Hey there has anyone conerted a hasbro mace as of yet using the mr mace kit? Performed a search but found nothing.
Cheers.
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Hey there has anyone conerted a hasbro mace as of yet using the mr mace kit? Performed a search but found nothing.
Cheers.
I dont think so. However I am willing to try it when I get my FX mace windu.
Ripped mine apart to fix the break in the led string and it is basically an aluminium sleeve with two pins and a couple of hex grub screws to hold stuff in place and to stop the outer trim from moving around. I could see the 1.25" blade holder working but maybe with a shorter heatsink.
the kit in store should work, hasbro didnt change any of the hilt designs from what mr was selling other than the obi rots.
I checked the tutorial and there are some significant differences. The trim on the emitter is part of the ally sleeve the gold half moon trim above the switch has a pin underneath and the rubber grip doesn't peel away it is more a molded piece similar to dooku.
Among other things....
any more ideas about this? i've been poking around my 07 hasbro mace saber, and am stumped. apparently there's better glue over the rubber part, and it does not come off as easy as depicted in the 05 conversion tutorial.
If its really that much different its time for some pictures that can detail these differences for everyone else, post them up if you get a chance please guys
Just so you know, if you are having problems with glue...
WD-40 was was to breakdown Ducttape adhesive, and other glues. you want want to try spraying some of it under the grip sections and see if that does any good...
I've managed to get the Hasbro version of the mace saber open.
It's definately very different inside and comes apart very differently too - I took pictures so I'll post them later when I have time.
I just need to know the exact dimensions of the MR mace conversion blade holder part to see if it fits or not.
The internal diameter of the Hasbro version is 1 and 3/16ths of an inch but the internal diameter of the screw-on blade emitter part - the gold bit is an inch exactly though seems to be too tight to fit my 1 inch diameter blades through it hmmm....
ok seriously its picture time(please)
Ok, finally had time to upload photos so here goes...
First I started by unscrewing the battery compartment:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0569.jpg
Then with a hex wrench unscrew the retainer thingy:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0570.jpg
Turn the saber over and you'll find another bolt to undo:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0572.jpg
Unscrewing it will allow you to slide this part off:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0573.jpg
Slide the next part off too - the retaining bolts circled slide along the groove indicated by the arrow so that it does not spin around. they also hold the plastic parts underneath somewhat:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0574.jpg
Once the screws above have been taken off, slide the next part off - again the bolts circled slide along the red arrowed bits to stop this piece spinning round relative to the metal tube:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0575.jpg
Undo the bolts mentioned above then pull off the button top - be careful not to damage the metal work with scratches. I cannot see how to pull this saber apart without breaking the plastic on this switch as it's glued in place (you can see the broken plastic areas ringed in red) - I'm not too worried about this break as I can simply pin it with some wire and drilled holes which should make it stronger than the original plastic anyway!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0576.jpg
Then pull off the gold triangle part again trying not to damage the metal work - this is difficult - again the underside of this piece will break but again it can easily be fixed with pinning:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0577.jpg
At this point push the pin indicated with the arrow in the above picture which will allow you to slide the metal piece off and take the rubber grip piece away:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0578.jpg
Then take the pin out completely:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0579.jpg
Then using a screw driver ply out the switch slider:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0580.jpg
Then you will need to unscrew the gold emitter part - again this was glued in place and took quite a lot of effort to unscrew - I basically cut the glue out of the groove I could see from the surface with a surgical blade, then a bit of swearing, 20 minutes and WD40 later, it finally came off (and without any damage to any part woo!)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0582.jpg
Then slide the internals out - again the bits of glue here and there made it seem like it wasn't going to come out but it did in the end:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0583.jpg
I then took out this pin:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0584.jpg
Then used a surgical blade to score along the seam which was again glued (they really do not want you to take this apart do they!) and seperated the two halves:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0585.jpg
Here's the underside of the electronics:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0586.jpg
This is the part that slides out of the blade (again glue held it in place):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0587.jpg
And here's the electronics that were inside the blade including a motion sensor:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0588.jpg
Like I've said earlier the internal diameter of the gold emitter end part is 1 inch but seems too tight for my 1 inch diameter blades which will have to be shaved down if I'm to use them.
