Veektohr's Half-builds & The Occasional Finished One - Zombie MGCs

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log

matty matt said:

Nice! It's looking much better already. Looking forward to seeing your progress on this and your other builds.

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Thanks! This is a really fun thing to do. I'm definitely going to have honed my filing skills by the end of it, that's for sure. Using the rounded file in particular has been quite the learning experience. My guess is that by the time I'm finished I'll have learned enough that I'll want to do another one... or my hands and forearms will be so tired that I'll have to start holding things with my feet.

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log

No Denix shenanigans today. I got pulled into my saber builds and by the time I was at a point where I could rest my hands were too tired to keep filing away. I've been mulling over the shroud of my Canon. The way I had it set up felt a little basic to me, and most of the other Canon sabers do the same thing so I decided to switch things up. I took the shroud off a Heliand 2 cell of mine and threw it on. It instantly gave the saber focus. It's like an Industrial Vader style saber, and I love it. This guy is really taking shape and I can feel it getting close to being finished.



Then I turned my eye to the Zeiss Ikon. It's really light and made of aluminum which is kind of a bummer. It doesn't have the heft that I think really helps sell the feel of a saber. Nonetheless it has some cool features, and I've seen some great builds with them. I started by trying some of the leftover bits from the abandoned Canon shroud, and while I eventually came up with something that was okay... I decided to go another direction. So I made a mess and knocked the guts out of the Ikon. Unfortunately the way I did this mean that I lost that horizontal switch. Buuuut once I got the internals out I chopped them up and stuffed them along with the guts of the Heiland (well, half of the guts - I had to hacksaw them in half to make everything fit right) back inside



Oh yeah, I also had to cut the thing in half because I didn't have a punch long enough to drive it the whole way out of the normal flash. So I said welp since I've done it anyway, I guess I'll notch it for a GRAFLEX flash. Now, I only have a hacksaw and hand files so have mercy on me for the next photo:



They're hideous but they work! I took the bubbles and underlying circuit from a calculator I had lying around (I think it was a Novus). It's the right length for a GRAFLEX clamp, but the bubbles are small. Still looks cool, though. With a little work I got it fitted, although I lost a couple of the diodes from rough-handling.



After that I decide to call it quits. That ended up being way more involved that I thought it was going to be. here are some photos summing up everything from today.The Canon is making me really happy right now. The Zeiss... I don't know it still has kind of a Home-Depot vibe to me. I know I'll sort it out, but damn if that Canon does sit right at home with the GRAFLEX sabers. I think seeing it like that I'm going to throw some T-tracks on it add a d-ring, maybe some wires and call it a day. The Zeiss I'm going to have to brainstorm a little more. Still, I think it's showing promise.

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log

Alright, more Denix. I did some cleanup on the upper today and then decided to reshape the hammer because, like, how hard could that be?

Pretty effing hard. It's like impossible to hold onto, so I had two orange spring clamps on it trying to prop it up while I scraped away. Also: there is SO MUCH crap to get off this thing. It's just completely the wrong shape. Like with a lot of things in life, it started looking reallllllly bad until it finally started shaping up.



Ran into a problem when facing the other side, though, because the little rings around the bulls-eye so-to-speak weren't deep enough. I'll have to re scribe those, or maybe use drill bits for boring holes to do them. That's probably the easiest way.



Also: that knurling is really hard to do with a triangle file. They're definitely not all straight, but hopefully they'll look alright once it's blued back up. Fingers crossed! Anyhow, I opened a beer and moved on to the trigger guard and the lower. Got rid of the seam line. Still need to clean up some of the filing marks, though.



I have a real bottom plate that I picked up for some reason, and I noticed that the profile of the Denix is way too boxy compared to the real thing. Here they are after a little filing and you can see that it's still too squared off.



Getting closer...



Finally I just tried to sand away some of the pitting, but by then I was tired and my back hurt from hunching over everything for a few hours. If I was teaching a class on prop-building this would definitely be a project in it. It's so detail oriented and you really have to pay attention and think of how you can solve a problem with rudimentary tools. That said, I'm gonna get a Dremel so that I can dig into some of the more complicated stuff soon. Until then:

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix modding & flash-based sabers)

Looking great so far. Careful on that trigger guard, as that's a common spot for air bubbles.

