“Temple” and “Fortress” sabers – For Tyeth Editions

Hello Everybody, first off today I have to say a big thank you to all the viewers/followers who commented on last week’s “Guest Designer” offering by my friend PsychoSith from the Ultrasabers forum, SaberForum. I was so happy that you were able to see his talent on show and enjoyed it. So thanks to PsychoSith and yourselves for making a great post….but I guess I had better get back to posting some of my designs (but don’t worry there will be more PsychoSith designs in future).

Now you may remember a month or so back I posted a hilt named “Dishonoured Saber” that was based on the saber seen in an upcoming computer game, “Jedi Fallen Order”, well I did some tinkering with some of the parts I made for it. I particularly liked the twin shrouded emitter and used the shroud plates on another basic emitter shaped piece and I came up with a part I called the “Temple Emitter”. Of course an emitter needs a hilt to fit on and I thought it should be sleek and elegant so, as I was working on building double ended staffs I built a staff body. Here is a picture of a base model of the staff in Blender….

Temple Staff base model in Blender 3D

Having a double fluted handgrip gives this weapon an elegant “hourglass” shape and so there is plenty of gripping positions for the user. The gold and black is an elegant colour combination and as I had been working on designs that could exist during the Old Republic era, I gave the blades a golden/amber colour. The blades project from my modified Temple Emitters and you will see a Jedi Order logo embossed on the upper shroud plate. This logo is a 3D modelled part, but here is the clever bit, it is moulded onto the surface so that it curves with the plate! This used a technique in Blender called, “Shrinkwrapping”. This modifier takes a flat sided object and merges it down onto a curved object so it clings like Shrink-wrap/Saran Wrap. It is great for creating embossed logos.

Now some staff weapons are made from one solid body part with two emitter sockets, however some are also made from two separate hilts which connect together to form the double length body and staff form. So I made this weapon as a double saber model, and here are a few shots of the single saber section…

“Temple Saber” hilt 1

“Temple Saber” hilt 2

“Temple Saber” hilt 3

“Temple Saber” hilt Jedi pommel

“Temple Saber” twin hilts

Now I named the base models as the “Temple” range because I imagined these may have been used in the Jedi Temples around the galaxy (either as defensive armoury or as a ceremonial weapon). But there is always an equal and opposite and so too  this saber/staff combination has an equal and opposite  version. What if the Sith had this weapon to protect their sacred places or just as a weapon of devastation? It might look like this…

“Fortress Saber” hilt 1

“Fortress Saber” hilt 2

“Fortress Saber” hilt 3

“Fortress Saber” Sith Empire pommel

A quick colour change and a switch around of the logo used to emboss the emitter and you get the Sith based “Fortress Saber”. It is in a Sith black and silver colour scheme but has a striking red Sith Empire emblem on the emitter and pommel to match the crimson blade colour. This model came about as a request from another friend and member of Ultrasabers’ forum named Darth Logos, so I hope he likes it when he sees it (I’m all about balance).

I also modelled another version that represents the Galactic Empire itself and has a Galactic Empire Cog logo for decoration. Here it is…I call this hilt the “Stronghold Saber”…

“Stronghold Saber” hilt 1

“Stronghold Saber” emitter detail

“Stronghold Saber” top view

“Stronghold Saber” cog pommel

There is a subtle difference with this hilt as the cog logo isn’t embossed but actually “cuts” into the shroud plate to create a “shine through” window. OK, I’m nearly finished but I have one final batch of images for the twin sabers in classic Jedi silver/black with blue blade and of course the three staff versions of “Temple Staff”, “Fortress Staff” and “Stronghold Staff”…

“Temple Saber” Jedi regular version

“Temple Staff” saber

“Fortress Staff” saber

“Stronghold Staff” saber

Phew! Sorry that was a lot of renders but I had to prove I had been busy! I hope you like my “Temple” range of hilts, they were great fun to build. I am nearing the end of this post but I just have my usual last minute messages before I end.

I’d like to thank you, my viewers/followers once more for looking in and supporting me and this site. Whether a newcomer or a regular on the site you are much appreciated and if you liked what you see here then please be sure to call back to see future posts. I have more of my “Master Series” hilt designs, more bespoke original designs, more from PsychoSith, more of, well a lot more of everything! I hope you’ll join me again. Till next time…

“Temple Saber”, “Fortress Saber” and “Stronghold Saber” and their staff versions are For Tyeth Editions and ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. All content and this website is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. Any third party Trademarks/©Copyrights belong to their respective owners.

 

 

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The Durasteel Dove by PsychoSith Sabers – A new guest contributor!

