Dune Saber 2020 – Built in Blender 3D

Hello Everybody, today we travel from one desert planet to another and from one galaxy to another. We travel from the world of George Lucas’ Star Wars over to the sands of Frank Herbert’s Dune! Photos of a new remake of the Herbert classic story have dropped in Vanity Fair magazine and as I had made a few Dune inspired hilts before (click HERE to view them) I felt I needed to make some updates too. So I have built a new saber for House Atreides, the noble family that is in conflict with the House Harkonnen over the control of a planet named Arrakis…or the Spice Planet…or just known as Dune! On this barren planet a special substance named Melange or Spice can be found and upon digesting it can give the person taking it the ability to navigate and control space itself making travel over vast distances possible and almost instant. This Spice therefore is a valuable commodity and whoever controls Dune, controls the Spice and so controls the universe.

Paul Atreides, aka Muad’dib

The two warring families have vast armies, the Atreides army being headed by Paul Atreides son of Duke Leto Atreides (played by Kyle MacClachlan in the original 1984 film and by Timothee Chalamet in the 2020 remake), whilst the Harkonnen army has Fayd Rautha Harkonnen at it’s command. Fayd is the cruel nephew of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. The story evolves and tells how the Harkonnen family begin to take over and Paul finds himself stranded on the planet Dune and reluctantly becomes the leader of a religious group of sand dwellers known as the Fremen. Paul teaches them warcraft and sorcery from his family connections with the Witches known as the Bene Gesserit. Paul is a Bene Gesserit by birth, his mother was Jessica who was part of a breeding program to provide a daughter who would then be bred with Fayd Harkonnen. Jessica however falls in love with Duke Leto and promises him a son….Paul. Complicated I know, the film was nearly 7 hours long uncut. However you are here to see a saber and I’m afraid I have been hit by technical issues once more so have struggled to get these images rendered but I think they turned out ok.

Dune Saber 2020 pic 1

Dune Saber 2020 pic 2

Dune Saber 2020 pic 3

Dune Saber 2020 pic 4

Dune Saber 2020 pic 5

 

This saber was based on the bladed weapons seen hanging on the belts of Oscar Isaacs and Josh Brolin in the recently released photoshoot images. Oscar plays Duke Leto and Josh portrays the man-at-arms Gurney Halleck. Well the weapon had a Katana style leather wrapped Tsuka-Ito handgrip which I attempted to recreate with the metallic criss-crossed motifs down each side of the saber. The pommel has the House Atreides family emblem on it and that logo I also used as the activation switch. The emitter is supported by four gold coloured support rods. The emitter itself is a little bit different as it is in fact made by solidifying a letter “D” taken from the TrueTypeFont known as “Android” and creating a 3D object. I then gave the shape a golden inlay to make the “D” stand out (you can see this in the title image above were I use the emitter to spell the word Dune!) Finally there is the very special blade of this saber and it combines two elements, Water and Light. The water is special to the story of Dune as Paul Atreides has to find a way to bring water to Arrakis to enable him to control the Spice. And the Light which is special to lightsabers….is used here to contain the watery core of the blade…and if you zoom in closely you can see ripples in the water!

I have nearly finished this….wait! I nearly forgot something…sabers are known to have Kyber Crystals to help power them right? Well this saber has a “Water Pearl” to help power and focus the blade, wanna see it?….

There it is in it’s own little protective cradle! You can clearly see the ripples inside this droplet. Now as I mentioned before I am still having tech issues (I hope a new version of Windows due out in May will solve my problems) so I couldn’t produce a full gallery but here are a few of the images from Vanity Fair magazine that triggered my imagination…look out for the dagger handles….

Duke Leto Atreides (Oscar Isaac)

Gurney Halleck (Josh Brolin)

Paul Atreides (Timothee Chalamet)

Ok this time it is the end of the post but as always and in these difficult times I want to say a big thank you to you my friends, viewers and followers. You have supported me over three years now and I have broken the 19000 views milestone so thank you so much for taking time to support me and FTSabersite. It is much appreciated. I hope you will return to see what else I can come up with (I do have more designs I just have to get them polished up). Till next time…..stay safe and well!