Once this emitter part is screwed in it is flush with the plastic internals (up against the red arrow in the photo below). The internal diameter of the metal tube (or outerdiameter of the plastic internals) is about 1 and 3/16ths of an inch and as you can see by the picture theres 3 and 2/16ths of an inch length to play with before you hit the switch (green arrow):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12...mage0589-1.jpg
If the rest of the MR version conversion part fits inside these diameters that's great, but the thinner section of it will most definately have to be cut off as it won't fit through the screw-on gold emitter.
Maybe one of the other conversion pieces will fit but TCSS hasn't detailed the dimensions of them...
super awesome breakdown and detailed pics(should this be made into a tut?) its VERY VERY different from the 05 version, thanks soo soo much for this
Extremely nice job! Kudos to you.
No probs,
Used to do tutorials for converting games workshop figures years ago.
Was thinking of using a piece of blade inside the plastic internals to hold the LED much like what the guy from ultrasabers does in his sabers.
Will post more when I finish it
they certainly didn't make that easy to take apart did they? great tutorial and very detailed pictures. thanks ^_^
Woah, its kinda Joe Jedi style.
Yeah I noticed that too.. the inner "Sleeve" hits off so similarQuote:
Originally Posted by Skottsaber
Couldn't be bothered to wait to order a RGB LED so I nicked one out of my other saber and continued the conversion...
The picture below shows how the guys at Ultrasabers mount their LEDs - basically it's just glued, with a heatsink, inside a polycarbonate tube then slotted into the blade holder. Simple but effective methinks:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0598.jpg
I thought I'd try the same with the windu saber. By putting a simple shaped polycarbonate tube inside it would have moved around too much, so I came up with the idea of shaping one so that it fitted around the plastics, in such a way as it would not move at all.
I decided that a tube of about 7cm should do the trick nicely and I started marking the tube ready for cutting:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0591.jpg
The hole in the pic above is about 2.5 cm long and 1.25 cm wide and slots around the switch housing. I then cut holes on the sides so that they fitted around the plastic supports (whatever you call them!) and cut part of the back piece off so that it didn't collide with the soundboard. I then filed down some of the plastic lumps on the inside of the tube (circled in red):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12...mage0592-1.jpg
During the above step, I would cut a little test it's fit and cut a bit more again and again. It may be tedious but it meant that I ended up with a very snug fit. In fact I need a screw driver to ply it out once it's in place. This baby isn't going to rattle around when I swing the saber oh no! Here's what the completed piece looks like fitted into the bottom section:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0593.jpg
And with the top section on too. Note how the blade will sit flush with the polycarbonated tubing when inserted:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0594.jpg
I then needed to drill and tap some holes. Because you won't be able to use the original pins, these new screw holes will stop the innards from sliding around. The best way of doing this is to insert the plastic internals into the metal tube, lining it up so that you cut in the right place. I decided to use the holes marked in red. Because I was using wider diameter grub nuts, I needed to drill larger holes before tapping. Once done I inserted the grub nuts making sure that they did not collide with any of the internals or the blade when inserted. If I had had shorter grub nuts, I probably would have opted to use the hole circled in green and the one on the opposite side of the tube too, but I found that it was very secure anyway:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0595.jpg
The other reason for using a wider diameter grub in the hole circled in red above was this - it created a much tighter fit to this piece (when I got the saber out of the box this gold bit wobbled around a bit - poor buildsmanship!):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0597.jpg
Then onto the electrics. I cut the wires off the end of the original blade like so:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0599.jpg
The purple wire is the positive on this board (you can check on yours by looking for the wire that corresponds with VDD markings on the board). Trim off the wire casings then join all the negative wires together (i.e. all wires apart from your positive - purple, and the wire going to the motion sensor - white). Solder the blue wire coming out of the other side of the motion sensor (blue) to your positive. Then all that's left is to solder and shrink wrap your positive to the positve of the LED and all the negatives to the negative of your LED. Note I have 2 negatives - one for the blue and one (with resistors) for the red on my RGB LED. This is so that the red colour is toned down and does not over power the blue hence giving a purple colour. By reconnecting the battery pack you can test to see if it all works ok. If you're doing purple, I suggest you grab your blade and shine the LED up it to see if you're happy with the colour. Otherwise change the resistor values on the -ve wire from the red part of the RGB LED. Also flick the motion sensor to test sounds. It's a good idea to use a little glue from your glue gun to attachment sites of your wires to make sure they don't come apart - when you try and squeeze all this inside the plastic tube later on, you'll probably be glad you did this! Here's what you should end up with (forgive the messiness - I ran out of heat shrink!):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0600.jpg
