Hello Everybody! Well I am now back home at Tyeth Towers after a very eventful weekend last week. As you may recall I had received a request from the Jedi Council that I go on a mission to investigate a disturbance in the Force – and that disturbance was centred around a Comic Con. Here is what happened….
The day started early, I prepped my outfit because this mission required that I go in full Jedi dress. I got my boots, tunic, belt and robe and slipped into them. I took my lightsaber off the charging stand knowing it was fully charged for any “skirmishes” I might have. I picked up my Credits to pay for my tickets (and no I don’t get expenses from the Council!) and left Tyeth Towers. Here is where the first fun of the day happened. I didn’t decide I was going to take the mission till late and so hadn’t booked transport, as a result I I had to walk to a public bus pickup point…..and remember I am in my costume! You should have seen the looks from local people as a Jedi Knight walked past them…robe billowing out behind me. Passersby in cars nearly crashed as the drivers gawped. It was during this walk I also found out how heavy my boots were – I had only worn them in my flat. Eventually I got to the bus stop and boarded the bus to take me to the next city. And again a bewildered look on the driver’s face!
I arrived at the city where the Comic Con was taking place and a quick 5 mimute walk led me to the location of the event. And I was greeted by a queue of about a hundred or more Geeks and Nerds….some of whom were also strangely dressed! I had a bad feeling about this but after around fifteen minutes I had got to the doors and paid to get in. OH BOY! This was gonna be intense.
I sensed that not only was this a gathering that could harbour Darksiders, I also sensed that someone needed my help meaning I needed to find them. Luckily there was another Jedi at the show so I asked if he had sensed anything….
Unfortunately his Jedi senses hadn’t alerted him to anything strange butI could feel something. And it was then that a Trooper appeared, it was TK-421 (I think)….
Yep! This was TK-421 and was absent from his post again (this Trooper should have been guarding the Millennium Falcon on the Death Star!). A Jedi mind trick later and I managed to disorientate him and sent him wandering the convention unaware I was present. This mission was turning out to be a LOT BIGGER than I thought…but then this was the view inside the building….
The place was heaving! I had my work cut out for me and I would need some help….wanna see who I bumped into? Then please click the button below to go to Page Two of my Mission Debriefing!….
{Ki-Shiiiiish} Hello Everybody…..If you can hear this then I am not at Tyeth Towers {kshhhh}I am away on a secret last minute mission to investigate an occurrence in a nearby city….{SHHHhhh} I, and the Jedi Council have sensed a growing disturbance in the Force as if hundreds of Geeks and Nerds are gathering to celebrate all things Comic and Sci-Fi based…..{Beep!} I am actually at a Comic Con! The Council are worried that the Dark Side might rise there and so have sent me to restore the balance.….I can’t talk now as I am investigating but stay tuned as I transmit a pre-recorded post inspired by Star Wars Visions. More about my adventures will follow afterwards,…I hope. Over….{Shhhhhhh}…….
Ronin Katana – Inspired by Star Wars Visions: Hello Everybody, today I return to the Star Wars Universe sort of, or rather the Star Wars Visions universe and I have a saber inspired by the first episode titled “Ronin”. It centres around a village that is being oppressed by a squad of Imperial looking troopers that are led by a mysterious Sith worshipping lady with an unusual spinning llightsaber. The villagers are hounded to pay taxes and provide supplies for the invaders until a young village boy stands up to them. Unfortunately the young boy’s “bite” wasn’t as big as his “bark” and the invaders easily dismissed him and carried on. However this time another mysterious character was in a nearby hut with his droid getting it repaired and heard the commotion in the village. At first he seemed uninterested but after he nearly gets hit by a stray laser bolt he decides to take action.
The mysterious man, Ronin
The mystery man, named Ronin walks calmly into the village which is now the scene of a pitched battle between the locals and the “Imperials”. But it is a one-sided battle. Ronin intervenes when the strange Sith woman attacks with her spinning umbrella-like lightsaber (which has multiple blades). This contraption gets damaged, so she resorts to using a regular saber to attack Ronin though she stops when she sees him reach for his saber….expecting it to be a Jedi colour….but to everbody’s surprise he draws his saber and it has a RED BLADE!
A RED blade! What are you?
The saber was amazing and looked a bit like this one I have built…this is Ronin Katana….
