Blogversary Celebration!

Hello Everybody and thank you for joining me on this special day. Today FTSabersite celebrates it’s 1 year Blogversary. I cannot believe that I have reached this milestone. I will be honest, as I have said elsewhere I didn’t set any targets when I began. I just wanted a place where I could display my designs how I wanted to and try to inspire other folks to get into the Saber hobby and community. So having reached 4000 hits and over 1000 individual visitors in one year is mind-blowing to me but very much appreciated. It is even more surprising as I am unable to use social media like most people to publicise my site (I have to be careful not to get caught up in any Imperial Entanglements! 😀 ).

Anyway back to more positive subjects, today I am going to look back at the most popular/viewed post, a post where I got out and about to meet some great folks and a quick look back at a few of my favourite highlights.

• Page 1) Most popular/viewed post
• Page 2) For Tyeth out and about!
• Page 3) The Highlights and Shout-Outs

There will also be some shout-outs to folks who have helped me along the way, behind the scenes and as contributors. It’s going to be busy but please stick with me!

The most popular/viewed post

I had the pleasure of meeting some great people at a Comic-Con that I was able to travel to. Imagine my surprise when while at this convention I bumped into a member of the charity fund raising Cosplay group and it turned out to be someone I knew from a forum I am a member of! Well we had a funny moment where we “introduced” ourselves officially and shared a few photo opportunities. I will speak more about this encounter later in my next setion but the Cosplay Group impressed me so much I decided to design a hilt for them based on their antics and fabulous charity work. The group are called the Sentinel Squad UK and this is the saber:

Sentinel Squad UK Title Plate

SENTINEL SQUAD UK hilt

Just some of the Squad!

The Sentinel Squad UK Logo

I was honoured by the group as the founder of the Squad posted my design in the members area of the Squad’s Facebook page for everyone to see and a lot of the members visited FTSabersite to view the full gallery. So many Squad members visited I was worried my hit counter would break under the volume of traffic!

The Sentinel Squad UK are a terrific group of people and please take a few moments to check out their sites and give them a bit of well deserved support. I have included links in the original post found here, and in the sidebar>

Ok folks that concludes part one, please click the button below to go to Page 2) For Tyeth Out and About (where I get to meet some Celebs!)

Pages: 1 2 3

Thank You Everybody! A Milestone Reached.

Hello Everybody, and today I mean each and every person who has visited this site in the past eleven and a half months. Yes I have great news, as I mentioned in my last post FTSabersite was nearing 4000 hits and now the site has passed that barrier. I want to say a great big thank you to you all, as it is you my viewers and followers who keep me coming up with new designs and make producing this site all worthwhile.

I set this site up as a bit of therapy, as I had gone through a rough patch and a nasty uncalled for experience. So I removed myself from the situation and wanted to prove myself, I decided to  set up FTSabersite. I didn’t set any targets, I just wanted to design and display my hilts so other folks might get inspired to try their hand at creating a saber for themselves. Little did I know I would get this far.

And being as I have been publishing this site for eleven and a half months that means my one year “Blogversary” is coming up (on the 17th) so I will probably do a retrospective post of my year and look forward to maybe another twelve months?

If you visited FTSabersite on the 29th of July then you may have been Number 4000 so thank you again. I would ask that all of you keep calling back to see what new stuff I have in store including my “1 Year Looking Back, Now onto the Future” post. I will post my next design, the Darkside version of Pong Krell’s Forearmed saberstaff tomorrow (6th Aug). Till tomorrow…

FTSabersite, and all it’s content including the names  FTSabersite , For Tyeth and all the designs of myself and my Guest Designers are © For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017. Guest Designs are used with permission and belong to their respective creators.

Changes – For the Better!

Hello Everybody, today I have a few bits and pieces to address, a bit of bad news, a bit of good news, a few changes I need to make and a bit of expansion!

