Visited the ESB/ROTJ Vader Saber (pics)

Jedi Reali

Sr Member
Last Saturday I got to visit the Hollywood Casino in Grantville, PA, to check out the ESB/ROTJ Vader hero saber with my own eyes. Thanks to d3po2u for shedding the light on this amazing prop's whereabouts. If anyone is not familiar, check out this thread: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=40270
(And if you still think Vader's ROTJ saber was made from a Graflex, check out this thread: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=36797 )

If you get the chance it's worth checking out. It's a small museum but has some pretty interesting stuff, and it's free to go in as long as you're 21 and already in the casino.

d3po2u has already provided great photos of the saber in the thread cited above, but I was keen to take some shots of it myself just because I like taking photos. The lighting let me down though... as in there was none; at least when I was there. You can see in my shots how everything around it has a spot light on it, but the saber display is in the dark. Anyway, I wanted to offer up my scant decent shots to the reference pool here on the board. To be sure, they're not as good as the ones already posted, but you can never have too many reference shots! I'm sure some of you will find these a useful addition to your saber reference collection, and I'm glad to be able to contribute. :)

HollywoodCasino1.jpg

HollywoodCasino2.jpg

HollywoodCasino3.jpg

HollywoodCasino4.jpg


I had to use a wide aperture and a high iso to get these shots. I was glad to get a couple shots with all five wires visible. I remember thinking that the blue wire was slightly darker than what I'd seen replicated on the board here. I also noticed that the pins that used to hold on the MPP badge are still in their holes; only he heads were broken off to remove the badge.

HollywoodCasino6.jpg

HollywoodCasino7.jpg


I also observed, though it's clearer in d3po2u's pics, that the flat area surrounding the clear bubbles was of the slightly frosted variation, not perfectly clear like the bubbles.

Maybe the only plus side to not having direct light on it is in this shot, you can see each individual gold "spot" beneath each bubble, (See James Kenobi 1138's Exactra circuit card pic here: http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=40270&page=7 ) further confirming the Exactra circuit card underneath. Also note how far out the threaded rod protrudes from the other side of the clamp.

HollywoodCasino8.jpg


This one I took to show the width of what is left of the circuit card beneath the bubble lens. It's only about as wide as the bubbles themselves. You can see the visible edge here doesn't even meet the inside edge of the clamp.

HollywoodCasino9.jpg
 
Thanks for the new pics! It's nice to see more of it.
I still want to make the pilgrimage to see it myself one day if I'm nearby.
 
Something I've always thought this seems to confirm, the gray and brown wires look a bit thicker than the white and blue. Seeing them both in the same frame really shows it.

Yes, this has settled something that has been troubling me. I felt that the grey and brown wires on my build were spot on but kept questioning that as the pictures that predominantly show the blue and white side made the wires look much thinner. It hadn't occurred to me that the different sides were different guages.
 
Yes, this has settled something that has been troubling me. I felt that the grey and brown wires on my build were spot on but kept questioning that as the pictures that predominantly show the blue and white side made the wires look much thinner. It hadn't occurred to me that the different sides were different guages.

I originally had the same gauges for both sides, but swapped out the blue and white wires because they do appear to be *much* thinner than the brown and grey wires...

Original (same gauge wires both sides):

mpp9_zps0974fc7b.jpg
mpp11_zps6f32eefa.jpg


New thin wires:

Vader ESB Build_2b.jpg
 
I originally had the same gauges for both sides, but swapped out the blue and white wires because they do appear to be *much* thinner than the brown and grey wires...

Original (same gauge wires both sides):



New thin wires:

View attachment 718293

beautiful choices!

looks spot on to me

if you have calipers, can you share the diameters of the thick and thin gauge wires you chose? It'll help me when stripping equipment :)
 
beautiful choices!

looks spot on to me

if you have calipers, can you share the diameters of the thick and thin gauge wires you chose? It'll help me when stripping equipment :)

The thicker wires were 18 gauge I know that... the thinner wires I actually have no idea.... but if you ask teecrooz nice enough since he has calipers and I sent him a set of wires, he might be able to tell us....
 
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