DISASTER PART 2! Microsoft messes me up AGAIN!

Hello Everybody….before I go any further I need to warn you that I really wanted to post this as a “Rated R” post but I’m just too darn polite and realise that Younglings might read this. But to say I am annoyed is a very large understatement.

Remember I was really happy this past month or so because I got a shiny new refurbished laptop? WELL…it had Windows 10 on it and Micros&%£ in their infinite wisdom decided we all had to have updates rammed down our computer’s throat and as a result my laptop got a messed up update! I was using my laptop when it started to slow noticeably and programs stuttered. I guessed it was an update loading so thought nothing of it as I had had a handful of updates already. Then while offline I was designing and all of a sudden my laptop started to get act up. It became very, very slow but the hard disk was whirring so fast it was making my laptop vibrate and sound like a power drill. I managed to investigate and discovered that the latest update that installed was one that has been identified as a “problem” and caused the exact symptoms my machine was showing. SO I followed the instructions and functions from Micros&%$ to Uninstall the problem update (known as update KB4551762). And it worked….for around 30 minutes then BANG!! A blue screen flashed up on my display saying “This PC has experienced issues and can’t continue, we’re gathering info and will restart”

YEAH Windows gathered info then SHUT DOWN and switched my laptop off fully – NO RESTART. Now I can’t get Windows to work and I only have access to the laptop manufacturer BIOS setting screens. I have tried to Refresh, Reset and Restore the machine as per Windows’ feature set – NOTHING! I have tried to recover the laptop using a Recovery USB programmed with a Virtual copy of Win 10 to reboot my machine – NOTHING! I even downloaded the Window Recover Media Creation Tool and created a second USB tool to attempt a recovery and again that FAILED!

I now have a near £200/$230 paperweight!

I have not given up trying to save my laptop as the hardware is fine it’s the messed up operating system that has P’d me off. MS and Windows messed up my last computer and now it has messed up my new one and I need it to stay connected at this difficult time (for my sanity and just so I can keep connected and able to function – you know so I can order shopping and groceries in as I can’t leave my home at the moment due to a health lockdown).

On top of this it means I have probably lost my designs AGAIN including that Chronolog I posted last week. I know, I know, why didn’t I back up my designs? Well I couldn’t afford to buy TWO new machines and my old laptop is full.

Sorry to be on a downer today but I can’t help it. It is the first REALLY bad venting post I have published in three years  (Ok there was the Asguard Thor lightsaber post but that had a happy outcome) so I haven’t done too badly.

Anyhow, thanks for all the support you have given me these past three years and rest assured I am doing all I can to get this sorted but in the present climate/Covid19 situation I’m not sure when I’ll be up and running at full speed again. BUT I hope you all keep safe and well, in the big picture that is more important. Please keep checking back to FTSabersite for news and I will be back full FORce when I can. Thanks guys and gals.

For Tyeth

P.S. I have had to compile this post by borrowing a family member’s laptop so thanks Mrs T – I love ya!

Darth Logos’ Data Chronolog – I’m branching out into new items!

Hello Everybody, I hope you are all keeping well and safe at this difficult time. Today I have something VERY different to show you than I normally have. I discussed in previous posts that with my new version of Blender 3D that I am now able to tackle projects and models I had no hope of attempting before. Well this is one such project and it is called a “Holocron” or “Datacron” and it is the Star Wars equivalent of a USB flash drive or archive device. In Star Wars a Holocron can be used by it’s owner to store information, audio, holograms, and anything of importance as a secure archive. Both the Jedi and Sith had their own style of Holocron, and differing ways to use/operate/access them. A friend of mine, Darth Logos (yes he is a Sith leaning individual but he’s not that bad really) uses the same forum I post on and contacted me with, let’s say a challenge. He asked if I would consider tackling a new object to build. Darth Logos wanted a “knock your socks off” Holocron. Well I like a challenge so I accepted and came up with this…A few early build pictures for you to check out…

Logos’ Data Chronolog version 3

Logos Data Chronolog version 3 pic 2

Logos asked for a particularly complex model and I eventually built FIVE versions of this object…and each version had at least 3 iterations, so I really built 15 models. Some of this was due to me learning how the new Blender operates and some versions were to make sure Logos got the design how he wanted. Inside this Tetrahedron is a matrix of smaller elements and I thought he wanted a Tetra within a Tetra but learnt he didn’t want a frame on the interior structure. I also attempted a framework on the outer structure that needed a lot of work, but I think I managed it after a fortunate “happy accident”. I wanted to replicate the shape of the internal structure in the shape of the windows but couldn’t get the frame shaped correctly, then I accidently clicked a separate feature to it’s off position and Bingo, the shape I wanted formed. Anyhoo, enough talking, Logos has been waiting to see his new “Shiny” – so here are pictures of the updated model in the studio…

Studio build picture 1

Studio build picture 2

Studio build picture 3

Oh, and did I mention that the symbols placed around the edges of this Holocron are actually a piece of prose known as the “Sith Code”…and the lines of text are in a Sith font….all of which are FULLY 3D modelled!