Firstly I need to address the cautionary post I wrote a few days ago, well it seems that finally my site has drawn the attention of a website that “Harvests” other people’s sites and uses the content to make wallpapers and background images etc for anybody to download. Now it is only one design and two images so far but I don’t know if any more are going to be “stolen”. I admit I made a mistake and didn’t individually mark each image with a watermark or logo but I will on all images from now on, so I hope that doesn’t spoil your enjoyment of my work. I’ll try to make them as discreet as possible but still hopefully effective in scaring off any more harvesting.

I had considered quitting this blog, if people are going to rip off my work and post it on a page that is probably generating cash for the “web company” then I was gonna finish. I make nothing authoring this site, it is a hobby to help me keep my sanity! I also don’t know what companies and sites advertise on the website responsible, so that is why I posted the caution so you didn’t click their links thinking they were mine and then finding yourself in a whole lot of Internet nastiness.

I however decided that I am going to carry on, as I cannot control what happens to my work when I post it so if someone wants to copy it etc then they will find a way to do it. I’ll add the watermarks and see how that goes, as today is a milestone for FTSabersite….this is my 300th post! I said way back in post no.200 that I couldn’t believe I had got so far, and I repeat that sentiment now. But I wouldn’t have made it without the help and support from some good friends and you my viewers and followers so a great big thank you for walking this adventure with me.

Now as a thank you present I have been hard at work learning a new skill, and I have got to a point where I can show you my efforts. I have been learning to build designs in Google’s SketchUp software and after a few struggles here are my first efforts. I “copied” a Kylo Ren style crossguard saber to learn the ropes and work out how Sketchup works, not bad for a first attempt I think…

This hilt is to scale with itself but isn’t based on real dimensions and measurements and certain details are different. But it does look like a crossguard which is what I wanted. I then practised some more and came up with a second attempt based on my own personal saber. If you’d like to see that then please click the button below and join me on Page 2…

Pages: 1 2

A Word Of Caution! – Please read for your online security

Hello Everybody, today (2nd July 2017) I have discovered something that I need to bring to your attention. Whilst browsing online and waiting for a post to be indexed by the search engines of the internet I found certain pages which have nothing to do with this site or myself but appear to imply they do. These pages have been created using Search Engine “Harvesting” or “Scraping” by bots to create Click Bait and fake Breaking News pages. I do not know if these pages contain malware, spyware or any other nasty pieces of hidden software. Another website has started linking to images on this site and allowing it’s users to download them as Wallpapers and Background images, again without my knowledge or permission.

I am not sure how I can protect my site and you from these hazards, but I am looking into the situation. I’m doing what I can do right now, and that is to inform you of these potentially hazardous webpages/sites and urge you not to click the links leading to them. This is the only site I post my blog on, however I do comment on other forums and YouTube, but any other site claiming to be or associated with me in any way are not linked officially to me.

I am sorry this situation has arisen but it is out of my control what other idiots do to mess up the Internet along with honest websites and blogs etc. I hope you all realise which is the real me (and my site here) and can all stay safe and far away from these sick scammers/con-people.

Thanks for your support and understanding,

For Tyeth/FTSabersite

ONE FINAL POINT! I REPEAT…

FOR THE IDIOTS…

THIS WEBSITE AND IT”S CONTENTS, DESIGNS, IMAGES, LOGOS AND ALL OTHER WORKS ARE OWNED BY ME, FOR TYETH, OR ARE USED WITH PERMISSION.

FOR TYETH/FTSABERSITE IS COPYRIGHT ©2016-2017.

For Tyeth’s First Comic Con – It was Ace!

Hello Everybody, today I have an update on my visit to my first Comic Convention. And boy what an experience it was! To start with it was the hottest day of the year in the Outer Rim of the UK, and after a long journey dodging the local Imperial blockades and troopers I made it to the venue. I was equally nervous and excited. As I entered there were more Imperials, Stormtroopers and Darth Vader all stood on the entrance steps…I’m not sure but I think Vader sensed my presence as he and his group followed me round for a few minutes!

Oh Oh! Imperial Trouble!

Wait! Isn’t that….?

