WOW! Is it that time of year again? The New Year? Where did ’22 disappear to? Well it has been a busy hectic year so not noticing how fast it passed isn’t surprising.This is my annual review of the past 12 months and there will be a small hint as to what is coming in 2023 (along with a hidden clue linked to a possible Jedi Mission I might be carrying out – keep your eyes peeled) So I had best get stuck right in and start way back in January where I designed a saber for a prominent TikTok creator and saber fan, I unveiled my first “real” Katana, made a Lego Manndalorian spaceship and a new lightsaber for the most famous Bounty Hunter…here’s January’s gallery
Also we learnt of the sad passing of Michael Lee Aday or as we knew him, Meatloaf. I’d spent many hours listening to and learning to play his and Jim Steinman’s songs. Thanks Meat. Now I have to keep going down the highway to February!….
February featured a few of my new Lego creations, a second ceremonial version of the Amban Pulse Rifle saber….finally ending with a visit from Detroit’s finest robot lawman….Robocop! Here is February’s featurette….
I had just rediscovered the Lego Digital Designer software – a forgotten virtual building studio where I can build Lego models on my laptop and take snapshots of them (and create parts lists), so I installed it and tried something new and create Star wars themed vehicles. I had done a few “My Own Creations” back in 2021 too. Time is marching on and that’s quite apt as we venture forth into March! (< Marching….March….See what I did there? 🤣)
March took off with a twin engined version of my “Commando Bikespeeder” Lego model. I also created a “stretched” version known as the “QuadJumper Bus”. Back in Blender 3D I converted an old Y-Wing fighter into a lightsaber (well Y not?) and….to end the month with a blast I acquired a big powerful NERF blaster called the Havok-Fire! It’s awesome!
I figured that one engine wasn’t powerful enough for my speeder bike if it had a passenger so I upgraded it to be twin engined. I then had the crazy idea of making an even larger vehicle so built a bus with FOUR engine pods. The Y-Wing fighter inspired saber came into my head when I noticed it’s shape from above and thought “I could switch that to have three saber blades as engine exhausts and turn the ship into a saber model!” And the NERF blaster was added to my collection of blasters I started in 2021…I have since decided I like them as they are and don’t want to mess around turning them into props, well not just yet- I’m having too much fun doing target practice, and the Havok-Fire is a full automatic machine blaster that fires a shower of foam darts….fantastic fun! Wow…we’ve covered three months already? Well thanks for sticking with me this far….please click the button below to see the next three months on page two…
Yes hello and HAPPY HOLIDAYS Everybody! To all who celebrate at this time of year I’d like to wish you all a happy and peaceful few days with your family and loved ones. I’d like to say a BIG thank you to all of you that read and visit/support my little site for your continuing gift of that support – be it in comments, likes or subscribing – it means a lot to me and does encourage me to keep producing new stuff for you to see. For the SIXTH consecutive year it looks as though I will have surpassed my previous years’ figures so thank you so much.
Now I need to show you how I created my little “Electronic Holidays Card” It isn’t just “cut and pasted images” oh no…..this card is 3D!
This image shows the card from a different angle so you can see that I actually created a 360 degree “environment” using a festive wallpaper, then I arranged my buddy D-Roy-D with a few sabers and the Delta Four Interceptor into camera shot. A little tweaking of positions and size – then the lighting – and I snapped a photo of the ensemble. And to finish this Christmas card post I will leave you with a couple of pics without the sentiment text. I hope you like them.
Now it’s time for me to turn out the lights and pull the shutters down at “Tyeth Towers” as I too take a small break for some festive fun. But fear not I am working on an “End of Year” extravaganza to look back on another 12 months of activity at FTSabersite.
So thank you once more and now go enjoy yourselves (but as always be careful ok!)and I ask that you call back for the extravaganza next week. Happy Holidays and May the For be with you!
Hello Everybody, well today we are rapidly nearing the festive season so I had best deliver this final saber design before I take my Christmas break. Today I have another saber inspired by the animated show Star Wars Visions and the episode “The Ninth Jedi” which tells of a reclusive Jedi Master’s attempt to rebuild the Jedi Order after many decades of decline. This Master named Juro, enlists the help of a lightsaber smith to construct a batch of sabers for a new group of Force Sensitive individuals that could bring the Jedi back. There were seven potential Jedi who received a cryptic message to invite them to a Jedi Temple floating in space to collect a saber (if they are worthy). The sabersmith was called Lah Zhima but unfortunately Sith Jedi Hunters discovered his activities and tried to stop him delivering the weapons to the Temple. Zhima was taken captive but his daughter, Kara, escaped with the sabers and she battled to get to the clandestine meeting place with eight lightsabers. They looked like this….
These hilts were designed and built to reflect the personality of the wielder that brandished it so, the Kyber Crystal would “tune in” to the person and cause the blade to take a particular colour based on the person’s character. The potential Jedi were aboard the floating Temple and when Kara arrived they each chose a hilt while they awaited the appearance of Master Juro, who was late turning up. And speaking of late, I won’t keep you waiting any longer, here is my latest offering, “Zhima’s Fifth”….
