“Amban Saber” – Inspired by The Book of Boba Fett

Hello Everybody, hope you are all well. I will be honest, I am not exactly my usual self today as things in real life are just beginning to annoy me a bit and as such feel really “deflated” (well I say just beginning, they have bothered me for a while though I don’t normally mention the issues). So what better way to try and brighten my outlook and mood than a new saber? I have mentioned before that there is a big new wave of interest in Star Wars’ The Mandalorian and now there is a new show on Disney+ that is rumoured to be equally big and it features Boba Fett! “The Book of Boba Fett”(aka BoBF) is showcasing the events that take place after the movie Return of the Jedi, and shows how Boba Fett escapes from the Saarlac Pit creature and what he does afterwards on Tattooine. I haven’t seen either The Mandalorian or BoBF as I don’t have Disney+ but I know that both Din Djarin (The Mando) and Boba Fett use a distinctive laser rifle named the Amban Pulse Phase Rifle. And it is looks a bit like this…

A LONG rifle with a LONG name!

The weapon is a type of disruptor and has a unique shaped shoulder stock rest….but an even more unique “tuning fork” shaped barrel muzzle. I thought that despite not being the most practical it was sort of cool and different. This got me thinking, “What if Amban made a lightsaber? What would it look like?”. And just as with my “Mandalorian Lego Spaceship” last week, I decided why not tinker with Blender and build one! So here is gallery one…

I reckoned that if Amban made sabers then they would have incorporated the Tuning Fork motif into the design somehow and so I used it to form the emitter! The blade projects from the hilt and is flanked by two large “axe-blade” prongs that can be used in Melee situations where a lit lightsaber would be impractical. The saber is in a rusted green metal texture to replicate the worn out damaged armour Boba Fett wears (due to the time he spent covered in stomach acid after being swallowed by the aforementioned Saarlac) but has been adorned with shiny new gold parts and handgrip reflecting his new found success as the Kingpin of Tattooine. The grip I really like as the geometry(the mesh that forms the model’s shape) is highly complex which is amazing my laptop could manage to make. Anyhoo, there are a few little details so I’ll present gallery two to highlight those….

The handgrip is a mass of holes, almost like chain mail armour and incorporates an activation switch neatly recessed into it. The Tuning Fork blades are also in gold edged with flaking green and they each have a Mythosaur skull emblem moulded on them – the Mythosaur being the emblem of Mandalorians as seen in my “Mandalawrian Saber” hilts from a few years ago. You can check that one (and the Boba Legend variant) using this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2019/11/16/the-mandalawrian-saber-hes-here-to-take-you-in/

The pommel end cap also has a Mythosaur along with a Covertech Belt clip – the round wheel shaped knob used to hang the saber from a belt hanger. The Covertech I borrowed from another Mandalorian themed hilt, “The Quartermaster” https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2021/07/24/the-quartermaster-saber-inspired-by-the-mandalorians-the-armourer/ which I felt helped to tie the three Mando designs together. The third image shows the blade emitting diode which is “T-shaped” to replicate the famous Mandalorian styled helmet visor.

You would think that this was a new and exciting design from Amban but you would be wrong, a lot of newcomers to Star Wars think that , or saw Boba Fett and his rifle first appeared in the 1980 film Empire Strikes Back – BUT as the fourth picture shows Boba Fett actually made an appearance WAY, WAY, WAY back in an animated segment of the infamous Star Wars parody “Holiday Special” from 1978! It was only a short clip about 3-5 minutes long but Lucasfilm returned to include Boba in “Empire” and now he and his rifle are the focus of the new blockbuster show!

That, I think just about concludes this design…thanks for checking it out and I hope you liked it. I feel a little better in myself for having posted it, I’d like to thank all of you for the support you show me and this site, whether this was your first visit or you regularly call back it means a lot to me. As such I still have some LEGO models to show off that I created in the Digital Designer software (and they are Mando and BoBF themed!”…plus I am working on new sabers (albeit slowly!) all for upcoming posts so please don’t miss those!. MTFBWY and Till next time…..

