pips reminded me of elevator buttons so I started looking into buttons. After looking around for old electronics, I stumbled upon EAO and their catalog. I was doing a lot of rebel research with Vince at Corellianexports and shared the info with him. I originally made my first rebel badge backing with scrap styrene sheet plastic but Vince hooked me up with milled aluminum backings. Vince went on to make and offer Imperial ranks using the rectangle buttons.

I want to start off by saying... I am not sure about anything I am saying. Just theory.

So I believe the pips on the imperial and rebel rank badges are electronic buttons. The ones I found at EAO seemed to fit the bill. Since there was not much reference out there, I cannot be sure that even if for sure they are such buttons, that they are exact to buttons that were 30 years old (now 50 years old). The other thing is that if this is true, I sort of get the sense that it might just be for A New Hope and that maybe they fabricated the parts in later movies.

I also believe that in the case of the Imperial badges, the metal backing as electronic panels. I am pretty sure that you can see little screw holes in the metal. So the backings might be thin sheet of aluminum or stainless steel (I don't know.. what ever they would use for electronic panels). Not sure if they did the same for rebels. Either way, I also think they fabricated the backings in later movies after A New Hope.

Anyways.. that my two cents... And it might not even be worth that.

I might still have an old copy of that EOS catalog somewhere.

 

[ID10T]

Well, I think you’re right. Maybe not that exact brand and model, but button covers/lenses I think are the right part.

Many current badges are made of colored Lexan sheet now. Cut with a hole saw without the pilot bit, and then cleaned up.

The imperial backings might be printed circuit boards painted silver. Cover up the LED display blocks with those button covers and...

Does Vince still do these, or have anything to do with them now? They are an “easy” prop and something I could tackle. If he had a drawing that would be great, but if not, I can work it out myself.

I would not be at all surprised if they made the successive badges after ANH internally. Save the few bucks per badge on lenses and have a trainee make a pile of them at ILM.

The new style ones (milled grooves with milled stripes on one side) are nice too. More involved to machine but a good print candidate for plastic. I would not be surprised to find they now print a lot of these small things at ILM. Let the printer(s) run overnight and it’s like doubling the work force!

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

The imperial backings might be printed circuit boards painted silver. Cover up the LED display blocks with those button covers and...

Definitely not painted or circuit boards. I believe, the ones used at least in A New Hope were plates used on control panels. Something in the realm of these...

Control Aluminum Blank Panel

Blank/blind panel for Eurorack systems in sizes 1HP thru 48HP, select drop down from above to choose. To be used for DIY modules and as a safety fill in to a case. Screws not included. Height: 3UMaterials: Anodized AluminumMade in the USA

www.ctrl-mod.com

 

[ID10T]

That’s a good picture, and I agree.

Note the color of the applied “buttons” are darker on the edges- I’m seeing button covers for sure, designed to be back-lit.

 

[Somerset]

I had wondered whether those holes were already part of whatever they used for the metal backing or if they were somehow added and used as part of fastening it to the uniform.

You can clearly see them on the hi-def versions on Tarkin, Motti, Khurgee, Praji and Treidum's badges. Interestingly on Treidum's 4 tile badge you can see the holes off centre in the same position it would be if it had 6 tiles. I'd say that suggests the holes were already there (or they recycled and cut down the larger badges as smaller ones).

 

[Corellianexports]

I researched the rebel ranks back around 2001-2002. Although the info I posted above is 2011, the info and my projects were done back then.

I honestly don't recall if I came up with the idea that the badges were old electronic buttons. I think I felt like the rank pips reminded me of elevator buttons so I started looking into buttons. After looking around for old electronics, I stumbled upon EAO and their catalog. I was doing a lot of rebel research with Vince at Corellianexports and shared the info with him. I originally made my first rebel badge backing with scrap styrene sheet plastic but Vince hooked me up with milled aluminum backings. Vince went on to make and offer Imperial ranks using the rectangle buttons.

I want to start off by saying... I am not sure about anything I am saying. Just theory.

So I believe the pips on the imperial and rebel rank badges are electronic buttons. The ones I found at EAO seemed to fit the bill. Since there was not much reference out there, I cannot be sure that even if for sure they are such buttons, that they are exact to buttons that were 30 years old (now 50 years old). The other thing is that if this is true, I sort of get the sense that it might just be for A New Hope and that maybe they fabricated the parts in later movies.

