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Author Topic: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box  (Read 9859 times)

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Offline tomleech

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ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« on: April 07, 2015, 07:47:48 PM »
A while back I purchased a Saberforge Prodigal Son stunt saber. I had wanted Luke Skywalker's green lightsaber since I watched Return of the Jedi as a child and although the LEDs and switch weren't real and its not the most accurate replica I was happy with what I received for the price I paid. This was my third saber (not counting the broom handle ones my dad helped me make when I was little) with the first two being MR/Hasbro ones. I converted I felt it was time to try something a little more serious so I got the Hero hilt and installed a GGW trip rebel and the simple blade controller from JQ Sabers with an eye to adding a Crystal Focus when I was able to get hold of one.

I eventually got a CF and installed it, with a lot of help from Erv' answering my endless questions. I had planned on installing real LEDs now that I could add accents with the CF and maybe a switch or maybe just a completely new accurate control box. Unfortunately as I am a musician on cruise ships I rarely have much time at home for projects and didn't have the tools or the time to send the saber out to someone who did so I left it at that.

I have had the last couple of months off from ships due to medical problems and when my gf went to her next ship a couple of weeks ago I found I had a lot of time on my hands. I also found some triangular LEDs that are almost exactly the right size for the milled slots of the fake LEDs on the hilt, so I decided to see what I could do with just a dremel.

Prepare for some ugly work... Luckily its mostly hidden :)

My terrible mess of a workspace. I'm also working on a Graflex install:



I went to work on the inside of the control box with the dremel and managed to cut down to where the LED should be and then cut through with some smaller tools. It took a long time and was a little messier than I'd like but it worked and the LED fit in nicely. There is a gap as the 4.5x3mm LED is slightly smaller than the already milled indentation, which I had to use as a guide. I haven't done the red so you can see there what it looked like before:



I found some finer dremel bits for the red and it ended up cleaner than the green. With both LED holes cut out I decided to do the switch. I bought a small slide switch and drilled a hole in the back of the aluminium switch piece. The toggle of the switch was then epoxied into the hole and I had my fuctional switch! I just needed to install it in the control box...

As the copper on the control box is just a couple of angle pieces glued on top of the aluminium and the external switch part is supposed to be as close to the copper as possible I decided the easiest way to achieve what I wanted with the tools I had was to cut down from the top with the dremel and glue it in, figuring as long as I was precise enough the copper angle part would stop the switch twisting:



Everything worked and fit nicely but I decided to go further. Why not put the recharge port in the hole where the old push activation switch was and detail the inside of the control box? (Did I mention I had time on my hands  ^-^)

I decided to make myself a little 4 segment PLI to go in the control box as I wanted to try and utilise as many features of the CF as I could, partly as a learning experience and partly just because it's cool.

So I soldered some 0603 SMD LEDs to a scrap piece of board and made a little bar graph:



Not the cleanest solder job I've ever done but I had plans to hide it anyway. I covered the LEDs in epoxy and built a plasticard box around my bargraph:



If only it could have stayed this neat and clean, but clean and white doesn't belong in the control box of a weathered, lived-in Star Wars universe, so I painted it with various metallic paints. In hindsight I wish I'd been able to build it from black plasticard or very thin brass or copper sheet, but thats what you get when you just work on a build with only a vague plan and minimum patience  :)

On the original control box there were big gaps on both ends as the entire card pressed down on a spring to press a switch. This would never do with LEDs inside so I needed to make something to cover it up. I used some square styrene rod of just the right size with heat shrink tubing around to fill in the gaps, assuming the rubbery texture would keep the card in place but allow it to slide out with enough force:



After some fraction of a mm sanding they hold the card perfectly. It will never fall out but moves when I want to access the inside. It also stops any light spill from any of the LEDs.

Not visible here is the tactile switch for the aux button under the clamp card, sanded down just enough that you can't accidentally press it while swinging the saber around.