The next bit is to fit it all in. Easier than it sounds! Fit the lens assembly to your LED and attach the heat sink to the underside, not forgetting thermal compound (I had already done that above so sorry for no pics!). Squeeze the LED, lens and heat sink into the polycarbonate tube and use a glue gun to keep it all in place. Then feed the switch through it's hole and screw it back in. Screw the sound board back in and find a good place to glue gun the motion sensor in. If I hadn't had so many resistors I would have had the space to put it up against the back of the heat sink. After all this you should end up with something like this:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0605.jpg
It was a very snug fit and I was glad that it felt very solid in construction. After putting the two halves of the plastic innards together I used a bit of cellotape to hold it in place, then slid it into the metal tube. After inserting the grub nuts into the holes I had created, I assembled the rest of the saber in the reverse order to which I described earlier in this thread. If you're wondering about how pinning works when putting your switch back together - simply find some wire, drill some holes into the slider part of the switch then drip some super glue into them, before pushing short pieces of wire all the way into the hole. Similarly, drill holes into the plastic underside of the gold switch, drip some super glue in those too before slotting it all together. Here's a picture mid way through the process:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0607.jpg
Interestingly, I found some of my other 1 inch diameter blades that I did not need to file down at all to fit into the blade holder. (obviously my new ultra edge blades are the tiniest bit wider!)
I haven't got any small grub nuts yet to hold the blade in place but I suggest you drill the hole for this in one (or more) of the recesses of the screw-on gold emitter part, like that in the MR tutorial.
Anyway I'm a lot happier with the saber now. There's not any of that annoying wobbling of parts anymore thank goodness!
The hilt and the blade are both lighter and the weight distribution is much much better. The weight is still towards the butt of the hilt making it a very stable saber to duel with, but after many years of using bokkens, chinese swords etc etc it's not my cup of tea. My favourite dueling sword still remains to be the Dominix II from Ultrasabers and I don't see that changing any time soon! I didn't really want to use this saber for dueling with anyway, more for display or costuming purposes. I have been told that regular sword play wears the gold and silver plating of the metal and I can easily see why!
The main thing I'm happy with (and the main reason for the conversion) is the blade. It is a proper purple now and doesn't have any of those dark spots up the sides like the original had. A nice even colour.
Here's a quick video of it (note the purple seems a bit pinker on film for some reason):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12..._Video0084.jpg
Well that's the first ever conversion I've done. Wouldn't recommend it as your first unless you're a cheeky one like me who learns very fast lol!
I hope you never plan on duelling with that.
The MR plastic is weak and will most likely not hold up.
Like I said above I didn't convert it for dueling purposes. I believe it to be stronger than the original build but it's still not a saber I want to whack around :-)
Great tutorial.
This helped me to convert my Mace too.
Without it, I never would have dared to do the conversion.
BTW
Which RGB LED did you use?
It is a little unusual to put the resistor on the cathode, but it seems to work.
I'm not sure which RGB LED it was. I just took it straight out of one of my Ultrasabers' Dominix II sabers.
They also put the resistor on the cathode so I simply copied them lol
Glad it helped
I'm tempted to make a metal internal conversion for this in the future, but we're talking ages before I actually do it. I'll post here when finished...
Hm, I hope a DX RGB will be enough to get an even lit blade.
The brightness and colour mix of the Seoul P5 had been very disappointing.
In my opinion the new Mace is much more durable than the MR version.
The blade holder is comparable to the Obiwan RotS with removable blade.
It can take some hard hits easily.
A lightsaber duel shouldn´t be a problem for this saber, but I wouldn´t use it against a bokken or wooden staffs.
I found a workmate, who has a lathe and milling machine at home.
Maybe he would build me a combined LED/blade holder.