Hello everybody and welcome to a big day on this site. The reason it is such a momentous day is that I have the honour and privilege of introducing a Guest Designer! As I have mentioned I belong to the Ultrasabers forum and on that website are a group of very enthusiastic and, in the case of my Guest today, talented individuals. My guest uses the forum name of PsychoSith and  he is a talented artist but PS is a wizard with pencil, paper and tons of sketching skill. PS designs and sketches lightsabers and has a real eye for designing interesting hilts with lots of neat details. He then posts his work in a gallery on the forum and always receives well deserved praise. One hilt that PsychoSith came up with was a very distinctive saber with four aggressive looking claws and spines yet the hilt was named “The Durasteel Dove” and here are the sketches that PS posted…

PsychoSith’s Durasteel Dove Sketch

The Durasteel Dove Isometric view

This saber caught the attention of the forum members and rightly so. They loved it and so do I. It was here that things started to get interesting….as both PS and I designed sabers but in different mediums, one member commented he’d be interested to see what the “Dove” would look like if I modelled it in Blender. PS kindly commented that he liked my work and would be  intrigued to see that too. So we chatted and I offered to do my best on building a Blender replica of his hilt. I was apprehensive because I had to do the design justice but was determined. At first I only had the first image to work from (the top down view) and not the Isometric/perspective view but I managed to block out a base model. And it looked a bit like this…

Durasteel Dove studio build 1

Durasteel Dove studio build 2

Durasteel Dove studio build 3

As you can see I made not just one version but three in total as I couldn’t quite work out the shape of the shroud plates that circled the emitter. At first it appeared to have four spines, but then on closer inspection the spines formed a “V” shaped cutout but that wasn’t possible as the spines were spaced too far apart. So I built new shroud plates but again it didn’t look “right”. Then PS kindly sketched the Isometric image that showed the shroud much clearer and after a quick chat I came up with the final version. This version was much closer, and here are the Glamour Shots….

Durasteel Dove final build 1

Durasteel Dove final build 2

Durasteel Dove final build 3

Durasteel Dove final build 4

Durasteel Dove final build (the top down view)

As PsychoSith sketches in pencil and ink, I had no colour or material references to work from except for his fantastic shading/shadowing. As a result I opted for a grimy silver and brass look to fit with PS’s backstory for the hilt’s history. It was well used and worn in places, having been handed down through several owners. Each person added their own touch to the hilt. I used a silver texture with a distortion pattern mixed into it to create dirt/grime effects. The material also complimented the orange blade. And the blade which has the colour of molten Durasteel  is now surrounded by four really distinct claw shrouds. The shrouds have a kinked spike and then the shroud widens with small tabs to surround the emitter cone. The shrouds also have inlaid panels stretching down their length. The large X-Guard claws have battle damage and feature chipped edges, while the handgrip/body has a broken lanyard chain that would have looped to the pommel cap. Now complete I offered it to PS to check out. In the meantime I also produced a few “arty posters” for the design…

Durasteel Dove poster 1

Durasteel Dove poster 2

I am so pleased and honoured to say that PychoSith approved of my efforts and posted the pictures on the forum and they created quite a stir with the other members, PsychoSith’s Dove had come to life off the page! It is absolutely beautiful and I kinda wish I had designed it…but I did get to build it so had a little hand in it’s conception! And so this is how the collaboration between PS and myself came about and it has been a pleasure working with him.

If you would like to see more of PsychoSith’s awesome art (and it is art in the real sense of the word) then you can visit the Ultrasabers forum and his gallery pages by clicking the link HERE . You will be amazed by his skill with a 6B pencil.

I’d like to thank PsychoSith for allowing me to display his hilt here it is an honour and I’m pleased to say that there will be more of his designs coming in future posts in the Guest Designer gallery! However this just about wraps up this offering and I just need to thank you my viewers and followers for checking this post out. Your support as always is much appreciated and I hope you will return to see future posts…there is so much more in the pipeline! Till next time…

“The Durasteel Dove” is a PychoSith Sabers design and is ©Copyright of PychoSith Sabers used here with permission, FTSabersite and all it’s content including Guest Designer contributions are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019.

Vengeance Saber (AOTC) – My first Master Series hilt.

Hello Everybody, today is a big day because I have decided to showcase the first of my “Master Series” models! And the first one up is the hilt belonging to Anakin Skywalker in the movie Attack of the Clones! (Ep.2). I built this model way back when I made my “The Destined One” hilt for Vader but it was just a solid model. I also made a small mistake in the shape of the emitter as I based it on one of Vader’s hilts but Anakin’s is much more sleek so I remodelled it. Here are two pictures of my first attempt you may have seen in my “Upcoming Sabers” posters I posted a few months back…

Vengeance Saber first build 1

Vengeance Saber first build 2

I wasn’t happy with the accent LED lights on the side of the saber either, so a rebuild really was necessary. I decided to tidy up the interior of the model and reshape the emitter and replace the LEDs. And as this is a special saber I thought “let’s give it some WOW factor while I’m at it!” You have seen sabers I have modelled that have “crystal chambers” but this one has what is known as a “crystal reveal”. But before I show you what a “crystal reveal” is I will post a couple of studio pics and the remodelled non-reveal pictures…

Vengeance Saber wirefram

Vengeance Saber Emitter 1

Vengeance Saber Emitter 2

Vengeance Saber handgrip/pommel

Vengeance Saber full length

The hilt has a D-Ring to hang the saber from a belt hook, and just below are two control knobs used to alter power and blade settings. These may look familiar as earth objects as the prop makers used electrical components called “terminal post screw and caps” which consisted of a threaded post which you wrapped bare copper wire around then you screwed a thumbscrew to fix the wire in place. They make great detail parts. The emitter has also been reshaped, and the LEDs improved. And did you see the crystal? No?….Oh I forgot….I need to do the big reveal!

Vengeance Saber on Tatooine

What is that glow..Wait what’s happening?

The saber is opening up!

Vengeance FULLY REVEALED!

