what do you guys use for weathering

[tmcmahan23]

im building my first saber and i want to give it a little bit of a darker look ive watched the saber shop youtube video but im wondering what other ways there are

[darth_chasm]

Welcome

There are tons of methods. Check out the A-Z build threads.

[jbkuma]

You can also look at videos by various prop makers on YouTube for specific ideas.

[Beskar Anooba]

im building my first saber and i want to give it a little bit of a darker look ive watched the saber shop youtube video but im wondering what other ways there are

Well it depends on the material you're using. In my case, my hilt uses several pieces made of solid brass and after a few days of handling them with my bare hands, my handgrip is already developing a slight patina. Over time, and/or with the application of a little vinegar, it'll start to dull over and patina, get scratched and dinged, and acquire natural weathering, which is why I went with brass in the end.

If you're painting your hilt at all, using sparing amounts of paint remover or a little screwdriver can take the paint off, or you can use a relatively weak paint and just let your handling do the work for you. This is what gave Luke's main hero hilt in RotJ its signature appearance.

Aluminium (the default material for MHS parts) will also oxidize on its own, given time, and that'll give it a duller appearance, and acquiring natural scuffs and scrapes will help with that.

Any refinishing like anodizing for aluminium and parkerizing, bluing, or a black oxide finish for steel and other materials will, over time, wear out on high-contact areas and can be exacerbated with rubbing/buffing/sanding. Buffing hardcoat anodizing results in a nice bronzing effect, if my "battle-worn" M16 receivers are any indication.

If you want to know how to get your saber to look like some of the commercially-available "weathered" sabers, then looking at online videos or talking to sabersmiths is your best bet. Most sabersmiths I've seen can do a variety of weathering effects, from a simple discoloration to heavily rusted parts.

May the Force of others be with you,
Beskar Anooba

[lovetadraw]

For a rusty look, I like to use hammered bronze spray paint sprayed from a good distance away.

[Onli-Won Kanomi]

Properly placed abrasive scuffing followed by strategic applications in the right places of gunsmith finishing product Birchwood-Casey Aluminum Black (now also available in a pen), "Cajun Agin" (thanks Gemini twins) using Tobasco or similar hot sauce and/or 'baked' olive oil can provide interesting coloured finish effects.

[Beskar Anooba]

Properly placed abrasive scuffing followed by strategic applications in the right places of gunsmith finishing product Birchwood-Casey Aluminum Black (now also available in a pen), "Cajun Agin" (thanks Gemini twins) using Tobasco or similar hot sauce and/or 'baked' olive oil can provide interesting coloured finish effects.

Do you have any pics/links to pics of using Tabasco or olive oil? Like I said in my reply, a little vinegar will give my solid-brass parts a nice patina but now I'm curious about this "Cajun Agin'" idea.

[jbkuma]

You don't need to go any further than your kitchen for examples of the oil. Any pan with baked on black or brown oil is what you'll get. olive oil has a high content of things that will smoke and polymerize to give the effect more readily than "cleaner" oils.

[Beskar Anooba]

You don't need to go any further than your kitchen for examples of the oil. Any pan with baked on black or brown oil is what you'll get. olive oil has a high content of things that will smoke and polymerize to give the effect more readily than "cleaner" oils.

Lol I'm usually pretty meticulous about cleaning my cookware but maybe I have something. But on the other hand, a pan is a tad removed from how it looks on a lightsaber!

[darth_chasm]

the tutorial for this is here http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?6292-Weathering-tutorial-(w-olive-oil)&highlight=olive

the are two surviving photos in the thread.

[Beskar Anooba]

the tutorial for this is here http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?6292-Weathering-tutorial-(w-olive-oil)&highlight=olive

the are two surviving photos in the thread.

Ah, cool! Not sure if I'll ever go that route with my current build but maybe if I do a darksider one later...

[darth_chasm]

Post a pic or link of something similar to what you want. Im sure we can point you in the right direction.

[darth_chasm]

Here are two I have done.

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?21036-Dcls-005/page2&highlight=dcls-005

Paint and remove method on handle.
Liver of sulphur on copper emitter.
Rainbow patina and liver of sulphur on chassis.
Aluminum black on shroud.

http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com/showthread.php?20108-DCLS-004-Reveal-Saber&highlight=dcls-004

Hammer, files, and light etching for "damage"
Aluminum black and spanish copper rub n buff on hilt.
Liver of sulphur and patinas on brass and copper pieces.
Chassis was 3d printed then plated with copper and treated with copper patina.

[Beskar Anooba]

Oh well for me, I'm using some solid-brass MHS parts I had custom-made. They'll get a nice patina on their own, maybe a little vinegar dabbed on to expedite the process, and along with that I'll be painting my Kenobi-style grip with some black paint then apply a bit of paint thinner with a sponge. After that, just regular handling should do the trick and naturally weather it. That's why I chose to do brass instead of powder-coating and then weathering.

But for a darksider build, I like the idea of the lightsaber hilt "corrupting" itself the same way its crystal did when it was "bled"; so a baked-on olive oil finish plus some acid wear-and-tear should achieve a neat burnt look as if the dark side tainted the entire lightsaber from the inside out.