PlayfulWolfCub

Thanks for the kind words, guys. Vern, I'll note that you're interested in 2 sets. To avoid any confusion I'd just like to clarify that the "No obligation interest list" won't become an "Order list" until it's confirmed in a sales thread. To me this is still a development thread as I haven't finished all the designs yet. Perhaps I muddied the waters by asking people to PM ideas of value to me but I specifically wanted to hear the opinions of you guys who have been following & contributing to this thread. Thanks again for your replies & I'll answer you all individually asap. Cheers, Andy

Sorry guys, I should've answered your questions before now but I've not had any time. Thanks for the idea of a deposit - I really appreciate the thought. It isn't necessary though - this is still just an interest list until I have time to finish the designs for all 4 variations. I'll then make a sales thread showing them & taking orders. I probably will offer kits for people to make their own for the fun & to save money. The "No obligation interest list" stands at 21 so far. You can confirm your interest when i make the sales thread. Here are everyone's positions. I've just realised I'm not on the list & don't have a set of my own yet - I let Brent have the only set in existance! lol They arrived in time for the last day of filming so may get into the film which would be fun Cheers, Andy 1 Brent 2 Matt black 3 rhapsodyred99 4 Locitus 5 JKNO 6 Jack Spratt 7 TK Bondservant - 2 sets (kit form?) 8 Andy19422 9 Eldrik 10 Turrican 11 Darth Chridan 12 Vadier - Wants two sets 14 Dr.Senf 15 mr_sparkle 16 sskunky 17 Douglasthecook 18 LonePigeon 19 Rogue Studio 20 Blue Snaggletooth 21 Evilboy - Kit? 22 dm101 - 2 sets

Thanks for all your encouraging words, guys, and the PMs some of you have sent suggesting prices - that's really useful. I'm a bit snowed under at the moment but will reply to you all individually as soon as I get a chance. Brent has PMed to say his Cylinders have arrived and may get in the film after all! With any luck I'll be able to start the second set early next week Cheers, Andy

Thanks Sergiu, I was pleased with the case too. I bought quite a few of them. Some of them have light scratches but they're the best quality ones I've found. I'm including earth magnets with each set. One of the photos shows the outline of where they go (they dug into the paint because it wasn't fully dried in the rush to get them sent to Brent.) Remember guys, I'd really appreciate PMs suggesting a sales price for these (inc postage) before I make a sales thread. I know it's a hard thing to estimate but you know better than me what you'd be willing to pay & I'll do my best to find a way to produce them for the lowest price possible. Your suggestions will help me decide what processes I use. Cheers, Andy

Thanks Guys Sold! lol I use semi-gloss (aka satin) too. I've just edited my post in case anyone thought I meant gloss. The finish on my first set of Cylinders is slightly too shiny. I'll use a different company's paint next time. Cheers, Andy

Vern, I forgot to say... you're actually already on the interest list (in 6th place) from when you said you might put these on the E11s you build for people. I considered that to be "interest" There would be a huge amount more work to make the MSE racks because there are so many more parts. I'm not likely to undertake that unless someone specifically commissions me. Cheers, Andy

