by Paul

PART I

NEW Sabers by Paul

PART II

I have 2 designs right now... one is a totally custom one and another follows the design of Obi-Wan's. I'll go through the custom one first. From left to right the saber consists of these parts... The base is a plumbing pipe cut at a bevel on the right end. The other end is capped off with a faucet cover and I applied a D ring which is not shown. The black ring on the pipe is actually material called wall base, used for underneath of kitchen floor cabinets. It's plastic like and bends and curves very nicely. I just cut a strip off and curved it over and butt it up to itself and glued it in place. The lower grip is a mouse pad turned upside down and sliced lengthwise so that the grip fans out... neat effect, and very plushy and cushiony to hang onto. Again, that is wrapped around the pipe and butts up to the end and glued into place. Then I rolled an O ring onto the pipe and glued it into place. The clamp assembly is made from that wall base stuff again (love that stuff)... the control box is a machine stock key with 1/2 round facet clear bead like things found in the craft dept of Wally-World (Wal-Mart). The switch is a toggle bolt wing nut. The screws underneath are glued into the black plumbing washers and fastened into place on the pipe. Next comes the exposed pipe with more plumbing washers glued on to simulate recharge sockets. The top "knob" consists of plumbing washers, lamp screws and another type of colored facet stone from Wally-World. The emitter nozzle is again, wall base material cut to the same bevel as the pipe. It is double stick taped, and glued into place. Then, another segment of the wall base material is applied on top of the beveled piece (same as piece on the opposite end). The top "knob" is another plumbing washer and a lamp screw. The inside of the emitter (not visible) I put in a door peep hole viewer. Looks really cool. That's about it for that one... a lot of super glue and a lot of double stick tape. Everything is taped and glued... double the adhesive that way! The next saber (Obi Wan style) is similar... The base for the saber is metal plumbing pipe and copper tubing for the lesser diameter upper end. The lower grip is an acrylic faucet handle spray painted silver, with a hole drilled into one "knob/grip" for the D ring. The end is capped off with a faucet cover. Then, mouse pad grip above that... cut to size, sliced, and taped and glued into place. O ring after that. Control box... machine stock key with 1/2 craft stones and toggle wing nut for the switch. All glued and taped together and fastened onto the exposed pipe. Plumbing washers and screws add detail along with a strip of chrome tape from one side of the control box, wrapped around the pipe and touching the other side. The upper grip is my favorite trademark... car floor mat material cut and wrapped around the pipe. It creates a great effect and a nice comfortable grip. Then to cap it off, I used a plastic beveled sealing washer painted black to taper it down to a smaller diameter copper tube. The bell shaped emitter pieces are called shower rod flanges. Painted and slipped onto the copper rod and glued into place. Details were added like screw heads, O rings, paint, etc. The emitter is a small vanity/sink drain painted silver and dry brushed black to show aging and wear an d tear. Some O rings and washers were added to make the fit more snug. The inside of the emitter has a washer with a recessed facet stone (blue) inside (again not visible). Hope this helps--

PART II

A really quick run-down of the parts are as follows: 1-1/2" metal plumbing tube cut and filed and dremel sanded to the shape of the end of a graflex Grips -- either purchased from prop dealers (1st choice) or resin casted, or what i used-- car floor mat material Chrome/aluminum/mirror hobby paper from an art store faucet cap chrome tape (from auto store) assortment of hobby wood and 5/8" DIA dowl rod assortment of rubber plumbing washers bristol board (art store) thick sheet of clear plastic acetate (art store) drill small nuts/bolts/washers double sided carpet tape super glue 5/8" finishing washers suction cup window decoration holders 1" plastic plumbing pipe 35mm film can black matt finish vinyl - one side has adhesive on it (art store) D ring The trick is to follow the blueprints from the tech journals for anakin's saber. I used the mirror craft paper, taped to bristol board for the collar/clamp assembly on the saber. Carved out the lever and clamps from hobby wood, glued it all together and attached it to the collar. Added some chrome tape around the collar for detail (scored the tape beforehand in a checkerboard fashion). Drille dthe appropriate holes in the pipe for the knobs and recharge sockets. I fashioned the knobs from gluing 2 plumbing washers together, scoring with an x-acto blade some mirror paper, and gluing it to the washers. Then I screwed them into the saber in the appropriate places. Glued finishing washers to the tops of the knobs, and cut off the end "blobs" of the suction cup holders, and glued them into the holes that the finishing washers left... painted them red, and the knobs were finished. Cut out a tear drop shaped piece from the acetate and taped the mirror paper to either side and fastened the wider side below the top knob and the thinner side toward the back of the saber. Used a screw and washers to hold it down and add deco to the saber. Drilled two big holes where the recharge sockets would be, applied plumbing washers to the inside, and stuck nail heads into the rubber washers to simulate the recharge plugs. I cut a 1" length of plastic plumbing tube and wrapped it with mirror paper and glued it underneath the emitter end of the saber... i pegged it off a bit so that it floated within the diameter of the saber end. I cut the upper fin shapes out of the acetate and covered each side with the mirror paper. Attached them to a small piece of hobby wood that I also covered with themirror paper, and screwed the hole unit into the saber so that it met up with the ring below. Capped off the emitter end with the film can cap, glued it in place, painted it black, and added a nail head and washers for detail (not shown in pics). Fastened the grips to the end, notched the grips and screwed them in place. Taped and glued them as well. Attached a D ring to the faucet cover and capped the grip end of the saber off. Added small pieces of vinyl and small screws for deco. Thats about it... Paul

MENU