“Spidey Saber” a lightsaber in a Halloween costume

Hellooooo Everybodies! Today I am looking back to a Halloween when I got dressed up as my favourite superhero…Spider-Man! I was a youngling at school and one year we had a Halloween Fancy Dress Disco. I got my dark blue jogging suit, a pair of bright red football socks, an old red T-shirt, a red balaclava, some sunglasses and a big black marker pen then set to work making my costume. I cut out different shapes from the t-shirt which I stitched onto the jogging suit to represent the torso pieces of Spidey’s outfit and I drew a web pattern on them with the marker pen. I did the same to the socks and balaclava. I used to wear spectacles as a kid and had clip-on sunglasses so I used those to make the mask lenses. I even had paper party streamers to recreate Spidey’s web shooting trick! I came second in the competition! But Spidey has always stuck with me and this Halloween I figured I’d brush the cobwebs off a saber dedicated to our favourite wall climber and here it is…

Spidey Saber work in progress

Spidey Saber added switch

Spidey Saber added Web Shroud

Spidey Saber pommel wed detail

Spidey Saber darkened background

Ooh what’s that living in the emitter?…SPIDER!

I have attempted a Spider-Man themed hilt before when I used the old software I had access to but I always felt I could do better and hopefully with this hilt I have. I modeled it in the classic Spidey red and blue colour scheme with nice silver accents and webbing. And the webbing is particularly interesting on this model as it isn’t just a graphic representation, it is actually 3D modeled! If you zoom in on the pictures you will see the web is actually raised ribs. This I achieved by making a wireframe as you can see with the emitter shroud then I thickened the wires that made up the frame. This made the wires look solid. I also added a few webs located in the pommel and the emitter. Both the pommel and the protective Blade Plug decoration have a web with a Spidey logo seated in the middle, again all 3D modeled. I wasn’t sure which looked better, the hilt with the emitter shroud or without so I posted both as the saber without the shroud was part of the development of the design (but could be a stand-alone design). And you may recall I mentioned I was a fan of things being balanced? Light and Dark, day and night, Good and Evil? Well Spidey had a run in with an evil “clone” of himself in the form of a parasitic alien that enveloped him. Peter Parker managed to escape from the alien but the creature found a new host in a guy named Eddie Brock and became known as “VENOM”! Well…as it’s Halloween here is a taste of Venom!….

“Venom Saber” without shroud

“Venom Saber” with shroud

Venom had the look of Spider-Man but was black and silver in colour and had big eyes and sharp pointed teeth, he was also sort of elastic and could stretch and change shape as if made of liquid rubber. So I gave the Venom version of this hilt a glossy black base colour and silver webbing accents. To really make the “Venom”stand out from the “Spidey” version I gave it a toxic green blade.

Now, you remember I mentioned “brushing off the cobwebs” above? I wasn’t kidding, take a peek at this image I made and have a look at the cobwebs clinging to the backdrop and the saber…I modeled those too!

Those webs get everywhere, are very sticky and took me forever to sweep them away 😀 ! But I think I have tidied this design up nicely and that just about brings me to the end of this Halloween special. I’d like to thank you all for checking out this design and for supporting me and my site. And especially to the kind viewers from Spain who have dropped in recently (I noticed your visits!) Thank you so much it’s much appreciated, whether this is your first visit or if you are a regular visitor. Till next…….WAIT! This is Halloween and you really need a fright so I ‘ll leave you with an old picture I posted three years ago….It’s ME!…Happy Halloween Nightmares!….

P.S. As I am posting this earlier than normal I think I will have a rest over a long weekend so there won’t be a post this Saturday but rest assured I’ll be back next weekend for more saber shenanigans. Till next time….

“Spidey-Saber” and “Venom-Saber” are For Tyeth Editions creations inspired by Marvel Comic’s and Stan Lee’s characters. The sabers are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. Spider-Man, Venom and all other related names, images, logos and material are Trademark/©Copyright of Marvel and Sony Studios.

