The Struggle: My Re-Weathered Roman's ANH Obi Lightsaber

[Romans Empire]

That looks really good!! Well done! :thumbsup

Did you do anything to the outer flange of the balance pipe? It looks a bit "frosted". I like how it looks in the pics.

 

[Kylash]

The only thing I did to that other than beat it up a bit was to soak it in some lemon juice. I think that's where it got that color from. I may add some super blue to it as well and rub most of it off.

 

[thd9791]

A little off topic, but it's been bugging me. Anyone know why this is the only saber that has been completely lost to time? Lucasfilm Archives has all the others, but this one seemed to have disappeared after production. Are there any stories of what happened to it? Was it disassembled? It just drives me nuts that those few black and white photos are the best we have of the original saber up close.

From what's been gathered by people on here more in-the-loop, the parts came from Bapty - were rented, rather - and they might have had to give them back.

 

[mugatu]

A little off topic, but it's been bugging me. Anyone know why this is the only saber that has been completely lost to time? Lucasfilm Archives has all the others, but this one seemed to have disappeared after production. Are there any stories of what happened to it? Was it disassembled? It just drives me nuts that those few black and white photos are the best we have of the original saber up close.

If I'm not mistaken, it was last seen shortly after production, in the hands of a studio page named D.B. Cooper. Where is Robert Stack when you need him?

 

[thd9791]

really? Where'd that come from? (just peaked Tom's interest)

I believe the V2 was used as a "tool" prop in ESB. It was thought that it was the Obi Wan hero, but the V2 does have dents in the bottom from nails.

back on topic!

 

[mugatu]

No, D.B. Cooper was a bank robber who jumped out of a semi-hijacked passenger plane over the west coast somewhere (with the loot) and he was never found or identified again, as chronicled on the great show "Unsolved Mysteries", which was hosted by Robert Stack (the voice of Spider-Man in the old cartoon from the 70's). I was just kidding about that, but it might as well have been with D.B. Cooper. I keep hoping for a "Worldcon"-esque reappearance of the actual saber some day.

 

[Kylash]

A few small updates and some new photos in the "desert." I've since darkened the booster a bit more and achieved the slightly whitened or frosted inner areas that I often see in photos of real boosters. Also darkened the grenade quite am bit from the previous photos, and while the rust is still visible, it's much more subdued. I'm still working on the clamp, all the previous paint work I put on it just rubbed off. Still waiting to get some aluminum black to try on the brass parts to get them darker.

The part I'm most proud of though is the balance pipe. Before this was pretty much just shiney and smooth. After some experimenting I found that using the Super Blue and letting it harden and dry for about 30 minutes before rubbing any of it off left a nice bit of "chunky" residue on it and when the metal was exposed, it was MUCH more dull and turned this kind of aged, yellowish color.

Some of these changes aren't apparent in the photos below, outside lighting changes how it all looks so I'll probably get some clean shots shortly.

 

[Panaflex]

Wow, amazing job on this!

 

[Panaflex]

I also wanted to ask about your process of weathering that clamp with tape.
Thanks!

 

[Kylash]

I kind of did it the way it would have been done originally, scratched off. I covered the whole clamp in the chrome tape, drew out the basic pattern that needed to be worn off, and scratched it off with my finger to the desired shape. Then went over the remaining tape with sandpaper, random tools to scratch it, and darkened the edges a bit by rubbing paint into it.

 

[LB66679]

Wow , looks really good ! Never thought about making one till now .

 

[thd9791]

That balance pipe is spectacular! really looks like a beat-up derwent pipe

 

[Halliwax]

buddy this came out perfect! the balance pipe is amazing! the desert picture is great! is that last picture photo shopped or is that a real cliff?

 

[matty matt]

Spectacular. The balance pipe looks especially awesome and I will be using some of these tips next time I work on my saber. Excellent work.

 

[LTsmash1200]

Still waiting to get some aluminum black to try on the brass parts to get them darker.

Have you tried the ammonia trick on the brass parts yet? I tried it on mine and it looks really good.

 

[Kylash]

I tried ammonia on the other parts, not knowing its for brass, and got really sick of the smell so I haven't gone back to it. But if that's what I gotta do, that's what I gotta do...

Thanks for the compliments guys. I couldn't believe how the pipe looked after I started taking the super blue off, Id gone over it a ton of times previously and never got that finish. The trick was leaving it in cold water and letting the blackening harden before scouring some away.

Halliwax: Optical illusion, that's actually pointing up at the sky, that's the ridge of a hill.

 

[LTsmash1200]

got really sick of the smell so I haven't gone back to it. But if that's what I gotta do, that's what I gotta do...

Haha, yeah, that part is....difficult to deal with... as long as you put it outside and have it in a good tightly sealed container it's not TOO bad. I'm going to have to get some of the super blue paste or gel or whatever and do my balance pipe. Yours looks really really good.

 

[Halliwax]

No, D.B. Cooper was a bank robber who jumped out of a semi-hijacked passenger plane over the west coast somewhere (with the loot) and he was never found or identified again, as chronicled on the great show "Unsolved Mysteries", which was hosted by Robert Stack (the voice of Spider-Man in the old cartoon from the 70's). I was just kidding about that, but it might as well have been with D.B. Cooper. I keep hoping for a "Worldcon"-esque reappearance of the actual saber some day.

I watched that too! The electrician at one job site I was on was a HUGE fanatic about cooper. Great puzzle and never really solved.

- - - Updated - - -

Halliwax: Optical illusion, that's actually pointing up at the sky, that's the ridge of a hill.

Sneaky sneaky!! It came out excellent!

 

[MCM]

That is some of the best weathering I think I've seen on an Obi. It really captures the feel of the pics of the original hero prop. This looks like it's been through a clone war or 2. Congrats!

 

[Romans Empire]

Love the desert pictures!! Goes really well with the saber :thumbsup