TOPIC: LS6 - "Gullwing" and dual reveal first impressions

Just got my LS6 from Korbanth/Parks in and let me start by saying I'm impressed with all that you get for $250. This is a very interesting hilt in that it's not your standard empty, it really is a full kit, with options for 3 or 4 versions of Luke's thin neck saber.



What you get:

-- Main hilt which has an upper and lower twist lock reveal feature, and the main body has gullwing doors which open up.
-- Static "beauty" display emitter insert
-- 1" blade emitter insert
-- V2 lower body with cone knob (no mystery chunk)
-- "Hero" copper neck
-- "V2/V3" copper neck (V2 would require weathering/painting)
-- Unstamped Graflex Clamp with V2/V3 lever arm (fat style arm)
-- Clamp card with V2 and "ESB" contacts on opposite sides
-- "Hero" control box with lit arrows and magnetic attached card holder
-- "Hero" card
-- Internal RGB "crystal" kit

Again, first thing that hits me is how much you get for the price. I don't think there's another hilt anywhere like this at this price point. I definitely feel like you get your monies worth on this. That said, this isn't a perfect hilt or kit. Frankly hilts that are "perfect" are unicorns and come with some hefty price tags and this saber isn't meant to be that.

So what is it meant to be? Like most of the Korbanth/Parks hilts this is meant to be a pretty darn close to screen accurate hilt but because it's designed to be an installable lightsaber and to hit a certain price point there are some concessions and design choices that make it not 100% accurate. It's also not meant to be a brawler. You shouldn't be taking something like this to your local TSL meet to beat against other folks. So what are some of those design choices that limit it's accuracy or keep it's price down?

First thing you will notice are the Gullwing doors and their "Gap" and the two set screw holes which are used to guide the upper and lower sections through the twist lock.

Obviously you won't see these on the actual prop. But again these are elements that were incorporated to create the reveal features and in turn affect the screen accuracy and over all look.

You will also notice a slight different between the pommel finish and the lower and main bodies. The pommel is raw aluminum and has an almost polished shine to it. The lower and main bodies have been plated and the plating is not quite the the same finish. Nothing a little steel wool and some polish can't fix, but again, things that keep the over all price down due to the manufacturing.

The emitter housing you get is not true to the V2/V3 variant and ends up retaining the "Hero" look. Not a huge deal, easily concealed when you weather and paint the emitter but again, another design consideration for cost.




That's about it for the "negatives", but again they aren't so much negatives as they are elements of the general design of this kit.

On to the really cool stuff. Namely the twist lock reveals. Those are the main reason I purchased this hilt, I wanted to have a Luke hilt capable of a crystal reveal that wasn't a permanent milled window, or just a simple unscrew of the grenade section. This hilt doesn't disappoint in that department. The twist lock is smooth and easy to operate and my head is filled with all kinds of crystal chassis ideas.





Like virtually all the Korbanth/Parks hilts this is 7/8" ID all the way through. That is perhaps my biggest knock on this saber. There's definitely extra room in the main and lower body sections to have had at least a 1" ID if not even closer to 1.25", had there not been the gullwing doors and lover body reveal. Trade off for the total open reveal for this hilt, but I kind of scratch my head honestly as to how I might incorporate the gullwing or the lower reveal for anything other than a static display with some fancy innards. And if that's your goal, then this kit definitely achieves that. Personally I would have rather had a single upper body twist lock reveal and the extra space in the bottom half of the saber to be able to stack a soundboard over a battery. As it stands, I think you will be limited to a NBv4 or Prizm5.1 with an 18500 battery if you want a CR on the top reveal. Not the worst trade off in the world (My MK1 with Rudy Pando chamber will have the same "issue").

All in all I gotta say I'm very happy with this purchase and have some great plans for installing this. If the gullwing gap is hard to overlook for you, then the V2 config is probably the way to go. You'll get a sweet CR option on any of the configs.

Thanks for the overview and your thoughts on the hilt, Jas-Ot. It's nice seeing one of these in photos that show the features and the negatives better than the Krobanth pics do.

scifidude79 wrote:
I wanted to give an honest review. I hadn't seen one yet that really pointed out all the features and "negatives" together. I REALLY like this hilt, it has a wonderful weight to it, it's solid, the twist lock reveals are butter smooth, the overall aesthetics are great. Are there some negatives, absolutely, but as I said in my review, no saber is perfect and they all have their negatives. I personally have never seen a hilt that is this good at this price point. Case in point, again as I said earlier, I have an MK1 on the way and a Rudy Pando crystal chamber for it to give it the crystal reveal function. That's a $600 empty saber. And while it's about as screen accurate as you could possibly get for an installable Obi-Wan ANH saber, there's some draw backs too. Similar to the LS6, it's going to have to run an 18500 battery and a Prism 5.1. Don't get me wrong, I love the Prism sound board, but it would be cool to have the option of a CF and more than 10 minutes of run time.

