TFA/TLJ Luke’s Lightsaber Scratch-Build

The14thDr

Sr Member
I went to see The Last Jedi yesterday, and despite what the majority of people thought of it, I actually found it to be a really enjoyable movie.

So much so that I was inspired to start my next lightsaber build. I figured if I have Luke's first lightsaber, I needed his second to go alongside it, and I really liked the prop as it appeared in Episode 8 and the Episode 7 behind-the-scenes video.

Since this design is slightly more complicated than the Graflex, I’ve chosen to build mine using a combination of 3D printed and metal parts.

Based on the very limited reference material, I made this model for the “hilt” - featuring the thicker, more uniform rings that set this apart from the ROTJ props.
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Since you all seem to be the authority on lightsaber props, I was hoping to get some feedback/suggestions before I have it printed.

— The14thDr
 
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The only other part of this that I plan on 3D printing is the emitter, so I spent a couple of hours this afternoon creating a model based on the TFA behind-the-scenes video and a couple of images that have surfaced from episode 8.
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Here I split the model into two parts and made a couple of adjustments to make it more “printer friendly” and hopefully cheaper/faster to print as well.
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If you're not planning to print the entire thing, it seems to me that it would be far simpler to just print the "ring of holes" and glue that to an emitter of PVC/sheet plastic. I'd think that would be the hardest thing to fabricate, while the rest is pretty easy.
 
Re: TLJ Luke’s Lightsaber Scratchbuild

Looks great. Ive already modeled this myself. If you'd like to print mine, let me know, I can send you the file.

Is that offer up to anyone else? Lol. My 3D printer should be coming soon and I’m interested in printing this saber out as well. Didn’t you also do a V2 model that was super crazy accurate?
 
Re: TLJ Luke’s Lightsaber Scratchbuild

Is that offer up to anyone else? Lol. My 3D printer should be coming soon and I’m interested in printing this saber out as well. Didn’t you also do a V2 model that was super crazy accurate?

EH, it was okay.;)
 
If you're not planning to print the entire thing, it seems to me that it would be far simpler to just print the "ring of holes" and glue that to an emitter of PVC/sheet plastic. I'd think that would be the hardest thing to fabricate, while the rest is pretty easy.

That’s true, but I think that by printing the entire emitter, I can do it as just two parts - rather than the ring of holes, the plastic sheet and then the two lengths of tubing. So far I’ve priced up most of the materials that I’ll need for this build, and printing the whole emitter actually works out cheaper than buying the different materials, diameters of pipe, etc (and once it has been painted, it will look more or less the same as if I’d scratch-built it from PVC/plastic sheet; with half the time and effort needed.)

But thank you anyway. :) I’m hoping to get these parts ordered sometime next week, then once the weather picks up again I can make a start on the aluminium sections.
 
Using anakin Starkiller’s excellent render as a guide, I updated my model for the rings and had it 3D printed in black PLA (and a layer height of 100 microns to preserve as much detail as possible.)
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There was a lot of sanding involved, but eventually I was able to get the plastic smooth enough that it didn’t look 3D printed. I then masked off the rings and painted them silver.

Finally, I decided (in true Star Wars style!) to add my own twist to the lightsaber with some weathering. To do this, I gently sanded the rings until some of the black plastic showed through the silver.
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With the skills and equipment I have available to me, 3D printing was the only way that I could accurately recreate the “hilt” or “rings” section of this lightsaber, but from now on - aside from the emitter - this will be an all (or mostly) metal scratchbuild, just like my first lightsaber.
 
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Here’s the emitter I had 3D printed along with black-and-silver handgrip last week.

Like I mentioned earlier, I made the emitter in two parts to reduce the number of overhangs and make it easier to print.
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With a bit of acrylic glue, I assembled the pieces and began the long task of sanding the entire thing to remove those horrible print lines.

To give me a nice weathered effect like I have on the grips, I undercoated the emitter in black acrylic paint.
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After two coats of silver acrylic paint, the emitter is done!
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The base handle was probably the easiest part of the build - just some 1-1/2” aluminium tube cut to a length of 3-1/2”.

To attach the grips securely to the bottom end of the lightsaber, I knew that epoxy on its own wouldn’t be strong enough, so I had to create a sort of “connector” to strengthen the join between the two.

I found a cardboard tube in the bits and bobs box that was exactly 30mm in diameter, meaning it fit perfectly inside the handgrip. All I had to do was then wrap the other end in several layers of tape so that it would also fit snugly inside the aluminium tube of the handle.

With a bit of epoxy, I doubt this will be coming apart any time soon. ;)
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Lookin' good so far.
Thanks! :) And progressing much faster than my first lightsaber, too.

- - - - - - Update - - - - - -

Once I had all the necessary parts, the neck wasn’t too difficult to assemble.

The main rod down the centre is a length of 20mm PVC pipe. I’m also using some 1/4” wooden dowel, a 1”-diameter steel washer, some 1-1/4” PVC pipe, plenty of electrical tape and some 1” acrylic tube I had lying around.
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After gluing the two washers together, I had to figure out a way of securely attaching the two sections of PVC pipe. That’s where the wooden dowel comes in.

I wrapped a short length of the dowel in tape until it fit snugly inside the washers. Then, I wrapped both ends of the dowel in more tape until the PVC pipe could simply be slotted into place and glued over the top.
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After gluing the two thicker pieces of tubing into place, I wrapped the ends of the PVC pipe in yet more tape so that they could be fitted nice and tightly into the emitter and the lower half of the lightsaber.
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After attaching the neck to the rest of the lightsaber, I began to paint it. The lower half is just plain black with a coat of Mod Podge to give it a matte finish, and the top half is a coppery-brown I mixed.
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Looks good so far. How do you plan to tackle the pommel? Seems like of the whole saber, that's where I'd resort to 3-D printing.
Honestly, at this moment in time I’ve no idea! :lol: I’m starting to regret not having the pommel 3D printed now, because it’s one of the hardest parts of this saber to replicate from scratch.

Some good news, however: I ordered more aluminium sheet over the weekend and it is due to arrive before the end of the week, so I can finish off the hilt and make a start on the control box very soon (and hopefully by then I’ll have some sort of plan as to how I’ll tackle that pommel!)
 
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