“Destroyer” A new breed of Star Destroyer by LSG and For Tyeth

Hello Everybody (just) and welcome to something a bit different. Again I am having issues and have had to borrow a laptop to produce this post. My troublesome machine has finally died after suffering an update from Microsoft that caused the hard drive to heat up and as a result triggered the cooling fan – destroying the fan. But….I have some good news, I saved a few things to the cloud including this new starship design!

A good friend of mine, Lord_S_Gray (I’ll refer to him as LSG from now on) from the Ultrasabers’ forum asked me to help with his fanfiction story he was writing and come up with a design (and some pictures) for a new Star Destroyer. (You can read his story here: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=44181.0) The ship was for a race known as the Aethereans and LSG sent me a brief and a diagram of roughly what he wanted. The drawing looked like this!…

As hard as LSG might have worked to give me these details, there wasn’t a lot to go on and as this was the first “large scale” build (or ship) I had built I thought I was in trouble. However LSG did say that I should use my initiative and if something didn’t work or sit right then I could do what I felt fit better. One of the my first efforts looked like this….

I built the model with a Forecastle type structure and Bridge section, whilst adding a few “lighted windows”. But my favourite part was actually the “plating” on the hull. I accomplished this using the “Discombobulator” feature built into Blender, which Neil from https://makeroommakeroom.wordpress.com/ introduced me to – thanks Neil it worked a treat here. However this ship wasn’t quite how LSG envisaged and asked if I could redesign the superstructure and remove the Bridge “bow tie”. He also asked if I could add a plethora of gun turrets. So I went back to work. I found a picture of the type of rifle that was used in the time and location where LSG’s story is set and thought “I could scale this blaster up and use four of them in a turret!” So this is what I came up with…

I came up with a basic turret with just enough details to make it interesting when viewed close up but not too complex so I could clone it and use many iterations of it in various places on the main model. My headaches really started with redesigning the superstructure. To make things easier on my old laptop I merged parts together so there was less individual bits to be processed when I moved the model for photos etc. The problem? I had to dismantle this solid block and rebuild it without the upper decks and bridge. There was a silver lining though because as a result of reshaping the hull I found places where I could mount the turrets and I incorporated TWO storage hangar bays and a “Launching Bay” in the belly of the ship. Anyhoo here is a gallery of shots from various angles around the rebuilt destroyer…

I found a couple of nice nesting locations to put two turrets to defend the aft quarters of the ship and had two rows of turrets running from bow to stern which provides a wall of firepower along each side of the ship. These were also mirrored on the lower surfaces of the hull too. This thing is armed to the teeth! You will also see the “Launch Bay” and launch tube on the underside of the ship illuminated by the red chevrons.

Now this ship needed to be trialled in various conditions and locations so I took it for a spin around the galaxy and as always had some photos taken…here’s a few more snapshots…

The ship seemed to handle well and all the lights lit up so now I wanted to stretch the legs of this new Destroyer…it would be fairly ulseless if this ship couldn’t get to trouble spots quickly so we need HYPERDRIVE! Check these pics out!…..

Wow this thing can shift…I did the Kessel Run in 11.9 Parsecs! That’s faster than the Falcon! You will have seen two of these pictures showing the storage hangars and a view from the Launch Bay and tunnel…well that would mean this ship must carry smaller ships right? You are correct and I hope to post that fighter in next week’s post. This just about wraps up this post as I am struggling with tech once more, but I have some GREAT news that has occurred this week.

My new boots have arrived from the USA and I am absolutely gobsmacked (English slang for totally amazed and lost for words) at how gorgeous these things are! They arrived bang on time as estimated and what an experience when I opened them up and tried them on for the first time. They fit like a second skin – not surprising considering all the measurements I had to send in – at one point I thought they were gonna ask for my hat size too! Anyway I hope to do a full review along with my costume but here is a sneak peek of them.