And here are the full effect “Glamour Shots”…and I’ll just add that these were hard to produce too!….

Darth Logos Data Chronolog 1

Darth Logos Data Chronolog 2

Darth Logos Data Chronolog 3

Darth Logos Data Chronolog 4

Darth Logos Data Chronolog 5

Darth Logos Data Chronolog 6

I also made a few “poster” style images Logos might be able to use as his logo on the forum he uses…

Logos logo image 1

Logos logo image 2

I hope Logos likes his new little shiny object! I will say I sort of enjoyed building it…it was indeed a challenge but I think I rose up to it! To be fair I did enjoy building this as I stretched myself and learnt new skills and tricks and now I have another item I can make models of in future (some readers may recall I did build a Happy Holidays Holocron way back HERE but it wasn’t quite as nice as this one!)

That just about wraps up this post, I hope all of you liked it. I will in future posts be revealing my first B-series astromech droid build, my first ever starfighter and of course at least a few new sabers! I hope you will all return to see them, but for now thank you so much for the support you have given me and my site. Even in these difficult times you have helped me break the 18,000 view mark now, so thanks so much to all my viewers/readers whether new or regular! You are especially appreciated! Till next time…

“Darth Logos’ Data Chronolog” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is inspired by the devices seen in the Star Wars expanded universe/legends material. All designs and content within FTSabersite are Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. All other Trademarked/Copyrighted material belong to their respective owners and are credited as such.

“Pryndonian Saber” – Inspired by The Inspector Who Reacts and Dr Who

Hello Everybody, today I’d like to introduce you to a young gent I met ecently through my friendship with Frankie, aka Nothin’ Nerdy. His name is The Inspector Who Reacts. He also hosts a channel on YouTube (click HERE to go to his channel) where he posts videos in which he reacts to various franchises and nostalgia such as the American anime series RWBY, Stranger Things, horror movies and of course…Doctor Who!
He is a great guy with a sense of humour and a vast knowledge of Whovian details. Just ask him what a Chameleon Circuit is and I bet he’d know. Well as I had designed a saber for Frankie, I felt that as he got on with her and seemed friendly like her that I should design a hilt for him. And of course not just any saber but a Doctor Who inspired hilt. As he is steeped in nostalgia I thought I would go “Old School Who” and I travelled to Gallifrey for inspiration (it’s just a short hop from one galaxy to another in my Jedi Starfighter!) And this was the hilt I came up with…

Pryndonian Saber picture 1

Pryndonian Saber picture 2

Pryndonian Saber picture 3

Pryndonian Saber picture 4

The hilt is modelled to resemble the costumes that the Time Lords wore with the large fan like back collars and the skull caps. You can see the type of costume I mean in the famous Trial of a Time Lord episodes starring Colin Baker as The Doctor.
The hilt is also in the colour scheme of the “Pryndonian Academy” – a school for Time Lords and at one time was considered the most prestigious of the Time Lord academies. The Doctor was schooled at Pryndorian Academy and I hope The Inspector has brushed up on his Gallifreyan so he can read the text in the first image (those circular symbols are Simple Gallifreyan text!) Oh yes and those symbols etched around the middle of the saber? Those spell out his name!. As I don’t have any studio work in progress pictures as I built this hilt rather quickly and I have a bit of a surprise object to reveal further into this post I thought it best to leave these teaser images here I  produced…

Pryndonian Teaser Poster 1

Pryndonian Teaser Poster 2

Pryndonian Teaser Poster 3

I think The Inspector also has a thing for time travel and retro styling as four years ago he had a haircut just like John Deacon’s hairstyle from the 1980’s…John Deacon was the bass guitar player in the band Queen for our younger readers!
The Inspector has even been seen sporting a bow tie now and then…very sartorial.

However Inspector doesn’t get everything right… I mentioned The Inspector has a TARDIS sized knowledge of all things Whovian, well unfortunately in his reaction video for “IT Chapter 2”, the Inspector has the wrong Sonic Screwdriver! We all know that Tom Baker had the best Sonic so…as a way of apology for likening his hair to John Deacon’s I decided I’d build him a Sonic Screwdriver (the one owned by the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker) to go with his saber! Here they are together…

Now you may have seen that little blue block with the little symbols on it’s faces, well those were a couple of pieces of masonry that I found on Gallifrey and they have the Inspector’s initials on….I, W and R standing for Inspector Who Reacts! He must have attended Pryndonian Acedemy too.

I hope you will all take time and check out The Inspector’s YT channel but please be aware that some of the material may not be suitable for very young Padawans (such as the horror movie reaction vids). You can find his channel by clicking HERE .