To see this saber with a red blade was a bit of a shock to be honest as not many Jedi or Force users use such a weapon. We normally have Lightside colours like blue, green or Optimism Yellow (like Rey has). But the saber looked good combining a traditional style katana with a red Sith blade. As a result I enjoyed modelling this hilt. I had to wrap it with Tsuka Ito wraps and build the distinctive emitter and Tsuba handguard. Luckily I have the hang of wrapping a hilt and can do it much easier now, The battle between the Sith Witch and Ronin moves to a nearby river where the two combatants carry on their fight whilst balanced on a floating log. And just downstream there lurked a waterfall, where the batttle came to an end…..But before I carry on with the story here is Gallery Two with a few detail shots….
The battle as I mention took place on/around a waterfall but the duel was finished by a clever piece of “Saber Sleight of Hand”. However, I won’t reveal who won or lost, you’ll have to watch the series (if you haven’t already. And sadly I don’t have time to explain the ending as I am near the end of this……
{SHHHHHSHSHHSHH!} Hello? Are you all still there? Oh good! Well, it seems there was a gathering and I am……{SQUEAL!} just about to make my way inside the venue.My…….message……may break up…..I’ll boost my signal……. and in a future post (probably next week) I hope to be able to publish my report to the Council and all of you my …….my viewers. In the meantime may the Force be with me and I’ll activate an automated closing to end this post….{Pu-SHHHhhhhhhh}
{Automatic Closing Activated} Thank you all for checking this post out and I hope you enjoyed it and the design. Whether this is your first visit to this site or you are a regular, you and your support is much appreciated. Please call back to see many more sabers, vehicles, props and if I survive…. maybe even a report from a Comic Con! Till next time……
Hello Everybody and welcome to another new design offering. And today I am going outside my comfort zone again and attempting to design something a bit different than a saber. This time I wanted to update an old post which showed off a starfighter that I designed/modelled for a friend of mine who was writing a Fan Fiction story and asked if I could 3D model a ship from his description to use as an illustration. That ship was the Vornyx Starfighter I built for Lord S Gray but I wanted one for myself so I set to work on a new ship (You can take a look at Lord S Gray’s Vornyx by clicking this link : https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2020/09/05/vornyx-a-new-breed-of-starfighter-lord_s_gray-and-ft/. Now, I have always liked the two Starfighter/Interceptors that the Jedi used during the Clone Wars which are the ETA-2 Starfighter and the Delta 7 Aethersprite (which I have commented about on this site before) and I wondered how I could have the best of both ships. Well it was sort of simple….combine the two together! I bet you’d like to see what I came up with? Ok here is Gallery One…
This is the FT Shipyards’ “Delta Four Interceptor” (<Get it? Delta FOR 🤣) and it “borrows” parts from the two forementioned spaceships above and packs them into one nice sleek new package! And this ship has a few special modifications I added myself which I’ll show you later in the post. First off though this design takes inspiration from the early Clone War Delta 7 Jedi Interceptor with it’s triangular fuselage and large dorsal tail plane. But this ship also incorporates the neat folding wingflaps seen on the later model ETA-2 Starfighter from Episode 3. This means that this ship is fast…VERY fast and agile as the triangular body enables high speeds whilst the winglets provide low speed agility. Again I like to acknowledge designs from the past, so I gave this ship a regal burgundy and brushed gold colour scheme -reminiscent of the days of the Old Republic when the Jedi were the guardians of peace. Sadly this ship is still a fighter at heart and can be modified with weapons systems should I need them and the ship features a distinctive “blocky” surface on it’s skin. This is a type of armour/shielding system. Anyhoo…it would be easier if I showed you around the ship so here is a little bonus animation!
In this mini movie you can clearly see all the lines and features of the Delta Four during it’s trial flights. I put it through it’s paces and it performed well. Look closely and you will see the armour plating, angular panels to deflect sensor scope detection beams, twin engines and just in front of the mirror windowed cockpit…there is an Astromech droid socket. At the moment there is just a dummy droid installed till I get a new Astro to plug into my ship. And just in case the video clip was too brief here is a second gallery of pictures with some close-up details…
In the final picture you can see the winglets in their folded “High Speed Position” used for short bursts of speed during combat….but sometimes you need to travel further at speed over a vast distance. That is when you need a Hyperdrive Unit! And this ship has a Hyperdrive, capable of travelling between star systems with ease. Now we have all seen regular Hyperspace travel in the movies right? There is that blue swirly tunnel like this….
This allows my ship to travel anywhere I want very quickly, but if I want to travel between the known Star Wars universe and my current home here on Earth I need something even faster….a Type Four Hyperdrive….and this one is environmentally friendly…as you’ll see….