The place was busy with traders, Cosplayers and visitors, just like Jedha’s market place. As I shuffled along the crowd thinned and a clearing appeared. And believe it or not right in the middle of the clearing was a signing table with one of the special guests of the convention, Miss Sophie Aldred. The force was with me it seemed as Sophie was sat waiting for someone to approach so I took the opportunity to introduce myself and show her the saber I had designed for her. I was shaking like a leaf with nerves but Sophie was unbelievable and calming. Once composed we chatted about Ace and Dr Who then I explained I had the Ace Assistant Saber for her. At first she seemed confused, but when I showed her the pictures she then understood. I am pleased to say Sophie thought it was a great design and I had the pleasure of having my photo taken with her and getting an autograph!

So after exchanging some details about my site and her current project it was time to let other people meet Miss Aldred – who really is ACE! Thank you Sophie for everything.

Now I promised I would mention the new project Sophie is working on and it is a “free comedy drama podcast for anyone aged 8 to 80” called Strangeness in Space. It is written by British TV comedy legends Trev and Simon, and orbits around the exploits of Sophie (Miss Aldred), the manager of the NASA Space Centre Gift Shop and two idiots (their description not mine!) who claim to be the next big Electronic Synth Pop duo, Pink Custard. Somehow they all get stranded in a spaceship orbiting Planet Mirth. Will they get back to Tillbury? How diid they get there in the first place?! All the answers to these questions and details on how you can support this project can be found by clicking this link Strangeness in Space.

I wonder if they need a wannabe jedi knight lightsaber designer?…hmm maybe not but please go and take a look then you can click to go to page two of this post and hear what Bossk had to say about his saber design….and a bit of a surprise for me!

Pages: 1 2

Happy Birthday Star Wars – Happy For-Tyeth!

Hello Everybody, A long time ago, forty years to the day, in a galaxy far, far away called the United States of America….a star filled screen was the backdrop for a crawling passage of text, followed by a space battle between two ships, and the start of a phenomenon. Yes that phenomenon is Star Wars which debuted in cinemas this very day forty years ago. Little did we know what an impact it would have on us and popular culture since. It was a “Space Opera” with good guys and bad, Princesses, evil villains, mystic hobbits, droids, smugglers and a reluctant hero! Phew! that’s a long list. The film also had cool gadgets and props, including a planet killing space station, starfighter spaceships with lasers, handheld laser pistols and rifles…..oh and probably the greatest weapon ever conceived….the Lightsaber! A glowing energy beam sword that was able to cut through almost anything that extended and retracted when switched on or off. Then there was the sound of the saber courtesy of the genius of Ben Burtt. How many of us, as kids didn’t imitate the humming “Vrrrwwwm….Vrrrwwwm” noises waving various sticks and tubes about! Well as tribute I have a gallery of pictures of the first Lightsaber we ever saw on screen (or at least a custom saber manufacturer’s simile of one!)…here is Graflex Noir 77…

Graflex Noir 77 (The First)

Graflex Noir 77 Emitter

Graflex Noir 77 Emitter 2

Graflex Noir 77 Switch

Graflex Noir 77 Boody and Pommel

Graflex Noir 77 Horizontal

This was the prop in the film that got us all excited. The “Graflex” Lightsaber which Obi-Wan Kenobi passed onto Luke Skywalker, the saber belonging to Luke’s father originally. The saber wasn’t called a Graflex in the film, that refers to the item which was modified to build the prop in real life. The handle was originally a handle from an old 1930/40’s camera flash gun made by Graflex, the sort seen in movies used by newspaper reporters. The flash gun was a silver, tubular handle with a large metal dish attached at the top. The prop builders discovered a collection of these at the back of the studios and realised if they removed that dish which held the flash bulb, they had something that looked like the handle of a futuristic sword!

The blades of these props weren’t as good as they are today on replica hilts and props, instead they were lengths of three sided dowel rod. The rods didn’t glow but a clever camera technician wrapped the dowels in a metallic cloth used for cinema screens (called ScotchLite) and connected it to a small motor so it would rotate. He used a trick which shone light through the lens of the camera. This light would hit the cloth covered dowel and reflect back into the camera causing a flickering glow. Unfortunately if the movement of the camera and the blade weren’t co-ordinated the blade would move out of range and the glow would disappear.

