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Thread: Unusual TFA 2.0 build- steampunk/ harp influenced chassis, but no chamber.

  1. #1

    Default Unusual TFA 2.0 build- steampunk/ harp influenced chassis, but no chamber.

    Hi all

    Not that anyone will remember lol, but just in case- I had a crazy stunt build log started WAY back, an 'other guys' overhaul, I'm DYING to get back on it! Got shelved doing so many sabers for people- but I feel bad, a few people were following and i just dissapeared lol. I'll def be picking that back up as soon as I can tho- was pretty whacky lol.

    Ok- here's another kind of odd build log- nothing off the wall, just a bit different than what we're used to seeing with these. TFA 2.0- BUT, I'm giving this one a lot of extra love'n in the form of a ton of replica parts, from vendors and also from the replica flash guns I scooped in a certain well known run. I may even just sell this thing afterwards to grab more of those replicas lol, love those things.

    Ok so, GAMEPLAN:
    -adding the distinctive brass electrical pin contacts for a more accurate looking Graflex pin socket (to be honest accuracy isn't even the reason, i just think it looks better lol).
    -replacing the 4-40 button screw in the bunny ears for a fuax/ threaded flat head rivet.
    - replacing the 4/40 screw standing in for the slider greeblie with a replica nubby/ knurl
    - putting replica screw in emitter instead of 4-40, this will be blade retention also
    -replica clamp screw, and replica red button- the 2.0's is a bit diff hue of red and slightly more anodized metallic looking to my eye
    -putting in one of the glass eyes off a replica, cause one of those will end up esb anyways lol- gonna file it a bit too
    - still using the standard 2.0 blade holder tho, I really like that thing actually lol- wish I had one just to mess with on other stuff. Only thing I'd like better is if the pin socket had the split through it, or maybe the recess with all the tabs at the front of the emitter, if it could have some kind of articulation there. But hey it's a good little kit.

    - I've got sloth TFA card on it already... but when I picked that up it was before he had the translucent pcb version, so I'm grabbing one of those to decide between- I think I prefer the less accurate traditional pcb, but we'll see

    - the standard vented 2.0 pommel is def best for sound, but the TFA pommel cover is most accurate, BUT the stamped pommel cover looks WAY best IMO... I've got them all, so we shall see... we shall see.

    -deciding between the steel or brass pin blade plug, tough call- obviously brass is our favourite , but the steel looks quite nice too- both are accurate to a flex in general, and the steel would be a a nice change from the typical- who knows
    -7/8" module and modified royal blue royal blue white cree for it
    -was gonna use a PC for it but realized it's totally not needed, I don't need anything fancy on this so I'm using a board i have here already: 8 fonts, FoC, lock up, vocal menu- standard stuff
    -gonna do something kinda out there for the port lol, curios what people will think about this- it'll be located in a chassis hidden under clamp, pretty standard, but I'm gonna do something a little intense with how I mount the plug
    - shifting/ flickering rgb 5mm mounted under clamp card
    - have to trim the grips/ screws that stick into ID through grip holes for clearance


    Basically I'm gonna shoot for one of those fancy/ ornate style chambers- like harp, or this forum's very own DC- done up combining scratch and aftermarket techniques/ materials... only there's not gonna be a chamber per say lol, just gonna incorporate the internals into a chassis of that style as much as possible- especially I'm thinking of harp's Graflex, I still dream of that thing, and it'll be decades before I can swing it at that level, so might as well get started practicing now lol.

    Enough blabbering- pic heavy build log time lol .



    If you look here where I was just taking a quick visual of my available space, you can see the little polycarbonate piece I'm using as the first chunk of chassis coming off the blade holder- it'll house the port and and the accent mounted under clamp.

    All broken down, getting the chassis chunk fitted to port and drilled out for internals etc


    Then slipped some 3/32 holes into holder as close as I could possibly get to the inside- so I can sink the rods deep and also this gives me the most depth/ room to build my chassis out




    Gave this a shot of gold now- it'll get ruined as I fit/ build this, but then I can go over once more in gold and dry brush some black and silver in.


    Those are in DEEP lol.

    Cutting in the spot for the glass eye.


    Just holding flash light down it- that opening is bigger than glass part of eye.



    That accent will let the card look like it has a bit of life flickering in it if you want it to.

    In the back you might be able to tell I started trimming my grips up a bit more so there's more of a gap at the pommel for the TFA look.


    Ok so that was the structure- now time to bring it to life. Here's a 360 around the piece.







    I didn't add anything here under the clamp yet- there's a modified nut going here to lock this section of chassis to the next, need to wait till that's in and see how rooms left.


    Tough working in such miniature scale, in such tight areas! All that had to fit down under the wider lip of the chassis piece, which itself sits slightly narrower than the OD of holder/ ID of flex bottom so it all clears.


    Nothing's sticking up past that lip much, all sitting in recess.
    Next comes chassis disc 2 with holes, modified to clear the flex bottom.

    Dang, that's all i had time for this weekend with work and others projects etc lol, keep you posted, MTFBWY .

  2. #2

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    SImply gorgeous.

    I love seeing the detail on how you are building your chassis. Real world functional, but looks like what I would imagine an in universe saber to look like.

  3. #3

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    Thanks rlobrecht

    I'm a big fan of working the functioning stuff into the scenery of a hilt. Started to fit the chassis disc on today but ran outta time before finishing. It's gonna be quite tight fitting eveything in the next section, so will be extra challenging to keep the look of the chassis going there. If i have to I can tone it down a bit, make it more minimal as I progress down there, but I'm thinking I'll figure out something that will fit and still look cool. Keep you posted.