Thanks a million to everyone that’s been following, supporting & contributing to this thread. I started it on 27th October 2011 so some of you have been hanging in for a whole year! It’s taken a long time to develop a design for Power Cylinders/Cells/Targeting Sensors/Range Finders that I feel is as screen-accurate as anyone could possibly make from the evidence we have available. If we were allowed to measure the MSE droid racks we could maybe get a fraction closer but the angles of the backplate only exist on film now. A few weeks ago Brent asked whether I could get a set finished ready for the filming of an Indie film he’s hoping to be in with Albin Johnson & others. Here’s a link for the film: http://www.kickstart...s-hands-of-fate It’s not 100% that Brent will be in the movie but I figured it’d be great publicity to get a set of my cylinders in the film & seen by the founder of the 501st so I pulled out all the stops. With the filming deadline, the paint job was rushed & done at night in cold, damp conditions so it didn’t turn out quite how I wanted (the paint is slightly too thick, too shiny & there was very little time for fine weathering.) Future sets will be finished better but I felt they were good enough to release. It was either that or miss the film. Anyway enough talk, onto the photos. Brent’s E11 has an M38 scope so we chose the “Han’s M38†version of the Cylinders shape. The base-plate is made from vintage steel – 0.9mm Dexian shelving: The holes being drilled with the drill press attachment on my little lathe: The finished base-plate, complete with 4mm nut detail that I made because I coudln't find one exactly the right size: The measurements & placement for the nut, for anyone that’s not spotted it before: The vintage capacitors (that Andy19422 found after a lot of research) ready to be soldered in place: The outer cylinders soldered in place, complete with "wing" stubs: At the back of the Cylinder rack were various components. Some of the resistors & woven insulation sleeve were left on the E11 Cylinders. They’re hard to see in photos, but they’re there if you look closely. I’ll outline them clearly when I make the sale thread so people know exactly what accuracy they’re getting: Some of the components were removed/knocked off during filming ANH. This is the best photo of my replica set with all 4 resistors still attached: This is what I chose to go with for Brent's set. (The circular marks are from the magnets because the paint was still soft. The white blob is just to hold them upright for photographing): Going back a stage, this was the finish when just primed, looking pristine: A little light weathering on the top coat with bicarbonate of soda for abrasion & dustiness: With half an hour before the last postal collection on the deadline day I took a few photos of them in their presentation case. Earth magnets secure the Cylinders to the brushed steel insert too so they don’t slide around & can be used to attach the Cylinders to a metal E11. As I said, the paint job was a bit rushed but I think they still look pretty nice. I'd said they look even better in person but I'm biased so I'll wait for Brent's confirmation of that! (I tinted the background blue in Photoshop to make the photos prettier. They were on black card but it came out grey & looked a bit drab.) Finally a couple of screenshots of Han with the E11 which this particular “Han’s M38†variation is based on. I’ll be offering a choice of several other variations: “Han’s M19â€, “Chasm†and “Hero trooper†but haven’t made final versions of those yet I know a lot of people like the look of a matt black E11s black but you can see from this image (& many others) that the screen-used ones had a shiny finish. I'd say "satin" (aka "semi-gloss") rather than "gloss". I can’t sell any more of these at the price I let Brent have them for so before I make the sales thread I’d really appreciate some help with costing these. I’ve always said they’d be expensive because of the amount of time it takes to make them. Could you guys please PM me with an estimate of what you think would be a realistic price, including shipping. This is not an auction – I’d just like to hear your ideas of value. If the suggested prices I receive aren’t high enough to make production cost-effective then I won’t be able to make them & that would be a real shame. (I'd rather have PMs rather than an online discussion of prices, if that's ok?) This has been an awesome project either way & I’m looking forward to making the 2nd set even more accurately. I’m making at least 5 more sets whatever (including the different variations) and naturally I’ll post the photos for you guys. Cheers, Andy

I feel a bit of a drum roll might be in order for the next post.....

Thanks guys Vern, thanks for that - I'm looking forward to seeing the colour photo(s) of the curly wired E11 in the hand of Luke or Han sometime - I keep searching & not finding it. Jens, if you look at the original cylinders on the E11, MSE & Y-Wing you notice that the size & shape of the capacitors varied. I have 2 sorts of capacitors: some like Andy19422 found which are 5mm x 26mm and some like Rob found which are 5.5mm x 26mm. I think probably the 5mm are slightly more accurate but I'm happy to fit 5.5mm like you've got. Cheers, Andy

Hi Daniel, Yes, everything will be there - the capacitors (which I originally inaccurately called fuses), rear components, wing stubs, everything! They're as near to exact replicas of the whole unit as is possible from the evidence we have. In fact, very exciting news!!!! I finished & dispatched my first set to America on Saturday I haven't had time to upload photos yet but watch this space!

Thanks very much Lee - consider yourself counted. Cheers, Andy

Thanks guys Chris - I'd be honoured to put you on the list & thanks for the extra info on the curly wires. I thought it was odd to have the Tunisian shape rail riveted to a standard Sterling receiver & wondered if it was a reproduction. If it appears with cast then it obviously isn't. Is that colour photo available on the net anywhere for us to see or would you be able to post it here? Thanks very much, Andy

Cheers, guys Doug - there are no "ignorant" questions, mate - it's a massively long thread & there's a lot of detail in it. If you're asking about attaching curly Hengstler to cylinders wires you will be able to solder them onto the ends of the capacitors if you want or you could ask me to add something to your set for that purpose. My "standard" sets won't have a specific attaching point for them as I'm making the cylinders to be exact replicas of the screen-used originals and I've seen no evidence that curly wires were used on screen or held by the cast for publicity shots. I could leave yours unpainted for you if you'd like the fun of doing that. I don't know that it would make them very much cheaper since most of the work is in making & assembling the parts. I'm very flexible though & may even offer kits but I haven't thought quite that far ahead yet. This is still a work in progress. I'm hoping to offer the steel-based display/presentation case with every set although some people have asked not to have one in order to keep the cost down. Cheers, Andy

Hi Doug, added you to the list I've made some good progress since my last update. Here's a "vintage-blurred" photo of the 1st set of production cylinders as they are now. They need some more parts soldering on, aging/distressing, painting, weathering & wonkifying but I'm pleased with them so far. The tin foil will be replaced with brushed steel so the cylinders' earth magnets will hold them firmly in place in the display case. Here's a few "making" shots too...