Ok, it may not be environmentally friendly to Earth’s atmosphere but it is green! It’s quite soothing travelling through this green hyperspace lane.
So now you know how I travel between the real universe and here on planet Earth. But unfortunately, as fast as this new ship is, I still can’t outrun time and I am quickly approaching the end of this post. I hope you liked the design and my little mini movies (I hadn’t done any for a while). This isn’t the only spaceship I have built recently, I have a version of the Starfighter that featured in the cartoon Star Wars Rebels whch I will showcase in an upcoming post. I also have a few more sabers too.
There is a lot more to come so I’d like to invite you all to return and check it all out and if you enjoy what you see here then maybe you’d leave a comment, like the posts and subscribe to get notifications of when I post. But for now, I want to say thank you for your support today checking out my new ride. Whether a new visitor or one of my regular readers/viewers you are all appreciated….so now it’s time to get in my ship and fly off Till Next Time……..
Hello Everybody and welcome to another trip to the world of Star Wars and my Phase Two collection of Trooper inspired hilts. First though before I continue, I’d like to thank everyone for the kind comments on my foray into vehicle designing with my Speedsterbike model. It was so nice to read that you thought I had hit the mark, so thank you – and there will be more variants of the Speedster as well as a few more vehicles to come in future (more on that later with a teaser below!)
CC-2224 Clone Commander “Cody”
But back to today and I have a saber inspired by the Clone Trooper pictured above, namely Commander Cody. Cody was a formidable, dependable and obedient soldier that followed orders but one who could also adapt to any mission assigned to him. He was so competent he gained the respect of his Jedi General compatriots in General Obi-Wan Kenobi and General Anakin Skywalker. It was however with Kenobi that Cody found himself serving with and the two became friends. Cody became the leader of the famous 212th Battalion in the Third System Army and saw action in many campaigns including helping to protect his home planet of Kamino. He was also involved in the near disastrous events of the Battle for Umbara, where Jedi General Pong Krell staged a sort of mutiny against the clones. (You can read about Pong Krell in one of my earlier posts, just click this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/08/06/forearmed-darkside-pong-krells-second-staff/). However, Cody survived and went on to assist Kenobi in probably the most dire battle of the Clone War, the Battle of Utapau. This is the famous battle seen in Revenge of the Sith and included the moment when Kenobi loses his lightsaber in a fall and Cody retrieves it, later returning it to his Jedi friend…just before the unthinkable happened.
Here General Kenobi…you dropped this (your lightsaber)
So Cody returned Kenobi’s lightsaber and I think it’s about time I stop chatting and show you the first Gallery for my saber dedicated to the tragic Commander Cody, this is Trooper Cody….
As with my previous series of lightsabers I have created a base model and then created new “skins” for each saber to represent various characters and this is Cody’s hilt. It is the same dependable, solid, battle proven design I did for the 501st Legion Clones but this comes in 212th orange and white. The emitter hasn’t got the eye shade/visor that you see on Cody’s helmet as that was a special feature he adopted for his headgear (so not standard). This does still have the fluted “choke point” where the saber narrows below the emitter, allowing for a better grip when spinning the saber. The colours of the 212th has a bit of grime on it which creates nice camouflage pattern highlights . The rest of the saber is similar to the 501st variant being rugged and non-complicated – perfect for use on the battlefield. And sadly it is back to the battleground of Utapau that this story leads. As the Clone troops battled with the Seperatist Droid Army, Kenobi was attempting to capture General Grievous. It was just after Cody handed Kenobi his lightsaber back that Cody unfortunately carried out his training to perfection. You see the Clones had been developed by Kaminoan scientists to form an army for the Republic (good guys) but a misguided Jedi arranged for the clones to be “programmed” to follow a terrible protocol known as Order 66. This secret order was embedded deep in the subconscious of each and every Clone….the order was issued by the power mad Chancellor Palpatine…and the order was for the Clones to kill their Jedi counterparts! Commander Cody obliged by his subliminal programming , ordered his troops to open fire on and kill Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kenobi was riding a Boga lizard in chase of Grievous when a barrage of laser fire erupted around him causing him and his mount to fall from the cliff face they were climbing and plummet into the water below.
The fateful….Execute Order 66!
