Even if my prop is far from finished (green, switch, weathering of the main body missing), I share this because, after an awful lot of sanding and polishing, I'm finally happy with my chrome look, and I feel like my 5 newbie cents can help someone. Maybe.
Episode 1 - The Kanan's attempt
Since this was my first painted project (when I bought it, I never glued, sanded, or painted anything, ever), I bought the simplest-to-assemble 3D printed version I found.
I spent a lot of time searching for a rod to use as a base. This not just for alignment and structure, but also because I wanted a saber that could weight as metal. This is something I actually like a lot, and I will keep doing (if I will ever do a 3D printed prop-saber again, which I am not very sure at the moment, since my frustration with the printing layers).
If you, like me, are searching for rods or tubes for giving some structure and weight to your plastic thingy, McMaster-Carr has a lot to choose from. Not cheap, though.
If I could go back, I would design the 3D model myself and then give it to print, instead of buying one pre-made on Etsy. In this way, I could actually decide the dimension of the ID as the most convenient for me to find a rod for (and also design a more screen accurate prop, but this is another story).
That said, if you care to wrap the rod as evenly as possible, you can increase a slightly smaller OD of the rod with masking tape without compromising the co-axiality of the pieces. This also allows you to have a tight fit, and, with E6000, the assembly is forever.
The second thing I really wanted to achieve was having a prop that, even to a very close look, seemed like metal. Not just 'screen' proof.
For reference, I attach here some close-ups of a similar 3D prop found online (not mine). Although perfectly painted, you can see the 3D lines like crazy, and it's super evident that is plastic.
This meant two things.
A lot of sanding for removing all the 3D lines, and chrome-ish look.
And here it comes my biggest suggestion. Even if you are a total newbie like me, do not buy or made a 3D print with the grip sticks and the top plate printed together with the main body.
Big, huge mistake. The fact that the main body was separated into two main pieces was totally OK (it was 6 in total). Some primer filler and a little bit of sanding in between (220 - 400 - 800) and the seem is invisible. But removing the seems from the grooves and the grips: a nightmare. So, print them separately. Really.
I know, you have to glue the strips, but honestly, this is NOTHING compared to having to sand and fill and sand and fill the back part for a month before achieve even remotely a just decent look. And, anyway, after all that, some defects in the printing still scream 'I am here' to my face.
So, no. Don't do that to yourself. Buy or print two pieces for the main body, no problem if this saves you printing time. But the plate and the grips, print them separately and glue them.
Ultimately, I managed to remove the seams on the grips and the grooves, but not completely some defects of the print, especially in difficult-to-reach positions.
Specifically, expect to suffer on the guard. Big time. There, my 3D print was a hot mess. And not for any specific fault of the poor guy that printed it for me, honestly, but because it is really difficult to clean and sand in general, especially if you do this by hand.
Also, if the 3D print is not done properly, I discovered on my skin that, while you are sanding, some inner layers are not actually attached to outer layers, and form some kind of "waves" below. When you sand there, boom, the print "peels". Check that in a very hurtful photo. Nothing that I could not save nicely with epoxy. But, yeah.
And here it comes the last point. The paint.
With the Kanan's I could not play the card of the black-metal semi-gloss effect, as in the blaster posted below. If I wanted to cheat my eyes, the prop should be on the shiny side.
I also discovered that the chrome paint tends to peel off with masking tape, even with his own black glossy base. And acrylic paint does not stick on chrome.
The first time, trying to emulate the real metal, I painted everything chrome, masked, and then colored green. Tragically, when I removed the masking tape, the chrome peeled as well, and the green paint was not fixed on the chrome at all. So I had to sand again everything, base-coating, black painting, and start over with chrome and polish.
I'm sharing this now because I am actually glad about how the metal finish looks. While I am writing this I actually already have the green layer done, but I will share another post for the final version.
Praying that the masking tape will not take away the green this time.
OK. An insanely long post that nobody will read. But. I felt like was worth sharing.