Thanks, Mattias Yes, at present those are the only type of wires I'd put on an E11 - they're just remnants from the Hengstler & counters' former lives - there are even tiny components still attached. I was actually considering offering wires like that with my cylinders at some point though I'd need to do more research on that to make sure I was getting it right. I think the curly ones add some extra visual weight to an E11 though so I'd love to have evidence that they're screen accurate if anyone has a screen shot of them?

Mark & Chris - Wow, so many discerning gentlemen joining this list, I must be doing something right Chris, on a related subject, your really informative "Parts of Star Wars" site lists two E11 variations that include the Hengstler to Cylinders curly wires but I've never been able to spot them. Is there any chance you could give me a clue which scene you saw them in, please? ...or even better, post a screenshot? This is one of the variations, the ANH-A2 http://www.partsofsw.com/e11_a2.htm the other is the ANH-B(2) Cheers, Andy

Thanks guys. Jonathon, you can find them on Ebay. Mine cost around £340 (£230 for the basic lathe plus £110 for accessories & new cutting tools that I bought elsewhere.) Such is my dedication to getting these cylinders absolutely spot on! lol Sergiu, I bought it specifically for this project so haven't tried making much else with it yet. Did you have some ideas of what you;d make if you had one? I did make a brake pedal for a Harley-Davidson though as a paid learning job, which was fun. Here are pics. It's somewhat off topic but shows the drill press function of the lathe:

So the day of a sales thread is getting closer. I finally accepted that I can't make them accurate enough with just hand tools so I bought a little lathe. It's an Emco Unimat, used by modelmakers/clockmakers/gunsmiths and mine is actually older than Star Wars - it was made in 1974! Here's my first trial piece - a mini Luke V1 saber. The lathe isn't automated so I won't be able to mass produce these - it was just for learning the techniques of my new tool. I hadn't expected turning to be so much fun - it's really meditative watching the piece slowly change shape. Lessons learned, I set to making the outer cylinders.

Hey Stefan. It kills me to show pics of work I know isn't right yet but here's a diagram of the rear components I'm putting on the Power Cylinders. I won't put them all on because some will have got ripped off but this shows where they were originally. The components that were attached to the outer cylinders definitely got removed, even on the Y-Wing computer so I've not shown them. I've yet to work out what attached to the top capacitor. Hope it's enough of a teaser to keep you going...

I emailed Lucas & told him people were worried about him as he's been so quiet. He's replied with this message to pass on to everyone. Anyone who was fearing the worst can breathe a sigh of relief "My apologies for being off the grid so long. Work has been intense and all my non work time has been taken up with my father's recovery. Being that he's pretty much immobile I have to do a lot of running around for him. My brother lives in Canada so I'm pretty much it as far as care givers goes, which doesn't leave much room for a social life! Thankfully, despite the time issues my dad is on the mend, although it remains to be seen whether he'll ever get back to walking. I'm trying to ease myself back into the real world with hopes that my dad will continue to get more independent, so I will be sure to contact back all those people who have been chasing me - let them know I'll be in touch shortly."

Hi Sven, consider yourself added I've had chance to work on them some more yesterday so they're getting closer! I like your signature line, "If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it." That seems very appropriate to this thread - is it a quote from someone famous? Cheers, Andy

Hi Robert, The plans haven't been finalised yet. Lucas (Zeroroom) will post them here when they're finished but he's had a lot on this year. Cheers, Andy

Stunning build mate, & a really fun thread to keep watching - thanks for posting the development

That would be fantastic!!! What would be even cooler is if your bro could get video of the cylinders, circling the parts from above, eye level & below, like in this diagram that I made for someone else who was going but didn't make it in the end. He'd go down in Star Wars history & people would sing songs abou this awesomeness if he managed this! :th_AnimatedBravoSmiley:

Hi Sven, I'm honoured to be your first post You're on the list & I'll let you know when I make a proper interest thread with photos of the final design. Cheers, Andy