Hello Everybody, last week I posted my version of a Katana inspired lightsaber and it had a “Traditional” style Tsuka Ito handgrip wrap. I mentioned that I had struggled for a looooong time to get the wrap to work as I couldn’t get Blender 3D to curve the wrapping anti-clockwise. I eventually turned to YouTube and I found a tutorial by a gentleman named Mac Coyzkie who modelled a Katana and, most importantly, showed a trick as to how to wrap the handle. So as thanks to him I’m posting his video here and I’ll leave links to his YouTube channel so you can check out his other material (a lot of computer/tech related stuff not just 3D modelling). Ok so here is the video…get your popcorn out….
It was really that simple! All I had to do was create a duplicate curled strip and then resize it so it’s geometry co-ordinates were set to negative values! However, there wasn’t any clear instructions in Blender or on any forum as to how to achieve the effect. But I was able to follow these instructions and think I made a decent job of recreating Mac’s wrapping technique. So thank you very much Mr Coyzkie.
I like to give credit where it’s due and I thank Mac once again, but the fun doesn’t end here for today….No I have another LEGO Forge creation to reveal in my second post of the day…and it’s a new spaceship! Hope to see you in Post 2!
Mac Coyzkie is a computing and tech enthusiast and this video and many more are available on his YouTube channel (linked above) The video is his property and Copyright of Mac Coyzkie.
Hello Everybody, another week has passed (how quick has this year flown by so far?) and I realised “Wow I haven’t posted a Guest Designer hilt for a while – I better fix that”. Well today I have a hilt I modelled for a member of the forum I belong to, who had come up with a saber idea based on an old medieval weapon. The weapon is a mix between a mid European Halberd and a Battleaxe. The Halberd was used in the 15,16 and 17th centuries and consisted of a shaft handle with an axe style blade mounted at 90 degrees to the handle and atop the shaft there was usually a short pointed blade like a spear. These things were vicious but my friend DarthProdigal from the forum took the idea and gave the Halberd double axe blades and removed the spear blade. It looked a bit more like a European double blade Battleaxe – but there was a surprise! It also featured a smaller bladed weapon connected to the pommel end instead. DarthProdigal posted a sketch on the forum and as usual members chatted about “I wonder how this would look like this or that” etc so I decided to model it in Blender but first here is Prodigal’s sketch…
This was the picture Prodigal posted and it was interesting! I’ll be honest and say the first thing I saw was Spiderman’s chest logo but after a few seconds of scrutiny I realised this was a nice design that had some thought put into it. There were the two axe blades – very functional should the lightsaber blade fail- then a nice wrapped handgrip. There was also a second shorter “Shoto” (a small defensive blade used in your non dominant hand as a sort of shield) style blade too with a crescent moon claw shaped emitter. I liked this even more. Prodigal explained that the Shoto connected somehow onto the pommel endcap of the main axe weapon making it double bladed like a staff lightsaber. Knowing this I set to work in Blender…
This is the wireframe view of what I thought a fully manufactured Halberd might look like. You can see it is fairly complex and I have added a few minor details to just adorn it here and there (though the additions do serve a purpose). I think I have chatted enough and it’s time for a few Glamour Shots…here’s Gallery One….
I don’t know if I’d want to face up against one of these! I have faced some formidable weapons in my battles but none quite like this. The hilt I built using two cylinders, one for the regular hilt handle and a second “pancaked” cylinder which I modified to give it a “sharp” edge for the blades. I cut out segments to create the trusses holding the blades to the central plate of the axe head, I gave the blades a contrasting colour to make them stand out. For extra detail I added bolts/screws to hold the sections of the hilt together (you can see the hex bolts on the ferrule sections and pommel). The pommel features a connector to attach the Shoto blade allowing the user to form the double blade staff – the connector uses a twist-lock cog) The activation switch is custom made to represent a faction of religious believers in Star Wars known as the Sith Empire – these were a group of fanatics that promote the Sith and some even helped Emperor Palpatine come back from the dead to carry out his plan in The Rise of Skywalker. These fanatics had an emblem which consisted of a “Black Sun” – the switch represents a sun and it’s rays (not Reys 🤣). And on that bad joke I should post the second gallery as an apology…here’s Gallery Two…
Having learnt of the significance of the Black Sun and from what DarthProdigal told me I realised I needed to model the emblem and incorporate it somewhere on the weapon. It turns out that the central hub of the axe head structure provided a perfect place to fit the emblem onto! I modelled the emblem the same way that I created the Jedi logo on my High Republic hilt last week – I took an image of the logo and triggered Blender to convert the image into a flat outline object which I could then apply a thickness to, making the object a fully 3D mesh. I stuck to the red and black colour scheme of the weapon so the Sun is also red. You will see that I had to adjust the shape of the emblem slightly so it was visible over the curvature of the axe head and shaft but I think it looked perfect in position.
