This is kind of turning into an "all real parts replicas" thread--I hope it's okay to post about a partial real parts/partial replica parts build
Anyway, this saber has been about a year in the making, starting with some leftover spare parts from my Luke ANH saber build, namely an original Graflex clamp and real Exactra bubble strip. I found some close vintage transistors (numbers aren't exact, but they're the right height and have the Motorola M on top), then signed up for various Russ Rep parts runs. While waiting for the Russ parts, I was able to find a Parks (I think) brass windvane ring/collar with the stamped on lettering, which I prefer over the plain variety. I also was able to acquire a couple of original vintage AS handwheels: one missing an endcap but with original chrome still intact on two of the parts, and just recently I got a rechromed vintage handwheel from a member here and cobbled together a complete handwheel from the best parts of the two. The new spacer/adapter from Russ just arrived today, so now my ANH Obi-Wan saber is complete except for a little tweaking here and there (until I find more real parts...uh, oh...). Here are some photos:
- Russ Rep Emitter - Inner part darkened with Blue Wonder gun blue, outer part weathered/detailed with Birchwood Casey Perma Blue, then mounted on an electric drill and partially sanded while spinning, followed by application of black acrylic paint by hand which was also partially sanded scraped away while spinning. Some hammering with metal tools in places for more weathering.
- Parks(?)/Russ Rep windvane - dinged with tools, weathered/aged by immersing for months in a sealed jar of dirt/mud from the yard mixed with a little ammonia.
- Russ Rep grenade body - again, dinged up with a hammer in spots, dropped on concrete a bit, then dunked in a bath of Birchwood Casey Plum Brown (which turned the piece copper-colored...yikes!) followed immediately by a soak in old, used B.C. Perma Blue. This ended up looking fantastic in person, with a very lightly rusty brown in all the crevices and a worn mottled brownish blue on all the outer surfaces.
- Original Graflex clamp, transistors (with leads threaded through the clamp holes, bent, trimmed and then epoxied in place from the underside of the clamp), exactra bubbles on a new Russ Rep spacer with washers from somewhere I can't remember. I added a piece of black electrical tape to the spacer so that the clamp's horizontal slot doesn't show silver underneath.
- Russ Rep Black Oxide steel booster-I may add some metal washers/spacers inside so that when it threads on it allows the clamp to sit at the correct height on the grenade.
- Original partially rechromed (cube ring and endcap) Armitage Shanks handwheel. The handwheel is secured with a bolt that threads into a nut I potted/epoxied with lots of JB Weld inside the booster.
Pretty happy with the replica overall!
