ANH Skywalker Lightsaber Scratchbuild (metal - PIC HEAVY!)

In the past I've left the last bend until the bars are in stalled, inserted a piece comparable in thickness to the activation strip, and bent the metal around that with a hammer, smoothing it out with the back end of screwdriver handle followed by a little sanding. It usually work out okay.

For the bubbles I've used plexiglass backed by silver mylar film with either clear rubber bumpers or cabachons (essentially acrylic jewels without the facets).
 
Using the awesome plans on wannawanga.com as a template, I marked out a piece of aluminium for the ‘beer tab’.

I used a hacksaw to cut out the rough shape then filed it back to the pencil line.
56e3b39ab1b77548641e413bc4933df1.jpg

9f0adea2f784a2d69c9e9c27c661271e.jpg

(I also sanded the top of the red button so that it was shorter and looked more accurate.)

I forgot to mention this in the last update, but we also epoxied the grips onto the lightsaber.
0daa96cce91edd676702c026f055011a.jpg
 
Thank you for the info! I'll look for a tube as soon as possible! ;)
Glad to help! I can’t wait to see your build if/when you start it. [emoji4]

Today was quite productive in terms of finishing off the bunny ears and getting them fixed into place.

Using the templates shared further up this thread, I marked out some aluminium sheet and cut it to the rough shape, filed it back and then repeated until I had two bunny ears.

This alone took several hours split over a couple of days.
a457f602437c6b5d92258a23a289b135.jpg


Holding the bunny ears securely in a vice, I gently hammered the curved ends outwards, before bending the two tabs inwards on each.
146f44f677d7c15d03551027488556f2.jpg


Using some two-part epoxy I fixed the two bunny ears together and attached them, together with the red button/beer tab, to the back of the lightsaber.
9be0402dd1fbe80db83d98bf9c3b9c5d.jpg

ca324a7f7df14bea57e9faa9c3b74388.jpg

ef959e952cb9f6910d0db1882e1bc195.jpg


Let me know what you think; we’re getting really close to completion now (just a few more pieces and it will hopefully be ready for when I see The Last Jedi!) [emoji3]
 
Last edited:
Really awesome! The final look will be amazing! I hope you will enjoy it watching TLJ next week!
Thank you! And trust me, I will. ;)

I ordered some d-rings online which already had the metal ‘strip’ attached, but unfortunately my misreading of the description meant they were around half the size I needed - hopefully they’ll come in handy for another project in the future.

I tried to be cheap and make my own, correctly sized, d-ring out of an old coat hanger but it didn’t work out and I ended up ordering these instead.
3bc577778cf15ec0b14dffe62b8e07bc.jpg


To finish off, I cut a small aluminium strip (51 mm long and 19 mm wide) and bent this in half around the d-ring, with the two halves epoxied together and the ends filed to a more rounded shape.
265ccbc9de4bfedea506b3bf9bf81675.jpg
 
Lookin' good. Although I'll have to admit, I am a little disappointed you decided not to go full on with the ears/emitter loop. But then again, if it ends up looking better, who cares, right?
 
Lookin' good. Although I'll have to admit, I am a little disappointed you decided not to go full on with the ears/emitter loop. But then again, if it ends up looking better, who cares, right?
Yeah, I decided that trying to make them as one piece with only a hacksaw and file would be very time-consuming and a little beyond my skill levels. Hopefully it will still look just as good as the original.

P.S. I’ve updated my last post with some better photos of the bunny ears and red button.
 