Just before I go I would really like to thank DarthProdigal for allowing me to recreate his idea in 3D for him and to display it here. Prodigal has been very supportive of my designing and gives me great feedback when I post on the forum so it is fitting that I induct him into my Guest Designer gallery! Thanks again Prodigal,
And to you my friends and viewers, thank you also! Your support is much appreciated and all your comments, likes and and follows mean a lot to me and the running of FTSabersite. I hope you will all return to see future upcoming posts as I have more High Republic era hilts to showcase along with a few SW Resistance themed designs as well as a range of NERF inspired sabers! Till next time….
Hello everybody hope you’re all doing well. As promised I have another Lord_S_Gray collaboration in the shape of a new starfighter to accompany his Star Destroyer I posted last week. Click here to check it out > https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2020/08/29/destroyer-a-new-breed-of-star-destroyer-by-lsg-and-for-tyeth/ . The Aetherean battleship needed some fighter escort protection and LSG asked if I could muster up a design based on his description. I accepted the request as I figured it would be fun to build a fighter that had a similar look to it’s mothership and I have sorta caught the shipbuilding bug. I got LSG to send me a design brief and a sketch or two and here was his initial idea…
I am an avid aviation fan having attended many airshows of your military and civilian earth planes and I had an idea as soon as I saw this shape and the idea was named “Have Blue”. Have Blue was the codename that the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed gave to the world famous Stealth Fighter or F-117. And as you may know the F-117 has a very distinct shape and outline which almost mirrors LSG’s diagram! Here is a schematic courtesy of Wikipedia…
This plane looks like it came from outer space (or a galaxy far…far away!) and if you “clip” the wings a little you can see the “Diamond” shape from LSG’s sketch. So I went with the idea of making a Stealth Starfighter. Here are a few pics…
This was the design I came up with. It appears slightly shorter than the sketch but that is a bit of an optical illusion. The design however does have the Maser (Aetherean technology equivalent to a laser) cannons on the leading edge of the fuselage and it has twin self defense turrets on the upper rear surface panels. I did have a version with a turret on the underside but the 3D model file was lost in one of my laptop glitches. However, the underside of this fighter still has some interesting features I’ll show later. The fuselage and body panels were again achieved by using the “Discombobulator” function but I turned the settings down so I didn’t have multiple layers of panels, just one or two layers to hint at the structure. This ship is meant to be sleek and any parts that stick out would cause it to be visible to sensor sweeps, so I tucked as much of the details away. This leads me to the underbelly and the “hidden” features….
In these images you can clearly see the “stretched diamond” shape of the fighter along with two retractable landing gear skids and two very distinct launch tube channels for the homing missiles! Yes this ship is packing serious offensive weapons as well as the defensive turrets. I modelled a basic “Space to Space” missile similar to the famous Sidewinder missiles used by earth aircraft. You can make out the control fins and the purple “seeker sensor” in the nose cones. The red chevrons are electro magnetic propulsors to help launch the missiles (a bit like the steam catapults on aircraft carriers).
I showed LSG my initial build and after a few exchanges this was the final model and it was time to take this fighter out and put it through it’s paces. Here are a couple of galleries showing the ship from different angles and environments during test flights…
The ship handled well in the atmosphere of a planet and flew well interstellar around regular space. It even flew nicely in a nebula or two! But as the Star Destroyer last week had Hyperdrive then I felt this Starfighter needed to keep up so I installed a Hyperdrive unit to this ship too….looks pretty in the wormhole….
