Finally: My All Real Parts ANH Obi-Wan Lightsaber Finished

James Kenobi 1138

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #1

Well, mostly finished. Today I added the real Balance Pipe to finish the construction.

Now the saber is complete with all real parts except for 2 replicas; the transistor washer, and the emitter cone. I was planing on using a found-item cone, but it's on the back burner for right now.

Anyway, here are some quick-and-dirty photos. It's taken me 11 years to finally complete the one thing that got me into this hobby and on the RPF. Special thanks to kurtyboy and Roman for getting the 2 hardest to obtain parts in my hands.

 

Mr_Creepy

Sr Member

• Jan 7, 2014

• #2

A thing of beauty; congrats James! :cheers

 

Curmudgeon

Well-Known Member

• Jan 7, 2014

• #3

I've seen some of the other pictures you've posted of this saber and I have to say its probably my favorite that I've seen so far. The grenade and graflex clamp I think are the best parts, both are perfectly (imo) weathered. Congrats on completing it! Definitely an inspiration to a noob :lol

 

NeoRutty

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #4

Finally! Heh.

I'm so crazy jealous. Looks great.

This is the year I start looking for parts.

 

Sym-Cha

Master Member

• Jan 7, 2014

• #5

Absolutely stunning ... your journey to the ... (oops wrong text) ... wonderful and quite inspiring ... hope to see mine finished any time soon too.


Chaim

 

metal wood

Well-Known Member

• Jan 7, 2014

• #6

just drool.... its like a child, raised it up from nothing. very inspiring indeed

 

Edraven99

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #7

Now that is an elegant weapon! Congrats James!!

I hope to join the ranks of your elite club soon!

 

teecrooz

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #8

Looks great James. I love seeing these threads.

 

scottjua

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #9

dang... I have one almost done and I still drool over yours.

 

Romans Empire

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #10

Sweet monkey love!!! Very nice!! :love

Did you have to remove any paint from the grenade? Like those red/white rings around the frag body?

Also, did you re-weather the windvane section under the fan? It looks perfect. None of my grenades look like that.

 

James Kenobi 1138

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #11

No, my grenade was an active one made inert, not a painted training one.

This is the actual photo from the eBay auction. The windvane ring was broken, I guess no one wanted it because I was the only bidder.

Best $125 I ever spent.

 

scottjua

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #12

$125... makes me wanna barf...

mine is the most expensive saber in the world it seems. I can catch no breaks.

 

Edraven99

Sr Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 7, 2014

• #13

scottjua said:

$125... makes me wanna barf...

mine is the most expensive saber in the world it seems. I can catch no breaks.

Click to expand...

Hey now... you're forgetting Roy's contributions to our quests... that was ultimately a pretty good break for all of us

 

subaru

Active Member

• Jan 7, 2014

• #14

I love it! congratulations.

 

redfive

New Member

• Jan 8, 2014

• #15

Awesome bro, love it.

Grüße
Andreas

 

James Kenobi 1138

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 8, 2014

• #16

scottjua said:

$125... makes me wanna barf...

mine is the most expensive saber in the world it seems. I can catch no breaks.

Click to expand...

I've had a lot of lucky breaks along the way, but I've also been building this saber for 11 years.

I joined the RPF in Feb 2002 and at that time no one knew what any of the parts were except for the clamp and the bubble strip, and even then we didn't know which calculator they were from and we were still looking for the right one. I remember spending hours looking for 'motorcycle handgrips' and 'sink drains' trying to find these parts.

One of the reasons I got my grenade so cheap (besides the broken ring) was I bought it around August 2002, just after it was discovered.

Here is the very first photo I took of my 'real parts' Obi-Wan saber, taken in Sept 2002:

Real grenade, clamp and transistors, with a Chen emitter, Parks booster, blastech bubbles, and 'real' modern AS Handwheel.

First test-fitting of all the parts, I had already upgraded to a more 'accurate' Gavidoc emitter:

Here are all the parts weathered and assembled for the first time, I added the screws and wires:

Then, based on RPF research, I made the Gav emitter 'more accurate' by denting the smaller emitter tube (you know, because that was all the rage back in the day) and added chrome tape and more weathering to the clamp:

At this point the booster and emitter had not yet been identified. But again I got a lucky break as the booster was identified and I was able to get one for $55 within a week or two of the discovery.

I waited to added my new booster, and by then the Balance Pipe had been identified and I added the booster and a Russ emitter at the same time:

But now the real Balance Pipe is on and an 11 year journey in complete.

 

OBI WAN KEN0B1

Sr Member

• Jan 8, 2014

• #17

Awesome!!!!!!

Strong with the force you are. A powerful Jedi you have become.

 

NeoRutty

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 8, 2014

• #18

Yeah I'm feeling REALLY late to the party when all the parts seem crazy expensive now.

I want to start with the Grenade, but I fear what that's going to cost.

Oh to go back to 2002.

 

scottjua

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 8, 2014

• #19

very very awesome

 

James Kenobi 1138

Master Member

RPF PREMIUM MEMBER

• Jan 8, 2014

• #20

NeoRutty said:

Yeah I'm feeling REALLY late to the party when all the parts seem crazy expensive now.

I want to start with the Grenade, but I fear what that's going to cost.

Oh to go back to 2002.

Click to expand...

Yeah, you know from my video blogs that it was the ICONS Obi-Wan ANH saber that got me going in this hobby. I got involved right on the cusp of the information explosion.