I said this hilt was a bit special, not only does it have a crystal…it has TWO crystals and the saber unscrews to slide open to reveal them all lit up! I made the crystal chamber parts as interchangeable modules which fit inside the model (this was why I had to “tidy up” the interior so they would actually fit inside). The two crystals have special functions in Star Wars lore, the one in the handgrip helps power the saber while the one in the emitter helps “focus” that power into a blade.  I also went to town and added quite a bit of tiny detail into these modules as you can see in the following pictures…

The core of the Vengence Saber studio shot

The core of the Vengeance Saber rendered.

This weapon as I mentioned, is the hilt Anakin owned in Ep.2 and has a sad legacy as it was the weapon he used to slay the Tusken Raiders in retaliation for the death of his mother, Shmi, at their hands. The quote above in the title image comes from the film where he describes his frustrations and actions to Padme on Tatooine. This moment in the film was the tipping point where Anakin became more like his alter ego Darth Vader. He took out “Vengeance” on the Tusken Raiders and hence my saber model’s name.

This just about wraps up my first “Master Series” offering and I hope you liked it. I am always trying to push my modelling skills and this hilt really tested me. And I couldn’t just build one so I have FOUR more “Master” hilts to show you in the run up to The Rise Of Skywalker. I hope you will return to see those (and many more) designs in future posts. Plus next week I will be joined by a very talented artist with the nickname “PsychoSith”. Thank you so much for checking this saber and post out, your support is always amazing and is much appreciated. Till next time….

“Vengeance Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design based on Anakin Skywalker’s hilt from the movie “Star Wars Ep.2 Attack of the Clones” and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. “Star Wars”, “Attack of the Clones”, “Anakin Skywalker” and all other Star Wars names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm. 

Crusader Saber – Inspired by Knightfall

Hello Everybody, today I get back to displaying sabers after my little acceptance speech I had to post last week – thank you Annlyel. And today I have a very new design I have come up with based on a History Channel TV show I have recently started watching. That show is, as the title says, Knightfall which tells the stories of The Knights Templar of the 1300’s. The show is a fictional story about a Knight Templar named Landry de Lauzon and his fall from grace from the order and his attempt to rebuild his life and reputation. During the Crusades the Templars lost the battle in the Holy Land and “The Holy Grail” to the Saracens and it took fifteen years for the Grail to resurface in France. Lauzon had in the interim been made commander of the Paris Temple and saw this as an opportunity to reclaim the Grail and solve the mystery surrounding the death of his mentor. However this course of action by the Templars resulted in some very powerful enemies to spring up.

Lauzon, in the second season of the show has to prove himself once more to be worthy of being a Knight Templar….and he has to pass the tests set by his new teacher, Master Talus the Initiate Master. The Initiate Master is a wise battle hardened instructor and just happens to be portrayed by….Mark Hamill!

Luke?Mark? Ah! Master Talus.

Yes! Luke…I mean Mark Hamill plays Master Talus so I had to make a lightsaber based weapon based on this show knowing that. So I set to work. However there is a bit of a difference with this hilt as I modified an existing design from Ultrasabers, the Texas based custom saber manufacturer. I will show you the studio work in progress shot that I have (sorry it is only one but I modelled this so quickly so as to get it published I got carried away and only snapped one pic!)…

I will be honest I haven’t really done too much to this design, structurally I just added the crossguard pieces and gave it some colours (which you’ll see in the Glamour Shots). The saber I used as the basis for this design is the Ultrasabers Initiate and as Master Talus is the Initiate Master hence my choice of base model. The saber is available at Ultrasabers and you can find the Initiate model on this PAGE.

I WILL TAKE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO POINT OUT I AM NOT AFFILIATED WITH ULTRASABERS IN ANY CAPACITY AND AM NOT BEING PAID BUT I AM A MEMBER OF THEIR FORUM – Ultrasabers don’t even know I have modified/created this design yet!

Now the legal bit has been covered how about some “Glamour Shots”? Ok here you go…

“Crusader Saber” 1

“Crusader Saber” 2

“Crusader Saber” 3

“Crusader Saber” 4

“Crusader Saber” 5

I gave the hilt a new set of crossguard pieces to recreate a cruciform shape to resemble the famous red cross on the Templar’s shields and battle tunics. The red powder coating is actually inlaid into the metal and there is a matching band of colour around the edges. The emitter and pommel have a band of red powder coat while the handgrip has two bands of gold to accent that section. I kept with a silver base coat as white wouldn’t work as well, making the hilt look plastic rather than metal as it should be. Because I did minimal work on the saber handle I needed to do something different to add my touch to the design…so I designed a custom belt clip and hanger for the hilt. Here are a few more pictures of the hilt and beltclip combo….

“Crusader Saber” Beltclip 1

“Crusader Saber” Beltclip 2

“Crusader Saber” Beltclip 3

“Crusader Saber” Beltclip 4

I did attempt to create a sheath/beltclip made with a texture to look like leather but I am still struggling to make realistic looking materials. I tried to make the beltclip look like leather but when I added the grain effect it looked more wooden, but there was one good thing – the clip can also double as a display stand! You could unscrew the belt loop from the bottom and then you could have a free standing display plinth…or hang it on a wall. And as a final touch I added another Templar cross insignia on the top panel.