The Vornyx Fighter passed it’s test and trial flights with flying colours I’m pleased to say and LSG approved. This was fun to build and there is still room for me to make improvements – so I will be making some updates. Whilst photographing the Vornyx and Destroyer I discovered that while I concentrated on how it looked outside….they actually looked interesting inside! So one of the updates will be a cockpit for the Vornyx with control panels and for the Destroyer I will add some models of military equipment inside it’s hull. Here is a slideshow of a mix of pictures including two “interior” shots that will get updated….
Oh yes! I forgot to mention this fighter has gone into production and I have a Squadron of Vornyx ships! (Sorry I haven’t worked out a pluralised version of the name yet😁). And with that I am just about ready to fly home to my Destroyer knowing LSG has a very capable fighter to defend his fleet. Thanks Lord_S_Gray for allowing me to build this for you.
Thank you so much for checking this new Interceptor out and for all the fantastic support over the past four years (I passed my 4 year Blogaversary earlier this week). You are all very much appreciated whether a first time visitor or one the regular crowd, thank you. I hope you will return to see future posts as I have a few more Star Wars Rebels inspired hilts and I have a rather nice arrow design from Guardians of the Galaxy! Till next time….
Hello Everybody (just) and welcome to something a bit different. Again I am having issues and have had to borrow a laptop to produce this post. My troublesome machine has finally died after suffering an update from Microsoft that caused the hard drive to heat up and as a result triggered the cooling fan – destroying the fan. But….I have some good news, I saved a few things to the cloud including this new starship design!
A good friend of mine, Lord_S_Gray (I’ll refer to him as LSG from now on) from the Ultrasabers’ forum asked me to help with his fanfiction story he was writing and come up with a design (and some pictures) for a new Star Destroyer. (You can read his story here: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=44181.0) The ship was for a race known as the Aethereans and LSG sent me a brief and a diagram of roughly what he wanted. The drawing looked like this!…
As hard as LSG might have worked to give me these details, there wasn’t a lot to go on and as this was the first “large scale” build (or ship) I had built I thought I was in trouble. However LSG did say that I should use my initiative and if something didn’t work or sit right then I could do what I felt fit better. One of the my first efforts looked like this….
I built the model with a Forecastle type structure and Bridge section, whilst adding a few “lighted windows”. But my favourite part was actually the “plating” on the hull. I accomplished this using the “Discombobulator” feature built into Blender, which Neil from https://makeroommakeroom.wordpress.com/ introduced me to – thanks Neil it worked a treat here. However this ship wasn’t quite how LSG envisaged and asked if I could redesign the superstructure and remove the Bridge “bow tie”. He also asked if I could add a plethora of gun turrets. So I went back to work. I found a picture of the type of rifle that was used in the time and location where LSG’s story is set and thought “I could scale this blaster up and use four of them in a turret!” So this is what I came up with…
I came up with a basic turret with just enough details to make it interesting when viewed close up but not too complex so I could clone it and use many iterations of it in various places on the main model. My headaches really started with redesigning the superstructure. To make things easier on my old laptop I merged parts together so there was less individual bits to be processed when I moved the model for photos etc. The problem? I had to dismantle this solid block and rebuild it without the upper decks and bridge. There was a silver lining though because as a result of reshaping the hull I found places where I could mount the turrets and I incorporated TWO storage hangar bays and a “Launching Bay” in the belly of the ship. Anyhoo here is a gallery of shots from various angles around the rebuilt destroyer…
I found a couple of nice nesting locations to put two turrets to defend the aft quarters of the ship and had two rows of turrets running from bow to stern which provides a wall of firepower along each side of the ship. These were also mirrored on the lower surfaces of the hull too. This thing is armed to the teeth! You will also see the “Launch Bay” and launch tube on the underside of the ship illuminated by the red chevrons.
Now this ship needed to be trialled in various conditions and locations so I took it for a spin around the galaxy and as always had some photos taken…here’s a few more snapshots…
The ship seemed to handle well and all the lights lit up so now I wanted to stretch the legs of this new Destroyer…it would be fairly ulseless if this ship couldn’t get to trouble spots quickly so we need HYPERDRIVE! Check these pics out!…..