“Amban Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the “Amban Pulse Phase Rifle” seen in Disney/Lucasfim’s “The Mandalorian” and new “Book of Boba Fett” TV shows. The saber design, model and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite in Blender 3D and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. All Star Wars names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

A LEGO “Mando Infiltrator” MOC (My Own Creation) ….or is it? Inspired by Johnson Ting’s Artwork

Hello Everybody and welcome back to today’s second post! And this one is another that has a twist in it’s tale! As you will know if you’re a regular viewer that I discovered the Lego Digital Designer (aka LDD for short) application last year and decided to give it a try. I like messing with building bricks almost as much as messing with sabers but I don’t have the money or space to indulge in buying/displaying Lego toys….but with the Digital Designer I was able to recreate real official sets and create my own bespoke creations. Well, I posted pic of my Lego Jedi Interceptor that I built in LDD on the Ultrasabers’ fan forum as a few members there are avid Lego fans. One particular member named The Dutchman was writing a fan-fiction story and had an idea for a Mandalorian “Infiltrator” spaceship and posed the question if I could make a ship in Lego. He sent me a picture of what he had in mind. This picture:

The “Inspiration” for this build.

My friend described this to me as if it were an obscure design from an old Star Wars computer game that he wanted to “re-purpose” as the ship for his story’s character. I saw the image and liked the design immediately but thought it might be difficult to replicate in building bricks….but you know me I like a challenge! So I set to work and got carried away – within an hour I had already built the main base shape for the ship and I sent pictures to my friend. These were the first builds….

Not bad for noob brick builder! I managed to get the cockpit modelled, the hanging engine pods on the wingtips, the sloped rear cargo door….even the “Droid Sensor Probes” ejection bay on top of the fuselage. My friend was ecstatic with the model and wanted to use it for his story as planned. He asked if I could render some more images for his story but I needed to polish the model a bit and make the model appear “smoother” by adding tiles that didn’t have Lego Studs on to streamline the ship. To do this I wanted a few more reference images. I couldn’t find any reference to this ship on any website relating to Star Wars which I found strange, but then I saw a small thumbnail image of a “Dropship Design” and clicked on it. The link led me to an Artstation style website that stores images and the picture I found there had another link written on it. I again followed the link and discovered that this ship was created by a highly talented person named Johnson Ting, a graphic designer that produces concept art for games such as “Destiny 2” and “Gears of War”!

Anyhow I had modelled the ship in Lego form and I refined my model by adding the smooth tiles and I added a few “Play Features” too. So here is a gallery of my model…

You can see I modified my original model’s cockpit by enlarging it to fit a Lego Mini-Figure, I repositioned the sensor launch bay slightly to smooth the ship’s lines and added many little details like lights and door control panels (using printed tiles) . I made the “play features” by adding opening storage lockers into the engine and cargo pods, the cargo ramp/door hinges open/closed and inside I made a small levitating cargo trolley that slides inside the cargo bay (on a set of rails built into the walls of the interior!)

On the underside of the ship I added a set of folding undercarriage but unfortunately I just realised the picture I have above shows an early version of the model..D’oh! But the landing struts are there as you can see in Picture 2 of the first gallery. You can see the Droid Sensor bay and the opening cargo pod lockers much clearer in this gallery.

All in all, I didn’t think this was too shabby considering it was the second ship I had modelled and this one had no instructions (I recreated Lego’s Jedi Interceptor from downloaded PDF instructions found on Lego’s website). So I don’t know if this counts as “My Own Creation” or not as Johnson Ting originally drew up this fantastic spaceship in….2012! He states on his website that he didn’t think they were very good…what? I think I can claim the Lego Model variant as my work but it wouldn’t have been possible without Mr Ting’s wonderful artwork first. Maybe he will let me share the design? I will leave a link to Mr Ting’s website which has a portfolio crammed with images from his various projects. The link to his site is: https://johnsonting.art/

Today has been a busy posting day for me (two posts you lucky people) and it’s getting to the point where I have to end, but first my thanks and farewells. To Mr Ting, thank you so much for designing such an awesome ship, I really thought it was from a Star Wars game so it fooled me – for a while till I discovered your site. And to all of you my viewers/readers/visitors…thank you also for taking time to check out my Lego Creation today. I hope you like it and will also check out Mr Ting’s site. For me I have more to show in upcoming posts including some “Speeder Bike” designs inspired by The Mandalorian show and a new saber for the most famous Bounty Hunter in the Star Wars Galaxy! Remember whether you are a first timer on FTSabersite or a regular caller, you’re much appreciated….Till next time…..one final farewell….