Now I think that just about wraps up this design, and I hope Ultrasabers don’t mind my little modification to their design but I think it worked quite well. If you want to watch Knightfall it is on the History Channel in the UK. Thank you all for looking in on this design and for all the fabulous support you give me, it really is appreciated. Just before I go I have news of a bit of an expansion as I have been introduced to a very talented artist who sketches saber designs and he will be featured in my “Guest Designer Gallery” very soon, so please call back to see that and more in future posts. Till next time….

Oh and just in case you wondered what I’d look like in armour here you go….

“Crusader Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions concept inspired by the TV show “Knightfall” produced by The History Channel and A+E Studios. It is also based on the Ultrasabers Initiate V4 saber which is a Trademark/©Copyrighted design of Ultrasabers llc. FTSabersite and all it’s contents are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019.

Mystery Blogger Award 2019 – I’m Honoured.

Hello everybody, today I have had to change my plans once again because, as you can see from the title, I have been nominated for another blogging award! And again I have the nice young lady named Annlyel of annlyelonline to thank as she nominated me for the “Mystery Blogger Award”. (I think Annlyel may be spying for the First Order who are hunting me…she keeps asking me questions – maybe to gather intel on me?) Anyway thank you Annlyel, I do appreciate my nomination and to qualify for the award there are the usual rules and procedures to follow. As always I am going to struggle to name 5 or more blogs that I haven’t already mentioned as recommendations but I will do my best with the other segments.

The “rules” are as follows:

1.Put the award logo/image on your blog

2.List the rules

3.Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog

4.Mention the creator of the award and provide a link as well

5.Tell your readers 3 things about yourself

6.Nominate 10 – 20 bloggers (if possible)

7.Notify your nominees by commenting on their blog

8.Ask your nominees any 5 questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question (specify)

9.Share a link to your best post(s)

I have sort of put the logo image on my page because I thought I had to make my own version of it at first so used it for my title header image above ^^…but it kinda looks a bit “X-Files”. I didn’t know where to get the official image from then I thought “maybe the person who created and started this award has it on her site” so I visited the site and there it was! Rule 4 states I need to mention the creator so I will. Her name is Okoto Enigma, and her blog is Okoto Enigma’s Blog which can be found at: Okoto Enigma’s Blog

The Official Award Logo

Now here are the three facts about For!

1) I have only been designing seriously since 2015 after I bought my first lightsaber. The company I bought my hilt from offered a product called “Adaptive Saber Parts (ASP)” where you could use an online virtual builder to “design your dream saber” . You choose different pieces to make your own design from a selection of handgrips, switches, blade holders and pommels. You could then buy the corresponding parts to assemble the saber at home. I spent way too much time using that website designing hilts like this..

This saber won a design contest.

The company then held a saber design contest on their forum which I entered and was fortunate enough to win. This convinced me I could probably design sabers as a hobby…I designed over 300 using that website.

But around a year ago the company updated their website and my laptop wasn’t able to access it any more so I had to learn how to use 3D modelling software to continue designing. The good news is that I can now design my own bespoke lightsabers from scratch and make them look like this…(this is just a few!)

2) I am a pianist/keyboard player and used to be part of a cabaret act! I had to sing, dance and play keyboards in bars and clubs around the UK. We also had a full stage show with lighting and costumes. One of the highlights of the job came when I got to perform at a club, on a stage, that my favourite band had played on. That band was Queen – Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon! And I got to play Bohemian Rhapsody – LIVE – on the very stage they had performed on! I got rather emotional that night.

3) As a youngling I had a very unusual claim to fame. I was one of only three people in my town who could operate the film projector in my local cinema! My father knew the chief projectionist as they talked to each other on “Citizen’s Band” radio. I was invited to check out the projection room lots of times and learnt how the projector worked. I knew how to load the machine and swap reels (which were approximately 1m/3ft in diameter, not the small decorative film canisters you can get for your home décor!) and even got to run a “show” for a paying audience while the official projectionist watched on!

I think I have to answer 5 questions including one “Weird” one….

(Weird) 1. What strange food combination have you ever experimented with and realized it was actually kind of delicious?

A) I did try Portion Bread with Peanut Butter spread once (Portion Bread is the green bread roll, or biscuits as they are known in the USA, that you might have seen Rey eat in The Force Awakens). But a strange real world food combination I used to eat was Sugar Sandwiches. As it sounds it was just two slices of buttered bread with a sprinkling of sugar as the filling. I suffered from bad health as a child and when I was ill I’d get so poorly I couldn’t eat proper food so I was given these sandwiches to keep up my energy. It was a “recipe” my grandfather used to make along with his “magic” Whisked Egg Milkshakes.

2. If there was any ancient civilization you could visit what would it be?

A) I think I’d like to visit ancient Egypt to see how the pyramids were built and compare them to the Jedi Temples like those on Yavin 4 and the Sith Fortresses like the one on the moon named Dxun.

3. What’s your favourite holiday movie?

A) I don’t really have a favourite holiday movie as I watch films all year round if I have the time. But I do like the National Lampoons vacation films!

4. What’s your idea of a dream vacation?

A) I like to get in my Naboo Star Skiff and fly out to Bal’ Demnic. It has mixed emotions for me as it is on Bal’Demnic that I was seriously injured in a battle trying to stop the Confederation of Independent Systems (CIS) from taking control of a Cortosis mine but the planet has some seriously beautiful ocean and forests away from the civilised/industrial areas. They also have great big Hawk-Bats swooping around in the misty atmosphere all along the coastlines. But I’ll be spending most of my time in future in my new apartment…nice huh?