Wow this thing can shift…I did the Kessel Run in 11.9 Parsecs! That’s faster than the Falcon! You will have seen two of these pictures showing the storage hangars and a view from the Launch Bay and tunnel…well that would mean this ship must carry smaller ships right? You are correct and I hope to post that fighter in next week’s post. This just about wraps up this post as I am struggling with tech once more, but I have some GREAT news that has occurred this week.
My new boots have arrived from the USA and I am absolutely gobsmacked (English slang for totally amazed and lost for words) at how gorgeous these things are! They arrived bang on time as estimated and what an experience when I opened them up and tried them on for the first time. They fit like a second skin – not surprising considering all the measurements I had to send in – at one point I thought they were gonna ask for my hat size too! Anyway I hope to do a full review along with my costume but here is a sneak peek of them.
These boots are outstanding and that new Jedi Boot Leather smell…Oooh! But I can’t stop and enjoy the scents I have to finish now but I’d like to thank my friend Lord_S_Gray for challenging me to build this starship – it took some to-ing and fro-ing but I think it turned out well. I also have to thank you my readers/viewers as I recently passed my fourth year Blogaversary and the 22,000 views milestone. So thanks for all the support over the years it is much appreciated and keeps me posting! I hope you will call back again and see the Vornyx Fighter to accompany this Destroyer in next week’s post. Till next time…..
Hello Everybody….yes I am still here! As some may know last Saturday I had another “Technical Issue” but I was able to re-install Windows (4th time since February) and I seem to have the latest build available and it is now updated. This means I have the privilege of bring a long awaited new saber from my friend PsychoSith from the lightsaber forum I frequent.
As some may remember PsychoSith is a fantastic artist (though he doesn’t think so due to being very modest) and creates fabulous pencil and ink pictures of lightsabers. He designs hilts for characters in his own Fan Fiction stories he writes and for other members of the forum. (You can see his work here: http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=41788.0 and here: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/tag/psychosith-sabers/) He even drew a gorgeous version of my Thor inspired “Asguard” saber. Well his latest design is called “The Order of Knighthood” and has a ceremonial look and feel to it and rightly so, it attracted a lot of compliments and then the requests for me to make a 3D render of it flowed in. So I didn’t want to disappoint and set to work. Here is the first gallery showing Psycho’s awesome drawing and my wireframe tests…
The artwork is again beautiful but I had a bit of difficulty interpreting what the handgrip actually consisted of, it looked like it had lots of “octopus style” suction cups but I decided to go with a “Grenade Grip” with raised blocks. I did manage to recreate the pommel fairly closely and the crystal fixture looked pretty good. However I had a BIG challenge in replicating the guards over the handgrip. Unfortunately I only had one sideways on image to work from so I couldn’t tell that the guard was meant to be a curved plate and it looked like two curved rods. So I modelled the guards as two sweeping bars that form a sort of cage or “whiskers”. I was fairly pleased so far so I sent Psycho a few test renders, here they are in gallery two…
I was so pleased when Psycho replied and said he liked the guards – they were something he hadn’t considered and they made the hilt less bulky. He also asked if I could add a bit more colour in the form of a few gold accents and so I worked on the tweaks. Here are a few more pictures with the added bling, switch and blades….
Again, I felt this hilt was coming together nicely so I saved copies of the files up to my cloud storage (luckily!) and sent the new renders for approval. Psycho once more liked the updates and we sort of ended the conversation there but I still felt there was a few things I could add. So I placed an etch above the switch, modified the crystal feature and worked on a second colour scheme. I will be honest, the etch in the following pictures isn’t the original image I carved into the hilt. Sadly I lost that image file when my laptop glitched on Saturday and so I have had to quickly add a new graphic and render these over the past 2-3 days. I think it still works ok, here are more pics!…..
You may notice that the crystal feature “disappeared” but don’t worry it is just the modification I made so that the crystal is housed safely in the handgrip during use but can spring open to have it displayed (or make alterations to it’s settings). The etch sort of works still but could be sharper but I was pushed for time.
