I an going to Ceklebration Europe in london in July and I am going in full Jedi Garb. So the first order of business (after the costume being sewn as we speak by my Fiancee) was a Lightsaber.
I found a great model supply company called EMA Model Supplies who supply a large number of different types of plastics in various forms. I ppurchased three different sizes of tube made from a plastic called butyrate which i assume is some kind of PVC. Thre three sizes of tube should have fitted neatly inside each other however to cut a long story short the middle size does not.
Still after several frustrating hours of sanding(and a large blister on my hand) I got to a point which I was happy and got the sections of tube assembled. I had also purchased several plastic rings(acrylic this time and the right size) which I attached to one piece of the tube which will form the end section.
This was inserted into one of the smaller tubes and put to one side. A section of the largest dia tube was cut at a 45 degree angle and sanded to form the shield for the beam emitter.
Things were now becoming the right shape at least. After studying some of the volumes of my library ( Starwars Chonices (1&2) and the visual Dictionaries) I discovered several key elements I needed on the device. Firstly an emitter tip, a beam length adjuster knob and an ignition switch! So it was off to my bits box (well boxes). Half a hour later I had procured the pieces I needed. For the beam adjuster I found a small 1/35 return roller and for the emitter tip I found a small piece from a aircraft engine (I think) and another small patterned disk which I glued into the smaller tube like piece. The ignition switch was another mater entirely. On the original props they are made from a section of printed curcuit board I have had to settle for a landing skid off an Imperial shuttle!!
The emitter tip was glued to a disc I purchased with the tubes and fixed into the end of the tube with super glue all plastics ( a life saver on this project.).
Well thats it for this entry I will post more at the weekend once I have had time to do some more work on the project. To follow more on painting.
