Most of the "overhaul" was electronic, so the hilt doesn't show too many signs of modification.
But I'll still walk through the process.
One of the first things I fixed was the over-sized shroud. It never wobbled, thanks to all the screws holding it in place, but it was definitely off-center at the pommel. A few wraps of tape on either end of the underlying hilt made sure the shroud would sit centered when re-attached:
Next thing I wanted was a discreet switch. Easy to intentionally hit, but difficult to accidentally press, while not standing out since the original prop had no button in that location. Went for a recessed 12mm AV switch and touched up the exposed aluminum to keep everything in that area black:
Pommel was drilled out to support a recharge port. Idea is that, once I've finalized the internals, I won't have to worry about opening this hilt again:
Standard US electronics weren't going to make the most of the LED - even 14500s can't put out enough current, so I wound up designing a chassis that would let me put an 18650 lithium-ion to use. Board space was intentionally left wide to maximize my install options. Channel cut into the speaker mount to allow recharge port wires to run:
After a bit of back and forth, I eventually decided to use up an old NBv2 I had kicking around. Had I known this ahead of time, I would've designed a chassis that specifically fit the board. Instead, some double-stick tape held the board in place after everything was soldered:
And some hot-melt glue kept the wires in place so they wouldn't stress the solder joints when sliding the chassis into place:
All of this led up to the primary focus of this overhaul - the LED. I wanted to experiment with a custom Tri-Cree XT-E Royal Blue. The LED star is capable of handling ~4500mA, but, as wired, probably won't pull too much more than 3000mA. It's still a world of difference brighter than a typical Single-or-Tri-Cree hooked into a 1000mA buckpuck though (house lights on, same as first photo):