Have you had enough pictures? Of course not! I mentioned I made a second colour scheme so here is a final gallery of the Sith variant for the Dark Side followers…
I am seriously thinking of making a third version of this hilt in black and gold but with a Jedi green blade for myself! I really like this hilt, so much so I wish I had come up with the design. Thankfully PsychoSith sort of lets me share!
Well that just about brings this post to an end and I hope you like this rather elegant offering. I’d like to thank PsychoSith for allowing me to share his talents with you all. It very nearly didn’t happen but I am determined to keep blogging and posting no matter what “issues” I suffer. I will say I have lost some of my files that I was in the process of uploading to the “cloud” once again but have enough I saved to last a few weeks. Hopefully you will call back to check out what I have left to display while I work on building more new sabers.
So thank you for checking out this awesome PsychoSith saber and for supporting me and my site. Whether this is your first visit or if you are a regular caller, you’re all very much appreciated. Till next time…..
Hello Everybody and welcome to today’s post. As I was rummaging round my warehouse last week I also discovered another fantastic design from my friend PsychoSith of the Ultrasaber’s forum. On this forum he posts what he calls his “Saber Doodles” – some fantastic pencil and charcoal sketches of lightsabers. Psycho is very modest about his art but he has great talent (as you can see from this post HERE ) and this saber I am about to show you is another example of his imagination. Psycho designed this as a a Zweihander or two handed sword as used in Europe, but Psycho envisaged this as a saber that could destroy objects and sabers made of Beskar! It is a large powerful weapon…..here are a few pictures…
PsychoSith’s Saber Doodle
A short “Shoto” version
These pictures show Psycho’s picture he posted on the forum and immediately you can see the hilt is a beast with a crossguard design and a second crossguard below the main blades. The word Zweihander translates as “Two-hander” and you’d need both hands to wield this weapon. The second picture is a test design of a slightly smaller version of the hilt for people that would struggle with the full size Beskar Breaker. But you want to see some Glamour Shots right? OK here you go I just happen to have a few….
PsychoSith’s Beskar Breaker 1
PsychoSith’s Beskar Breaker 2
PsychoSith’s Beskar Breaker 3
PsychoSith’s Beskar Breaker 4
PsychoSith’s Beskar Breaker 5
PsychoSith’s Beskar Breaker 6
In these pictures you really get to see all the little details that PsychoSith included in his design that made such a big difference! The aggressively knurled handgrip with trigger activation switch bar, the heavyweight pommel, the imposing crossguards and finally the menacing blazing red blades. Now I always think that a picture is good but a video is better, right? Alright here is a small animation I produced (and because this thing is so huge I just managed a few rotations before I tired myself out trying to swing it about!)….
Hopefully this video will have given you an indication of just how big this saber is…it is a beautiful big beast! i want to thank PsychoSith for sharing this design and allowing me to post it here. I hope to add a couple more of his designs in future (and I already have a Shoto version lined up to show you). But this just about wraps up this post.
I have been busy looking for inspiration and I have a few new sabers to post in the upcoming weeks including a few curved hilts with a regal feel and a couple of sabers inspired by Obi-Wan Kenobi’s classic saber from A New Hope. And I hope you will all return to see those. I will now thank you all as I always do, you’re support for me and my site is amazing and keeps me designing and posting. Whether you are a first time visitor or a regular reader/viewer then thank you very much, you are appreciated. Till next time…..
“Beskar Breaker Saber” is a PsychoSith Sabers design and is used here with permission. “Beskar Breaker Saber” and “PsychoSith Sabers” are Copyright of PsychoSith (member of the Ultrasaber’s forum – SaberForum.com ). The Blender 3D model and animation were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020.
Hello Everybody to a rare midweek post! And it is for very good reason I am sharing this with you all as I have been honoured with a magnificent accolade. My friend and fellow saber designer PsychoSith has produced some artwork inspired by my Thor crossguard lightsaber “Asguard”. You will recall I 3D modeled PsychoSith’s fantastic drawing called “The Durasteel Dove” and Psycho decided to return the honour and drew a set of sketches of my “New Asguard Saber” hilt. So here is the set of images Psycho sent to me….
