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Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby Spack » Wed Jul 13, 2016 7:37 pm

Today I received a resin cast copy of a Darth Vader Lightsaber hilt thought to be the version used in the 1994 Energizer battery adverts (RPF discussion at http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=261741 ). I decided to pick this up to add a Return of the Jedi style hilt to go with the Master Replicas Force FX ANH and ESB hilts.

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I'm not sure yet if I'll leave it as it is, or paint it. If I do paint it I might well look at using something like C1 Metalizer to try to get the main body looking like chrome.

Here it is next to the Force FX hilts.

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And this topic wouldn't be complete without the advert



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Re: Resin

Postby Talus » Wed Jul 13, 2016 9:10 pm

When he shouted at the end, all i heard was...


NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!


:p
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Re: Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby Angelwing » Fri Jul 15, 2016 4:40 pm

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
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Re: Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby Spack » Wed Jul 20, 2016 9:26 pm

The C1 Metalizer arrived today so I decided to try it out on the 3D printed bulb socket plug I made for the Force FX hilts.

Originally I'd used a silver spray that i thought was shiny, but up close was quite dull.

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I rubbed a tiny amount of the C1 Metalizer powder on the outer rim, and then used one of the soft pads to rub it. It took less than a minute to get it really shiny.

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However, it also shows up every tiny scratch and imperfection. I also tried to use a Dremel with a buffing tip on the lowest speed but ended up making it a bit cloudy, the above photo is after applying a second layer of powder and buffing by hand again - it looked better the first time around :( It also looks better in hand.

Next test I'll make sure to get the surface really smooth first. The maker recommends a gloss black base coat so I'll probably try that.

While the first test wasn't quite the mirror finish I was hoping for its certainly very promising, just needs some better preparation first. Will need to make sure the hilt has a really smooth base coat.

EDIT: tried sanding it with 800 grit paper and applying the Metalizer again, it's better but still not smooth enough. The green at the bottom is the reflection of a bag that was near it.

Image

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Re: Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby Spack » Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:25 pm

Decided to try the Metalizer on the plug again. First I sanded the room, then applied fine modeling putty and left it to dry. Then it got sanded with 600 and 800 grit wet and dry paper, followed by a coat of acrylic primer spray. When dry the primer was sanded with 800 grit paper and then given a coat of Peugeot Steel Grey spray paint.

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Once the final paint coat was dry the powder was applied. Here it is with the upper right quarter of the rim without powder, the rest looks a little dull at this point.

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Then the powder was rubbed with a buffing pad for about a minute.

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And buffed a bit more in circular motions to try and avoid streaking.

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The powder really shows up the scratches and pits that were still present even after all that sanding earlier. It's very unforgiving.

Here it is next to the two Force FX hilts to compare with the chrome handles.

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Finally the centre area was painted black and mithril silver.

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Much happier with this, it's still not a mirror finish but at least it now looks like sightly worn chrome.


Edit: tested on various base coats, which are all spray paints I had kicking around in the garage, on a piece of plastic pipe to see which gave the best finish. From left to right they are gloss blue, steel grey, grey primer sanded with 800 grit, satin black with clear lacquer, satin black, grey primer sanded with 600 grit, unsanded primer, and bare black plastic.

Image

The picture isn't great, but it does show how the Metalizer looks quite different depending on the base. The black with clear lacquer is the nearest to chrome which is probably down to the lacquer giving it a smooth surface, the gloss blue is almost as good which is surprising I'd expected the steel grey metallic to be shinier. Raw grey primer is the worst finish, and the sanded primers and satin black are also pretty bad.

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Re: Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby BDA » Mon Jul 25, 2016 10:34 pm

really nice work there man, man the force be with you on this one :)
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Re: Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby Spack » Sat Aug 13, 2016 5:03 pm

It's not finished, but it's getting close.

Primer, fill, sand, repeat.

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Black base coats, clear lacquer.

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Masking edges of areas to be chromed.

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C1 Metalizer powder added.

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Chrome powder buffed to a shine.

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Masking tape removed

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Rough D ring made from old wire coat hanger

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Resin hilt (bottom) next to Master Replicas Force FX ANH (middle) and ESB (top) hilts.

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Still needs the rivet heads and circuit board painting, D ring sanding and chroming, and probably satin coat the grips and shroud to remove the gloss.

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Re: Resin Energizer Darth Vader Lightsaber Hilt

Postby Spack » Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:23 pm

Got some cheap 30mm D rings off eBay, turned up today and they're pretty much perfect size compared to the Force FX Vader 2005 one.

Image

Drilled a hole straight through the resin and inserted the D ring, pretty happy with the fit.

Image

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