It was a terrible moment when comrades turned on their Jedi compatriots…though they were totally incapable to resist their programming (though there were some exceptions). I can’t hold Cody responsible for being brainwashed from birth so I will keep on and display Gallery Two of this saber design showing some details and features…
The emitter has a matrix shaped similar to the emblem of the Army of the Republic (the sort of cog shaped logo) which is also mirrored on the activation switch. The saber also features the standard Covertech Wheel knob which hooks onto a troopers belt to hang the saber for storage. But again the gem of this saber is the internal mechansm and it’s “Crystal Chamber” which holds the golden/honey coloured Kyber Crystal which helps power the hilt (and gives the blade it’s colour). The chamber features a little bit of wiring (red cable) and has a fully modelled mesh cage to protect it. In all, I think a suitable weapon for a soldier on the battlefront.
Cody later believing Kenobi to be dead was transferred by Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine along with the 212th Battalion to become Imperial Stormtroopers that we recognise from “Star Wars A New Hope”.
That just about wraps things up for this repaint variant and I am nearing the end of the post. BUT FIRST! A little teaser of something coming over the horizon next week! Yes, here is a little silhouette of next week’s design – see if you can guess what it might be….
Ooh…what is it Tyeth? Wait till next week to find out!
Oh! I’m such a tease! Ok I have to go now but thank you so much again for all the kind words and comment you leave for me. It’s very much appreciated and keeps my motivation up to try new things and create more. Please leave a like, comment and if you haven’t already maybe you’d like to subscribe so you’ll be notified when I post in future. Thanks again, Till next time…..
Hello Everybody and welcome to today’s post, and today I change up a few gears as we return to the Star Wars universe. During the past month or two I have had a few extra spare hours as my real everyday life issues settle down so I took the opportunity to re-watch some SW cartoons and indulge in viewing some motorsport. As some of you may recall from my early days blogging, that I am a fan of motorsport and I recently watched some really good MotoGP motorcycling races. That coupled with watching Star Wars and seeing some Speederbikes prompted my imagination to spark. In Star Wars some of the foot soldiers of the Republic Clone Army were equipped with hovering Speederbikes (you may recall the Speederbikes from Return of the Jedi with Luke and Leia chasing Biker Scouts through the forest of Endor). These first generation Speederbikes were called BARC Speeders or “Bike Advanced Recon Commando speeder” and were built by the Aratech Repulsor Company. The bikes looked a bit like this…
BARC Speederbike
These speeders had more fairings and bodyshell coverings than the later era versions in Return of the Jedi and the styling with the grille inlets reminded me of the aesthetics of Formula 1 racing cars of the 1930s/40s. I immediately thought of the famous Mercedes Benz Silver Arrows cars and the Audi Auto Union race cars like these…
So I decided I would design a new Speederbike influenced by these beauties. Believe it or not the following design’s main body was created from just two cubes which I rounded off and contoured. I then did add the extra bits like the seat panel, footrests, handlebar grips and the air intake/radiator grilles. Ok, enough chatting, it’s time to bring my new speeder out for a spin….
Hopefully you will be able to see the Formula 1 racing influence in this design and I hope/think it still looks like a Star Wars universe vehicle at the same time. The speeder has outrigger plates that emit energy to control steering and look like the stramlining wheel covers used on racing cars of the 30s/40s. When the speeder comes to a stop and deactivates these outrigger plates retract into the side of the bodywork so it can be stored for transport in battle cruisers. It features three small engines so there is redundancy if one engine should fail – you still have two good engines running. Now onto Gallery Two and a few detail pictures…
In these pictures you can see the rear bodyshell with black panelling – these panels are access plates for maintenance and areas for storage of a trooper’s equipment (sort of like pannier bags). The seat module has ridges to provide a non slip cushioning for any sized trooper. I added a set of basic handlebars with an array of digital display dials. And this type of bike is famous for hovering rather than having wheels and in the last picture you can see the “repulsor vents” where the energy is released creating the levitating cushion the bike glides on. And as I was riding out and about in my local forest…this bike comes in a nice dark green camouflage pattern! Though I do have a repainted variant which will follow in a future post and it is modified a little…here are the teaser images again…
Ok that was fun racing round my local woodland. And don’t worry this bike doesn’t give off emissions! But sadly I am approaching the end of the track and will need to garage my speeder and this post. I hope you liked this switch from lightsabers. This is the first in a few new vehicle designs I have coming up so I really hope you’ll call back to check them out. There will still be sabers too.
Thank you so much for your time today and for checking this site out. All your support is much appreciated and motivates me to work hard and produce new stuff (I have enough to last till new year I think!). Please leave a like, comment or subscribe if you aren’t already. Till next time….
FTSabersite 