The trouble with scratch-builds like this is that you literally have to scratch-build every single part yourself, and that includes even simple things like the bottom of the lightsaber. :D

I cut a rough circle out of some more aluminium and filed it back until it had a diameter of around 36mm - just enough to sit snugly inside the aluminium tube.
5ea4e4cf65b672b04f15f3f388479163.jpg


Unfortunately I didn’t have any rivets/screws that would look the part, so for now I just epoxied the d-ring to the end cap.
42f30d2e75d97dac8c2020a44d16ddf0.jpg


To attach this to the bottom of the lightsaber, I cut a section of 1-1/4” PVC pipe to 1” long and wrapped electrician’s tape around it so that it could be slotted nice and tight inside the aluminium tube.
51b52f12ff494f16e69954ddd96f3530.jpg


Some two-part epoxy was used to attached the end cap to the pipe, which I then slotted into place (with some more glue on the inside for extra strength.)
ffb119d49aa1a0fc97d40441147c198b.jpg

e12d5896091fe6f48343f519ae145f2f.jpg
 
I'm planning on using a PVC plug held in place with counter sunk flat head screw, which will be hidden under a grip. I'll cover the exposed PVC with some metal HVAC tape.
 
So I found this today searching for a glass eye alternativeScreenshot_20171211-115104.png they are 5/8 diameter which I think is pretty close the the size of the glass eye.
 
Hey @The14thDr ! I was just thinking that it's too bad you put your grips on so early in your build. If you'd left them off until later, you could have soldered your endcap in place with a torch. Not that you can't still solder it in there, but you'd just have to use an iron instead. I think a little lead-free solder would fill up the gaps between the tube and cap very nicely. Don't forget to recess the cap a bit, say 1/64" or 0.5mm, it looks more like 1/32" or 1mm, but there's an optical illustion there with the rounding over of the tube around the cap! You could replicate that too with either solder or a second bit of 1/16" aluminum plate cut out in a ring and shaped into a dome on one side and soldered into place.

Have you started your clamp bar and clamp bar nut yet?

And what are you doing for a belt?

Is the Australian Tandy Leather nearby where you are? The belt is easy, and they have everything you need! Rectangle Buckle Blank, 2" Leather Strip Belt Blank, 1/8" Leather Punch (for belt hook/size adjustment holes), 11/64" Leather Punch (for the 4 Chicago Screws), Fiebing's Pro Leather Dye Black, Eco-Flo Finish Sealer Satin Sheen, 2 1/4" Chicago Screws, 2 3/8" Chicago Screws, Belt Clip.

https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/rectangle-buckle-blank-2-5-1-cm
Mine looks like this one, but the recommended size now listed looks wrong....https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/rectangle-buckle-blank-1-1-2-38-mm-to-1-3-4-4-4-cm
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/heavyweight-natural-cowhide-leather-strips
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/mini-leather-punch-set
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/fiebing-s-professional-oil-dye
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/eco-flo-satin-shene
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/chicago-screws
https://www.tandyleather.com/en/product/small-belt-holster-clip

I made my belt backwards accidentally with the belt buckle attached to the left side of the belt, but it still works. My Chicago screws may be on the wrong side accuracy-wise, but I'm glad I made the mistake because having it the way I made it allows me to have several adjustment holes for the belt hook to go into depending on my current weight. The screen accurate way would not permit me to keep the buckle and lightsaber clip I made the same distance apart and the lightsaber would end up hanging too close to the center of my body (bouncing around where you don't want it to be!) or too far off to my left side. Incase your weight varies, make your belt extra long! Mine's 44-1/2" from the cut end to the looped end of the strip with 2-1/4" of leather from the loop end back underneath (basically the loop portion that holds the buckle onto the belt). Right now I need every bit of it, but the belt hook holes I made it with years and years ago are a few inches closer to the buckle. I hope to not need the several extra inches that are left over towards the cut end!!! ;)

4 days left 'till TLJ, KEEP AT IT! you're almost there!

Hey @propmainiac ! Too bad those toggle switch nuts aren't 3/4", you'd be spot on if they were!
 
Sooo...... You like the retaining nuts? I found something similar in my hardware boxes I'll post pics later. I was going to build a ESB saber but just may make a ANH and get a red button thumbscrew. I did find two of the pl259 connectors that I used to use for the red buttons on eBay but it's 18 dollars for the set. Two red button thumbscrews will be 30 bucks. I honestly don't want to spend too much money on this build as I go here. I will put money away for one of Romans Graflexes and convert it to an ESB with Roy's kit.
 
This thread is more than 6 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top