5. Reality, drama, or comedy; what’s your favorite television show genre?

A) Tough one this as I like both drama (mainly sci-fi) and comedy. It depends on my mood but maybe comedy – just. I like crazy comedy like the British shows Red Dwarf, Fawlty Towers, Dad’s Army, Allo’Allo’ and Only Fools and Horses.

Star Wars Trivia!…..Bruce Boa starred in an episode of Fawlty Towers titled “The Americans” as a tourist who stays at the Fawlty Towers hotel and tries to order a Waldorf Salad and a Screwdriver to drink. It is probably the most popular episode of the show. Well….Bruce Boa also played the part of General Carlist Rieeken, the Rebel Alliance commander on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back!

Finally I need to direct you to my favourite post or posts. I have a few posts I am proud of and would like to share them with you:

First up is “For Tyeth Tries Blender 3D!” where I began my real journey into designing using dedicated 3D design software and not have to rely on Third Party websites. It was where “The For Awakened” you could say! Here is the LINK

My second post is a post that caused me a lot of anguish as I had a design I was extremely proud of…but it was lost to a computer glitch as I attempted to save the files. I had to rebuild the saber from scratch using my memory. To see how I managed you can check out “New Asguard” – Inspired by Marvel’s Thor” by clicking HERE.

And lastly, I have “Furious – inspired by the Red Fury Stormtroopers” which I posted a few months ago. It shows how good my Force premonition is as Disney/Lucasfilm recently announced some new Troopers (and toy merchandise) namely the “Sith Trooper” and guess what? They wear red and black armour…just like my saber! To see how similar they are you can click HERE.

I still have many more sabers and designs to bring to you all and as a treat here is a sneak peek of the Master Series collection of hilts I announced last week. There is a Rey Graflex from the new Episode 9 film, Anakin’s saber from Episode 2, a hilt for Darth Vader….plus a saber for THE master…Luke Skywalker!

Thanks once more to Annlyel, I hope this post meets approval. I also hope you will all return to view future posts…as you have seen there is plenty more to come. Thanks for all the support. Till next time….

FTSabersite and all it’s content (including all saber designs and imaging)  is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. Star Wars related material is Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm.

 

“Lost Veridian” – Inspired by Lady Revan’s SW Fan Fiction Story

Hello Everybody, today I have a new saber inspired by the great fan fiction storytelling of a friend of mine from the Ultrasabers SaberForum.com. Her name is Lady Revan and LR has written a fabulous Star Wars story based on the characters found in the Star Wars games I have been inspired by recently (those games being Knights of the Old Republic [KOTOR] and Star Wars The Old Republic [SWTOR]). I have already designed a hilt based on a character from LR’s story, that hilt was for a person named “Opela Moraf” but this one I’m not sure who it belongs to! I chatted with LR and she spoke of a mysterious “viridian green coloured saber” which had been lost/rediscovered in her story. The chat went on and LR sort of suggested she’d like to see a For Tyeth 3D model built from her description, so I went to work. My first attempt was OK but looked a little short and stubby but I did make it in less than 30 minutes and was just a test build…. it looked a bit like this…

Lost Veridian Saber test build 1

Lost Veridian Saber test build 2

Lost Veridian Saber test build 3

LR told me the saber was a long lost relic so I needed to keep the design fairly simple but interesting at the same time. To achieve this I used a clawed emitter and added a pommel that had similar spines. I also built a “primitive” crystal chamber section too. This chamber though is more complex than it looks! There are two halves, created from one part mirrored to form a whole chamber. It also has two crystal spheres to create the pearl like gem located in the chamber…oh and it has transparent plexiglass panels to enclose the upper sections. However, as usual I wasn’t 100% happy and felt it needed stretching a bit (I felt it a little too short) and it was too linear. I went back to work on it…

Lost Veridian Saber test rebuild

I rebuilt the hilt and realised whilst doing so that the pommel was too cluttered so I removed some of the spines. This resulted in the emitter and pommel having the same number of claws/spines and provided some continuity. And to add the necessary length I added a fluted section between the chamber and pommel. I felt this made the saber more elegant but not look too advanced. The saber was now more balanced, had a D-Ring attachment to hang it from a belt hook and I recoloured the blade to make it more “silvery green”. OK enough chatter, it’s time for a few Glamour Shots, here is Lost Veridian deep in the depths of a distant jungle…

Lost Veridian Saber

Lost Veridian Saber pommel 1

Lost Veridian Saber top view

Lost Veridian Saber emitter

Lost Veridian Saber grip with crystal chamber

Lost Veridian Saber D-Ring pommel 2

You may have noticed I added a new texture that is semi glossy and some nice pinstripe detailing on the emitter and pommel’s spines. The pommel has a new speaker grille added and the “Krayt Dragon pearl” has an updated speckled appearance to make it look more organic. Hopefully this hilt should fit the bill for Lady Revan’s story…But wait! There are always two sides! So here is a Dark Lost Veridian that may have been corrupted by the Dark Side of the Force and a few more  Glamour Shots of this saber’s dark sibling….

Dark Lost Veridian 1

Dark Lost Veridian 2

Dark Lost Veridian 3

Dark Lost Veridian 4

Dark Lost Veridian 5

Dark Lost Veridian 6

And that just about brings me to the end of this post…but first I have to say a big thank you to Lady Revan for the great story “Only Light Can Cast A Shadow” (which you can read on SaberForum.com by clicking HERE . However please be aware the story has adult themes and may not be suitable for younger Padawans!) I hope you like the Lost Veridians.