PsychoSith’s “Asgardr” hilt
PyschoSith’s full artworl
PychoSith’s Guardian warrior 1
PychoSith’s Guardian warrior 2
I was absolutely speechless when I saw the finished product. Psycho had sent me a sneak peek when he asked if I minded him attempting to recreate one of my hilts but it was just an initial pencil sketch….I had no idea he would go to town and produce a full Bayeux Tapestry style artwork! His attention to detail is phenomenal, from the gold accents around the emitters and pommel, to the Celtic Knot activation switch and then the most difficult part…the scroll work etching! I found it difficult to replicate etching and I used a computer design package but Psycho drew the pattern on the handgrip by HAND! The Guardian warrior on the right of the image even has the hilt in his hands and the saber is complete with the Electric Lightning blue blades. As if all of this wasn’t enough take a look at those robes….and as a final finishing touch Psycho even mimicked the typeface font lettering I use for my labels and watermark!
I would have been honoured just by this token of appreciation but it goes much deeper than that as the “Asguard” hilt design (click HEREto see the original post) is the very same one I modeled but my laptop crashed and wiped the files so I lost it. I had one single image of the hilt that I later discovered had backed up to another file hosting site I use. That image is here:
Original Asguard Saber
So in a way Psycho has gifted me with my most treasured design that I partially lost. I intend to get this art transferred onto a canvas frame when I can afford it so I can hang it in my flat.
So for a final time (here at least) I wish to say an enormous thank you to Psycho, my friend, you are a true gentleman…and truly a talented artist!
Thank you also to all of you, my viewers, for checking this awesome artwork out and for all the support you have shown me and PsychoSith, whether you are a first time visitor or one of my regulars you’re all very much appreciated. I hope you will return this weekend for my usual weekly post, I think I might post my Kenobi tribute design. And it has a few surprising variants! Till next time….
Hello Everybody, today as promised last week, I am pleased to welcome back my friend PsychoSith with his second saber design. This amazing saber was the inspiration for my Altenweg Shoto hilts I posted last week. PsychoSith as you may know is a fantastic artist with a great eye for details when designing hilts and this one is no exception. He posted this image on the Ultrasabers’ forum and it caught everybody’s attention…
The members of the forum were very impressed and one member commented they’d be interested to see how it looked as a full model and hinted that I build a 3D model of it. To be honest I was already working on doing just that so I could present some renders to PsychoSith as a gift so he could see his creation in three dimensions. Now, PsychoSith’s image is a flat side on view so there was a lot of details absent (such as how thick certain parts were or was the hilt symmetrical or asymmetric) so I had to use some artistic license and make assumptions based on other designs. But I came up with a model and created some basic “studio shots” of it. Here they are…
Altenweg II studio picture 1
Altenweg II studio picture 2
Altenweg II studio picture 3
Altenweg II studio picture 4
Not too bad from one image! I had just learnt a new 3D modeling technique called “Face Poking”, yes that is it’s name, which allows a model part to be subdivided into smaller surfaces or “faces” and each face is assigned a “vertex point”. This point can be moved in virtual space so that the flat surface is then stretched up to form a pyramid shape. I divided the lower handgrip in this way and “face poked” the smaller surfaces and when those surfaces where stretched they formed the textured grip! However, it was the foregrip that I really liked and it had a beautiful scalloped cutaway to reveal the lightsaber blade within it. In PsychoSith’s sketch you can make out what appears to be some etching or panels embossed into the grip so I used the same trick I used on my Thor inspired “New Asguard Saber” to etch a tribal pattern into the underside of the hilt. it was whilst modeling this section I realised that it would make a nice saber in it’s own right. Other details include an emitter within the foregrip which is visible when the hilt is turned off and the activation switch is actually an elongated “Trigger” switch you can see on the textured lower handgrip. Now I think it’s time for a few proper “Glamour Shots” and take the hilt for a “spin”…
Altenweg II picture 1
Altenweg II picture 2
Altenweg II picture 3
Altenweg II picture 4 (Note the second emitter port)
Altenweg II picture 5 (Hm, I could make a saber from this!)
You will have noticed the saber now has a red blade and looks much more metallic! The saber had the metallic material in the studio pictures but there was nothing to reflect on it’s surface, so appeared matte, however using a background image the saber is shown in much better lighting and the metal reflects the surrounding image making it look more realistic. All in all I think PsychoSith did a fabulous job on creating this hilt.