The Grail Graflex Dark Edition Saber

Hello everybody, well we had quite an exciting week with the release of the final trailer for the final Skywalker saga Star Wars film, Rise of Skywalker! And what can I say? It’s certainly not guaranteed that there’ll be a win for the Lightside….I have to say the trailer’s scenes looked pretty dark and gloomy….:(  But that got me thinking, with a lot of my designs I try and bring you a “Lightside” and a “Darkside” version of each hilt and as I posted the iconic “The Grail” Graflex Lightsaber model I built which is definitely a Lightside hilt….what would the Darkside sibling look like? I decided to have a look and created some new dark material textures and came up with the shadow version…The Grail Graflex DE (Dark Edition)….

The Grail Graflex DE 1

The Grail Graflex DE 2

The Grail Graflex DE the business end

The Grail Graflex DE the “Glass Eye”

As you can see this saber looks very stealthy and sinister just by changing the texture. I managed to create a slick gloss metallic texture that didn’t create a lot of speckles in the rendered images. It is suitably dark but still allows detail to be seen. And you might have noticed I have a picture showing the underside of the emitter which has a red “Eye. This is a small window that is part of the flashgun and is located just below the emitter and was the Light Level Meter sensor aperture called the Graflex “Glass Eye”. When the flashgun was modified by fans when they built their own replicas, they discovered that the blade shone out through the eye. A nice little feature I forgot to mention in my last post. Here is the photo of the Graflex attached to the camera and you will be able to see the small round hole beneath the reflector dish and bulb socket…

The Lightside version also has the “Glass Eye” as can be seen slightly more clearly in this next picture…

So I have now shown you the light and the dark Graflex and as I am very big on keeping things in balance here are the two hilts in “mirror” image…

I posted the Lightside Grail hilt on the Ultrasaber’s forum and it was warmly received with some members leaving nice comments on how much detail I had managed to capture in my model. I think they were quite impressed. Because I created the mirror image picture above I thought I would do a side by side comparison of my model with a real life replica image…

Real life Graflex replica

“The Grail” Graflex Saber

I think I have done OK considering this was the first Graflex I have built! However, not only did the members of the forum compliment my model, they also provided suggestions for other variations. One member had the idea of adding red accents to the hilt such as the ridges of the handgrip, so I like to tinker and I modeled a full “Sith” version for pure evil Force users…and here it is….

The Grail Graflex Full Sith 1

The Grail Graflex Full Sith 2

I modified the T-Grip ridges and coloured them a deep red, just like dried blood and as a nice bit of “Sith Bling” I illuminated the activation switch. You may recall I mentioned the switch is actually the display screen from an old pocket calculator. Well the screen would have lit up when the calculator was powered on and so the screen part works fabulously when it is backlit!

And once more that just about concludes this design. However, the story doesn’t end here for the Graflex, as it appeared in the second Star Wars film, The Empire Strikes Back (ESB)…but it looked slightly different and as such I have modeled the variant from ESB and I also have the versions that appear in The Force Awakens and the new film Rise of Skywalker….all coming in upcoming posts! I hope you will return to see those but for now as always it’s thank you time. Whether you are a first time visitor or a regular viewer thank you for your support and looking in on this post. If you liked what you saw then please spread the word about FTSabersite and join me again next weekend for another new model. Till next time….

“The Grail Graflex Dark Edition” is a For Tyeth Editions model and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. It is inspired by the Roger Christian designed Lightsaber prop seen in Star Wars – A New Hope. “Star Wars” and all related names, logos images are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm.

 

The Rise of Skywalker final trailer has dropped – For’s first thoughts

Hello Everybody, well we are less than 58 days out from The Rise of Skywalker’s big release and today the final trailer for the final installment of the saga debuted! I watched it and er, well it looks big, it looks interesting but I am worried there is a lot to of issues to cover in a short time. There was also news of problems and re-shoots, I’m really not sure “how this is going to end”. So if the link works and doesn’t get taken down let’s take a look at the trailer shall we?….Lights!…..Popcorn!…..ACTION!

