Obi-Wan’s Lightsaber (ANH)

I bought my first 3D printer four years ago, at the time one of the cheaper-but-not-too-cheap Prusa clones. The frame was made of acrylic, and it was a little difficult to square up and get everything working smoothly! After the learning pains and a few test prints though, it was putting out pieces that were fairly decent considering the machine and so I wanted to try out something a little more serious. Throughout the printer setup process I had been browsing for interesting things to print, and I came across an article about this printable version of Obi-Wan’s lightsaber and decided that was a great place to start.

I remember the print went fairly smoothly; the model had some interior detail and a stand included, but since I was gluing everything together and had ideas for a different stand I skipped printing those parts. This was my first time actually finishing a 3D print, and I didn’t do nearly enough sanding to get a good surface or do enough filling of gaps. The bulk of the print lines are hidden, but there are definitely noticeable imperfections that needed a lot more body filler! I did try out the baking soda / CA glue trick for filling a few of the larger spots, and while it did work it was much more difficult to sand and manipulate into smaller gaps than spot putty would have been. I would definitely use the technique for making larger repairs though!

Painting also involved some experimenting, everything was done with spray cans from a craft supply store. I tried out a can of chrome for the parts that looked shinier in my reference photos; it wasn’t too bad, but unfortunately I didn’t know at the time that the clear coat would ruin all the shiny chrome effect so it’s more of a dull silver now. Weathering was also a learning experience! The silver I was using to dry-brush some metal edges was pretty cheap and too thin, so it looks more like subtle glitter than worn metal. The oil/dirt weathering pass was more successful, even though in a lot of places it shows the leftover print lines and other imperfections a lot more now!

All said and done I’m still happy with how this one turned out, considering it was my first try with almost everything involved in the build. The stand in the photos was completed much more recently (the same time as the Han Solo blaster), I used that as an opportunity to practice 3D modeling something a little more complicated than basic blocky shapes.