“Snake-Eyed Saber” Inspired by G.I. Joe’s Ninja Warrior

Hello Everybody, today I bring you another Katana design inspired by a character from Hasbro’s toy line of G.I. Joe. Way back in the 80’s there was a comic book that chronicled the adventures oand missions of an elite force known as the G.I. Joes and one character in particular I took an interest in, That was the elite commando and Ninja known as Snake Eyes. Not a lot was known about this mysterious, silent (literally) covert operations expert, except that he served in the US military in south east Asia where he was injured in combat but saved by another soldier of Japanese descent. This soldier risked his life to retrieve and carry Snake Eyes back to a chopper and rescue despite being ordered to leave Snake on the battlefield. Upon returning to the US and recovering from his injuries Snake discovered that his family had perished in a car accident. So Snake travelled with the Japanese soldier that saved his life and joined the soldier’s family clan….the Arashikage….a Ninja clan!

The Arashikage clan symbol (see explanation of this below)

Snake Eyes went on to study the martial arts and became a black belt in 12…yes 12 martial arts along with his now adopted blood brother who became known as Storm Shadow. Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes would later fall out after Shadow was inadvertently framed for the murder of the clan master. The leader of a group named Cobra blamed Snake Eyes for the death of his brother and sent an assassin to kill Snake but that assassin killed the clan father by mistake using a stolen arrow belonging to Shadow. Shadow fled and Snake returned to the US and the military joining the elite squad G.I Joe.

Snake Eyes left, and Storm Shadow on the right.

Snake’s problems didn’t end here however, as during a mission he received serious facial injuries whilst saving a female soldier named Scarlett, an accident which scarred his face and severed his vocal cords leaving him mute. He somehow survived and completed the mission and afterwards donned a mask and mysterious black body suit. Storm Shadow on the other hand…ended up joining the secretive criminal group Cobra in a attempt to discover the identity of the killer that killed his clan master. As an expert in Ninjitsu, Snake Eyes used bladed weapons such as “Knuckleduster Knives” and the famous Ninja sword or Katana. Today I showcase my lightsaber Katana in honour of this mysterious warrior, here is “Snake-Eyed Saber”

I took my recent Katana design and elongated the handgrip and Tsuka Ito wrapping, recoloured the hilt to match Snake’s stealthy black and silver colour scheme and added a glowing Arashikage clan symbol (if you look cloely to the image of Snake above you can see a non illuminated version of this logo on his Katana blade too.) This saber was difficult to get right because as I’ve mentioned before, trying to have two objects that are the same colour (or black in this case) is hard to make them appear and stand apart. But I worked hard to get the leather texture of the hadngrip wrap just the right shade and I’m pleased with the result (the leather really has a 3D look to it). I also liked how the whole saber looked, but enough chatter again…here are a few more pics in Gallery Two….

I added a second Arashikage symbol on the pommel, replacing my initials from the original Katana model. The complete symbol is actually a pair of symbols from the I-Ching, a form of divination or fortune telling, stacked one atop the other . The two symbols are Lí (the lower three lines) meaning “Flame” and the upper three rows are the symbol Kǎn meaning “Water”….the equal and opposite in all things. And what else has an equal and opposite in Star Wars? The Force of course! Light and Dark.

And as with Star Wars, there was bound to be conflict and it would transpire that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow’s paths would cross again but that is for a future post where I will showcase Storm Shadow’s tribute. But before I finish I do want to show you how far my designing has progressed since I started….some viewers/readers may recall waaay back that I did a tribute to these two G.I.Joe characters and created a hilt for them using the old software I had access to…if you don’t recall then here is a quick glimpse of an old design!

Wow! I’ve come a long way since….wait for it….May 4th 2017! Yes five years ago! If you want to check this hilt out then you can find it here: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/snake-eyes-fire-and-water-lightsaber-a-ninjas-lightsaber/

That just about wraps up this tribute to the silent Ninja Warrior, Snake Eyes and his new lightsaber Katana. Thank you so much for checking it out. If you liked this one and my old design please have a look round at some of my other content. I will, as mentioned return to showcase Storm Shadow in a future post along with a set of FIVE katana hilts for a colourful bunch of Ninja teenagers, plus I have some starfighter inspired saber designs too. Oh and I may post on May the Fourth….you know….Star Wars Day! Once again, thanks and till next time….

“Snake-Eyed Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design, modelled and rendered by For Tyeth/FTSabersite in Blender 3D. The model and images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. It is inspired by characters from “G.I. Joe”, created by Hasbro Toys. and is Trademark/©Copyright of Hasbro Toys. The G.I. Joe movies are Trademark/©Copyright of Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and Hasbro Toys.