RIP Marvin (Michael) Lee Aday Meatloaf – You took us to Hell and Back and we thank you for it.

“Lego Mando Infiltrator” is a For Tyeth Editions Lego build inspired by the artwork and design created by Johnson Ting. His artwork and concept are ©Copyright 2012 and can be found on his website (link in post above). The Lego model and renders are the work of For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022.

Katana Re-Wrap : A Shout-out to Mac Coyzkie for his Tutorial

Hello Everybody, last week I posted my version of a Katana inspired lightsaber and it had a “Traditional” style Tsuka Ito handgrip wrap. I mentioned that I had struggled for a looooong time to get the wrap to work as I couldn’t get Blender 3D to curve the wrapping anti-clockwise. I eventually turned to YouTube and I found a tutorial by a gentleman named Mac Coyzkie who modelled a Katana and, most importantly, showed a trick as to how to wrap the handle. So as thanks to him I’m posting his video here and I’ll leave links to his YouTube channel so you can check out his other material (a lot of computer/tech related stuff not just 3D modelling). Ok so here is the video…get your popcorn out….

It was really that simple! All I had to do was create a duplicate curled strip and then resize it so it’s geometry co-ordinates were set to negative values! However, there wasn’t any clear instructions in Blender or on any forum as to how to achieve the effect. But I was able to follow these instructions and think I made a decent job of recreating Mac’s wrapping technique. So thank you very much Mr Coyzkie.

I said I’d include a link to Mac’s YouTube platform and here it is: https://www.youtube.com/c/MacCoyzkie/featured

I like to give credit where it’s due and I thank Mac once again, but the fun doesn’t end here for today….No I have another LEGO Forge creation to reveal in my second post of the day…and it’s a new spaceship! Hope to see you in Post 2!

Mac Coyzkie is a computing and tech enthusiast and this video and many more are available on his YouTube channel (linked above) The video is his property and Copyright of Mac Coyzkie.

Katana FT – For expands his Katana Collection

Hello Everybody and welcome to my new Star Wars Visions inspired design. I think I previously mentioned that I had watched Star Wars Visions, the anime inspired TV series but was finding individual characters to build a hilt for difficult. Most of the big characters already had sabers but I really wanted to build a Japanese inspired hilt from scratch so I modelled one for myself – after a bit of a struggle. I did make some Katana styled hilts before but they were either using the old Adaptive Saber Parts builder from Saberforge that I stopped using or the hilts I modelled in Blender didn’t have the iconic Tsuka Ito handgrip wrapping. Well today I set that straight. First however I need to explain the issue I had modelling that handgrip!

One of the reasons I hadn’t gotten round to modelling a Katana is the fact a Katana is very simple but very stylised. Almost everyone on the planet would recognise a “Ninja” or “Samurai” sword from the long narrow blade with a subtle curve and the diamond patterned handgrip made from a wrapping of silk. The blade I initially managed to model using a “Curve Modifier” that allowed me to model a straight blade with the cross section shape I wanted then I created a Curve Object to match the Katana blade’s bend then instructed Blender 3D to “bend” the straight blade to match the “Curve Object”. But the diamond pattern handgrip was a whole different problem. I have modelled a leather wrap before on a saber (such as my The Quartermaster and Nerf Frightener hilts) but that entailed curving a flat strip along a spiral path. Blender has a function called the “Screw Modifier” which like the Curve Mod takes an object and morphs it along an outline path except the Screw Mod curls the object into a spiral or screw like shape. (See picture 1)

Picture 1: Basic strip

The problem is that a Katana has a “criss-cross” pattern and it is easier to make using two long strips curled into spirals – so I duplicated the strip seen in Picture 1 and rotated it so it would overlap to form the criss-cross. Only problem? It didn’t because both strips just interlaced to form a nice looking regular wrap. This was because I needed an anti-clockwise strip to overlap a clockwise strip and no matter how I rotated or altered the settings in the Screw Modifier I couldn’t work out how to wind an object Anti-clockwise (See Picture 2 and 3).

Picture 2: Two strips but both wind clockwise

Picture 3: Two clockwise strips just interlace as one.