This trailer has all the usual cryptic teachings from a wise whispering Master (no, not me – they never asked me to) and we see Rey showing her agility in two locations…or is it really two Rey’s? Hmm! We see our heroes looking down onto the tent city we saw on the desert planet in the first trailer. There looks to be a massive space battle with Lando back in “his” pilot’s seat right in the middle of it. Rey is feeling lonely. Then Kylo turns up out of the spray. There is wildlife…in the form of space horses. And there is that evil cackle of a voice “Your coming together…..will be your undoing!” oh er! I won’t mention the Iron Throne as that’s from a different franchise, but I will say whoever that is sat in it “has the high ground” so things may not turn out great for the good guys and gals! (But at least the John Williams music sounds epic)

I’m not much of a film or trailer critic but I thought as this is possibly the final chapter of the saga that has accompanied me since I was a youngling I had to write this post. So thanks for looking in on it. Are any of you my loyal viewers planning on seeing the film and if so what do you think will happen? I plan to get my VIP tickets as soon as I can (well they are a belated birthday present) and who knows I might even see if I can take my saber with me for a final salute.

Again thanks for visiting and please call back this weekend for my scheduled post. Till next time…..

“The Rise of Skywalker” is the final installment of the Skywalker saga and is Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm. The video clip is provided via StarWars,com UK on YouTube. Tickets are on sale now and the film releases on the 19th December for UK cinemas and the 20th in the US.

“The Grail” Graflex Lightsaber – I have built a Master’s saber

Hello Everybody, today is a very, very special day as I join the ranks of the Master Lightsaber Smiths. And the reason for this “promotion” is that I have made a saber that is considered a classic and a must have in any collection. That saber is the famous lightsaber given to Luke Skywalker by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The hilt belonged to Luke’s father, Anakin and was then carried by Luke in two films. The saber was the creation of set designer and props builder Roger Christian, who modified a batch of vintage camera flashgun handles known as Graflex 3 Cell Flashguns. These were the type that you see Press Photographers use in 1940’s and 50’s films and had the bowl shaped dishes on top.

“I searched and searched for something suitable to adapt and, as time was running out before the first day of shooting, I found a dusty box of old Graflex handles in a photographer’s shop in London and I knew I had hit the Holy Grail.” Roger Christian quote from a BBC News interview “Oscar Winner tells of building Star Wars Lightsabers”

Mr Christian then used a few other parts to decorate the flashguns, including the plastic bubblestrip screen from a pocket calculator, and the lightsaber was “born”. When George Lucas was handed the saber for him to approve the design or not all he did was hold it in his hand just like a sword….smiled and spoke three words, “You found it”. Ever since Star Wars fans (and saber manufacturers/builders) have wanted to own a Graflex saber in their collections. Well I don’t have a real solid metal saber but I have built a 3D version of it and here is my “Grail Graflex” saber…

“The Grail” Graflex Saber

“The Grail” Graflex Saber 2

“The Grail” Graflex Saber

“The Grail” Graflex Saber (note the bubble strip)

“The Grail” Graflex Saber (close up of strip)

“The Grail” Graflex Saber 6

“The Grail” Graflex Saber 7

“The Grail” Graflex Saber 8

I think I can safely say this is my most complex model yet. It has 36 textures pasted onto the model’s various parts and even has the bubble strip I mentioned from the calculator. The bubble strip was fitted into the jaws of the clamp which attached the flashgun to the camera. The clamp is the band which circles the middle of the saber and has a small lever to loosen the clamp enabling the flashgun to slide off the camera. It also has the name Graflex embossed around it. The black strips on the hand grip were originally made from the plastic “T” shaped runners used on sliding doors of bathroom cabinets. On the pommel a “D” shaped ring was attached so Mark Hamill could hang the saber from his belt, but in certain shots and photos you can see the Graflex manufacturer’s marks and logos embossed in the end cap too. And to show just how complex this model is, here are two wireframe images and a couple of “Glamour Shots” for you to enjoy….