I also need to thank all of you my viewers and followers, new and regular, as always your support is fantastic and much appreciated. Hopefully you will call back to see future posts and my upcoming saberstaff designs and my recently announced “FT Master Series” builds! Till next time…..

“Lost Veridian Saber” and “Dark Lost Veridian” are For Tyeth Edition designs inspired by the fanfiction story written by Lady Revan, and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019.

Coming Soon! – The “Master Series”

Hello Everybody, just a short post to tease you all with a glimpse of my upcoming “Master Series” collection of hilts. So let me shine a “Rey” of light with this sneak peek….

And it kinda looks a bit like this with it’s textures!….

I hope you’ll call back to FTSabersite and see the full collection with all the pictures you could hope for!

For Tyeth

“For Tyeth Master Series” ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. Star Wars and “The Rise of Skywalker” are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm.

Rain Saber – Inspired by Darth Zannah

Hello Everybody, I hope you all liked the slightly different Steve Austin Six Million Dollar Man hilt last week but this week I take you way back to Nov 2016 and revisit an old design with a new Blender rebuild. Viewers and followers with a very long memory may recall I created a design using the old software system I used for a Sith Apprentice named Darth Zannah.

Rain also known as Darth Zannah

ZANNA Staff

ZANNA Staff 2

ZANNA Emitter

Darth Zannah was a human female named Rain. During the Great Sith War all the Sith were wiped out by a cunning warrior named Bane using a mega weapon called a “Thought Bomb”. Bane was left as the sole Sith warrior, but for the faction to survive he needed an apprentice to carry on the ways of the Sith. That person was to be Rain. Rain was a Jedi sent with the Jedi Light Army to investigate the events and aftermath of the war. However she never made it to the location, as her ship was hit by gunfire and crash landed. Rain was injured and disorientated but a local named Laa took care of her. As fate would have it, her new friend was unfortunately killed by a second group of Jedi scouts which sent Rain into a fit of rage. She killed the Jedi in a Dark Side fuelled attack which Darth Bane detected. He tracked Rain down and she became his student. This led to the beginning of the famous “Rule of Two” where there are only two Sith members, one is the Master and the other the apprentice – ready to learn all that their Master can offer then have to overthrow the Master and take on their own apprentice. This would ensure the survival of the Sith Order and make sure each generation would be stronger and more powerful.

In a similar way I felt that my Zanna Saber was ok considering I used the old design software but I needed to improve on the design and now I use Blender 3D I have the technology to do so. Here are the pictures of my new updated staff, I call it Rain Saber…

Rain Saber 1

Rain Saber emitter and controls

Rain Saber swithes

Rain Saber emitter and CcverTech knob

Rain Saber emitter lit

Rain Saber ignited

Rain Saber Wireframe

This is the weapon of the first true “Sith Apprentice” and it was deadly. A double bladed staff which allowed Darth Zannah to battle much stronger and more formidable opponents. The staff has a menacing black and silver colour scheme and multiple controls for adjusting blade length and power settings. I was able to pick and chose where to add the silver accents, which is something I had no control of with the old software (well not without extensive photo editing of the preview images!). The proportions are more accurate now also.

Some viewers may be thinking, “I’ve seen that weapon recently…wasn’t it in The Phantom Menace film?” Well, yes you did in a way. Darth Maul, the apprentice of Darth Sidious used a double bladed staff after having had a battle with a person that used a wooden staff. The incident influenced Maul to build a double bladed weapon as a staff and discovered Darth Zannah’s design from a thousand years earlier. So here are a few Darth Maul version images….

Darth Maul Staff (Rain Saber) 1

Darth Maul Staff (Rain Saber) 2

Darth Maul Staff (Rain Saber) 3

Darth Maul Staff (Rain Saber) 4

Darth Maul Staff (Rain Saber) 5

Darth Maul Staff (Rain Saber) 6

They do look similar don’t they? It just goes to show a good design will always endure. We first see Darth Maul’s staff when he attacks Qui-Gon Jinn and the young Anakin Skywalker on Tatooine and Darth Zannah spent a lot of time on the desert planet named Ambria, so where better to do a Glamour Shot photoshoot than in a desert? Here are a few extra pictures…

Darth Maul staff “ANAKIN DOWN!”

Rain Saber desert picture 1

Rain Saber desert picture 2

Ooh a scavanged lightsaber part from The Rise of Skywalker

I think this just about wraps up this post, but wait, you may have seen a scavenged part in the last image? Well you will see that part on a saber in the new Star Wars film coming out in December and I have a special model in an upcoming post featuring this hilt! I hope you will come back and see that and other posts which will feature more staff designs, more Old Republic style designs and a set of designs I call my “Master Series”. But for now I’d like to thank all of you for checking this post out, your support is fantastic and word seems to be spreading about FTSabersite as my viewing stats show I am gaining viewers from new areas! So thank you very much and….Till next time…..

“Rain Saber” is a For Tyeth Edition design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. “Darth Zannah”, “Darth Bane” and “Rain” are characters which appear in the Bane Trilogy of books written by Drew Karpyshyn.