I finally turned to YouTube and looked up Katana modelling and in one video the 3D artist made one spiral strip rotating clockwise which he duplicated as I had done BUT here was the magic, he then RESIZED the strip so the height, width and length values were NEGATIVE.

Picture 4: One strip (L) wound clockwise and second (R)wound anti-clockwise after resizing it to negative

This resulted in all the geometry being twisted Anti-clockwise! I went back into Blender and duplicated my spiral strip then resized it into Negative values (Seen in Picture 4) and I had two strips which, when positioned together formed a criss-cross or plaited arrangement. I just had to tweak the size of the duplicate strip so it fitted over the original and gave the illusion of being woven or plaited. The final step was to add some thickness to the strips then apply textures to them. You can see the final result in Pictures 5 and 6.

Picture 5: Both strips overlapped, creating the “Diamond Pattern”

Picture 6: Strips with textures applied and adjusted to appear “woven”

Sorry if that explanation was long winded but it’s sometimes hard to describe something in 3D so that people can visualise what you are talking about. So I think you deserve to enjoy the Glamour Shots, here is Katana FT…

I am kinda proud of this saber as I can now say I’ve ticked another Iconic blade off my “To Do List”. On an actual Katana handgrip there are usually small metal plaques visible in the diamond cut-outs but I left those off as they are usually decorated to represent particular clans or families that own the hilt. I did add some etching on the gold accent parts – the pommel end cap and the oval handguard called a Tsuba. I also envisaged the activation switch would be incorporated into the handguard – by pressing one of the inlaid panels created by the etch meaning the switch is “hidden” in the pattern…but I did add my initials as a decoration on the pommel end cap (the letters FT are in Aurabesh which looks a bit like oriental text). And of course the blade has a plasma edging to it – I could have had a regular lightsaber blade but when you extinguish the power the blade disappears but with this Katana you retain the metal blade to allow you to sheave it in a scabbard.

And with that I think I have covered everything and I am coming near to the end of this post. As ever I’d like to thank you all for checking this design out and hope you liked it (ok maybe the design lesson was boring but it gave context to the design!) I sincerely hope you will al return for future posts as I have some more LEGO Forge builds including a Mandalorian ship and speeder bike! I also hope to have more news on my recent Nerf blaster purchases too. So again, thank you for calling in today, it is much appreciated. Till next time….

“Katana FT” is a For Tyeth Editions design and was modelled and rendered in Blender 3D. The model and image renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Star Wars: Visions” is Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd.

“Regnant C.K.” A bit of spinning bling for Saber Queen Carly King

Hello Everybody and welcome to the first post of 2022 (not counting the 2021 Review last week!) I have to say that I have not quite been 100% this past 7 days as I had my Covid booster jab and felt a bit drained (nothing serious, I just felt I had no energy or enthusiasm to do anything). But luckily I had been working on something which I can post today. I had before Christmas, been watching a few videos on social media from the “Lightsaber Experts” and came across a young lady that is well known as a TikTok creator and lightsaber spinner. I watched a few demos and reviews and in one vid the lady mentioned the colour of saber she liked best and the style of hilt for spinning. Well, I realised that I had a design I could modify and make into the perfect spinning blade for her. I also put a small animation together to show it off. Here is Regnant C.K….

The young lady is named Carly King which is kinda regal and I reworked a recent design I made for Darth Krall into a “spinning” hilt…oh and I added a little personalisation “bling” to it. The Darth Krall hilt was ostentatious but had a much more angular shaped “neck” area on the hilt between the blade emitter and the activation switch, however I cut this section out and replaced it with a contoured/fluted neck which smoothed the lines giving a nice “choke point”. The choke point is vital when spinning a hilt, it needs to be comfy but still provide a secure grip. This also resulted in the saber having a more elegant flow to it’s lines. Here is a selection of pictures in gallery one….