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix modding & flash-based sabers)

MastahBlastah said:

Looking great so far. Careful on that trigger guard, as that's a common spot for air bubbles.

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never knew this, thanks!

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix modding & flash-based sabers)

That's good to know! I've been lucky in that I haven't hit any big air bubbles yet. Just some pitting, but it usually comes out easily. Really the biggest challenge so far has been that damn hammer, but I have this lofty goal of trying to simulate the lock frame of the C96 that will probably make me tear my hair out when I finally get around to it... thanks for the advice! :thumbsup

MastahBlastah said:

Looking great so far. Careful on that trigger guard, as that's a common spot for air bubbles.

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Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix modding & flash-based sabers)

I think the biggest challenge is to put it back together again LOL!
Mine has been disassembled for a year, and I'm seriously worried for that!

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix modding & flash-based sabers)

veektohr said:

That's good to know! I've been lucky in that I haven't hit any big air bubbles yet. Just some pitting, but it usually comes out easily. Really the biggest challenge so far has been that damn hammer, but I have this lofty goal of trying to simulate the lock frame of the C96 that will probably make me tear my hair out when I finally get around to it... thanks for the advice! :thumbsup

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No Problem! I'll be following your Denix progress, always a fun build to watch. Here's my Denix Accurization/GK Build thread if you're interested
http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=216859

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix modding & flash-based sabers)

Quick little aluminum black test today. I've done some more work on the lower, but most of it I've ground back out because it looked so bad :wacko

There are some details that I really want to include that I'll have to brainstorm a better way to do. I'm starting to get kind of obsessed... maybe I'll have to buy a real Mauser to help with the process.

Anyhow, this is about four passes with the Al Black. I cleaned it all up with rubbing alcohol first, and then heated the upper up before each pass (roasted it like a marshmallow on my stove - don't worry I ventilated everything very well). Did a rinse and steel wool pass in between. It doesn't look factory fresh, but for a beat up ol' blaster I think it'll do just fine. I'll tinker with it more, but I'm really happy with out it helps bring out the details that I added back into the Denix.

Re: Veektohr's Saber / Blaster Log (Update: Denix Mods)

Worked on the lower of the denix the other day. I've got this more or less where I want it except for the bottom plate details and the lock frame. I did a test of masking out the lock frame, which didn't go so well. You can see the remnants of the botched attempt in the photos.



This is a detail that I really want to include. I've tried etching it by hand and it became abundantly clear that I had very little experience etching metal... At this point I'm almost tempted to cut all that crap out and machine a chunk that would sit in there that would still allow the action to work. Hell it'd probably even be pretty easy to put a little spring latch on the bottom to hold it in place. That way you could fill the holes where the hammer pin sits, which would allow you to clean up the denix even more. It would be a challenge, but I think it would be really cool. If I don't do it for this one, I'll probably make another where I at least try it. These are fun!

Not much on the saber front. I got some great waxed linen wire like they used on the power cylinders of the E-11, and cut some bits off to slot into the Canon... oh and I found a Peak!



I need to get some new screws for the Canon shroud still, and maybe add an extra wire per slot. Then I just have to flip a coin between t-tracks or these awesome grips ScottD was kind enough to trade me.



They look amazing. Thanks Scott!

Re: Veektohr's Sabers & Blasters (denix mods - simulated lock frame ideas - canon x)

Your welcome! :cool

Where did you score the Peak? It looks nice.

Re: Veektohr's Sabers & Blasters (denix mods - simulated lock frame ideas - canon x)

eBay, actually. It's in good shape. I can see why you got so deep into them!

I especially like the latch that clamps down onto the activation strip. In my mind it's almost like a safety to avoid accidentally turning your saber on while you're out drinking blue milk with the guys.

Scott D said:

Your welcome! :cool

Where did you score the Peak? It looks nice.

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Re: Veektohr's Sabers & Blasters (denix mods - simulated lock frame ideas - canon x)

Bashed this saber together today. Wasn't planning on it, but it just wanted to be made. I've had this Minicam flash that I got specifically for this cool little chubby shroud:



But once I had it removed I kind of just kept playing with the flash because it had this really cool bulb-holder / emitter. It was a little short. Longer than your average two cell, but not quite a three cell. I decided to see what I could do with it, though. I had some pieces from a Heiland 2-cell that I broke down. I stole the clamp, shroud, and part of the bulb socket from it. I chopped the socket and added it to the Minicam. This gave me a little extra length to work with as well. I also torched the Minicam's bulb socket to get some blue on there.