Bionic Battle Saber – Inspired by the Six Million Dollar Man and toys

Hello Everybody, today I am taking on another “The Vintage Toy Advertiser Challenge” and it will take us back to the 1970’s TV show starring Lee Majors…The Six Million Dollar Man. The show which was loosely based on a novel titled “Cyborg” written by Martin Caidin tells the story of an Airforce Test Pilot – Colonel Steve Austin. Steve Austin was testing a new vehicle called a “Lifting Body” known as the M2-F2, but suffered a near fatal crash. He survived but suffered massive injury resulting in him losing his right arm, both legs and his eye. During the opening intro sequence of the show you see a real life crash of an M2-F2 piloted by Bruce Peterson which took place on May 10th 1967. Peterson survived the horrific crash with just(?) a broken wrist and severe damage to the skin of his face (he did later lose his eye due to an infection that got into the injury), but in the TV show Steve Austin needed to be rebuilt…and you hear a government official state “we can rebuild him….faster, stronger….better! We have the technology!” And they did just that, giving Austin new bionic legs, an arm and a bionic eye. During the intro sequence there were lots of data screens and wireframe images of the medical operations so I had best show you the wireframe “techy” image I have of this new saber before I explain everything about it….

Now observant viewers may recognise this as looking a little bit like a rocket ship…and you would be sort of correct! The SMDM tv show was such a success that the toy company Kenner Toys brought out a range of toys and action figures. There was a Steve Austin figure with “bionic features” such as a spring loaded arm that lifted a model car engine. There was also an “Oscar Goldman” figure, Oscar being Austin’s boss after his recovery. Then there was this, the Bionic Transport and Repair Station (BTRS)…

The Bionic Transport and Repair Station

The Bionic Transport and Repair Station 2

The BTRS was Steve Austin’s special transport rocket which also opened up and doubled as an operating theatre/repair station for his bionic parts. There was an operating theatre light cluster in the base, an X-ray unit (with glow in the dark images to represent the different body parts) and a myriad of tubes and cables to run “diagnostics” on Austin. So my challenge was to replicate this toy in saber form. Not my greatest challenge to be fair as it is already tubular in shape and looks Sci-Fi, but I had a lot of details to add to make it pop. To start with I built the booster rocket base (which formed the theatre light cluster) and then worked my way up…so here are the pictures as it took shape…

Bionic Battle Saber base 1

Bionic Battle Saber base and body

Bionic Battle Saber base, body and nosecone

The complete Bionic Battle Saber/BTRS

Work in progress on the cockpit

Cockpit details.

So, as I mentioned I didn’t have much to do technically with this build but there were a lot of tiny details that I needed to add to solidify the look and leave you in no doubt what inspired it. The booster base acts as a pommel, featuring the four side pod booster engines as well as the main central booster and all the panelling. The main body of the hilt represents the main-stage body of the BTRS and houses the cockpit (more on this below), and the “stars and stripes” flag on the front. This flag is a 3D part, not just a graphic applied onto the model and I planned to use this flag as the activation switch for the hilt. The whole hilt body has little details like oxygen cylinders on the underside and various vents and panels. Two of the panels feature the name Kenner etched into them as TVTA asked that I incorporated their logo into the design somehow. The saber is topped off with a blue nose cone that acts as the emitter. However…beneath this nosecone you will have noticed the glass window and maybe you will have picked out the figure of Steve Austin himself! I actually modelled a cockpit section and then pasted a picture of Austin inside that section. But I didn’t just leave it like that, I divided the panel the image was on and manipulated it so that it formed the contours of Austin’s face, head and shoulders…so he is actually 3D too! The saber wouldn’t be a saber with out a blade of course and this hilt has a red blade, not because Steve is a Sith Darksider but because it matches with his famous red athletics “tracksuit”! You can see it in the images below, one is the real Kenner toy, one is my 3D model…

The Bionic Transport and Repair Station and Steve Austin figure

Bionic Battle Saber

The Kenner Bionic Transport and Repair Station toy

The Six Million Dollar Man show spawned numerous made for TV films and the show ran from 1973 to 1978 and the films ran into the 1980’s. And it seems the toys have lasted even longer! So I’d like to thank TVTA once more for giving me the challenge of recreating this piece of nostalgia and I hope you all like it. (BTW I did actually own the Steve Austin, Oscar Goldman figures and I had a Bionic Transport Repair Station, so this one brought back memories for me).

I think that just about wraps up this design and as I said above I hope you enjoyed. I will be returning to the galaxy far, far, away next week as I have some staff weapons I need to show you all and I think you may recognise at least one of the owners. I’d like to thank all of you, my viewers and followers for again taking time to visit today and I hope you will return for my upcoming posts. Your support has been fantastic and much appreciated. Till next time…….I have the technology!

“Bionic Battle Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. The design was inspired by The Six Million Dollar Man tv show and the toys produced by Kenner Toys inc.  Respective Trademarks and ©Copyrights belong to Harve Bennett, Kenneth Johnson, ABC Television and NBC Universal Television Distribution and Kenner Toys/Hasbro.