You can clearly see the contoured neck between the windowed emitter and the switch. This area is where the thumb and forefinger wrap around and the wider emitter and switch prevent the saber from sliding up or down in your grip. If you tried that with the Krall version it would hurt as the neck is squared off as seen here…

You could grip here but as I say the contoured neck is much more comfortable. The Regnant C.K. also has a few dark accent parts to break up the gold but I retained the scroll etching which compliments the new pommel endcap. Here’s gallery two to showcase those details…

The pommel endcap is embossed and etched with a stylised crown logo and Carly’s initials. The crown doesn’t indicate King but refers to a Queen, as Carly has been called the Queen of Spinning by some people on the net. And the definition for the name of the saber, Regnant, refers to a reigning female monarch – the “Queen Regnant” and the initials C.K – Carly King!

Now I mentioned in one of her videos Carly told us what her favourite colour blade was…well actually she mentioned three colours (very indecisive!) but I am nothing if not accommodating so I modelled three hilts, one in each colour she picked…

To finish I will include the two short fly-around 360degree video clips I edited together so you can watch them separately…

I think that just about covers everything. But I will leave a few links to Carly’s YouTube channel and it’s About Me/Links pages so you can check out her content.

Carly King YouTube Channel Home: https://www.youtube.com/c/carlyking

Carly’s About Me/Links page: https://www.youtube.com/c/carlyking/about

I will be keeping an eye on her channel and Discord server because I believe Carly might be planning a Star Wars cookery series too – I suggested calling it “Cosmic Cooking with Carly King” ! But for now I have to end this post. As always thank you so much for checking this post out, I hope you enjoyed it and if you’re new around here then hopefully you’ll return to see future designs and content. To my regulars, thanks for sticking around, Till next time….

“Regnant C.K.” is a For Tyeth Editions design. It was designed, modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and all models, videos and images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022.

For Tyeth’s Review of 2021 and Here’s to Something New in 2022!

Hello Everybody and it’s that time of the year where we say goodbye to the last 12 months and welcome a new dozen…It’s New Years! And wow what a year it has been. There have been ups and downs, good times and bad…fortune and misfortune…and everything inbetween. So in this post I want to take a quick look back at what I accomplished and I welcome you to join me on a trip back through the archives….It all started in January (what a surprise!)……

P.S. To access each month’s posts please use the sidebar “Back Blogs” links on the right hand side of the page ok!

January

Well 2021 started with the UK and the world battling a Pandemic in the form of Covid and that meant I had to stay indoors for a while. This actually helped me as I had more time to design and finish my “Miraculous – Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir” themed hilts and create a lightsaber Katana for the Dragon of martial arts….Bruce Lee!

February:

Well that seemed to be a good start to the year design-wise, but as always I wanted “bigger and better” so I needed to up my game. It was around February that I started to re-watch some Star Wars DVDs and was inspired by the bright red Praetorian Guards of Supreme Leader Snoke in The Last Jedi and by a special fuel source in the movie SOLO. That fuel source was Coaxium…very potent and powerful….so I built a saber that ran on Coaxium! And it was rather elegant I think…

I also modelled a replica of the lightsaber owned by the last living Skywalker, Cade Skywalker, that appeared in Dark Horse Comic’s Star Wars graphic novels….and I started learning about a new series of material covering the “High Republic Era” of SW history. It was the time when the Jedi were at their peak and the Sith were temporarily defeated…a peaceful elegant time. Oh yes and I bought a couple of (Nerf) Blasters to modify!

March:

And so time does “March” on and we enter the third month. More “Lockdowns” and restrictions…vaccinations, mayhem and missed holidays…confusion amid that pesky Covid…just the right conditions for the Sith to return. And they did in the form of my friend “Darth Prodigal”. Darth Prodigal is a member of the Ultrasabers’ fan forum, and we chatted a bit and he revealed he had an idea for a “Halberd Lightsaber” – a battle axe combined with a lightsaber – and it was suggested I do my magic and model it in 3D. So I did. Not only did I model an axe saber, but there was a hilt inspired by the SW cartoon Resistance and it’s aerobatic racing ships, a Star Trek spanner and a saber for a YouTuber named Lord Draconical who reviews Nerf blasters and foam flinging devices (oh and he had a replica saber in one of his videos)….

Ooh! Star Trek has invaded FTSabersite? And the Sith seem to be building their strength as Darth Prodigal and Lord Draconical appear to be gaining confidence….the Darkness is rising….can the Light rise to meet it? Well you will have to join me on Page Two to find out as my review continues…click the link below!

Pages: 1 2 3 4 5