“Sith Concept – Slant” Saber – The second FT Vault design

Hello Everybody, today I bring you a second design which I had secreted away in my “vault” but have decided to let you all have a look at it. Two weeks ago I showcased the saber “Sith Concept” (which you can see here> https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2022/04/09/sith-concept-saber-an-ft-update-of-an-ultrasaber-aeon-v3/) which was a heavily modified version of an existing lightsaber manufactured by the company called Ultrasabers (their saber is called the Aeon V3). I came up with a design with a “Grenade Grip” handle similar to that seen on Obi-Wan Kenobi’s saber seen in Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars (A New Hope) but as always once I made one modification I went a step further and came up with a second version. This second version had slightly more differences and here are my initial “Mat Cap” models I came up with…

This particular hilt I really like as had just gotten to grips with using curved surfaces and used them to create a beautiful (I think) sweeping emitter. I also felt that upon modelling the “Grenade Grip” on the original, that it was a little “blocky” and I wanted a more sleek streamlined grip so I kept the idea of raised blocks but I elongated them to be rectangular rather than being squared. Elongating the blocks makes the saber’s handgrip look longer but it is the same length…clever huh? As you can see these pictures are just the test renders to see if the shapes of the model work so now I need to show you some Glamour Shots, so here is the first gallery….

As this was a further modification of my first “Sith Concept” design I stuck with the black and gold colour scheme and of course Sith red blade…but I still think this looks like a totally different saber – and I just love how the emitter turned out. It’s fairly basic with just a sweeping curve to it and a simple raised edge to add trim. I say the emitter is basic but modelling the curved edge was complex as I had to curve the part in all three axis. You can see a closer look at the emitter in this next batch of pictures…Gallery Two….

These images really show off the inlaid gold bands and the contrasting raised ridges that make this hilt stand out. I am really pleased how this one turned out and I just wish Ultrasabers’ owners had organised a promotional design contest as I would have loved to have entered this hilt (or my first Sith Concept…. or both!). I might have had a good chance of winning. Anyhoo…. alas they didn’t so I guess that just about wraps up this design. Time to put it back in the “Vault”.

Thank you so much for taking time to check this saber out, I hope you enjoyed it. I promised to get back to lightsabers after my recent Nerfing posts, and the good news is I still have TWO collections of Katana designs (with a total of 7 sabers) and I have new variations of my Mandalorian inspired “Quartermaster” saber. All that plus I have a review of my Qui-Gon Jinn replica I was gifted, some more Foam Dart Flinging blasters to show you and……I have a new mask! I hope you will call back to FTSabersite to check all that out in future posts. Remember whether this is your first visit or you regularly call in to my site, I appreciate it very much. Till next time….

“Sith Concept – Slant” saber is a For Tyeth Editions design, modified from an Ultrasabers Aeon V3 hilt. The 3D model and renders were produced by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The “Aeon V3” lightsaber is manufactured by Ultrasabers and it’s design is Trademark/©Copyright of Ultrasabers.llc.

Nerf Havok-Fire EBF25…This is not a repeat! This is another new FT Blaster.

Hello Everybody, you may recall a few posts back I mentioned that I had acquired a Blaster? A Nerf Havok-Fire EBF25 minigun style foam dart flinging toy? Well I said that I got it because I thought I could modify it and make a nice “Star Wars-y” cosplay prop out of it – the only problem was that it was in such perfect condition I didn’t want to deface or destroy it turning it into a prop. So I figured I’d set up an online shopping account with that big “secondary market” website and I would look to try and buy a second cheap Havok-Fire that wasn’t in such good condition. Aaand….yes well that plan worked out well. I found another Havok-Fire and made a bid for it and again WON! Here is my Stormtrooper door sentry accepting delivery of my latest package…

I think he was hoping the item I bought was a “second hand” to replace his missing one…sadly not. But this package supposedly had my second Havok-Fire in it so I was excited at least. I took my trusty Stanley knife/box cutter and opened the box up and wow was it well wrapped and packed…

Plenty of paper and bubble wrap on this blaster…I could only just make out it was a Nerf blaster! But it was and when I freed it from the packaging I discovered a problem….it too was in PRISTINE condition! Not only that but it was a slightly different version to my original blaster. I found that I couldn’t bring myself to mutilate this example either…I mean look at this…

Now some of you may be thinking…”Hang on this is the same blaster you showed me three weeks ago Tyeth!” but I promise you it isn’t. If you look closely at the barrel you can see that it is slightly shorter -more snub nosed than the original blaster I got and the legs of the tripod are plain grey and not accented in yellow. Here are two pics to show the differences…

Hopefully you can see in the picture with my saber in, that the barrel is a bit longer and the tripod has yellow “socks” on the tripod legs. Otherwise the two are exactly the same and both work perfectly in single shot spring powered mode and the battery powered mode. The two blasters had no corrosion in the battery compartment or any sign of real wear and tear. I just can’t modify these, And I know you still think that the two blasters are one and the same….OK here’s a another pic

New on the left, my first on the right!

