Resin Cast QUI-GON JINN Lightsaber Hilt Build

So a little while ago I found these "resin prop replica kits" on eBay of a variety of Saber hilts, among other things, and decided to give them a shot. However it turns out that the items I bought were actually from a known recaster, someyhing I'd rather not support. On top of that, their quality was reportedly questionable ... wish I'd known that before I gave him my money.

Anyway, what's done is done, and I was stuck with two Saber kits and a Jango blaster. May as well make the most of it and make them look great.

Starting with the qui gon, the kit (like the others) was quite rough, with flashing, holes, air bubbles, obscured details, and a weird mottled texture throughout. In addition to that I'm pretty sure the saber itself is slightly bent (any suggestions for this?)

I started by just getting in there and sanding away, removing the flashing and making the surface as glass smooth as possible. On day 2 of sanding now, as of the pic. The cast is VERY rough and air bubbles are going to be a problem - they're so small that I'm not sure filling them would even work.

I've already sourced the red button (cheap valve caps from AliExpress), and am probably going to achieve the metal effect with C1 Metalizer powder, as it looks great and holds up extremely well to touch.

Pretty much my first prop build ever, excited to get into it!

I’ve always had a soft-spot for Qui-Gon’s lightsaber, so I can’t wait to see this one progress.

The14thDr said:

I’ve always had a soft-spot for Qui-Gon’s lightsaber, so I can’t wait to see this one progress.

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Same Though I have to admit I chose it first since there was a lot less silver to do than on the obi hilt.


Here's the red button for the saber:




Right now my work bench looks a bit like a Columbian drug den, but that means progress is being made!

I've worked on those kits before, not realizing who this guy was. good luck!

The blaster flash hider is a recast of Marco enterprises, and I think the Luke ROTJ didn't have an emitter so he built a horrible one from pipe and that turned into the casting he offers.

nice find on the valve caps!

thd9791 said:

I've worked on those kits before, not realizing who this guy was. good luck!

The blaster flash hider is a recast of Marco enterprises, and I think the Luke ROTJ didn't have an emitter so he built a horrible one from pipe and that turned into the casting he offers.

nice find on the valve caps!

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Thanks! Do you have any pics of the kits you put together? I'd love to see how it turned out.

I also got the guy's Jango blaster and man, is it rough... All the clean angles and linework in the design are gonna make sanding that a pain

thd9791 said:

I've worked on those kits before, not realizing who this guy was. good luck!

The blaster flash hider is a recast of Marco enterprises, and I think the Luke ROTJ didn't have an emitter so he built a horrible one from pipe and that turned into the casting he offers.

nice find on the valve caps!

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yes, who makes these kits. I bought the yoda saber for 15.00 and a catwoman dart pistol. They also offer a bunch of sabers and blasters, along with other franchise pieces.

Those Air bubbles are horrible! Yuck! Like you said though, you already bought it so you might as well make em look nice! I suggest 2-in-1 sandable filler primer by Rust-Oleum. Great stuff. Spray that on after applying some Bondo spot putty to those small spots. Good luck!

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Actually, I'm not sure these are from the same maker. I have 2 kits, and neither one of them had air bubbles.

It's my experience that this specific resin is nasty smelling when sanded, and keeps this weird glossy finish.

I don't have any photos regretfully, I think I gave up the M19 as a bad job. it wasn't even a cast of a real scope, looked like someone's hardware build or a Marco scratchbuilt scope.

the flash hider I used for a build on a Roger air pistol, which is now under my workbench or something. good resin casts don't act this way, like the ROTJ luke I did that was cast by Jedifather.
here's a link to that one. https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=183410&page=2

PropReplicator2 said:

Those Air bubbles are horrible! Yuck! Like you said though, you already bought it so you might as well make em look nice! I suggest 2-in-1 sandable filler primer by Rust-Oleum. Great stuff. Spray that on after applying some Bondo spot putty to those small spots. Good luck!

Sent from my XT1097 using Tapatalk

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If you think those are bad you should see the obi one...ew:

thd9791 said:

It's my experience that this specific resin is nasty smelling when sanded, and keeps this weird glossy finish.

I don't have any photos regretfully, I think I gave up the M19 as a bad job. it wasn't even a cast of a real scope, looked like someone's hardware build or a Marco scratchbuilt scope.

the flash hider I used for a build on a Roger air pistol, which is now under my workbench or something. good resin casts don't act this way, like the ROTJ luke I did that was cast by Jedifather.
here's a link to that one. https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=183410&page=2

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The smell isn't too bad (and the cast is actually becoming quite matte), but I'll probably have breathing issues by the time I'm 30 with the amount of resin powder that's in the air [emoji16]

I actually saw your resin obi hilt build a while back, I think it's the same dodgy cast as mine. Love how it turned out!

thanks! I hit it with a little rub n buff at the end and that did wonders.

Next time I'm just ordering a cast from Jedifather or adamata :lol

looking forward to see how these play out.

I did the exact same thing. Ordered a Mace Windu saber from a guy on Amazon. Quality is about on par as that Obi.

I haven't finished with it yet, but I decided to go with ageing the saber, as if it had been found several years later in the bowels of Couroscant. I painted the chrome parts a dull silver, & used chrome present ribbons as 'flaking' chrome. I even used a Dremel engraver to make those blasted air bubbles deeper & more plentiful to simulate pocking in rusted metal.

Again, it's not finished, but I'm happy with how it's turned out so far.

Great progress on yours. Good luck.