“Dune Saber 2020” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. Dune was written by Frank Herbert. The new Dune 2020 movie and all images are Copyright of Legendary Productions/Villeneuve Films/Warner Bros Pictures and Vanity Fair Magazine.

 

“Echo Saber” inspired by Obi-Wan’s Lightsaber

Hello Everybody, hope you’re all well. Today we stay in the Star Wars universe but I am bringing you a design I came up with based on the iconic saber seen in The Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars – A New Hope, the saber owned by Obi-Wan Kenobi. General Kenobi was well known for “tinkering” and modifying his saber and designs, keeping the plans and technical details in a journal (this journal was reportedly what Luke Skywalker used to instruct him on how to build his green saber in Return of the Jedi). So I imagined what Kenobi’s saber may look like if he modified it (or maybe somebody else did….) and I managed to come up with an elegant hilt that still reminds you of the original hilt. I call this saber “Echo”…

Echo Saber picture 1

Echo Saber picture 2

I removed the “troublesome” activation box that so many fans that own a Kenobi replica hilt complain about and I extended the “Grenade Grip” ridged body section. I also slightly thickened the “Thin Neck” but attempted to retain the original look. The pommel is slightly redesigned and hints at Luke Skywalker’s green saber. Echo still retains the classic blue blade and has a matching activation button instead of the cumbersome clamp mounted switch I mentioned earlier. I said that I imagined how this saber would look if Kenobi modified it and I also hinted “What if someone else got hold of the saber, what would they do with it?” Well, sadly after Obi-Wan gave his life so that Luke, Leia and the crew of the Millennium Falcon could escape the Death Star, his lightsaber fell to the floor where he was slain and became Darth Vader’s property. Not much is known of what happened to it after this but rumours say Vader stored it in his castle on the planet Mustafaar. But what if Vader studied his old Master’s hilt and did some tinkering himself? Then the saber might look like this…

Dark Echo Saber picture 1

Dark Echo Saber picture 2

I think this looks sufficiently Sith-like, with it’s new shiny new handgrip which on closer inspection has a few little windows cut into it. Those windows reveal the inner workings of the saber and the crimson red crystal chamber (you might remember Vader’s crystal in my “The Destined One” design I built a while back). This crystal chamber is the dark heart of this Sith developed design and produces the crimson blade so famously wielded by the bad guys. Here are a few images of the internals….

Dark Echo Saber crystal chamber 1

Dark Echo Saber crystal chamber 2

Dark Echo crystal chamber revealed

Echo Saber crystal chamber revealed

Echo Saber crystal chamber deactivated

Again the crystal chamber forms the heart of this saber, Kenobi knew this and used the best technology he had to embrace it’s potential. However, I didn’t stop there. On the lightsaber forum where I post messages now and then one member asked the site owners if they had any new curved hilt designs. Well that triggered my imagination and I wondered what it Kenobi learnt something from duelling Count Dooku and he went on to build a curved hilt, how would that look? Something like this?…

Echo Bend Saber picture 1

Echo Bend Saber picture 2

Echo Bend Saber picture 3

I kinda like this one! I am not sure exactly how I managed to bend this but it worked (I used a modifier function of Blender 3D named “Bend Modifier but I didn’t know if the function could cope with the really complex structure that would create). A curved hilt alters the arc through which the blade follows when swung making it difficult for your opponent to predict it’s behaviour. Also if you grip the saber at various positions this changes the swings further, much like the way an Olympic class fencer can have dozens of angles of attack. If well practised then you as a saberist would have a distinct combat advantage if you used these techniques. However I know some saber purists would dismiss a curved hilt so I have one final straight version in a predominantly silver colourscheme and this is Echo Spirit…

Echo Spirit Saber picture 1

The legendary General Obi-Wan Kenobi

So that just about wraps up this offering, I hope you enjoyed it. I had fun re-imagining an iconic design and hope I did a fair job of it. I may return to re-imagine other classic hilts in future but I have been asked by certain members of a Star Wars community to create some X-Men themed hilts so I am working on those (hello WinstonMaul and Emxc from my friend Nothin’ Nerdy’s community). I hope you will return to see those (and other Star Wars stuff) in future posts. I again want to thank you all, my friends and followers for your un-wavering support in these difficult times, I appreciate you taking time out to support me and check out FTSabersite. Till next time, stay safe and well…..