As you may be able to tell this is an attempt to model the saber seen in the middle of the line up of sabers seen in the screen capture image above. I chose this hilt as it was the one in full view so was easier t replicate. It isn’t 100% the same but about 90%. I managed to recreate the bell shaped emitter with the twin fins and embedded brushed gold activation button. The saber has a traditional Tsuka Ito style wrapped handgrip which is finished off with a brushed gold hexagonal pommel block. I think my recreation is identifiable, which is more can be said for the potential Jedi!
Back to the story, the recruits were waiting for Master Juro to appear and while they stood around they picked their sabers and it was then that they ignited the weapons…..and a startling event occurred. It was expected that each saber would have either a blue, green or maybe yellow or purple coloured blade befitting a Jedi knight BUT THESE LIT UP RED! The Kyber Crystals in each hilt detected that the recruits were actually SITH darksiders not lightside Jedi! Kara and Master Juro’s protocol droid were out numbered….but then the droid transformed and it’s bodyshell opened to reveal Master Juro was sat inside! He had been watching events from inside the droid as he suspected that the Sith had learnt of his plans and would try to stop him…he was correct. Now before I carry on I had best show you the second gallery with the detail shots….
This saber has a nice blue Jedi coloured blade because I modelled it but the collection of hilts constructed by Zhima were definitely red. So Master Juro and Kara had to battle the seven recruits and after a…. wait I can’t reveal what happened just in case you haven’t seen the episode yet (you should check it out if you haven’t seen the Visions series). And that just about brings this post to a close but first I have a few things to let you know about.
First I have been busy “flying” again in the online simulator I discovered recently and I decided to pay a “Virtual Visit” to a blogging friend of mine and I took a screenshot so if you recognise the location I might have “visited” you! Here is my snapshot….
And as I mentioned at the start of this post we are approaching Christmas (if you observe the holiday) and as such I will be taking a break next week as it is Christmas and I’m getting older (literally as my regular viewer/readers will know my Level Up day happened this week – I’m nearly 900 years old now!) However, I will be busy and I’m putting my end of year extravaganza post together and it has been a busy year! I hope you all have a happy peaceful holiday season however you celebrate /enjoy the time. I might have time to post my annual Ecard.
I have to finish now but thank you for looking in on today’s post and for all the support you have given me, it’s much appreciated. Please stay tuned to this site as there is still so much more I have to post yet, including sabers, speeders, props and other SW related stuff into the new year. Till my New Year Extravaganza….happy holidays ….see you next time!
Hello Everybody and welcome back! Today I’m afraid we have to go back to the cold climes of Hoth as I revisit my Speedster speederbike design and bring to you my updated sidecar combo version! You may recall a few weeks/months back I teased you all with a couple of “silhouette” images of an upcoming design, well today I unveil that new speedster but first here are those two images…
The outlines kinda hinted at some sort of dual passenger type of vehicle and hopefully you guessed what the shapes were. I was in the process of “painting” up the sidecar combo and programming it’s software (as you’ll see in a picture later!). So you have seen the single seater speedster and have waited long enough…here is Binary Twin Speedster….
The rationale for this design stems from the fact that on planets with hostile environments it is better to have a “Co-Pilot” to oversee the navigation and monitoring of a vehicle’s systems whilst the “Pilot In Command” steers and controls the speedster (or aeroplane or Starfighter) so I came up with a speeder that carried two personnel. This also means that it has twice the power and storage for carrying equipment with two chassis connected together. In a small way I was inspired by the Bespin Twin Cloud Car vehicles from Empire Strikes Back – those little orange double bubble flying cars. My Binary Twin Speedster however is firmly a ground based vehicle as you have seen. Now I think it’s time for a second gallery of pics showing a few details….
As this Speedster is deployed to the planet Hoth it needs a Co-Pilot to navigate the barren white wilderness of the snow plains. To do this it is equipped with a sidecar fitted with an advanced sensor array and “Virtual Imaging” technology that scans and recreates a virtual 3D image of it’s surroundings that can be overlaid onto the viewscreen. Even if there is a blizzard and you have zero visibility using just your own eyes, you can still see using the all weather sensor scopes. The navigation is linked to systems on board either a Star Destroyer or cruiser, and location data is sent back and forth much like GPS global positioning systems here on Earth. The speeder’s systems are controlled using buttons embedded into the handgrips either side of the screen (these handles are also useful for holding onto the bike so you don’t fall off!) The last two pictures show the bike’s system screen and the transparent “Head Up Display” matrix I used as the overlay.
Now I think this post has been quite cold so how about I warm it up a little and give you an update on my recent adventure back into Flight Simulating? Well, I left you last week flying over the crater of Mauna Loa and a cockpit eye view. In the past week I flew back to the main island of Oahu and landed at Honolulu International Airport from where I unloaded my “passengers” then took off again and flew around the coastline of the island!