What I like about the LS6 kit is you have options. Its not just the hero version, or the V2, and the features it has opens it up to lots of different possibilities. You could do a really cool static display that modeled the internals of a lightsaber, even include leds to light things up, you can install it simply, just battery board, speaker, rcp and have a nice looking version of Luke's saber, or you could put in a crystal chamber and go for broke. And again, you can do that in at least three different versions of the hilt.

Thanks for the review on this Jas....I'm on the fence with this one but like you said it's hard to pass up considering all you get for the price. Interested to see what you do with your install.

If you don't care about a reveal and are in the market for a "hero" based hilt, then I would say look at Roman's V4 which he should be restocking soon. If you want a CR or are in the market for a V2 then get an LS6.

Thanks for the write-up.

Mine are on a plane being shipped. I'm a thin neck junkie, so I ordered two; one will be a Hero version and the other is a weathered V2 version (weathering by Korbanth's service).

I'm still confused.
- Is it possible to install a Hero version with blinking side red/green arrows and have a crystal reveal? Where does the Gullwing come?
- Can a V2 have a crystal reveal and Gullwing?

I'm confused about the Gullwing, what/where the heck does it sit relative to the crystal reveal for Hero and V2, and where does the Gullwing sit relative to the clamp for the V2?

Nice one Jas. THIN NECKS FOR THE WIN!
You know too well that I stayed on the fence with this one and never got on the train for it. Am still not any closer with wanting it even if it is a TN The MK1 with Rudy CC I did though and I reckon you'll be pleasantly surprised with that...

Execute66 wrote:
The Hero control box is it's own separate thing and the blinking arrows have their own circuit, so yes you can install whatever kind of reveals you want and have the blinking arrows.
The gull wing is right under the control box
The V2 option would have the Graflex clamp go around the gullwing doors so you would not have the gullwing on a V2, but you'd still have the upper and lower twist lock reveals.
Like I said in the review, you have LOTS of options.


OvrcAHst wrote:
Yeah, the LS6 isn't quite up your alley I don't think. I think you'd find the twist lock reveals to be really nice and would love a CR with them, and you'd probably even get a kick out of the gullwing doors, but I think ultimately the 7/8" ID all the way through which holds you to a 20mm speaker would be the biggest thing that would turn you off since the saber won't be terribly loud with an install. I know you like your sabers LOUD....

I'm going to keep this one in the Hero config and i'm on the fence on how I want to install it. Part of me is leaning towards waiting for the Chassis options from Goth-3Designs (Rick said they should be ready to go really soon), or, maybe I'll scratch build more of a static display that is a full reveal with mock chamber, power gate, power cell, the whole 9 yards.... we will see.

You know how much of a screen accuracy nut I am, and I snagged an RPK V2 so no need to V2 this one up. If I do static build this LS6, then I'll probably snag the V4 Balance from Roman when the next run is in.

20mm speaker--- hmmm is that the only speaker that will fit in the LS6? One of my biggest gripes about my Graflex install i did was it wasn't loud enough.....if i do an install on this one I want it to have a loud bass speaker.

DK44 wrote:
It's 7/8" all the way through so yes, you will be limited to a 20mm. You could potentially get creative and put a 23 or 24 mm speaker in the main body if you mounted it sideways or at and angle under the Gullwing doors.

I got mine too and messed around with it a bit and I think if you cut off some of the bottom of the main part of the hilt you can get a 24mm speaker with a holder in it, I'm at this point gonna hold off and see what 3d crystal reveal chassis come for it that allow me to use the cool twist and show functions. over all I like the hilt I am planning on using something on the inner chassis to hide the gap in the door once I have everything installed so the crystal light doesn't bleed through, but I plan this to be a far off project at this point.

Have you guys used the 20mm speaker from TCSS? It has good reviews and they say it's plenty loud but I'm skeptical. I installed a 28 mm premium speaker in my graflex from tcss and I don't really care for it.

The 20mm from TCSS is decent. It's the only 20mm I have experience with. The sound quality is good, honestly better than the "Bass" speaker they offer, just not quite as loud. That said, if you can get it in a good spot in the hilt so you get a nice resonance chamber, it can be loud enough.

I've tried the 20mm, and 20mm bass from TCSS, but I prefer this 20mm Scott @ http://www.saberigniter.com/SmallSpeaker.aspx

I haven't snagged one from Scott. I do need to order some more, so maybe I'l pick up a few from him.