“Echo Saber”, “Dark Echo Saber” and “Echo Bend Saber” are For Tyeth Edition designs and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. (General) Obi-Wan Kenobi and all Star Wars related names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

Mauled Staff CW7 – Inspired by Maul in The Clone Wars (season 7)

Hello Everybody, today I have sort of good news and we return to the galaxy far, far away with a Star Wars themed design. Now firstly the good(ish) news….after spending over TWO days trying to revive my laptop I gave up sort of. I had followed the instructions on Microsoft’s site and watched YT videos (cautiously) and all my attempts failed. I left the machine alone and used a borrowed laptop to make my Brian May tribute hilt/guitar last week but I got bored. So Mrs T convinced me to try once more to try and fix it and I went through the same procedure with the Recovery USB Drive and….it WORKED sort of. I managed to install Windows again to the point where I have installed all the most recent updates (even in the short time my machine was Kaput MS released MORE updates!). This means I can tentatively use my new laptop again and I have managed to build a new staff design. It is the new double bladed weapon owned by…Darth Maul who features heavily in the new The Clone Wars season 7 cartoon. I haven’t seen the new season of cartoons so can’t give any details, I just know he is back and using a newly repaired staff lightsaber and here are a couple of WIP MatCap renders of my version of it named, Mauled CW7….

Mauled CW7 MatCap Studio 1

Mauled CW7 MatCap Studio 2

Some eagle eyed viewers/readers may recognise one end of the staff as it belonged to Maul’s lightsaber staff which was damaged in his duel with Ob-Wan and Qui-Gon in Phantom Menace. The second half of this rebuilt weapon is a lightsaber formerly owned by Aurra Sing the bounty hunter and failed Sith apprentice.

Again how Maul got this I don’t know as I haven’t been able to keep up with all the cartoons and novels that Disney have released (these fill in all the gaping holes in the plots of the films!) because I can’t afford Disney+ and all the books etc. But enough chat as always you like to see nice pictures and hopefully these new renders are back to my high levels! Here are the Glamour Shots…

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 1

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 2

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 3

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 4

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 5

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 6

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 7

Mauled CW7 Staff picture 8

Well I hope these are better! I felt bad that I had to resort to using my old setup and my output suffered but I also felt I wanted to keep active. As a result I may return to my Brian May design and re-render the images and get some proper Glamour Shots of “The Lady”. Back to this hilt, it has the half of Maul’s saber we all know and remember but the Aurra Sing half is very different! It was also very interesting to model….those holes took a lot of work. A closer look also reveals that I placed a For Tyeth Crystal Chamber inside! I am not sure how comfortable this staff would be to use with all those holes and sharp control box switch section – it would be like holding a cheese grater! But Aurra Sing and Maul seem to manage with it. However, with all that said I think I kinda like the staff, it is the first I have been able to build since my computer hiccups!

I am nearly at the end of this post and I hope you all enjoyed it. It was a bit stop start for me typing it out as I kept having to save the draft every 5-10 minutes! But I managed. You could say I FORced it to work….I’m sorry, bad joke but I have been stressed and I’m just relieved I could present this to you all. So thank you so much for checking this design out and for supporting me and FTSabersite in these difficult times. Whether you are a new visitor or one of my regular reader/viewers you are all much appreciated and in my thoughts. Hopefully you will all return for future posts which will feature new designs I have come up with inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi….along with some other “salvaged” designs I managed to save. Till next time, stay safe and well…..

“Mauled CW7 Staff” is a For Tyeth Editions model and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. It is inspired by the weapon seen in Star Wars – The Clone Wars (s7) which is Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm ltd 2020. All Star Wars names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

Red (5) Special – A Thank You To Dr Brian May

Hello Everybody, today I wish to present something very different and very personal at this very crazy time in the world. As you know we are in the grip of a global pandemic and a lot of the planet is in lockdown to attempt to close the virus down. With this lockdown society has had to find new ways to entertain itself and one individual has gone about it in a very humble and genuine way. That person is an idol of mine and he is called Dr Brian May. Yes, the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. Brian has quietly gone about producing YouTube “Micro Concerts” and tutorials each and every evening to entertain and more importantly reassure us that there are folks out there that are thinking of you and me, so we don’t feel so isolated.