These boots are outstanding and that new Jedi Boot Leather smell…Oooh! But I can’t stop and enjoy the scents I have to finish now but I’d like to thank my friend Lord_S_Gray for challenging me to build this starship – it took some to-ing and fro-ing but I think it turned out well. I also have to thank you my readers/viewers as I recently passed my fourth year Blogaversary and the 22,000 views milestone. So thanks for all the support over the years it is much appreciated and keeps me posting! I hope you will call back again and see the Vornyx Fighter to accompany this Destroyer in next week’s post. Till next time…..

“Destroyer” is a Lord_S_Gray and For Tyeth Editions design based on a vehicle in Lord_S_Gray’s fan-fiction story posted on Ultrasaber’s Forum – SaberForum.com. The design, 3D model and renders are ©Copyright of Lord_S_Gray and For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020.

“The Artisan Staff” Inspired by Sabine Wren

Hello Everybody, today I have a colourful offering from the Star Wars cartoon Rebels, and it is a colourful weapon for a colourful character. You may have seen me mention the Rebel ship called “The Ghost” which is the heroes’ ship in Rebels. It’s crew consists of the captain, Hera Syndula who is a Twi’Lek with superb flying skills. Next there is Kanan Jarrus, a former Jedi Knight who teaches a young human named Ezra Bridger the ways of the Force. There is also Zeb Orrellios the Lasat warrior I mentioned in the Callous Saber post. Finally there is a young Mandalorian woman named Sabine Wren, who hailed from the political family Clan Wren of House Vizsla. This family was steeped in Mandalorian culture with one ancestor building the famous black bladed lightsaber called the Darksaber. But Sabine was enrolled at the Imperial Academy and progressed through the Empire and developed highly dangerous weapons (which she deeply regretted later). Sabine eventually became a rebel and became infamous for her “artwork” which included repainting Imperial Tie Fighters and buildings (she also blew a few up too!). So, enough chat for now here are a few pictures of Sabine and you’ll see why she is so colourful…

Sabine wears Mandalorian Beskar armour which she forged as part of her rights of passage and culture, but she had a much more colourful flair than most Mandoes. From the abstract and Impressionistic illustrations on her armour to her various shades of hair colour Sabine stood out. She even earned the nickname “The Artist” – given to her by the local Stormtroopers because of her paintings she left behind as her calling card.

Now Mandalorians are famous for using bladed weapons – the most famous of which I have mentioned above, the Darksaber. So I felt Sabine needed a saber of her own, something that fit her style and flair….so I built a double bladed staff weapon for her. Here is a wire frame to show my progress as I built it…

If you look closely you will see this staff has shrouds on the emitters, thin neck sections and a central body shell with a handgrip similar to a Graflex. You might also have seen the little black and white checkered ball on the right hand panel of the screen? Well that is one of the materials/textures I added to this staff. But you can’t see textures in a wireframe image so you’ll want to see some Glamour Shots….OK here they are…

Yes I think this is colourful enough! The emitters have Cal Kestis styled shrouds (as seen in the Star Wars game Jedi Fallen Order) but then there are twin choke point sections that are coated in a shattered multi coloured pattern. These choke points have tactical grips to aid spinning the weapon with out losing hold of it. The central body section has the famous handgrip ribs similar to those found on Anakin and Rey’s lightsaber – a classic design cue. And the saber has twin golden yellow blades to represent the rising sun of a new day….another day for Sabine to create her art. Speaking of creating art I did experiment a little with this design and tried out a few functions of Blender. I created a couple of images using 2D and 3D compositing techniques.

The two “poster” images show off Sabine’s colourful look and my attempt to match it, while the third image in front of a building has a special visual effect applied to it to make it look like a cartoon with heavy outlines. All three use a mix of 2D and 3D elements layered together.

Anyhoo, I am afraid I am near the end of this post. I apologise that there wasn’t as many images this time out but I am being careful not to overtax my laptop. But I can promise I have a TON of images for next week as I will be launching the battleship cruiser I built for a friend’s Fan Fiction story over the past month or two. It is ready for it’s trials! I hope you will join me for that new design and for more future posts. Thank you all for checking out The Artisan Staff today, whether it is your first visit or you are a regular caller to this site – as always you’re much appreciated. And if you like what you have seen don’t forget to leave a comment or click to follow Ftsabersite – I left a Follow Me button at the top of the sidebar menu! Stay safe….Till next time…..