You´ll only need a tube with a 20/22mm diameter bore with 25mm length for the LED and lens holder, the rest enlarged to 25mm.
With a total length of 85mm it should end at the switch holder.
Great tut! This will definitely come in handy...
Agreed with these points entirely.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ben Elion
I was thinking of possibly using rubber rings on the inside of the outer metal tube instead to take the shocks - like the guy from "Ryan vs Dorkman" does in his new line of sabers...
But got exams and essays all the way till june so it'll have to wait :cry:
Great tutorial. I am glad to see that they got away from the 4 wire switch.
I had some small difficulties, which are hard for me to explain in english.
But I will try
This didn´t work for me at all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Palladian
The golden ring and the grip had been like glued together.
The grip can´t be pulled down when they´re not separated, because the bolts are blocking.
I damaged the surface of the golden part because I held it to strong with my tongs.
Although it has been protected with several rounds of duct tape.
Best way to separate them is to use a knife or sharp-bladed screw driver and put it between the two parts.
Turn the hilt and try to lever them apart by applying the knife or screw driver on different positions.
Like this you have minimum damage.
Maybe you don´t have to break the halfmoon part off.Quote:
Originally Posted by Palladian
I could remove the whole upper grip by lifting and turning.
It is a little bit of try and error to find the right movements, but it is easy when you have done it once.
The pin could be removed later.
I shortened the pin and put it back in it´s previous position after the conversion, because it prevents the upper grip and internal blade holder from rotating.
Here I had luck.Quote:
Then you will need to unscrew the gold emitter part - again this was glued in place and took quite a lot of effort to unscrew - I basically cut the glue out of the groove I could see from the surface with a surgical blade, then a bit of swearing, 20 minutes and WD40 later, it finally came off (and without any damage to any part woo!)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y12.../Image0582.jpg
No glue at all, the emitter ring could be unscrewed easily.
So there seem to be some small differences, even between the Hasbro builts.
Addendum here. I didn't have to take off the half moon piece. I just took the emitter ring and cone shaped piece below it off. The headpiece then will separate from the rubber grip piece.
You will have to have a custom blade holder for this. The stock Mace kit won't work. Argh.....well, I guess this is why I have a lathe and mill.....
So much for a quick one hour conversion.
Yeah, I inquired about a new kit some time ago and one person replied telling me to use the old one and it shouldn't matter. You have way more cred here than I do so folks might listen.
The new Mace is made totally different. Too bad they didn't use the opportunity to reduce the size by 80%. They fit the electronics in an aluminum tube of 1.224" I.D. The emitter ring is now a prominent part of the design and with a new blade holder, would yield a decent blade depth.
Thanks for this great tutorial, I was really wanting a Mace conversion, but I drank all the kool-ade about "MR is better than Hasbro ALWAYS" which is nonsense. When I opened my MR Mace, there was almost no space for the blade in the stock model, much less enough to add in an LED! The MR Mace has to be one of the worst stock sabers I've ever seen for dueling purposes and conversion. I put it right back together and sold it, then used the money to get a Hasbro.
The Hasbro Mace is a little more complex to disassemble, but MUCH better put together, and with plenty of space for modifications. I opened it right up and put in an Ultrasabers VA. One thing to note with this conversion is that the wires to the on/off switch aren't stuck on too well so be VERY gentle when handling that part. Also, the leather grip is now made of hard plastic which can break if handled too roughly, so watch that too. The gold emitter bit was, for me, impossible to remove, but I really didnt need to, so try not to mess with that part unless you really have to.
On the bright side though, I was using an Ultrasabers Ultraedge medium blade and it just went right in to the original black plastic sheath, and fit perfectly through the sturdy gold emitter with no problems! No need for a kit with this one, if you have a couple US sabers around just try a few blades and one of them will likely fit. I drilled a 1/8 inch hole into the gold emitter on the bottom, leather grip side, and then tapped it and put in my retention screw. The result being that I now have a very sturdy and brilliant purple dueling blade!
I will be ordering a sinktube blade holder and hopefully confirm it will act as a conversion kit until one is up or a better guide is around.
EDIT: Input for those taking it apart, I did have to remove the half moon piece. No way around it. Pictures after home depot run!