The thin-necked lightsaber appreciation society

Thats the best finish on the V2 chassis hands down. nice work. Great work on the outer, do you think it needs more tape on the neck or just to rough it up a little?
 
Yeah, it could stand to have a thicker application of tape and the last little bit pulled up to better match the prop. I just applied a random length of tape and haven't had the chance to add any more yet. :)
 
Here are my "thin neck" lightsabers. Top lightsaber is a Nicksdad ROTJ Hero Luke that I got from Manooga in a trade (it's currently up for sale). The middle lightsaber is the very nice hollow Hero Luke from one.replicas that I got awhile back. And last but not least, the bottom lightsaber is a custom I constructed several years back. It was made from about 4 cannibalized sabers over time until I got the desired look.

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Andrew
 
I just posted some additional photos to Flickr with different angles, close-ups and more details of the box.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4281/35446818656_cc04fe74af_b.jpg


Man, I love that box! The saber is gorgeous too, but that box you've made is brilliant. :thumbsup

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Here are my "thin neck" lightsabers. Top lightsaber is a Nicksdad ROTJ Hero Luke that I got from Manooga in a trade (it's currently up for sale). The middle lightsaber is the very nice hollow Hero Luke from one.replicas that I got awhile back. And last but not least, the bottom lightsaber is a custom I constructed several years back. It was made from about 4 cannibalized sabers over time until I got the desired look.

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Andrew

Those look great. Love the custom!
 
Pixel this came out beautifully! I love the idea with the stand display, how you flip it over and can display it.

I also love the painting and weathering on the crystal chamber. The leds in the chamber look awesome! Nice color choices!!


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I snagged a Korbanth K4, and I can't wait to start accurizing this mama jama. I dropped off the grenade and windvane stem with my machinist this evening to have some tweaks made. I'm having the chamfer on the top grenade ring trimmed down to better resemble the real deal, and I'm having 6mm trimmed off of the top of the stem so that the emitter sits lower. Once that's done, I'll get to the weathering and painting.

I picked up a couple modern AS handwheels from the JY. While not 100% accurate like the vintage versions, they've got some serious mojo and I'm thinking about using one on the K4 instead of the stock pommel. The chrome finish and overall proportions are more accurate; the cubes just taper slightly whereas the real deal has parallel cubes. Any input is appreciated! I'll also have to devise a way to attach the pommel to the booster. If I can do that and still leave room for electronics, that would be ideal.

Also on the way is one of Patrice's K4/RE blade plugs. That ought to add a nice touch to the emitter end. I've got a spare RE Graflex logo clamp and a set of transistors + washers that I'm contemplating using, but I'm not ruling out using the stock bits.
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Mmmmm...capless. Just like a hollow ended baseball bat for quicker swings! ;)

I really like the fatter end on those Russrep grenades. Are you noticing any of that boot polish rubbing off on your hands, or did you seal it somehow?

Anyone else see those sink knobs below Kylo1's shelf and think "I could make a lightsaber out of those!"?

Good Job on this one! Have fun with your AnakinStarkiller UniV2!!!
 
Mmmmm...capless. Just like a hollow ended baseball bat for quicker swings! ;)

I really like the fatter end on those Russrep grenades. Are you noticing any of that boot polish rubbing off on your hands, or did you seal it somehow?

Anyone else see those sink knobs below Kylo1's shelf and think "I could make a lightsaber out of those!"?

Good Job on this one! Have fun with your AnakinStarkiller UniV2!!!

I haven't really handled it much since applying the boot polish as I wanted it to dry but I did give it a good brushing and wipe down with a cloth to get rid of residue. I will give it a couple more days and then repeat wiping. From all the reference photos I could find, Obi Wans grenade section seemed blacker rather than rusty brown so someone here suggested applying the boot polish (thanks Patrice!).
 
I'm about 95% finished with the K4. I might try to do a bit more topical weathering on the emitter, I need to get the set screws for the blade plug, and I want to secure the pommel better + add the d-ring, but all-in-all I'm fairly happy with how this turned out.