Starkiller S-Curve Saber – Inspired by Galen Marek and TFU 1+2

Hello Everybody, first off the bat I apologise if I sound a bit congested and sickly but I have been battling a nasty chest infection this past week! I normally don’t complain about being ill and just try to get on with things but this is the worst case I have had. But I have used it to my advantage and really concentrated on 3D modelling to distract myself from runny noses, headaches and wheezy coughs…and I think it was worth it. I had already built a base model of this hilt owned by Galen Marek, who was Darth Vader’s secret apprentice in the Playstation computer games “The Force Unleashed” and “TFU 2”. Marek was a “Force Sensitive” as a child and caught the attention of Darth Vader who killed Marek’s Jedi parents and kidnapped the boy to train him as his right hand servant. He was trained in the Dark Side of the Force and forgot his roots and real identity as he attempted to gain the official position of Vader’s apprentice. But before he could do that he had to build his saber and here is a picture from the game of him doing just that…

Copyright of LucasArts ltd and THQ Games.

So I had to build a version of this hilt as it is quite popular within the saber community and is thought of as a “holy grail” design, but, as I have mentioned before I struggled to make smooth sweeping geometry and parts with previous software but when I discovered Blender I had more control. The problem was, the shape of the emiiter is iconic and in engineering terms complex to get right. The emitter is known as an “S-Curve” and the edge of the opening curves in all three axis and the shape has to be symmetrical! I just couldn’t do it, so ended up with a slanted emitter as seen here…

Starkiller S-Curve early model 1

Starkiller S-Curve early model 2

I liked the saber but I was annoyed by the emitter as I had to leave off some details which would only work with the much more elegant and curvy shaped S-Curve. I tried numerous times to create a tube, then shape another “block” to use as a form and cut into the tube to achieve the shape. No luck. I eventually had to resort using an engineering trick to cut pipework and use a template to wrap around the part and cut to the template. Well I couldn’t attach a real template but I did use an image of a template as a guide like I did with my recent Star Destroyer hilt. I then dragged and positioned the individual points (known as Vertices) that connected the surface faces of the model into the right places. This was very tedious and had to be exact and so with this chest infection I decided to concentrate 110% on modelling the emitter and forget my illness….and I think it worked! Here are a couple of studio work in progress pictures…

Starkill S-Curve Studio 1

Close up of emitter showing S-Curve opening.

In the wireframe images you may be able to make out the blade socket and the “mouth” of the emitter and see a curved line that moves from left to right, front to back and which wraps up and down around the blade. That is the S-Curve and there is now a band, around 20mm wide that forms a collar which was missing from my original. This is important as the saber was modelled after a photographic flashgun handle known as the “Graflex” (but more on that later. Now enough talking Starkiller needs to get this saber ignited and I need to show you the Glamour Shots…

Starkiller S-Curve 1

Starkiller S-Curve 2

Starkiller S-Curve 3

Starkiller S-Curve 4

Starkiller S-Curve 5 (glass eye and crystal chamber)

Starkiller S-Curve 6 (S-Curve and bulb retention band)

Starkiller S-Curve (S-Curve more visible now)

As I mentioned the tube for this design was inspired by the 1930’s-40’s style camera flashguns seen used by newspaper reporters in old movies. They were called Graflex flash handles and LucasFilm used one to build Mark Hamill/Luke Skywalkers’ saber from Star Wars. The funny “Bunny Ear” shaped bits are actually the release mechanism for the flashbulb and the metal band held the bulb when pressure was released on the “Ears”. The Graflex flashgun however didn’t have a crystal chamber, that is strictly a Star Wars inspied detail. The other details include low profile activation switches on the ridged box, a pinched in “wasp-waist” midsection and the four rails running the length of the handgrip. Oh and a copper plated band!

Galen was raised as a Sith Apprentice so you may wonder why I have a blue blade on this hilt? Well, Galen was double crossed and betrayed by Vader during a particular mission and left for dead (Vader was testing Marek to see if he was worthy enough to be his apprentice…a do or die test) But Marek survived and later learned of his real identity, the son of Jedi Knights and turned to the light side. However as he was originally a Dark Side user and his saber was red once I made a few pictures showing his Sith version along with the Jedi hilt…

Galen Marek as a Jedi

Galen Mareks Sith Starkiller S-Curve 1

Galen Mareks Sith Starkiller S-Curve 2

Galen Mareks Sith Starkiller outdoors!

I thought I would take this hilt outdoors and see how it looked… er sort of, just a Blender image trick but I think it looks alright out in the wild. I have nearly finished this post but I have to let you know about some upcoming designs. The first and biggest news is that I have recreated an absolute ICON in Star Wars…the aforementioned “Graflex/Skywalker Lightsaber” The Graflex is a holy grail for saber collectors, builders and 3d modellers and I have achieved building one myself through the efforts I put in for this Starkiller hilt. The Graflex will be coming soon but I also have a few double bladed staff weapons (and the single hilt versions) so I hope you will return to see all these new designs in future posts. I really need to say a big thank you once more to all of you, my viewers/readers/followers as you keep supporting me and this site to produce more. You are all appreciated… Till next time….

Oh Wait! You may be wondering why the name Starkiller? Starkiller is the codename given to a clone of Galen Marek that Vader and the Emperor created after Marek died saving some Rebel fighters including Mon Mothma (Leader of the Rebel Alliance who gave the speech to the Rebels about Bothan Spies stealing the Death Star plans!)

“Starkiller S-Curve Saber” is a For Tyeth Design inspired by the saber seen in LucasArts/THQ Games’ “The Force Unleashed” series of video games. It is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. The original design and all names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of LucasArt/THQ Games.