“The Grail” Graflex saber wireframe 1

“The Grail” Graflex saber wireframe 2

“The Grail” Graflex saber from Star Wars on Tatooine(?)

“The Grail” Graflex saber showing it’s crystal.

I think I may have found my new favourite hilt in my collection (well joint favourite with my New Asguard hilt!) This lightsaber is so iconic I hope I have done it justice and that Mr Christian would approve if he ever saw it.

That just about wraps this saber up and I have to say the Graflex is a classic so much so that the saber re-appeared in the movies The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi and a modified version will appear in The Rise of Skywalker – and so I modeled the latest version too! I will post that hilt nearer the release of TRoS along with another Master Series hilt, that of Luke Skywalker’s green saber from Return of the Jedi, so please call back to see those in future posts.

But for now I need to say thank you very much for checking out this iconic classic, you have helped push the viewing figures for this site through 14,000! So many thanks and remember, whether this is your first visit or you are a regular, your support is much appreciated and please spread the word about FTSabersite and call back again to see what else I have in store! Till next time…

“The Grail Graflex Saber” is a For Tyeth Editons model and is Copyright of For Tyeth?Ftsabersite 2016-2019. “The Grail Graflex Saber” is inspired by the lightsaber created by Roger Christian/George Lucas which appeared in Star Wars. The Roger Christian quote is taken from the BBC News interview “Oscar Winner tells of building StarWars Lightsabers”. Star Wars and all name, logos, images and related material are Trademark/Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm.

 

Master K Saber – An Obi-Wan Kenobi inpsired hilt

Hello Everybody and welcome back to my regular posting slot. I hope you all enjoyed my mid-week post featuring PsychoSith’s fabulous artwork. Today I return to my usual schedule and have a saber inspired by the hilt owned by the young Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Phantom Menace. I noticed that his saber although nice was a little bit angular and looked as if it had sharp edges, so I wondered if I could make a model of it and “soften” the corners around the emitter and on the handgrip. I set to work and came up with this new contoured version…

Master K Saber desert 1

Master K Saber desert 2

Master K Saber desert 3

I remodeled the ridges of the handgrip but kept the scalloped shroud (I’ve grown quite attached to this style of shroud!) however if you look closely at the original hilt there were two notches located just where the heel of your palm would rest so I removed them to improve comfort. I also smoothed and rounded the cutouts on the emitter shroud. I have held a few real life replica models  of Kenobi’s hilt and the aluminium could be a bit sharp. I modified the pommel from my “Trooper” hilts as they were originally inspired by Obi-Wan’s to start with. So being as there wasn’t too much work needed to remodel this hilt I felt I should create a few variants…

Dark Master K Sabern 1

Dark Master K Saber 2

Dark Master K Saber 3

And with a simple switch of paint this hilt takes on a sleek sinister Sith look. The hilt details are still there but black objects don’t show very well against other black objects and I decided to make an alternative Sith hilt with a red and black marble like handgrip…

Now I had made two Sith hilts, I thought how about a nice golden Jedi hilt? I painted a version in gold but I think it kinda looks more like C-3PO. I added a Jedi Order logo printed on the underside and I think you can just see it…

Jedi Master K Saber 1

Jedi Master K Saber 2

Now some very long time followers may remember a hilt I designed inspired by one of rock’s greatest guitarists (and part time keyboard player) who also has a name with three initials….EVH….well this next image shows an updated EVH hilt…

And if you haven’t guessed, the guitarist is none other than Eddie Van Halen, famous for the songs Eruption and JUMP! This saber’s colour scheme was created using the same technique as my Sharkaradon Saber hilt and is coloured the same as Eddie’s famous Frankenstrat guitar.

I stopped here as I was getting carried away. But I think I proved that a single hilt can be made to look like many different styles.