“The Artisan Staff” saber is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the Star Wars Rebels character “Sabine Wren” and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/Ftsabersite 2016-2020. “Star Wars Rebels”, “Sabne Wren” and all other names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

The Order of Knighthood Rapier lightsaber by PsychoSith

Hello Everybody….yes I am still here! As some may know last Saturday I had another “Technical Issue” but I was able to re-install Windows (4th time since February) and I seem to have the latest build available and it is now updated. This means I have the privilege of bring a long awaited new saber from my friend PsychoSith from the lightsaber forum I frequent.

As some may remember PsychoSith is a fantastic artist (though he doesn’t think so due to being very modest) and creates fabulous pencil and ink pictures of lightsabers. He designs hilts for characters in his own Fan Fiction stories he writes and for other members of the forum. (You can see his work here: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=41788.0 and here: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/tag/psychosith-sabers/) He even drew a gorgeous version of my Thor inspired “Asguard” saber. Well his latest design is called “The Order of Knighthood” and has a ceremonial look and feel to it and rightly so, it attracted a lot of compliments and then the requests for me to make a 3D render of it flowed in. So I didn’t want to disappoint and set to work. Here is the first gallery showing Psycho’s awesome drawing and my wireframe tests…

The artwork is again beautiful but I had a bit of difficulty interpreting what the handgrip actually consisted of, it looked like it had lots of “octopus style” suction cups but I decided to go with a “Grenade Grip” with raised blocks. I did manage to recreate the pommel fairly closely and the crystal fixture looked pretty good. However I had a BIG challenge in replicating the guards over the handgrip. Unfortunately I only had one sideways on image to work from so I couldn’t tell that the guard was meant to be a curved plate and it looked like two curved rods. So I modelled the guards as two sweeping bars that form a sort of cage or “whiskers”. I was fairly pleased so far so I sent Psycho a few test renders, here they are in gallery two…

I was so pleased when Psycho replied and said he liked the guards – they were something he hadn’t considered and they made the hilt less bulky. He also asked if I could add a bit more colour in the form of a few gold accents and so I worked on the tweaks. Here are a few more pictures with the added bling, switch and blades….

Again, I felt this hilt was coming together nicely so I saved copies of the files up to my cloud storage (luckily!) and sent the new renders for approval. Psycho once more liked the updates and we sort of ended the conversation there but I still felt there was a few things I could add. So I placed an etch above the switch, modified the crystal feature and worked on a second colour scheme. I will be honest, the etch in the following pictures isn’t the original image I carved into the hilt. Sadly I lost that image file when my laptop glitched on Saturday and so I have had to quickly add a new graphic and render these over the past 2-3 days. I think it still works ok, here are more pics!…..

You may notice that the crystal feature “disappeared” but don’t worry it is just the modification I made so that the crystal is housed safely in the handgrip during use but can spring open to have it displayed (or make alterations to it’s settings). The etch sort of works still but could be sharper but I was pushed for time.

Have you had enough pictures? Of course not! I mentioned I made a second colour scheme so here is a final gallery of the Sith variant for the Dark Side followers…

I am seriously thinking of making a third version of this hilt in black and gold but with a Jedi green blade for myself! I really like this hilt, so much so I wish I had come up with the design. Thankfully PsychoSith sort of lets me share!

Well that just about brings this post to an end and I hope you like this rather elegant offering. I’d like to thank PsychoSith for allowing me to share his talents with you all. It very nearly didn’t happen but I am determined to keep blogging and posting no matter what “issues” I suffer. I will say I have lost some of my files that I was in the process of uploading to the “cloud” once again but have enough I saved to last a few weeks. Hopefully you will call back to check out what I have left to display while I work on building more new sabers.

So thank you for checking out this awesome PsychoSith saber and for supporting me and my site. Whether this is your first visit or if you are a regular caller, you’re all very much appreciated. Till next time…..

“The Order of Knighthood” saber is a PsychoSith Sabers design, modelled in 3D by For Tyeth. All the artwork here including the sketches, design, 3D model and renders are ©Copyright of PsychoSith Sabers and For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020.