As I was putting the recharge port in the control box and adding fake circuitry I knew I'd need a disguised kill key. A filed down capacitor glued to some styrene tube was ideal. The capacitor has a lip so it completely covers the top of the port and is just short enough for the card to slide over:



Test fitting the PLI and kill key in the recharge port:



Green triangular LED and PLI glued in. You can also see the grooves I cut from the nut so you can actually get the precisely made kill key out!



The same view from the other side. I cut a notch in the kill key so it can be in the control box but still have the accent LED sequence for display:



Finished! Or so I thought... I had misread the CF manual and wired all the accent LEDs the wrong way round to use the 4 SMD LED bargraph as a PLI! So it took me a day to take the whole thing apart again, soak, heat and chip off the epoxy I had put around the accent LED solder joins for strength, resolder them the right way round and put it all back together. It was not a fun task so to make the whole thing worthwhile in my head I thought of a way to use the last two accent LED pads on the board:



A cheating crystal chamber and another blinky! It looks great, the mylar speaker cone works really well with the reversed green LED and I use the red pommel LED as a deep sleep indicator. Now if only you could use those special accent modes on only one LED I could pulse the green and mirror the blade :-X




THINGS STILL TO DO:
  • Install the red triangular LED if it ever arrives ::)
  • Add 'stage dressing' circuitry in the control box. I was going to use real circuit board but it is very difficult to cut and also too thick to fit with any components on  :-\ I'll either waterslide decal some plasticard or thin copper sheet
  • Swap out ledengine RGBW for a nice GGR Cree XP-E2 Justintmars is sending out to me. As the LED is shining through the thin neck I need all the brightness I can get, so I'm doubling up on green and I've heard good things about the XPE2s ;)
  • Maybe find someone to help me machine a new LED holder in the emitter à la Darth Ryô's Luke V2, making the saber brighter and more sturdy with thin walled blades (the original emitter is built for thick walled)

To be honest I can't even imagine what else I could possibly do with this build, I haven't the skill, space or the desire to make a proper crystal reveal chamber, it's got 8 accent LEDs, a tactile feedback motor, a PLI, recharge port and RICE port. I could work on the weathering but I think its quite realistic to what it would look like during ROTJ (assuming Luke built the close up, Vader's hands saber somewhere around the beginning of the movie shiny and new, rather than the scrap parts V2 style ;D)

I suppose I'd prefer the pommel area to be more accurate but it seems like it'd be more work than it's worth to fix it...

Thanks for sticking through this long read, let me know your thoughts on this build! I'll update as and when I have anything new to show and I'll leave you with a vector drawing I have done of the saber as it is now (but with the red triangular LED and some resistors I plan to use as part of the fake circuitry)



Tom
« Last Edit: April 07, 2015, 07:50:25 PM by tomleech »

Offline Askew Wai

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #1 on: April 07, 2015, 10:36:22 PM »
That's a fantastic control box! The attention to detail and weathering is beautiful. Very nice PLI hidden away in there.

Offline bombarta

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #2 on: April 08, 2015, 12:10:09 AM »
Great work.
 
If your using the cf7 use the split feature for the accent leds.  Crystal Pulse will work from any of the pads 5-8 in standby mode and can be set to blade mimic when switched on.  pli can be set on pads 1-4.
I don't know, i gotta bad feeling about this!
       

Offline tomleech

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #3 on: April 08, 2015, 05:22:16 AM »
Thanks for the comments :D

Yeah, I want to keep the triangular LEDs on pads 7 and 8 and the red LED in the pommel flashing, I can only have all 5-8 pulsing and blade mirroring or none :)

Offline bombarta

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #4 on: April 08, 2015, 05:30:51 AM »
I would add the triangle leds to pad 1 & 2 with the PLI  ;)
I don't know, i gotta bad feeling about this!
       

Offline Greebles

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #5 on: April 08, 2015, 07:11:12 AM »
Very nicely done. Really enjoyed reading this.

-Denzil

Offline erv

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2015, 09:14:32 PM »
congratulations ! sorry about the PITA for reworking those PLI leds as already shared by email. Fantastic result !