    There you can see the profile well, and spacing inside- actually a lot roomier in there than you'd expect . That's a flickering, erratically shifting rgb 5mm straw hat for under the edge connector- will be a cool effect.

  4. #4

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    Ok- replica flex fastener/ bits and bobs etc arrived.

    Likely won't need cap since TFA, but it's still good to have.

    Emitter and clamp screws and slider nubby:

    The pin contacts in the back- anyone ever installed those? Curious if anyone has any tips for getting the 90's in?

    Fx and static versions of red button:

    Here they are for comparison: well known recent replica flash gun run's red button in the housing on far left, the replica button from everybody's favourite uk provider of replica flex bits next to that in the middle, and the standard 2.0 button on the right. Both the replica versions are great IMO, I can't claim to be an expert I've never held a vintage- BUT, I've sure studied/ researched with the best of them for well over a year, every little detail and every little debate etc., and to me those look best.

    There are vintage with the more scarlet red button don't get me wrong, the really early folmer without the patent number has a red button more like this colour from what I've seen- you just see the cherry a lot more (possibly age is a factor there?).
    Kinda torn between the steel and brass flex plugs- prob go brass cause the replicas I'll be doing have the silver bulb contact.

    And from the plugs on the right, you can clearly see I'm in on the MPP's/ DV6 run lol.

    Let us pause for a moment, and pay our respects to the sheer STUNNING quality of machining here at the shop lol. These came in- not for any OT builds just my own frankensabers lol.




    Got an extra one of each so I can do a version where the discs are set up higher, and I can show hoses and wire running up to the crystal chamber- a tease at a cross section type view into a saber, should look sweet .



    Sanded down- this all fits perfectly in the flex bottom now, so I can confirm exactly how much space I have (or dont have lol) for the part of the chassis that holds the batteries.


    Recessed a 4-40 screw into the disc to lock it to the previous (port) section of chassis.

    Modified a 4-40 next nut, nothing but the core left. Now I can finish the detail in this area around the accent.


    Got the grips/ screws out of the way.


    With everything together, the tape line on the chopstick represents the space I have to where the speaker sits. Pretty darn tight lol. An 18650 would've been longer, but given me more room to work with chassis wise, wish I could've gone that route- but the board I'm using needs more V, so twin 14500's it is.


    Ever notice how on the slider tab of a vintage the divot is more round and dramatic? Tweaked this one, but scuffed it a bit- cleaned it up as best as possible, have to live with what remains cause I'm wearing through the plating if I go further. Gonna weather/ refinish this anyways but I don't wanna go any deeper than this here.


    You can see I kind of botched the edge there a tad, but it's minor enough to stomach lol.

    Glass eye off the replica in- still needs to be filed/ sanded.

    You can see the emitter screw going in, but it's recess needs tweaking- getting hung up on the right side at this point, not letting screw sit down in all the way, causing ugly gap on the left- that will minimize once I touch it up.

    Figure out what to do with this lol.

    Outta time for this weekend, keep you posted.

    I'll have to post a vid of this once it's done- inspired by mad cow to do up my bench- those are flickering fast cycling rgb's in the cabinets, and I have this thing for illuminating bobbles and whatnot.

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    Wow. Fantastic work.

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    Thanks rlobrecht!

    I was contacted locally by the father of a young boy going through some serious medical treatments, about doing a saber to give to him on his last treatment in April- so naturally that's got priority ATM- but things are still moving here .



    6-32 rod in a 3/16" brass tube, not using the knurled but it's just easier than a hex mid process lol.

    pin contacts in.


    Bunny ear rivet


    Still need to fix the emitter screw recess and sand the eye a bit, but she's starting to come along nicely with all the replica bits .



    4-40 and 6-32 threaded rods in 3/16", 5/32" brass and copper tubes will form the the spine of this chassis section. Also 3/32 copper rod with 9/64 copper tubing over it. I bent the tubes as much as possible (so they still go over rods)- idea is to run some snaking copper hose/ wire etc up this spine as well- so it looks asymmetrical/ 'realistic', like throughway of lines/ hoses.



    I still need to cut decorative rings into these tubes, make fittings on their bases etc- making a tapered copper hose to go in the gap on the right.


    Wow, lol, the difficulty/ trickyness of incorporating the decorative and the functional all into one thing, like harp or arklight etc, is getting pretty hard to ignore lol. Gives me a new level of respect for those guys- not that i didn't before. Gonna be beyond tight here. Not even considering the colour of your cram fu belt, there's a whole nightmare logistics etc- conductive rods wanting to touch my board and stuff like that. Can't afford to waste a single 64th. Will likely get creative here in building my chassis around the power source. Test fitting has me reconsidering my board choice... thinking this will be a PC after all, the other board was just a bit too long and thick for the area (that's what she said lol).


    Don't let that fool you it's tighter with the cells in






    Maybe I'm just dumb lol, but I'm still optimistic . This will prob be tough- but SO worth it. Like I mentioned before, I've got to have a special saber done for the beginning of April, so this bad girl will have to take a back seat for now. But I'm keeping it very close by- I've found you always get little chances here and there if you keep things right on hand, no matter how busy you get. So apologies to my trusty hack saw lol, but it's lost its place temporarily.


    Everything's still assembled I just bagged up loose parts etc, so I'll still be picking away at this whenever possible- im not too worried I was shooting for a summer finish on this build in the first place. Keep you posted .

  7. #7

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    hey by any chance if you could help me with where to get that replica screw for the slide switch? thanks

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