One of the reasons that my build log has remained closed was to accommodate this as I knew it was coming down the pipe and I needed time to prep for it....
The Duke Run!!!
I thought I would take a moment to share something we are working on presently.
These are hilts from the recent Duke Run that are being prepped for a proper electronics install.
The hilts required a bit of cleanup and machine work to bring them up to our specs. Five of the pics show the hilts as they were originally received and The rest detail some of the hard work that is going into making these worthy of a Sith Count.
You can see where the pommels have been remachined to clean up some of the marks and vented for sound.
The original, somewhat unsightly set screw holes have been welded shut and cleaned up as if they were never there, which will bring that beautiful bell emitter back to proper form.
Please note, Korbanth had arranged for all of the hilts to be sent for additional machining as he himself was not overly pleased by their condition.
However, seeing as we were well equipped to take on that task ourselves, we felt no need to keep our public waiting. (As you can see, our boy Mike does fine work.)
Stayed tuned for more progress pics as the weeks go by.
Update: April 2nd, 2014
More pics!
A lot of work was done today on these and I think you will all be shocked and amazed.
Don't worry Keanu, we have a good reason and a solid solution.
Our guy is a magician. He cuts the girl in half, then puts her back together like nothing ever happened.
TIG welder for the win!
Gotta light this saber up really well. What would get a good Ignition? Well, if you want a nice hot blade, you'll need a good Sparkâ„¢. (Yes folks, that means a Miniâ„¢ will fit in here too.)
Update: April 4th, 2014
Some more holes filled in and this saber is beginning to look a lot more like it was intended to.
I'll let the pics speak for themselves:
Update: April 8th, 2014
I call this episode of our show: "BLAST IT ALL!"
The elbow section gets a little high velocity TLC.
UPDATE: APRIL 24th, 2014
After much deliberation, it was decided that though the Igniterâ„¢ may be Miniâ„¢ the speaker in the CSJ Propsâ„¢ Duke revision simply could NOT be.
And so.... Let's bring the noise.
Update: May 19th, 2014
I've had a few questions recently on this build and why there hasn't been any progress pics for a while, and the reason behind that is a simple one. She needed to be shinier, and that takes time to do properly.
So, here you go folks, the Duke hilt the way it was MEANT to look. Enjoy!
Now it just wouldn't be a CSJ Propsâ„¢ Duke update without something unexpected, so here it is folks....
The pins on this saber are
18 KARAT GOLD PLATED!!!And here is what she looks like all put together:
Update: May 24th, 2014
I'm really hoping I can help this guy out by the end of this process. He has been most patient, but his need is great.
So I needed to update him with progress obviously....
He wanted to know what the red button looked like.
And he was curious about the shape of the gold button as well.
Of course, he wasn't convinced that I really knew what I was doing, but I assured him that
And with the fully assembled pic he was finally at ease.
Pretty demanding for a homeless guy if you ask me, but the customer is always right.