I have to apologise there aren’t any “Studio Pictures” but this past week I have been really busy creating some animations for a special hilt I’ve built for a YouTuber I’ve recently met whose nickname is Nothin’ Nerdy. I commented on a video, then left a comment on her livestream and to my surprise Nerdy immediately responded to me! I have had a few chats with her since and said that when she reaches 1000 subscribers I would post a design for her. So if you are interested in the computer game Star Wars The Old Republic then please check out her YouTube channel Nothin’ Nerdy where she livestreams sessions playing the game. And if you subscribe and help her reach 1000 I will be able to post her saber sooner!

So I think that just about covers everything for this Obi-Wan Kenobi inspired saber, I hope you liked it and all it’s variants. I still have many more saber designs to come in future posts including the new Nothin’ Nerdy hilt. There are also my “Master Series” hilts and more new original hilts. I want to say a big thank you to you, my viewers, your support is fantastic and keeps me posting. I’ll end here, Till next time….

“Master K Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi’s saber from “The Phantom Menace” and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and “The Phantom Menace” and all other Star Wars related names, logos, images are Trademarks/©Copyright of Disney?LucasFilm.

PsychoSith Saber’s “Asgardr” – Art inspired by one of my designs!

Hello Everybody to a rare midweek post! And it is for very good reason I am sharing this with you all as I have been honoured with a magnificent accolade. My friend and fellow saber designer PsychoSith has produced some artwork inspired by my Thor crossguard lightsaber “Asguard”. You will recall I 3D modeled PsychoSith’s fantastic drawing called “The Durasteel Dove” and Psycho decided to return the honour and drew a set of sketches of my “New Asguard Saber” hilt. So here is the set of images Psycho sent to me….

PsychoSith’s “Asgardr” hilt

PyschoSith’s full artworl

PychoSith’s Guardian warrior 1

PychoSith’s Guardian warrior 2

I was absolutely speechless when I saw the finished product. Psycho had sent me a sneak peek when he asked if I minded him attempting to recreate one of my hilts but it was just an initial pencil sketch….I had no idea he would go to town and produce a full Bayeux Tapestry style artwork! His attention to detail is phenomenal, from the gold accents around the emitters and pommel, to the Celtic Knot activation switch and then the most difficult part…the scroll work etching! I found it difficult to replicate etching and I used a computer design package but Psycho drew the pattern on the handgrip by HAND! The Guardian warrior on the right of the image even has the hilt in his hands and the saber is complete with the Electric Lightning blue blades. As if all of this wasn’t enough take a look at those robes….and as a final finishing touch Psycho even mimicked the typeface font lettering I use for my labels and watermark!

I would have been honoured just by this token of appreciation but it goes much deeper than that as the “Asguard” hilt design (click HEREto see the original post) is the very same one I modeled but my laptop crashed and wiped the files so I lost it. I had one single image of the hilt that I later discovered had backed up to another file hosting site I use. That image is here:

Original Asguard Saber

So in a way Psycho has gifted me with my most treasured design that I partially lost. I intend to get this art transferred onto a canvas frame when I can afford it so I can hang it in my flat.

So for a final time (here at least) I wish to say an enormous thank you to Psycho, my friend, you are a true gentleman…and truly a talented artist!

Thank you also to all of you, my viewers, for checking this awesome artwork out and for all the support you have shown me and PsychoSith, whether you are a first time visitor or one of my regulars you’re all very much appreciated. I hope you will return this weekend for my usual weekly post, I think I might post my Kenobi tribute design. And it has a few surprising variants! Till next time….

“Asgardr” is an artwork produced by PsychoSith/PsychoSith Sabers and is a ©Copyrighted work of PsychoSith 2019. “Asgardr” is used here with permission. All content including original designs, images and material are covered by ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019.

