ROTJ ILM lightsaber casting - hero

Hi folks, Tom and I are working a ILM casting 3 rd generation. We drilled
counter sunk two screws on the control box, drilled out the nipple and drilled for the triangle D
ring. Also put a coat pf auto prime on.View attachment 713436View attachment 713437View attachment 713438View attachment 713440this casting was from a 1st generation that was bent- someone straighten it out and made this one.

Re: ILM casting

There is an echo in here :lol

Re: ILM casting

ILM is casting what? That deserves being in the thread title.

Re: ILM casting

father and son at it again!

Re: ILM casting

redbutton said:

Hi folks, Tom and I are working a ILM casting 3 rd generation.
this casting was from a 1st generation that was bent- someone straighten it out and made this one.

Click to expand...

You're working on a 3rd generation that was made from a 1st generation?
What happened to the 2nd generation?

Re: ILM casting

More to come - just a bit of a problem the pics will confer with Tom!
Sorry about that an the echo, echo, echo, ec......

Re: ILM casting

Hey guys -

so I own two Luke ROTJ saber castings. One is probably a 2ndgen from a run on here ages ago. Squished rear control box and many bubbles but you can see things like the set screw in the nipple, the card, space and control box edges, even a shadow of the original plugged D ring hole.

im keeping that one as it is for now - the other one I have is this 3rd Gen.

Story goes, someone on Facebook got ahold of a bent original ILM casting of the saber. Like, original yellow resin but it could be a banana. So he had a special effects guy mold and cast it, and they somehow straightened that casting. Once it was deemed worthy, he did castings of that straightened one. So we're a bit far down the line, and it lost a bit of detail (he somehow sculpted raised lines in the card) but it still has the same uneven rings and offset control box. I've been sitting comparing the two for months, and this is the saber my dad and I decided to work on! Here are some pics.

the grip is black rattle can, and honestly, we've been fighting bad cans of chrome spray paint for a while. I decided to go all out with silver rub n buff. There's some antique gold R&B on the control box. Still deciding what to do for the neck - any suggestions? I plan on clear coating the whole thing to keep the rub n buff on there for good.

we drilled out the D ring hole, nipple hole with two sizes of drill bits to mimic the original blade hole, countersunk real screws in the control box and drilled and tapped a set screw in the nipple!

Re: ILM casting

I forgot - other than buying those foam brushes, I couldn't find anything that would guarantee clean grip lines. So I used my most scientific instrument - my finger. Dabbed and swiped lightly back and forth, around the whole circumference for each ring. Worked like a charm.

Re: ILM casting

We found flat brass testors enamel was a good shade of dark brass, and readily available for very cheap. Brushed it on the neck - you can see here in comparison to the gold rub n buff (not the dark aged one)

In certain light it almost looks copper. We did the underside of the emitter and the top of the windvane flange just like the hero. Plan to recoat within the hour and let it dry laying flat, so we avoid the emitter breaking ...again.

We also plan to rub m buff silver over this and really buff it hard this time to seal it - the clear coat really did blotch the surface a bit

- - - Updated - - -

Pics!!!

Um Guys, I don't remember the emitter looking like that. Is there a scratch and dent resin hero at Skywalker Ranch or something that I haven't seen before?

The real question is... who dropped it? Or did one of you go all ESB hammer with it? :eek

If you're taking a color poll... I don't like the Testors Brass color, but the rub & buff gold looks decent.

Oh, and don't forget the blue edge on the clamp card!

Actually I dropped it. Hanging it to dry and the wire we were using snapped!

The dark brass is to match the hero, which differs from the bright gold resin Hero thats been circling museums