BrianMay.Com on YouTube > CLICK HERE

BrianMay.Com Main Website > CLICK HERE

Now I have a very strong emotional connection with Queen and Brian’s work, the day I was born Bohemian Rhapsody was sat at No.1 in the charts, the first piece of music I remember hearing was the guitar solo from Killer Queen, I taught myself music and piano – starting with a Stylophone! I progressed to proper home keyboards when I convinced my parents I was serious I wanted to learn. I practised Bohemian for over 20 years to get to a “passable rendition” of it…still haven’t nailed it. I did become good enough to play in a band and performed the song around the clubs of the UK….and I even had the honour of performing on a stage that Brian, Roger, John and Freddie stomped on during their 1974 tour. I had serious goosebumps that night! But I realised when I saw the videos that Brian is now posting that I hadn’t really thanked him for what he (and Queen) had given me. This was partly due to not having access to social media and partly because I was shy about reaching out. Well that ends today. I have designed a little something as a “virtual gift” to Brian and it combines elements of his career, music, his love of Astrophysics…oh and he is a BIG Star Wars fan too. This is Red (5) Special….

Red (5) Special pic 1

Red (5) Special pic 2

Red (5) Special pic 3

Red (5) Special pic 4

This is Brian’s beloved guitar the “Red Special” or as she is sometimes called, “The Lady” modelled as best I can in 3D! Brian and his father famously built this guitar from scratch using parts such as a knife blade and a 100 year old piece of wood from a fireplace mantlepiece! Luckily I didn’t have to source parts but I did have a really difficult job recreating the beautiful shape of this instrument (and all the other parts). It has the selector switches, the rotary knobs, the famous triple Humbucking pickups, a tremolo arm…the tuning head with machineheads…and if you look on the back I even added the two black access panels/repair patches you don’t normally see! However, this isn’t 100% accurate as I intended this model to form a display stand for a new…lightsaber! Well Brian is a Star Wars fan so I imagined what a saber would look like with a guitar shaped display stand and realised I could expand the triple pickups to form a cradle to hold a saber…

Red (5) Special stand pic 1

Red (5) Special stand pic 2

Red (5) Special stand pic 3

Red (5) Special stand pic 4

And the saber is a design I modified from my Altenweg Shoto design I made last year as I realised it had a bit of a Flash Gordon look to it so was a perfect hilt to use. And I’m allowed to mention Flash Gordon on this website as Queen and Brian had a little role in it. It was a spectacular mash up of movie magic and magnificent music. And as I near the end of this offering I have a few more images to share…

Red (5) Special studio pic 1

Red (5) Special wireframe (note the backpanels!)

Clay sculpt preview image.

Red Specal replica

My Red Special poster.

It turns out a guitar makes a decent display stand and I have nearly come to the end of this post…Oh wait, you may ask what connection to Astrophysics does this model and guitar have? Look closely near the white switches and you’ll see Brian’s star logo to represent his love of astronomy and his Doctorate on the subject (He’s probably even used radio telescopes like Jodrell Bank!). And why is there a 5 in the name of this model? Red 5 was Luke Skywalker’s callsign in the Death Star attack in Star Wars of course!

I want to finish by saying thanks once more to Brian and I sincerely hope he likes this, it meant a lot to model it and is my small way of saying thanks for all he has done, is doing and will continue to do for all of us in the future.

Stay safe, well and keep rockin – we appreciate Everything You Do.   For Tyeth.

And NO SYNTHESIZERS were used in the making of this design!

All images and likenesses of the “Red Special” are Trademark/©Copyright and belong to Dr Brian May. All names, images logos and related material belong to their respective owners. The Blender 3D “Red (5) Special” model and renderings were made by me, For Tyeth and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020.

Coming Friday 3rd April – A Thank You to Dr Brian May

Hello Everybody and all music fans….this is an announcement of a post coming this Friday which is dedicated to Dr Brian May. It is something special….. and it is something Star Wars…. so I hope you will all check it out.

Stay safe and well, see you Friday at 8PM GMT (20:00hrs)

For Tyeth.