Hello Everybody, whilst reminiscing recently about past heroes for my Halloween “Spidey Saber” I also decided to delve into my archives of past designs and I found one that I felt needed a Blender update. You see many years ago I used a different software package to produce saber designs and it was provided as an online App by the company Saberforge. The problem was, that even though I was “designing” I was using parts developed by SF. However I did push the boundaries of what their Virtual Builder could do. I created a hilt with a Crystal Chamber pommel (before SF had crystal chambers!) and I also made a hilt for a fellow blogger named Cherrycola22. This hilt was a Japanese styled Katana, which I made out of three sections.
I liked this design (and the variants that I also created seen HERE) but now I felt I could do better. So I set to work with Blender which gives me so much more creative freedom and updated my 3-Part Katana Collection. And first up in this series is a hilt I named Dark Dragon Katana….
The hilt is much longer than a “traditional” hilt which gives the user much more tactical reach and leverage. Also being able to grip the saber at various positions alters the dynamics of the users attacks, so he or she can alter their grip and change the range/distance they fight from. This can confuse an opponent as they are never sure if you will use short range stabbing techniques or longer range sweeping melee strikes – giving you an advantage. I also modeled a Jedi Order inspired Tsuba handguard to tie the design into both Japanese sword styling and the Star Wars In Universe galaxy. As this hilt was designed to give a combat advantage I didn’t add a regular activation switch that could hinder grip and instead imagined that there is a sensor incorporated into the Dragon logo that could be triggered to ignite the weapon. And as I am rambling on about the “Technical Details” maybe I should post a few wire frames pictures of the hilt being modeled…
As you can see the hilt is structurally pretty basic but it is the simplicity that gives the weapon it’s tactical flexibility. The hilt consists of three sections and two silver couplers, the Tsuba on the emitter and a pommel. However, if you wanted to have a regular length hilt (or shorter Katana/Japanese weapons known as Tanto or Wakizashi) you can unscrew the sections and remove the lower grip and pommel then replace the pommel to form a two section hilt! Here are a couple more pictures showing the short 2 piece Katana and a close up of the grip Dragon logo..
The two part saber is much more like a “traditional” length hilt (approx 12 inches). But I’d like to mention the Dragon logo, as this is taken from my earlier “FT’s Lightside Dragon” which I posted way back in December 2017 after I learnt to apply transparent textures (Wow Dec 2017?…I feel old! 😀 )
Ok, I think that covers the boring technical bits and backstory to this design, now I just have a few Glamour Shots to finish with, here you go…
Alright then, now I think that really does cover everything and it just leaves me to say a big thank you for checking this design out. I hope you like the Blender Updates of my “older” designs. I do have many more new original sabers coming soon, inspired by characters from Disney/Lucasfilm’s new movie and TV series. There are also more “Master Series” hilts to post…in fact I have over 13 more sabers I need to post! I hope you will return to check those out too, but whether you are a first time visitor or a regular viewer of FTSabersite thanks again, you are all much appreciated. Till next time….
“(New)Dark Dragon Katana” is a “For Tyeth Editions” saber design and is Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. All “For Tyeth Editions” designs and material contained within FTSabersite are Copyright of For Tyeth 2016-2019.
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Looks good FT I like the flame – dragon wing design at the top of the hilt. I had a few sword/katana lessons once, most interesting. Cool dragon
Hello Neil, thanks, glad you like the design. I’ll be honest it never occurred to me that the Tsuba looked like a pair of dragon’s wings, it is actually the Jedi Order logo..but Ilike the dragon idea. This is how the logo looks: https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/9/9d/Jedi_symbol.svg/revision/latest?cb=20080329163323
And thanks again.
Love the Katana aspect! Fabulous!
Thanks Resa. This model was fun to build and I thought I needed a “Katana” in my collection that I modeled myself and not use exiting parts.