I also believe that in the case of the Imperial badges, the metal backing as electronic panels. I am pretty sure that you can see little screw holes in the metal. So the backings might be thin sheet of aluminum or stainless steel (I don't know.. what ever they would use for electronic panels). Not sure if they did the same for rebels. Either way, I also think they fabricated the backings in later movies after A New Hope.

Anyways.. that my two cents... And it might not even be worth that.

I might still have an old copy of that EOS catalog somewhere.

No worries, Frank. Your memory is still good.

...and after years of making Imperial Officer badges with the same push button caps, I just recently researched these for a new SW TV show in the works.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Well a lot has happened in 14 years, so I thought I would add to my tutorial.

I thought I would see what I could do with 3D printing and see if i could offer a way for others to create decent rank badges.

I wanted to make badges that had separate parts to either print the parts in various colors or easily paint separate an add together.

My plan is to provide 3D files for all ranks of the Rebel era (various size backings) and New Republic era (same size backing regardless of rank as seen in Ahsoka.

The pips are designed after the size of the real buttons but I made them into a pressure fit peg so that you don't have to worry about misalignment issues.

I also believe I have the rounded corners correct on the backing. I set my own depth to ensure stability and good peg fit.

The first ones I am hoping to have done are the New Republic era. I believe I have the holes lined up. They seem to have a standard pattern so it just a matter of taking away holes. I do not believe I saw the new republic version of the 3 pips (CDR or MAJ) bur I think the holes make sense. The eight holes should make up all ranks.

Once I am done with the New Republic, I will do backings to cover the one, two, and three pip options of the Rebellion era. These have a smaller backing than the 4 and 5 pip variants (the same as the new republic). You can see my 3 pip make below.

It should be noted that the pips pictured here are slightly smaller than the final version. I thought they were 15mm but it turns out they are 15.8mm. I have since corrected the pip.

 

[thd9791]

I'm not sure if you've seen this, but (I'm guessing) some not so important characters had pretty slap-together Rank Badges. Found this on Propstore

 

[Halliwax]

Love the wonk

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

I'm not sure if you've seen this, but (I'm guessing) some not so important characters had pretty slap-together Rank Badges. Found this on Propstore
View attachment 1903565View attachment 1903566View attachment 1903567View attachment 1903568

I have not seen these images. Thank you.

I don’t think this looks slapped together at all. I mean, I agree the backing does not seem to be cut straight but I don’t think they cared much as it wasn’t going to be obvious on screen. The back shows how the scratched in a measured grid pattern in order to ensure alignment.

The small holes were how they attached the badge. They would use a single stitch of clear filament (maybe fishing line?).

Additionally, LFL archival badge info of General Rieekan’s was used to research the badges designed for Ahsoka series in order to replica them. The research also provided info for the 3 pip and lower rank backings but the production did not want the creation to be too complicated so they simply stuck with the larger backing.

 

[Mara Jade's Father]

Thanks to thd9791 and the images he posted, especially the markings on the back. I took some measurements and reset the placement of the holes.

Of course the assumption is that such spacing of the OT translate over to the Ahsoka version. I think they look pretty good. I was concerned about lack of spacing from pip to edge. I think this helps.

Some new images with the new spacing and the correct pip size I mentioned in the earlier post.

 

[thd9791]

I have not seen these images. Thank you.

I don’t think this looks slapped together at all. I mean, I agree the backing does not seem to be cut straight but I don’t think they cared much as it wasn’t going to be obvious on screen. The back shows how the scratched in a measured grid pattern in order to ensure alignment.

The small holes were how they attached the badge. They would use a single stitch of clear filament (maybe fishing line?).

Additionally, LFL archival badge info of General Rieekan’s was used to research the badges designed for Ahsoka series in order to replica them. The research also provided info for the 3 pip and lower rank backings but the production did not want the creation to be too complicated so they simply stuck with the larger backing.

am i right in assuming in this propstore one, we're looking at pop rivets hammered and ground on the back? I bet you can rivet the white layer of the switch lenses and snap the red part on top lol