Hello all! I'm a new member here and thought I'd share my ROTJ hero lightsaber build. The RPF was extremely helpful while I was doing research on this lightsaber. I'd love to hear your feedback on it!
As a mechanical engineer, I have access to some pretty amazing CAD software. After obtaining as many screenshots and photos of the original prop as I could, I made a rough CAD model. I then used the rendering software included with the program to overlay the model on original photos. The software allows you to distort the model as if you were taking a photo of it so that you can match the lens distortion in the photo. I kept modifying then model until it overlapped the model perfectly. A screen shot of one of these renderings (slightly offset) is shown below. My model is placed over the photo on the top.
Next I made dimensioned drawings from the model and ordered up a hunk of aluminum. I have a lathe and milling machine, so I was able to do all of the machine work myself. Here are some photos of the process.
Painting the ribs was a breeze- I set the hilt up in the lathe, masked the very ends of the black region, and spray painted the center. Once the paint had dried, I took a skim cut on the tops of the ribs with a very sharp tool to remove the paint from the parts that are supposed to be bare.
The control box is more or less modeled from the ISYHCANL scene since I couldn't find good photos or screen shots of the Yuma control box. The control card I threw together quite quickly just so that I could take some photos. A better replica card is in the works.
I look forward to hearing what you think!
As a mechanical engineer, I have access to some pretty amazing CAD software. After obtaining as many screenshots and photos of the original prop as I could, I made a rough CAD model. I then used the rendering software included with the program to overlay the model on original photos. The software allows you to distort the model as if you were taking a photo of it so that you can match the lens distortion in the photo. I kept modifying then model until it overlapped the model perfectly. A screen shot of one of these renderings (slightly offset) is shown below. My model is placed over the photo on the top.
Next I made dimensioned drawings from the model and ordered up a hunk of aluminum. I have a lathe and milling machine, so I was able to do all of the machine work myself. Here are some photos of the process.
Painting the ribs was a breeze- I set the hilt up in the lathe, masked the very ends of the black region, and spray painted the center. Once the paint had dried, I took a skim cut on the tops of the ribs with a very sharp tool to remove the paint from the parts that are supposed to be bare.
The control box is more or less modeled from the ISYHCANL scene since I couldn't find good photos or screen shots of the Yuma control box. The control card I threw together quite quickly just so that I could take some photos. A better replica card is in the works.
I look forward to hearing what you think!