Well I think that just about wraps up this time travelling tribute to The Doctor and the Inspector. I hope The Inspector likes the design and my extra little “virtual gift” in the shape of a new Sonic Screwdriver. I hope all of you, my viewers/readers also enjoyed what you saw and I’d like to thank you once more for all the fantastic support you have shown me, new or regular visitors – you’re all very much appreciated. I sincerely hope you’ll all call back to FTSabersite as I have an Obi-Wan Kenobi inspired pair of hilts, my set of bespoke original hilts and my new side line of designs including new droids, starfighters and Holocrons all still to come! So till next time (or dimension in space!)…..

“Pryndonian Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is inspired by the TV show Dr Who. “Pryndonian Saber” is Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. Dr Who and all names, logos, images and related material are Trademark and Copyright of BBC TV (UK) 

“Montoya Saber” – Inspired by Inigo

Hello Everybody, today I bring you my second Rapier style lightsaber which is a inspired by a character from the 1987 hit film “The Princess Bride”. “Inconceivable!” you can’t make a saber made of light! Well, I proved last week that it is possible with my “Master Z” saber for Zorro, so I have built one for “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father….prepare to die!”. Technically this saber is just an inspired by version of his rapier as I am working on a more accurate version (coming soon I hope but it is complex, very complex). But this saber is quite complex itself and to show you I have a couple of wireframe pictures for you to take a look at…

“Montoya Saber” Wireframe 1

“Montoya Saber” Wireframe 2

I can now make much more complicated objects now I have an I5 processor powered laptop. It can compute all the data for the polygons and the texturing which makes the models look so much more realistic. As you can see in the picture the handguard is in fact a wire basket and Blender/my laptop has to map out the position, size and shape of each little strut within that basket, hence the big strain on the computer and software! Luckily Blender has some clever tricks called “Modifiers” used to make modelling easier and one is called “Wireframe Modifier”. I have used this technique before on my “Spidey Saber” to make the web like shrouds, but it was perfect for this saber too to make the basket shaped guard. The wireframe modifier turned the bowl shaped part into a wire framework – a bit like early 3D computer game graphics – and allows me to alter the thickness of each strut to make the frame look “solid”. The ornamental globes on the pommel and at each end of the Quillon bar are also Wireframes but have a set of panels beneath the wires to fill in the gaps. I can make the struts one colour but the panels can be coloured differently giving the globes that Faberge like look! And speaking of coloured pictures I think it’s time to show you the Glamour Shot gallery…enjoy….

“Montoya Saber” emitter/handguard 1

“Montoya Saber” Handgrip and handguard 2

“Montoya Saber” Top down view 3

“Montoya Saber” User’s viewpoint 4

“Montoya Saber” the view your opponent might have! 5

I decided to go with a regal black and gold colour scheme with an amber/gold blade. Now I have added the texture graphics you can see the complexity of the struts making the basket handguard. I was able to select certain rows of struts and rotate them clockwise around the saber, then selected a second set of struts and rotated those counter-clockwise to create a zig-zagged pattern or swirl effect. I can just imagine my old (but much loved) previous laptop being asked to model this and it saying, “Please don’t make me try and build this!”

I also decided that as “The Princess Bride” became such a classic cult film I would make a few posters for this hilt…

“Montoya Saber” poster 1

“Montoya Saber” poster 2

These are nothing too fancy just some toying around with object placement and lighting. Also, I normally add the lettering and text in a photo-editing package known as GIMP (which stands for Gnu Image Manipulation Program), but Blender can also add text as a 2D layer in Compositing Mode (where you build images/videos in layers) or as in this case, I added a 3D model of the text! Blender even allows you to type a word or text, then convert it into a 3D model which you can edit, morph and add textures. This now means I only need to fire up Blender to do all my workload to create my designs and images.

And finally, as I mentioned above this is just an “inspired by” version of Inigo Montoya’s hilt – I am working on building something that looks a lot closer to the real thing for a future post – however it is very, very complex and I am working hard on it…this is the real prop I am hoping to recreate…wish me luck!

The real Inigo Montoya Rapier hilt (as seen in The Princess Bride 1987)

I think that just about wraps up this post and design. I will be working on the proper Montoya hilt and will post it as soon as possible but in the meantime I have a few other new things to post for you. These include Darth Maul’s new saberstaff from the new Clone Wars season 7, a whole new collection of original For Tyeth designs and as Disney/Lucasfilm has announced a new project named “The High Republic” which is set 200 years before The Phantom Menace I am going to attempt designing some sabers for the new sagas to come! I hope you will call back to FTSabersite to see those. I want to say a big thank you to all who visit and support me and FTSabersite, especially the viewer who logged in from New Caledonia! Thank you whoever you are and I hope you liked what you saw. Whether a new or regular visitor/supporter, thank you – you’re much appreciated and are what keeps me designing! Till next time….

“Montoya Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. It is inspired by the sword seen in the movie “The Princess Bride” and all names, quotes, images or related material are Trademarked/©Copyright of Act III Communications, Buttercup Films Ltd and The Princess Bride Ltd. 1987-2020.