Lightsabers & Blasters How to mod your Master replicas Anakin ep.III FX lightsaber for removeable blade in 10 steps

oh I'm all for that tutorial!
please make one!

 

Wait, you pryed off the buttons, put them back on, and THEN drilled holes in them? Why?

And just so you know, subjects and verbs and such in sentences are delineated by punctuation. This is generally to make your sentences understandable.

 

I love my FX saber, and I'm alo dying to have a working custom blade with sound so Im going to give this a shot, but add some of my own features, quesiton though...this method doesn't interfere with the sounds does it?> I assume it does prevent the power up/power down light effect though

 

it dosen't affect the sound you dont even have to have the blade in for sound nor the scroll effect of the blade all sounds all effects

 

Use some damn periods, I can't understand anything you say.

 

Another question: how stable is the blade when you swing it after you've taken it out and put it back in. Can you swing it around without it falling out?

 

Hmm, it depends. There are two pins inside the handle that keep the blade attached to the hilt. The end of the blade is similiar to an input/output plug on the back of a computer. The only way to get to those pins is to remove the copper buttons and pull the inner piece out.

If you decide the just push the blade back in, this works as well. There is a small layer of tape on the end of the blade, so it will fit snugly when you're pushing the blade in. If you don't put the pins in and just push in the blade, it will fit nicely, but I do not suggest HEAVY swinging or clashing. We aren't supposed to smack them around anyway, right?

[Madison]

 

I always thought it was weird that MR says not to hit things with your lightsaber, but they have clash sounds when you do. And you have to hit pretty hard to get the clash to sound too.

 

You did a great job on that! I would GREATLY appreciate it if you put up a tutorial of some sorts.

 

Yes, let's see a picture tutorial on this. If y'all can afford MR lightsabers, you should be able to afford a decent digital camera

Looking forward to trying this with mine.

 

I would love to try this with a Vader FX but I want to see a good tutorial as well so I knw what I am doing before I begin.

 

A picture tutorial would be awesome!

 

on ,
rpf.invisionzone.com
A guy named BradlyFett, has a tutorial on a MR Vader FX, just do a search.

 

Anyone know if this is possible with the older Luke ESB Master Replica's saber?

 

I was unable to find the tutorial you were talking about. RPF search said there was no user under the name BradleyFett. Could you leave a link to it. Thanks

 

http://www.rpf.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=90131&hl=

 

Thanks don't know why that didn't showo up in the search

 

DERTHH_MAWLZ - I took apart a non-working luke ESB and it's definitely not as modular as the 2005 Ani/Vader sabers...
It's not easy to make the blade removeable, you'd need to wire in din plug or similar setup since it uses a small wire harness clip.
We should make this or a new thread incorporating this one into the "take apart your various FX sabers" thread.

To take apart the Luke ESB 6 battery model, I had to...
- pry off the red button caps, use micro flat head screw driver to avoid button damage
- unscrew the phillips screws under the buttons caps to remove the blade adjust knobs
- pry out the little metal tab/pin near the on/off blade adjust knob
- pull out the recharge port pins, used small needle nose pliers
- unscrew the visible small flat head screw
- drill out the grip rivets
- screw D-ring endcap back in and pull that assembly out of saber
- this lets you push the whole blade assembly and internals backwards out of the pomel area of the hilt since the emitter clamp ears seem to prevent it going out the other way
- You then can knock out the pins with an appropriate punch to remove the blade from the hilt internals

I did find decent rivets to put the end back together once you've altered things and want to put the hilt back together.

Need to tackle the older ANH Vader and Mace next...

 

yeaaaa i took my anakin ep 3 apart recently too. After finishing i realized i could have done it without ruining the blade. Do to the fact i did this before reading the forum, its just a hilt now, and the blade connections are all ruined lol. It was getting old anyways and i had dropped it a couple times, so i figured why not. Yea, so its true dont drillll into the hilt, just take off the copper pieces, jsut pop them out witha knife or something, they are glued down only a little. I didnt bother to remove the circut board, but i wish i did sicne i could have saved the blade. Also yI had to pull out the gold prongs, because they prevented the blade socket from coming out. I mean if you really want a anakin saber for your costume, jsut take apart the force fx cause its cheaper than buying the real deal, and it looks and feels better in my opinion. I bought the aluminum endcap on ebay also, so now it looks like the real thing. I cant wait for the Darth maul force fx coming out soon, its gonna be sick!

 

[image=http://home.att.net/~dan.theman/maceapart.jpg]

Well I had a lot more pieces than I should when I took Mace's FX apart, but this is the pic that shows what you should have as pieces when doing it right as much of the hilt actually doesn't need to come apart.

Only the activation gold plate needs to be pried off. Nicely! I prefer using these jeweler screw drives for much of this.
At the bottom of the hilt you will need a 2mm allen bit to tack the covertech knob off, and a 1.5mm allen bit to take out the set screw on the opposite side.
This allows you to pull off the butt end of the hilt and the gold ring just after the rubber grips. Remember MR likes to use that gooey glue, so you'll have to work the pieces apart.
Then you will see exposed to tiny gold set dowels on opposing sides of the hilt... these pretty much fall out so be careful. That lets the inside rough metal ring retaining the insides come out.

Now you're almost there, this is the sneaky part... Underneath the decorative patterned grip near the top of the hilt is the final screw that retains the intarnals from being slid out. I just felt the indent of a possible screw spot and gently pulled back the rubber gripping that will need to be gooy glued back in place when the LED conversion is done.
[image=http://home.att.net/~dan.theman/macescrew.jpg]

Now just slide the whole internal assembly out the base of the hilt... and there you have it.

 

where do you get the gooy glue?

 

BTW does anyone know of a good tool to pry off those buttons on an Anakin FX? I've been using a dentist pick but that is a delicate procedure and can still mar the bezel.

 

Hey Ultra, last night I used a clay sculpting tool to great effect. It's shaped like a spade, but the tip is slightly curled in. After masking the bezel with masking tape, I just stuck it down, pulled back and up, and out popped the button. I found the tool in my modeling box so I don't know exactly where to get one or how much it cost, but if I remember correctly it was less than $2. Any hobby store should have one, and if you're going to be doing a lot of these, which it looks like you are, I'd highly recommend one. I hope this helps.

-Z

 

Madison, any chance on a picture tutorial for us less technically inclined?

 

anyone able to post the method without drilling?