Callous Saber ISB-021. A saber for a Double Agent.

Hello everybody hope you are well. Something strange has happened recently, I noticed a spike in my viewing figures yesterday and when I investigated I found something funny. It turns out somebody that posts on the video gaming/entertainment site Polygon has linked to my site….only they linked to a picture of Padme Amidala in her Geonosis outfit I included in my “Aggressive Negotiator” post! So the people clicking to view my site are just looking at Padme. Luckily I have something for you all to see today in the shape of a new saber design.

This saber is a tribute to Agent Kallus, the Imperial Security Bureau operative famous for chasing the crew of the Rebel ship The Ghost in Star Wars Rebels. Agent Kallus came from Coruscant and attended the Empire’s top academy, graduating as top pupil. He joined the Imperial Security Bureau and earned a reputation of wanting peace – but the Empire’s view of peace. This led to crushing several outbursts of rebellion and even wiped out a whole species after using a devastating new weapon. So being that Kallus is an Imperial and he has already wiped out a society….why would I make a new saber for him? Well, his story takes an interesting change later and I’ll tell you about it after I post my first gallery. Here is Callous Saber – ISB 021….

This saber is inspired by the uniform Agent Kallus wore as an Imperial officer and I incorporated details that look like his body armour and rank insignia. The blade is a plain white colour (similar to those my Trooper inspired hilts had). It projects from the emitter which has a distinct “panelled” look to it that represents both the interior of a Star Destroyer and the chest armour of Agent Kallus’ uniform. Below the emitter is the switch bezel ring with the red and blue segments, this represents the rank insignia badges the Empire use that consist of the coloured square blocks.

Kallus ascended through the ranks despite not always having success in his missions. On one mission he was hailed by the Empire as he quashed an uprising on the planet Lasan – but at the high cost of wiping out the native species. He then spent a whole year chasing The Ghost and Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Hera Syndula and Garazeb Orrelios (aka Zeb) In another skirmish, he and Zeb become stranded on a moon of Geonosis and the pair have to fight together to survive. This wasn’t easy as Zeb was the lone survivor of the attack on Lasan, a warrior of the species Kallus wiped out. After working out a truce both men were rescued and went their separate ways.

Ok enough talk I think it’s time for gallery two….

These pictures show that this hilt is versatile as it can be combined with a second hilt to form a staff weapon. The two hilts have a locking mechanism integrated into the pommel design. The pics also show the pommel grille looks like the Empire’s cog logo…back to the story though and things were about to change for the Imperial Agent….

Having failed to capture the rebels, this brought the situation to the attention of Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader. Vader and Tarkin arrived on Lothal and immediately clamped down in an attempt to quell the rebel activity which was affecting production of Imperial TIE-Fighters and weaponry. But in a strange turn of events the Rebels started receiving vital information from a shadowy individual codenamed “Fulcrum”, allowing the Rebels to evade the traps set by Tarkin. The Grand Moff realised that the Empire had a spy in it’s ranks and eventually uncovered and captured the traitor. That traitor turned out to be…Kallus. During another attempt by the Empire to capture the Ghost’s crew the Rebels escaped once more but also rescued Kallus. Alexandr Kallus….Agent Kallus….Fulcrum….then became a fully fledged member of the Rebellion, helping the Rebels win key engagements and defeating the Empire on Lothal and later in the Battle of Yavin resulting in the Death Star’s destruction.

Finally, Zeb took Kallus on a journey to a mysterious uncharted location and on that planet lived a group of long lost Lasat people – the Lasat being the species that Kallus thought he had wiped out (with the exception of Zeb). The Lasat had heard of Kallus’ actions helping the Rebellion and felt he had redeemed himself, and so forgave him. This is why Alexandr Kallus in my eyes sort of earned a For Tyeth designed saber.

That just about wraps up this post but before I go I mentioned the TIE-Fighters being built on Lothal….well I have built one myself and given it a For Tyeth twist! You’ll be able to see that spaceship and a whole crate load of sabers including a very colourful graffiti inspired staff. Plus I have a super special saber based on a special Force sensitive canine species! I hope you’ll call back to see those, but in the meantime it’s the thank you messages. Thank you so much for looking in on this design and for all the support you have given me (even if you just wanted to see Padme 😁). You are all very much appreciated, so stay safe and….Till next time….