My machinist friend trimmed the top grenade ring down to the correct shape and removed 6mm off of the top of the brass windvane stem. I then stripped the anodizing off of the grenade and booster with oven cleaner. I tried this on the emitter, but whatever it was coated/plated with wouldn't come off with the oven cleaner. I ended up knocking back the finish with some steel wool.

I used aluminum black on the booster and grenade, doing several passes until the pieces were darkened to my liking, then sealed them up with some matte clear coat. I mixed up some rusty colored acrylic paint and then mixed that with water to make a wash. I brushed on the wash and blasted the pieces with a hair dryer, doing several treatments interspersed with the occasional steel wool buffing until I got satisfactory results.

I ended up replacing the stock clamp with a Roman replica Graflex clamp + washers & transistors. To mount the transistors, I took some 8-32 nuts and filed the corners of them so that they would fit down into the cavity where the buttons for the electronics were intended to fit. I was then able to pass the threads of the transistors through the rectangular holes of the Graflex clamp and screw them into the nuts. I'm pretty proud of my engineering on that one ;-) Rounding out the clamp is a Wannawanga bubble strip.

I used a carriage bolt, some washers, and a section of a 7/8" oak dowel to rig up the AS handwheel. This is a temporary fix, and I've already got some ideas on how I can attach it and still have room for electronics. In that case, I will ditch the end cap on the pommel and let the holes in the end function as sound vents for a speaker. I also need to get a hole drilled for a d ring.

I let the brass windvane pieces sit in an ammonia vapor bath for 24 hours. The tarnishing was a bit too blotchy, so I buffed the finish out more evenly with 0000 steel wool and let it sit for another 12 hours in the vapor. I may let it sit for longer to get it even darker.

Mance
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Hey MCM ! MUCH improved on the grenade, GOOD JOB!

And it's all personal preference, but I love the patina on your grenade's brass bits, I'd leave it just as it is if it was mine.

Too bad you didn't have your machinist friend hollow out the end of the emitter that 6mm, it would have looked even more accurate. Or could you not do that because of the way it might be set up for electronics?

Regardless, killer job on the weathering of your balance pipe too!

Do you think your machinist friend can thin out the fins on your booster? Those K4 boosters are hideous :eek. I might have left it darker on this one, black is slimming after all ;)

Looking forward to seeing how your speaker sounds through that AS Handwheel!!!

And Good Luck when you drill it for its D-ring.
 
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MCM 2 thumbs way up on that mod job you did. Looks much more accurate and the weathering work is VERY nice with what you had to start with. Good job!!!
 
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Thanks for the kind words, guys. It's great getting all the feedback!

As far as other mods go, they would be just a bit too expensive and time consuming to pull off. At that point, it would make more sense to pony up and get one of Roman's FX kits. The booster fins are a mild annoyance, but they aren't that noticeable when the saber is resting oh so beautifully in its cradle. There isn't much material to work with on the emitter underside. One might be able to lathe out a bit of an indentation, but I'm not too worried. The operations I had done were done with the bang-to-buck ratio in mind. Trimming the grenade and windvane didn't cost that much and improved the proportions soooo much. Maybe one day when I've got my own lathe and mill, I'll tackle the booster.

I let the windvane sit in the ammonia some more. It's just about dark enough to my liking. What I find interesting is that this brass alloy turned a bit more red whereas my RE windvane's tarnish is more green.

I did some more weathering on the emitter, too. I hit it with a couple coats of matte clearcoat. This gave the surface a grainy texture, a lot like pitted metal, onto which I then dry brushed some rust-colored and black acrylic paints. I then knocked the paint back with some 0000 steel wool to achieve the final results. It looks a lot more like my RE emitter now.

Here are some pics plus a comparison shot with my RE saber (which will soon be reconfigured to the chronicles version).

Mance
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Mance, that is a awesome looking setup!! Man I wish I could copy this exact setup!! Beautiful!


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