Offline Pinousse

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2015, 11:07:00 PM »
Cute  :)) And so much better than the original  ;D

Offline tomleech

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2015, 07:14:58 AM »
Yeah, but then I'd be more limited with the programming of them. It's ok how it is, those hilt LEDs are only an afterthought really.

Thanks :D It's definitely my fault for wiring them wrong in the first place Erv :)

Ok, so, update:

I got tired of waiting on Rapid to get those red triangular LEDs back in stock, I'd emailed them and they told me they'd find out if they could get them in quicker but never followed up. I eventually found them on Mouser, the UK version, but shipping was expensive as they still come from the States. They were the only other source I could find for them however, so I added some vibration motors and bit the bullet.

They arrived today! Unfortunately though...



They were much longer than the green one I'd already installed and there just wasn't the space to set them further back. I did order some of the same LEDs in green, but didn't want to go through taking the existing green one out (its secured with epoxy) and didn't want the LEDs sticking out that far.

This is as far back as it would sit:



So I decided to file down the LED as close to the semiconductor as possible:



It worked and now I just need to go buy some more epoxy to secure it and then paint it.

Then onto replacing the main LED and the fake circuitry. More updates to come :D


Offline tomleech

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #9 on: April 14, 2015, 04:31:33 PM »
More updates! Brief but big, fake circuitry time:

So first off I had to cover up all the mess in the control box and give myself a 'board' for this circuitry. I used some thin copper sheet cut to fit:



Which I designed a decal for and applied a clear coat after polishing up the copper:



Then I needed components to glue on, so I got some old PC boards and started desoldering interesting looking bits:



I wanted to have some full size resistors, like in the original box (or what my research tells me the original box looked like, there are conflicting opinions, as always)...



...but I didn't think it looked much like a real circuit (what are all those resistors and capacitors for? what are they even doing?) I imagined the control box was where the circuitry that controls the saber is, the rest of the tube is filled with things like crystals, focusing lenses and a battery, but the control box has all the power regulators etc. etc. so it would need some variety.

Unfortunately I didn't have enough depth for real resistors and if you've tried to cut some in half you'd see why I didn't want to :)

So I moulded some:



The mould is made from a transparent rubbery plastic that softens in boiling water and the resistors themselves are made from kneadatite (green stuff) a 2 part sculpting putty. I left it to cure overnight and...



Resistors! I chopped them in half, painted them up and applied some decals for the bands and finished them off with clear coat:



Just like the real thing (after I cut off the excess decal)

I then proceeded to glue them, and various other found parts, into the control box and voilà:



Control box :D I gave the area around the components a watered down coat of Tamiya Smoke (fantastic paint I used to weather this saber) to tie everything in and give the illusion of a little more depth.

I still have to replace the main LED and clean a few bits up, but that's pretty much it! A detailed functional control box with real triangular side LEDs, a real side slide switch, a hidden PLI under the clamp card and a hidden capacitor notched kill key concealing the recharge port. Also a tact switch at the back for the aux button :)

I'm pretty pleased with what I've done here and I hope you've enjoyed reading my process. Let me know what you think!
« Last Edit: April 14, 2015, 04:35:28 PM by tomleech »

Offline Sethski

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #10 on: April 14, 2015, 06:03:22 PM »
I think you should be pleased indeed - this turned out really well - lovely proppy detail and appreciated you sharing your process . Particularly liking the integration of the kill switch and PLI - sterling job, thanks for sharing  ;)

Offline erv

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #11 on: April 14, 2015, 09:39:00 PM »
fake resistors, brilliant !

Offline BEN KENOBI

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #12 on: April 15, 2015, 06:18:46 AM »
 ;D

   wow I must say well done!!

Offline Harp

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #13 on: April 15, 2015, 06:23:43 AM »
SweeT!!

Offline EXAR KUN

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Re: ROTJ Luke Hero upgrade :D Pimp My Control Box
« Reply #14 on: April 15, 2015, 10:54:37 AM »
I think it looks awesome. To me, this type of creativity is what Star Wars has always been about. Great job



 

retrousse