Sharkaradon Saber -Inspired by Riff Tamson

Hello Everybody, today we have another watery weapon, but this time it doesn’t belong to Aquaman or even Admiral Ackbar….it belong’s to an adversary of the great admiral and a character named Riff Tamson! Riff Tamson was an aquatic being from the planet Karkaris and his species were known as Karkaradons. The Karkaradons were involved in the Battle of Mon Cala that took place on Ackbar’s home world of Mon Cala. On Mon Cala there were two species (the Mon Calamari and the Quarren) that lived in peace but the war brought tensions and the friendship between both species was strained. The Confederacy of Independent Systems led by the infamous Count Dooku sensed an opportunity to benefit and gain control of the watery planet of Mon Cala by triggering a civil war…then sending their own forces in to take over the two weakened native species. And to accomplish this Dooku sent Riff Tamson to lead an aquatic army to seize the planet.

Riff Tamson – Copyright Disney/LucasFilm

Tamson as you can see was a humanoid shark and when I built my Altenweg Shoto and Darkshoto hilts I realised the emitters reminded me of something….and it BIT me. The emitter openings looked like a shark’s mouth so I decided to create a colour scheme based on Riff Tamson to decorate this saber. I just have “Glamour Shots” for this hilt but I have more than usual and I have an animation so I will show you the first batch of pictures….

Sharkaradon Saber 1

Sharkaradon Saber ignited

Sharkaradon Saber pommel

Sharkaradon Saber side view

As you can see this is quite a colourful hilt and has a scaly texture to it. And I know botanical experts will point out that sharks (and Riff for that matter) don’t have scales like a fish. But I do know sharks have a special textured skin that has very small scale like plaques. Speedo the swimming costume manufacturer made a swimsuit for Olympic athletes that had a special “scaled” texture inspired by sharkskin, to make the swimmer more streamlined. Giving the saber this scaly pattern allowed me to add the light and dark blue colours along with the white you can see on Riff’s outfit. The pommel has a flared “tail-like” shroud and at the opposite end of the hilt is the “Shark’s Mouth” emitter that triggered my imagination. Here is the next batch of pictures including the shark mouth….

It’s a Sharkaradon Saber!

Sharkaradon Saber scale texture.

Sharkaradon Saber crystal chamber

Keep still and it will swim away!

The emitter with the upper and lower curve just reminded me so much of a shark it was a no-brainer to make this version. The texture is a modified version of the material I used to create a rock like texture for my LOTR Barad-Dûr saber but I added three colours to the surface. The saber blade, activation switch and Opee Sea Creature crystal all have an aquatic sea blue cyan glow. I now think it is time to see how good this saber is and take it for a swim…here it is with the other fishies…

I think it looks good and works quite well underwater!

BUT HERE IS A SAFETY ANNOUNCEMENT! DO NOT PUT ANY LIGHTSABER INTO WATER! WHETHER IT IS A TOY VERSION FROM A STORE LIKE WALMART OR AMAZON, OR A LIGHTSABER FROM A CUSTOM SABER COMPANY…..ELECTRONICS AND WATER DO NOT MIX! THE SHARKARADON SABER IS FICTIONAL AND YOU SHOULDN’T PUT YOUR SABERS INTO WATER OK?! STAY SAFE!

I apologise I had to put that disclaimer and warning in but I did see a video on YouTube recently where a person put his saber into a swimming pool to see what would happen. He was lucky in that the saber just stopped working but it could have turned out worse if the battery inside it ruptured or the circuits shorted and gave him a shock. Anyhoo, that just about wraps things up for this post but before I go I have a BIG announcement of a really special PsychoSith Sabers design which I will post this Wednesday – you won’t want to miss it!

As always I will end by saying a big thank you to all of you for looking in on this post, whether this is your first visit or you are a regular viewer (such as the kind folks in India who call in) you are very much appreciated and please come back to see what else I have in store for future posts. Till next time….

“Sharkaradon Saber” is a For Tyeth Edition design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. It was inspired by “Riff Tamson” who appeared in “Star Wars- The Clone Wars” and is a Trademark/©Copyrighted property of Disney/LucasFilm Ltd.