“Callous Saber ISB-021” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020. The design is inspired by the character Agent Kallus seen in Star Wars Rebels. “Agent Kallus” and all names, images, logos and reated material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

Mobile Beam Saber – Inspired by Mobile Suit Gundam anime

Hello Everybody, today I have a fairly simple saber offering which comes as a result of me scouring the Internet and social media. I went for a virtual walk around the Internet and a few weeks ago someone on the Ultrasabers forum mentioned the classic Anime series “Mobile Suit Gundam” and the weapons used in the show. The series was created/directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino in 1979 and featured large “battle suit Mechas” known as Gundam armours. These “robots” were piloted by human operators during a disastrous war that wiped out half of Earth’s population. The show ran for 43 (initial) episodes before various factors led to it’s partial cancellation. A few years later Gundam was re-worked and edited into three movies and a new toy line was created featuring models of Gundam suits (Gunpla I think is the toy range’s name). Well it turns out the Gundam were armed with specialised weaponry and one such weapon was the “Beam Saber”. The Beam Saber is very much like a lightsaber in appearance and function, a hilt with an extending “plasma” blade which can cut through armour plating. So knowing these details I modelled a quick Blender 3D version of the Bandia toys replica of the Beam Saber…here is the early build pictures…

I thought this was ok as a starting point for the saber and posted this to the Ultrasabers forum but I knew it wasn’t really as sharp as I’d like. However I kept working on it behind the scenes, a little detail here, another there. Then I discovered a new add-on tool that helped me greatly to add much more crisp detailing features. The add-on assisted in making cut-outs, slots/windows and recesses as well as fusing separate sections into one solid part. As I was tinkering I also ventured onto social media and one particular FB page where I discovered that a member of the group was also asking about this particular saber – i.e. “had it been made as a custom lightsaber”. Well a fellow 3D designer and “unofficial” admin for the group said “Yeah I could probably make one…if you get me more pictures”. To build my model I used one image that I found on the net of a replica Beam Saber toy made by Bandai and the toy looked like this…

Bandai Toys replica Beam Saber electronic toy ©Bandai Toys Ltd

So I don’t think my first attempt was too far off, but with the new add-on I knew I could do better and I finished adding the missing details to come up with this final version I am posting now…another gallery (check out the new switch section area!)

I finished the design off by adding my own take on the pommel as you don’t really see the speaker grill/vent on the replica toy image. I could have looked for accurate pictures of the toy from other angles but adding my own pommel just sets this hilt aside from being a straight copy. But I have to say I like the way the switch section turned out! The new add-on allowed me to create a beautiful and sharp looking recessed area complete with the three bar switch plungers. I even added a socket for a recharge cable near the pommel and the black recessed grooves along the body of the hilt.

All in all I’m happy how this model looks and it proved to me I am getting more accurate and detailed in my recreations now – and it was created from ONE reference image. And that just about wraps up this post, I could have gone into detail about the TV show but it has a history spanning 40 years and numerous re-incarnations and reboots, not to mention DVD releases and computer games, which is all covered in a large Wiki Fandom page. I will say that the 2-3 episodes of a later series I watched for reference were raw and more adult orientated than I expected so maybe not suitable for Younglings!

Thank you all for looking in on this design, it was interesting and fun building it – especially as I once again completed my version before the “big guys” in the industry finish any they may be working on. However I have a lot more original and bespoke designs firmly based in the Star Wars universe so I hope you will call back for upcoming posts featuring more saber models and starships. As always thank you for your visit and support, it’s much appreciated and till next time….stay safe!

“Mobile Beam Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inpsired by Mobile Suit Gundam also known as First Gundam or Gundam 0079. Gundam ’79 is a televised anime series, produced and animated by Nippon Sunrise. It was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, The Beam Saber image is Trademark and ©Copyright of Bandai Eectronic Toys ltd. The 3D model and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020 and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020.