Here's an idea for 'light up' sabers for the 1/6 SW figs!

[Customikey]

Then again, you could always just put Luke near a window....

 

[JustinLuck]

My EL wires arrived in the mail today...all the way from Indiana to California in just two working days! Gotta love USPS. Wish my Luke could arrive that quick! I will take a look at them and post some pics in about 30 minutes.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Can't wait. How thick are the wires? I ask becasue a friend of mine in the UK is also trying the EL wires out. You know him -- Hurricane.

 

[nash]

show pics of them lit up

 

[JustinLuck]

Hey guys. Well, I discovered that setting up these wires is more involved than I originally thought. Because I purchased the driver, the wires, and the male/female adapters as separate items, I will need some additional items including a soldering iron to get them up and running.

Their website offers a plug & play version the drivers are only attached to regular Glowire. I ordered the High Brightness Glowire that is only sold separately. I will post some pics of the wires (non-lit).

I already see lots of potential with these wires. Now I just need a plastic tube to stick them in. I could totally imagine Sideshow selling hollow hilts that attach to clear plastic tubes. We could thread the wires into them ourselves. I will update it a bit.

 

[nash]

Hey guys. Well, I discovered that setting up these wires is more involved than I originally thought. Because I purchased the driver, the wires, and the male/female adapters as separate items, I will need some additional items including a soldering iron to get them up and running.

Their website offers a plug & play version the drivers are only attached to regular Glowire. I ordered the High Brightness Glowire that is only sold separately. I will post some pics of the wires (non-lit).

I already see lots of potential with these wires. Now I just need a plastic tube to stick them in. I could totally imagine Sideshow selling hollow hilts that attach to clear plastic tubes. We could thread the wires into them ourselves. I will update it a bit.

putting the wire in a tube is fine, but how would u get it through the hilt itself?

 

[JustinLuck]

 

[EVILFACE]

So you're gonna have a wavey bent saber.

AWESOME!!!!!

 

[JustinLuck]

Nash, we just need a hilt that is large enough to accommodate these two wires which would attach together inside. What is the diameter of the Hasbro hilts? Are they wide enough to drill a hole down the center? I'm currently looking at options for a prototype support sleeve. Hopefully I have will have something in a day or two. Ideally, Sideshow would make a custom plastic sleeve that you could feed the wire into. The sleeve would attach securely to the top of the hilt. The black and red wires would exit the bottom of the hilt. These wires could be colored gray to be less obvious. You could have the wires travel up the sleeve, down the shirt, down the pant leg, and out the back. The other end of the black and red wires attach to male adapter plug for easy connection and disconnection to the power source, whether that be a battery pack or AC adapter for the wall outlet. I really don't think the wire and battery pack would be a big deal. The figure already needs to be attached to a stand. And ,IMO, the light up effect far outweighs any inconvience of necessary wires.

Ahh, where is my metric ruler??

 

[Wor-Gar]

You are a man possessed!

So what goes between the wire and the glow tube? How does the tube glow -- and will that connection add width to the hilt?

 

[JustinLuck]

Possessed or obsessed? Maybe a little of both.

The connection would not need to be any thicker than the wires themselves. Or at least not more than a millimeter thicker. The wires need to be soldered together, so the connection will be permanent.

The EL wire consists of one primary lead and two secondary leads. The secondary leads are wrapped around the primary lead. The primary lead is soldered to the black wire and the secondary leads are soldered to the red wire. The two soldered connections can be insulated by either shrinking tubes or electrical tape.

 

[Wor-Gar]

If that's all it needs, then all you need is that clear tube to support it.

Maybe its as simple as a clear straw (for now). Slit the straw down the side so you can make it thinner. Use a dab of superglue to keep it the thinness you want. And slide in your glowwire. At least this would work as a prototype until you can contact a plastics shop to make thin, hollow "tubes" cut to length.

 

[Mookeylama]

glad i'm not the only one going nuts ver get i lit saber. i asked about this a couple weeks ago over at One Sixth Warrior.

https://www.onesixthwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50018

a guy over there seems to be having some luck w/ the EL wire. keep us informed how u do w/ it Justin. an idea i came up w/ months ago was to use some of those cemicals that are in those lightsticks u snap to make them glow. i use them for night fishing. they make 'em in different colors. i saw a buncha kids w/ necklaces made outta the stuff one night at an amusement park. they'd last awhile and whoever made the sticks would have lotsa return customers buying the replacement blades!
https://www.glowuniverse.com/storefrontprofiles/default.aspx?sfid=47917

also i think this may be made by the British guy talked about on the 1st page.
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6043470413&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

also check out Vancei's Anakin (about 3/4 down the page)
https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6043470413&rd=1&sspagename=STRK:MEWA:IT&rd=1

looks like he used small enough batteries that they fit on the belt (altho there's a pic of what looks like a tiny battery in the hilt too). and i think the metal discs in the magnet hand may somehow complete the circuit. it's driving me nuts thinking about it. there's really no excuse for not having 2 things in the 1/6 world w/ the tech that exists today, and that's a skin type/no joint body that doesn't suck and an IGNITED LIGHTSABER!!!

i still say my idea of the glow sticks would be a simple solution.

 

[JustinLuck]

I found plastic end-caps for the wires. Now if we could extend the walls of the end-cap down the length of the wire, we'd be set!

 

[JustinLuck]

Ok, I'm making progress on the tubing. For those who own Hasbro 1/6 figs, what is the diameter of their hilts in millimeters? Also, what is the diameter of Sideshow Luke's hilt?

 

[Mookeylama]

any more progress?

 

[nash]

yeah Justin, keep us updated!

 

[Mookeylama]

he really keeps us updated.

 

[EVILFACE]

Prolly cause it ain't working

 

[Customikey]

OH YOU DOUBTERS!! YOU FAITHLESS ONES WHO SHALL NEVER KNOW THE JOY OF GLOW-INESS!!!! COWER, FOOLS!

Or he couldn't figure it out. You know, whatever.