And that I think just about covers this second offering from PsychoSith. I’d like to thank him for allowing me to share his work with you all here and I hope to post even more of his saber here in future. I will also be posting more of my own designs too of course along with my “Master Series” (inspired by fan favourite sabers). I also have that pair of hilts for the “Mysterious Character” from The Rise of Skywalker…and I may be honouring another YouTuber with a hilt! So a lot more to come in future posts. I hope you will return to see them, but for now thank you so much for visiting today, whether this is your first visit or you’re a regular, you’re very much appreciated…..Till next time……
(Phew, I nearly ran out of breath listing all of that ^^)
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…
Hello Everybody, today I am very, very excited as I get to share with you a lightsaber that has been assembled by a good friend of this site DK44. And this lightsaber is a Graflex replica hilt! DK44 bought this hilt as a replica kit from a company named Korbanth and assembled and installed the lights, sounds and blade (plus a little extra something I’ll get to later). What is astounding is that this was DK44’s first full saber build project! He did build a Saberforge Adaptive Saber Parts (ASP) lightsaber but that was fully modular which screwed together fairly easily, with no need to solder wires or cut and shape parts. This saber was built very much the same way as the original lightsaber was way back in 1976 by the special effects artists John Stears, John Mollo and Roger Dunlop . This particular hilt is made to look like the one seen used by Finn and now Rey in The Force Awakens. Here is DK44’s Graflex Lightsaber…
Graflex Hilt
Graflex Emitter
Graflex Emitter 2
Graflex Emitter 3
Graflex Emitter 4
Graflex Switch Box circuit card
Graflex Body and Grips
Graflex Pommel and D-Ring
As you can see this is BEAUTIFUL! Sorry to raise my voice but I love this hilt. The saber is a work of art (although DK44 says he wishes he could have done better!) and has everything that you associate with the Graflex saber. The emitter with the slanted opening and metal collar that extends through the tube to form two tabs, which are affectionately called “Bunny Ears” by fans. The collar and tabs are actually the mechanism that held the flash bulb in place when the handle was used as a photographic flashgun. Just behind these Bunny Ears is the red topped activation button and below that there is the “Glass Eye”. The activation box is really the clamp that attached the flashgun to the side of the camera. But if you slot a carefully shaped piece of circuit board between the two jaws of the clamp it looks like a switch! Next down the hilt is the famous T-Track grips, the black ridged parts that form the distinctive handgrip. And to finish the hilt off there is the Graflex pommel with the D-Ring to hang the saber off your utility belt! Though I doubt this saber will be hanging on a belt it has a very nice custom stand (built by a mutual friend of DK44 and mine called Kouri, who is a whizz with 3D printing and prop making.) But you will have noticed I haven’t mentioned the blade…well I have a SECOND gallery with this beauty activated and in all it’s glory with a very special REVEAL surprise….
Graflex Emitter and Blade Plug
Graflex and blade
Graflex and blade 2
Graflex and Blade holder
Graflex and lit Glass Eye feature
The Special Crystal Reveal!
Graflex lit in daylight
Graflex night time action!
Yes this saber has what is called a Crystal Chamber Reveal, which shows that this saber has a “heart of Kyber”. The electronics allow the crystal to light up and actually pulses and flashes along with the blade. This feature is usually found on expensive higher end replicas but DK44 decided he wanted one in his (and with help from another friend called Vechaljian he was able accomplish the feat). The colour matches the effects seen in the film perfectly thanks to an LED that can mix two colours to make the blue light and has a white bulb that flashes when the saber hits something! I think you’ll agree this is impressive.
I’d like to thank DK44 for sharing this fantastic saber with us on this site, he was gracious enough to provide me with great photos and a full description to help me write this post (did you notice he lined up his photos like the images for my designs? Thanks man!) This shows what is achievable with determination, patience and Talent!
I am now once more approaching the end of ths special post so thanks DK44 and also to you my viewers and followers. Your support is much appreciated and I hope you will return to see future posts featuring more designs from myself and my friends…and who knows there may be more “real life replica hilts” to come! Till next time.
FTSabersite 