Luke ROTJ V2 lightsaber

Results coming in... Photos below.

Parts tested: Solo's Hold ROTJ V2 booster/pommel section + Spirit of Ob1's MK1 crystal chamber


Baking soda and hot water: No effect

Dishwasher detergent and hot water: No effect

Five Star Liquid Line Cleaner and water: immediate reaction on contact. Fizzing and oxygen being released from liquid. The effect was visibly different (opposite) on each piece.
• Ob1's chamber: white pasty/foam residue forms on outside of alu. Rinse it off to reveal BRIGHTER finish.
• SH booster/pommel: darkening within a seconds. Very consistent BLACK coating on outside of alu when removed. Survives rinsing but rubs off onto hands. Washing with soap and water with a sponge removes all traces of the black.

Dishwasher with Finish Powder detergent ("Normal" cycle): Success. Both parts visibly darkened overall.
• Ob1's crystal turned the typical grey I'd expect from old aluminum.
• SH's booster/pommel grey-brown patina


Here you can see the results on the SH booster/pommel with Liquid Line Cleaner (caustic cleanser) mixed with water (high concentration):

View attachment 703508View attachment 703506


And here the two test parts after a normal cycle in my dishwasher: Note the contrast against the un-tarnished original aluminum.

View attachment 703507 View attachment 703516

The effects are reversible and can be cleaned up, reduced, evened-out, modulated, etc. easily with scotch-brite. I'll be tarnishing the entire saber prior to final prep and paint.

The mystery is solved!! Very nice turn out pixel!!


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Pixel any chance we can get a picture of the exact finish powder you used?


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Nice work Pixelpiper! Thanks for the chemistry class. Too bad that black doesn't stick better, would be great for "blueing" aluminum blaster parts. :)
 
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Nice work @Pixelpiper! Thanks for the chemistry class. Too bad that black doesn't stick better, would be great for "blueing" aluminum blaster parts. :)


It might be a little more hard wearing given extended drying time and possibly some heat. I wasn't working in a sealed ventilated enclosure so I tried to keep that test short. I forgot to mention that when pulling the parts out of the caustic solution that they were SMOKING. Yes, smoking.
 
It might be a little more hard wearing given extended drying time and possibly some heat. I wasn't working in a sealed ventilated enclosure so I tried to keep that test short. I forgot to mention that when pulling the parts out of the caustic solution that they were SMOKING. Yes, smoking.

Hahah! Awesome. Chemistry is so cool :D
 
Here's mine after running it in the dishwasher on a quick cycle with my normal detergent packs, fully painted, assembled, clamp, stencils, and all. Lol
a023a6ec9d624e698db9fd86d330ab86.jpg

c913f66237a88252c83fa0cdef4df3af.jpg


Then after a quick rub down with some steel wool
7e0ecc7d2e138ba5156fda6be6da66dc.jpg

fea447098f2108a67c332a6c5d71dee5.jpg

d717405201968f26431b45751883ac45.jpg


I'm not going to leave it like this of course. I'm going to strip it and repaint but I wanted to see what it would look like so I just threw the whole thing in the washer.


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Here's mine after running it in the dishwasher on a quick cycle with my normal detergent packs, fully painted, assembled, clamp, stencils, and all. Lol
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170202/a023a6ec9d624e698db9fd86d330ab86.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170202/c913f66237a88252c83fa0cdef4df3af.jpg

Then after a quick rub down with some steel wool
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170202/7e0ecc7d2e138ba5156fda6be6da66dc.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170202/fea447098f2108a67c332a6c5d71dee5.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170202/d717405201968f26431b45751883ac45.jpg

I'm not going to leave it like this of course. I'm going to strip it and repaint but I wanted to see what it would look like so I just threw the whole thing in the washer.


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What kind of paint is that? Would be helpful to know what kind survives the wash.
 
Personally I would leave it as is ... great weathering ... no need to repaint ... move along ... there's plenty of other sabers to explore mind you :wacko

Chaïm
I agree. After looking over your saber, I couldn't see why you would need to repaint it. That is unless you just want to for fun. I think it looks great the way it is.

- - - Updated - - -

Great tutorial pixel! I like simple verses me playing with used motor oil. Thanks for sharing.
 
Rustoleum flat black.

Going to repaint because the dishwasher did cause a few bits of paint to curl up and wash off.
I'm going to strip it, wash it again, get each section the right tone, then repaint.

Keep in mind mine was the very first one to use the stencils (since I made them and used that paint job as the tutorial) so there are a few places I messed up on.

Plus I don't have any other projects right now so it sounds fun.
 
Rustoleum flat black.

Going to repaint because the dishwasher did cause a few bits of paint to curl up and wash off.
I'm going to strip it, wash it again, get each section the right tone, then repaint.

Keep in mind mine was the very first one to use the stencils (since I made them and used that paint job as the tutorial) so there are a few places I messed up on.

Plus I don't have any other projects right now so it sounds fun.

I knew it! You twisted your own arm:lol
 
All these recent posts about finagling the V2 spurred me on to altering mine today, as well. Darkened the booster with Alu-Black the best I could (though I don't think anyone will notice it but me), sanded down the finish of the clamp lever, added a light wash of dirt brown mixed with metallic red to the windvane and neck area, beat the hell out of my sq. set screw before repainting the booster and applying new gaffter tape.

All in all...it looks pretty much the same as before!:p Only downside is that the Rustoleum black I used for my booster section isn't the same pitch black as the Duracoat engine enamel I used for the rest of the body way back when I first got it. Beating the hell out of it to chip the paint "naturally" wore the finish down to something more matte and, though still black, looks more faded than the rest. Oh, well. Still more than pleased with how it turned out.
 
All these recent posts about finagling the V2 spurred me on to altering mine today, as well. Darkened the booster with Alu-Black the best I could (though I don't think anyone will notice it but me), sanded down the finish of the clamp lever, added a light wash of dirt brown mixed with metallic red to the windvane and neck area, beat the hell out of my sq. set screw before repainting the booster and applying new gaffter tape.

All in all...it looks pretty much the same as before!:p Only downside is that the Rustoleum black I used for my booster section isn't the same pitch black as the Duracoat engine enamel I used for the rest of the body way back when I first got it. Beating the hell out of it to chip the paint "naturally" wore the finish down to something more matte and, though still black, looks more faded than the rest. Oh, well. Still more than pleased with how it turned out.

Can we see it?
 

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