I think they just look too awesome together and I definitely wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of a barrage of darts from these! And in true Star Wars style there’s only one thing I can say about this…

Copyright Disney/Lucasfilm via YouTube.

I really hoped that this second blaster would have had issues so that I wouldn’t have felt bad modding it but as I say and you can see it is perfect and the really ironic thing about this blaster? I said that I never saw Nerf stuff available to buy in my town….well this second blaster was from a seller that lived in the same town as me, I could probably have walked to collect it rather than have it couriered to me!

So I still haven’t converted any Nerf blasters into props yet but my collection is getting bigger….as is my “problem”….I also saw these available at a local “Bargain Superstore” at a great price and I kinda turned to the “Dart Side of the Force” and bought them too….

These are some really cool “Ball Blasters” that fire soft spongy red ammo balls – at a speed of around 100 feet per second (almost as fast as 12 Parsecs!) They are made by the second big company that make foam blaster toys – Zuru X-Shot. These are also a lot of fun to target practise with and I’ll post a review of them in an upcoming post. I really have caught the “Foam Flinging Bug”.

That just about wraps this post up, thanks so much for checking it out, I seem to be veering away from lightsabers so next week I will be returning with some more unseen saber designs from my Vault – I hope you will return to check those out (oh and I still have around 6 or 7 Katana style hilts too to show off). Whether you are a first time visitor or a regular caller to FTSabersite I appreciate all the support. Please leave the usual likes, comments and even subscribe if you like what you see here – it keeps motivating me to carry on designing and posting. Till next time….

This was a For Tyeth Foam Flinging episode and all images were taken by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The video clip from “The Phantom Menace” is via YouTube and is Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

“Sith Concept” Saber – An FT update of an Ultrasaber Aeon V3

Hello Everybody, I am back and at 100% after last week’s slight off par performance. Thanks for the get well wishes. So today I am showcasing a design I did back in 2019 for a friend of mine from the Ultrasabers forum named Karmack. Karmack owns several Ultrasabers brand hilts and is well known for repainting them in his own “Clan colours”. Anyhow, he and I were chatting on the forum and the topic of what Ultrasabers new Version 5 wave of sabers might look like and it was suggested that I attempt to come up with a possible update to an existing saber. I chose a hilt that Karmack owned called the Aeon V3 and set to work modifying the design. The Aeon is a nice lightsaber already, solid and durable with great ergonomics with plenty of places to grip it allowing the saber to be used for many styles of combat. It looks like this…

Courtesy of Ultrasabers.com (watermarks added by FT)

As you can see it is sleek and curvy. So I had to come up with something similar but different and I decided I wanted to incorporate an acknowledgement to a classic saber, the one owned by Obi-Wan Kenobi. The saber we see Obi-Wan use in the original Star Wars film had a distinct handgrip that featured a turreted block pattern similar to a hand grenade – and it won’t come as a surprise but the actual prop was constructed using a real World War 2 rifle grenade body. The grenade grip style I thought would give the Aeon a totally different look and feel. I set to work and came up with this base model….

My base model test from 2019!

I took the basic outline of the Aeon design and I replaced the Ultrasabers’ handgrip of engraved rings and added a grenade block grip (sometimes called a “Pineapple”). I also felt the emitter/blade holder was a bit plain so I cut a slot down the middle of the emitter to produce a “forked” appearance.

My re-render of the base model – 2022. Hopefully a better quality pic.

This model was created when I was having my “MatCap” madness moment – MatCap is a method of creating a virtual “clay model” in Blender 3D to view how a model will look using a single texture or material hence the term MATerial CAPture. But this design would need to have proper textures and as the design was more aggressive I went with a Darkside colour scheme….time for a Glamour Gallery….

As you can see I went classic black and gold, using the gold to accent lines of the hilt around the switch section to break up the plain black coating. The Sith red blade blazes out through the slotted emitter giving it an almost crocodile-like mouth look. I also added an Anti Vandal switch instead of the plastic switch seen in Ultrasabers’ official product image above….AV switches just look sleeker/nicer to me.