Then I attacked the shroud with some sand paper, files, and steel wool to try and get the boring grey finish off as much as possible. It was actually really hard to get off. A little aluminum black later, and it was looking pretty good for a junky saber shroud. I positioned the clamp and tightened it down before cramming the PCB in there. You can't adjust these clamps once it's in there, so you need to make sure it's all where you want it.



Then I just added some of Roy's t-tracks. I went ANH style, because it's my fav.



I'm really happy with it! I'll probably add a d-ring and maybe some wires eventually, but this thing came together so easy - probably because it's very Vader-ish. It looks like the little baby brother of my Canon X... which I still need to finish. I'll probably throw Scott's steel grips on it in a few days and put it to bed.

Re: Veektohr's Sabers & Blasters (Minicam / Heiland flash-bash saber)

I decided to Kylo up the new addition. Haven't fully committed, but I kind of like this direction. Maybe drill out one of the colored buttons on the bottom to connect the other side? That's originally where I'd intended to add the d-ring... decisions...



and of course, a family photo

Re: Veektohr's Flash-Bashes and Blasters (Minicam/Heiland saber)

The wire thing used to confuse me. I know that Luke's VI saber had a bit of conduit (though I can't spot it in any shots now and no one has it on their replica), and when I finally saw close ups of the wires in Vader's ESB, I just didn't get it.

These days, for whatever reason, I love them. I think it adds to the hand-built, arcane, secret-y construction aspect of lightsabers. While I think Kylo Ren's saber could have used some more flashgun resemblance, I like the scrap yard approach.

Without a doubt, I plan on adding wires to some of my builds.

So in other words, that's a long way of saying I dig the wire and think you should keep it.

Re: Veektohr's Flash-Bashes and Blasters (Minicam/Heiland saber)

SethS said:

The wire thing used to confuse me. I know that Luke's VI saber had a bit of conduit (though I can't spot it in any shots now and no one has it on their replica), and when I finally saw close ups of the wires in Vader's ESB, I just didn't get it.

These days, for whatever reason, I love them. I think it adds to the hand-built, arcane, secret-y construction aspect of lightsabers. While I think Kylo Ren's saber could have used some more flashgun resemblance, I like the scrap yard approach.

Without a doubt, I plan on adding wires to some of my builds.

So in other words, that's a long way of saying I dig the wire and think you should keep it.

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I always think of the wires as battlefield mods. Like duct taping a fighter jet back together. Or maybe bypassing a safety mechanism for more power. Like an over-clocked saber.


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Re: Veektohr's Flash-Bashes and Blasters (Minicam/Heiland saber)

100% I think it's the same philosophy as the Falcon. They are constantly being tweaked, modified, altered, souped up, stripped down, etc.

And given that they are hand made and not from factory parts, and that there isn't always a metal shop on hand to make it pretty, I think looking a little unsafe is appropriate.

Re: Veektohr's Sabers & Blasters (Minicam / Heiland flash-bash saber)

veektohr said:

I decided to Kylo up the new addition. Haven't fully committed, but I kind of like this direction. Maybe drill out one of the colored buttons on the bottom to connect the other side? That's originally where I'd intended to add the d-ring... decisions...

View attachment 581093 View attachment 581094

and of course, a family photo

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Man Veektohr, thats looking so legit. OT style!

Re: Veektohr's Sabers & Blasters (Minicam / Heiland flash-bash saber)

Panaflex said:

Man Veektohr, thats looking so legit. OT style!

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Thanks dude! This Minicam variant is pretty rad. Its not smooth on the outside, and kind of "zings" when you run your thumb on it. I kind of want to build another one now [emoji16] ...or maybe my own murdered out graflite!


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Re: Veektohr's Flash-Bashes and Blasters (Minicam/Heiland saber)

Been home sick with a cold, so I thought I'd teach myself some Fusion 360 and have a go at modeling that lock-frame insert for the Denix. Not accurate yet, but I have literally zero experience with this stuff. I think once I make it past that learning curve, this idea could actually work. Maybe a working safety / hammer / lock frame upgrade kit or something. Just thinking out loud.