The first image is the aircraft flying away from the volcano on Kona Island whilst the second shows me as I approach touchdown at Honolulu after navigating round the island of Hawaii. And yes I flew over some locations seen in Magnum PI but more importantly I was able to pay my virtual respects to the men and women who lost their lives way back on 7th December 1941 at Pearl Harbour (situated to the west of Honolulu – you fly over the harbour if you land on the runway I used). Having done that I switched to another plane and location and carried out a “Mock Mission” in preparation for next year…..(?)
Thank you so much for checking this double design out today but I’m afraid I have to leave you now on that cryptic cliffhanger ending. If you’d like to see more lightsaber designs and Star Wars 3D modelling then please call back for future posts. Also feel free to comment, leave a like if I deserve one and maybe subscribe if you aren’t already, then you won’t miss a thing on FTSabersite. All your support is much appreciated and keeps me going so …..Till Next Time…….
Aloha Everybody, today I return to the Pacific Ocean islands of Hawaii with another saber inspired by the TV show Magnum P.I. You may recall I posted a saber back in August un memory of Roger Mosley who played the role of T.C. in the show and sadly passed away. The saber I have today is inspired by another icon from the show and that icon is Thomas Magnum’s car, the Ferrari 308 GTs (OK yes, the car actually belongs to the millionaire author Robin Masters that also owns the estate where Magnum lives). The vehicle became as much of a character in the series as did TC’s helicopter, and not surprisingly. The car was a beauty, designed by legendary design firm Pininfarina and was both powerful, fast and curvy.
The car was also a Targa “T-Top” with removable roof panels that upped the vehicles cool wow factor. What amazed me was how “invisible” the car was to all the suspects that Thomas tailed – I mean if you saw a Ferrari 308 in your rear-view you would definitely notice it, but the crooks never seemed to. The car also seemed to be expensive to own and run, with the show revealing that the car would need to be serviced and repaired by “authorised Ferrari technicians” and not the run of the mill garage mechanic that Magnum usually took the vehicle to if it had a dent or two. So, as I discovered that 308 cars were expensive I figured I ‘d have to settle for a lightsaber inspired by one. I think it’s time to put the saber in gear and hit the accelerator…time for “Magnum Robin 1” Gallery One …
Again I have managed to turn an automobile into a lightsaber! You may recall way back that I built a saber that resembled the Ghostbusters’ Ecto 1 and more recently I paid tribute to Mad Max’s Interceptor patrol car…but this is a pure speed demon of a saber. In full racing red this saber is the right colour and has sweeping curves just like it’s source of inspiration. I am quite proud I managed to replicate that curvature as it is a signature of Ferrari sports cars. Another feature I managed to incorporate was the Targa sunroof, which I created by modelling the front and rear windshields to form a hand-stop on the pommel section and the “front windscreen” acts as a guard for the activation switch. More on the switch later but first here is Gallery Two with the close up detail shots…
These close up pictures reveal more details and show off the “bodywork” moulding around the emitter. This represents the wheel arches on the sides of the saber and the two bulges on the upper represent the bonnet (or hood for US readers….) grills and panels. You will notice that the saber also has a couple of “prancing horse” replica badges too. The pommel as always represents the rear end of the car and features tail-lights and rear bumper details, along with a speaker/ventilation grille that sorta looks like a wheel hub. Two final details include the 3D modelled front radiator grille in the emitter mouth and the activation switch I mentioned earlier. The switch features the “Cross of Lorraine” emblem seen on Thomas Magnum’s ring he wears – the symbol being the emblem of the Marine squad he (and his friends Rick and TC) served in during Vietnam.
These last two images just attempt to show the curves of both my saber and the fabulous Ferrari itself – hopefully you can see the haunched stance and lines in both.
Finally…the show Magnum was set on the beautiful paradise islands of Hawaii and that chain of islands has been in the news recently with the eruption of a volcano named Mauna Loa located on the southern-most island, Hawaii itself (the tv show was mainly filmed on the island of Oahu further north). Well, this news of the eruption kinda sparked something in me and made me want to start up an old hobby I used to do years ago, flight simulation! I used to sim when I had a PC capable of running the software and I think I amassed a combined total of “flying hours” over 10,000. I had Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X and competed all the missions and license tests becoming a certified “Virtual Airline Transport Pilot” – I even flew a few trans Atlantic Concorde flights! Nowadays though I only have a laptop which sadly can’t handle a full simulator package but I did find an online simulator that allows me to take to the skies again, which I did and I “flew” to Hawaii and took a look at the volcano site….
The picture above shows the GPS map with the Hawaii island with the volcano located in the point of the light yellow triangle, whilst the centre panel of the image shows my “cockpit window” view of the crater! Sadly the sim doesn’t have special effects so there’s no lava flow. But I had a bit of fun flying around recreating medivac flights to and from the island!
Anyhoo…I am out of time, sorry I got distracted and waffled on about fkight simming but it was that hobby that started me designing things sort of as I used to repaint aircraft models and create scenery for the sim. But back to sabers and Star Wars, I hope you liked this offering today and please call back for future posts as I have many more lightsabers and SW vehicles/props to show you all. Thank you so much for visiting FTSabersite today, your support is much appreciated. Till next time….Aloha!
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