Much appreciated buddy!
Show off your TLJ Luke lightsaber!!(balance v4)
- Thread starter Halliwax
- Start date
Much appreciated buddy!
Nice Dann, I didn’t know you printed one! What is your filler of choice?
It really looks great, it’s amazing how smooth you make your cylinder shapes
It takes me forever to fill cylinder shaped prints.. I use old gift cards to apply the bondo..
Curious what you use for filler
Hey Danny, sorry I missed this!
So, for big projects, like my EE-3, I use Bondo. I'll use the spot putty sometimes on smaller things, as well.
But more often than not, I use Tamiya putty. I used all my grey putty on my Relby K-23, so lately I've been using the white stuff.
I also use Apoxie Sculpt for some situations. It's great for building up trigger guards.
I could swear I had bought some Milliput awhile back, but I cannot find it for the life of me! I really want to try some of the black and the silver grey Milliput.
Anyway, as for the smoothing-out of the printed cylinders, one word. LATHE! I'll put each part in, and start with 150 or 220 grit, then move up to 320, 400 and sometimes I'll go to 600, 800, steel wool or Scotchbrite, and I've got these polishing cloths that range from 3400 all the way to 12000. It all depends on the part for how far I take it. Lots of times I'll get up to 400, then paint, then polish.
My most secretest of weapons is Novus plastic polish/scratch remover. Shhhh
Now, all that said, if you look at the pic above, of the emitter faces, it's obvious I've been a little lazy with this particular project. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to get that thing smooth as glass.
So, for big projects, like my EE-3, I use Bondo. I'll use the spot putty sometimes on smaller things, as well.
But more often than not, I use Tamiya putty. I used all my grey putty on my Relby K-23, so lately I've been using the white stuff.
I also use Apoxie Sculpt for some situations. It's great for building up trigger guards.
I could swear I had bought some Milliput awhile back, but I cannot find it for the life of me! I really want to try some of the black and the silver grey Milliput.
Anyway, as for the smoothing-out of the printed cylinders, one word. LATHE! I'll put each part in, and start with 150 or 220 grit, then move up to 320, 400 and sometimes I'll go to 600, 800, steel wool or Scotchbrite, and I've got these polishing cloths that range from 3400 all the way to 12000. It all depends on the part for how far I take it. Lots of times I'll get up to 400, then paint, then polish.
My most secretest of weapons is Novus plastic polish/scratch remover. Shhhh
Now, all that said, if you look at the pic above, of the emitter faces, it's obvious I've been a little lazy with this particular project. There's no reason I shouldn't be able to get that thing smooth as glass.
I had forgotten my Balance V4 was once referred to as "Creepy Uncle"!
Great tutorial, Danny! Here are a few Balance V4'
I had forgotten my Balance V4 was once referred to as "Creepy Uncle"!
Here are a few Balance V4' View attachment 1033455"Creepy Uncles" shipping later today.
Thanks! I now refer to it as the balance v4, though Seth was the one to come up with the nick name I really like it. But don’t want to confuse yours with someone else’s
I’m in the middle of FXing my balance, and once it’s done showing the upgrades
That photo Looks great Roman!!
Alright. I'm waving this thread with a little bit of necromancy dust.
my "creepy uncle" isn't quite finished. Mainly the control box, but I have a question for those that have followed before me.
For those who've done the Balance or Lukyanov TLJ hilts... how did you dull the black anodizing? I am not using paint for my process but rather chemical and mechanical treatments... I know oven cleaner will remove anodizing but I don't want to remove it, just dull it some. Any ideas? Still oven cleaner but a quick treatment?
here is what I have so far:
my "creepy uncle" isn't quite finished. Mainly the control box, but I have a question for those that have followed before me.
For those who've done the Balance or Lukyanov TLJ hilts... how did you dull the black anodizing? I am not using paint for my process but rather chemical and mechanical treatments... I know oven cleaner will remove anodizing but I don't want to remove it, just dull it some. Any ideas? Still oven cleaner but a quick treatment?
here is what I have so far:
And done (pending mods to the grenade to dull the anodizing):
Ridire Firean
Sr Member
Hey Verity Cosplay ! You could try a little bit of ScotchBright pad or maybe some superfine steel wool to buff the shine off of the anodizing.
A cool way to do it would be with a little sand and dirt in a dampened rag or some cotton gloves and just grab it repeatedly until your handprint starts to effect the anodizing. That way you'd get a realistic pattern of wear.
Good Luck with whatever you choose!
A cool way to do it would be with a little sand and dirt in a dampened rag or some cotton gloves and just grab it repeatedly until your handprint starts to effect the anodizing. That way you'd get a realistic pattern of wear.
Good Luck with whatever you choose!
Thanks! Sadly I already tried mechanical abrasion with both scotch brite and steel wool and it didn't really do much other than lightly scuff it. I also didn't want to go too hard or too course grit as to remove it entirely.
Still hunting for the right treatment to dull it but not remove it.
I may try a shorter oven cleaner treatment on the male end of the body side Thread edge to see if that works.
Ridire Firean
Sr Member
Hey Verity Cosplay ! Well then, why not go in the opposite direction? Instead of trying to subtract the shine, why not try an added layer, say a bit of dull clear coat?
I hope you can get the look for it that you're trying to achieve!
I hope you can get the look for it that you're trying to achieve!
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