The Ultrasaber line up of sabers did have one feature that some folks didn’t like quite as much and that was the design of the pommel end cap. Now for some sabers that produce sound you need a hole to vent that audio so Ultrasabers gave their hilts a pommel with a hole cut out large enough to vent sound but small enough to prevent the saber’s electronics slipping out. This led to basically a doughnut (do-nut) shaped pommel with an open hole which exposed the speaker (which concerned a few people as damage could occur if an object found it’s way through the hole) so I added a speaker grill that also acted as decoration. Time I think for Gallery Two….

I think this designs works and gives an existing design a totally different look. Ultrasabers do have a “Darkside” version of the Aeon V3 called the “Doninix V3” but it is just coloured black instead of silver. My design and images have never been posted as I kept them just between myself and Karmack because other members of the forum tried to convince the owners of Ultrasabers to hold a design contest and I would have entered using this design. Alas the contest was never realised and this saber has been sitting on my hard drive for THREE years now…so I figured I may as well showcase it today.

That just about wraps up this “Sith Concept” saber. It was fun to build way back when I was only really starting out with Blender. I hope you enjoyed a belated look at it. I also hope you will return to FTSabersite for future posts as I have more to show you all…including more Katana styed lightsabers, more Nerfing fun (yes more blasters!) and maybe some more costuming and LEGO content. So thank you for calling in today, all your support, comments, likes and subscriptions mean a lot to me and really do inspire me to keep designing and posting. So new or regular visitors, thanks so much. Till next time….

“Sith Concept Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the Ultrasabers Aeon V3 hilt. It was modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and both the model and rendered images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The Ultrasabers Aeon V3 and the product images are the property of Ultrasabers.

“Sith Katana” – An FT Visions Katana Re-wrap

Hello Everybody, I am sorry but today (and this past week) I have felt a bit below par so I don’t have as big an offering as I normally have. The reason is that I suffer with a long term medical condition that requires me to take some seriously strong medication to control the symptoms, and for the past two years due to COVID restrictions on hospital appointments and access I have had to reduce the number of tablets I’ve been taking (cos I couldn’t get refills) and in the past 6 months I have had no new meds, I have just this past three weeks gotten a new prescription and the medication is just getting back in my system – and the meds are a little bit nasty in their side effects! Nothing a Jedi can’t handle but I have slowed down a bit. SO…I just have a “re-wrapping” of the Star Wars Visions inspired Katana hilt to show you today. I did promise I would tinker with this hilt anyway and now I have a few renders in much better lighting so you can see the details a bit better. OK enough chatter, here is the Sith version of the Katana…

I changed the background location to a more light friendly outdoor scene. The changes to the hilt include a new blade colour which is now obviously on the Darkside of the Force Sith red. I also tweaked the colour of the leather Tsuka Ito wrap to be a nice “dried blood red” leather much better suited to a Sith Warrior’s weapon, and peek beneath the wrapping you will see that the actual handgrip has been changed from a green wooden handle to a now red and black marbled Ivory handgrip. The new exterior location for these pictures also help you to pick out the etching detail on the gold parts and the blade. The pommel and Tsuba handguard have delicate carvings on that didn’t quite show up as well in the dark moody images from the original seen here in comparison.

Actually, now that I am looking at the two the original images weren’t quite as bad as I thought, it just depends on the angle they’re viewed from. You can see the big difference changing from the black and green to the new red colour scheme makes, again it has a regal/noble or dare I say “Bling-like” look now – very high status.

Finally I just wanted to try and get some full length shots of the saber and I wondered if the background image with the lake would make a difference so I put the saber out over the water to see what effects it had…

Well, I figured why not have two sabers? The Sith have been known to enjoy overindulgence. Whilst taking these pics I did have an idea on what I could do next to this design and I may have 5 or 6 new versions I can work on as I recover.

And that I’m afraid brings me to the end of this post. I hope to be back 100% next week as I want to showcase my new Qui-Gon Jinn replica saber I was recently gifted, plus I have been digging in the hard drive of my laptop and found some designs that I never posted (I kept them because I hoped to submit them to a manufacturer should they ever hold a design contest but they didn’t). SO thank you all for checking out this “Re-wrap” design and I hope you enjoyed it. Please do call back to FTSabersite to see more in future posts. You are all much appreciated and remember to comment, maybe leave a like or two and if you really like what you see here…subscribe so you won’t miss a thing, Till next time….

“Sith Katana – FT Visions Katana” is a For Tyeth Editions creation and was modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The design, model and renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022.