Trust me Luke this stick is lethal without proper training to use it!

If you look closely at Luke’s sleeve you can see the wire that connected the motor in the hilt to it’s battery pack! And one final little fun fact, the actors weren’t allowed to actually clash the sabers together as they were very delicate but if you watch the battle between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan on the Death Star, both warriors swing their sabers and they “clash”…look very closely and you will see a small cloud of dust appear on impact. That dust is some of the metallic particles from the cloth!

None of this mattered to us fans however, a Lightsaber was a cool laser sword that all wannabe heroes wanted. I had one, a flashlight with a 1.5 volt light bulb powered by a couple of batteries, with a big plastic tube on the end. I didn’t get my first until the third film of the saga, so that’s another story. To finish today I will take a risk and post a coule of movie stills to celebrate the film’s anniversary, and if anyone from Disney or LucasFilm want me to remove them let me know, I always give credits etc to all material used here. So here are a few stills some old school black and white for nostalgia and some in colour for the younger newer generation of fans…enjoy and thanks for looking in today. Till next time.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

The Lightsaber, the dream.

Star Wars, Lightsaber, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi and all names, images, logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd 1977-2017.

Spring Website Maintenance! Bits and Bobs!

Hello Everybody,  I have been quite busy recently “Networking” around the Internet trying to get to know people and let them know about FTSabersite. It was during this time I decided to take a look at my site as a visitor and I realised I had made a big mistake in my organisation of the site. I discovered that most people visiting just check the home page for the latest posts and maybe not realise there are many more designs/posts than those highlighted in the scrolling header at the top of the homepage. And even bigger I forgot to use “TAGS” for my posts (Silly me!) I was so eager to get the site up, running and start posting regularly I didn’t add these useful little stickers to help folk search for particular categories. So over the next few days you may see the “Tag Cloud” in the sidebar getting larger with more topics and categories, such as “Other Sci-Fi” which you can click and all the Star Trek and Dr Who themed hilts will be displayed together. This is post number 271 so adding all the little stickers may take me a little while!

However whilst rummaging around my virtual storage locker and workshop I discovered I had some odd bits and pieces lying around. Remember yesterday’s post Phantom Tie Lightsaber where the Tie Phantom Starfighter reminded me of the clawed emitter, well I discovered another strange thing about that part. Did you know it looks very much like an Imperial Probe Droid? Here take a look…

Imperial Probe Droid

Imperial Probe Droid

I just had to add a pommel on the end of the emitter and Bingo! One spy droid. It doesn’t actually do anything, no lights or such it is just an ornament. I also received my copies of Rogue One recently on DVD and Blu-Ray and I watched that movie and saw a weapon in it that doesn’t get mentioned very often. That weapon is a Thermal Detonator, well it so happens I have a couple of those too (don’t worry they have been deactivated 😀 ) They were used during the attack on the Imperial Troopers and Cargo Hover Transporter and look a bit like these…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This one is based on a new version which you can see during the Battle of Scarif in Rogue One, and here is an older model I never got to display earlier..

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On a trip to Tatooine I bumped into some Bounty Hunters and had to confiscate these ones!

These are just a few fun little things that can be made out of ASP saber parts. But now I have to get back to sabers, so I will work on some more hilts whilst I update the indexing of the site. I do have a Rogue One Stormtrooper hilt and a hilt I designed in under 30 minutes for somebody on YouTube who asked me if I could do it! I hope you will return to see those, but for now I’d like to say thank you as always for today’s visit. Your support is very welcome. Till next time.

Star Wars, Rogue One and all other related names, logos and material are Trademarks/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd.

FTSabersite and all it’s contents are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017.

A Big Thank You to Borommakot!

Hello Everybody, I have today had the honour of being mentioned in a YouTube video by a very good friend of mine, Borommakot! You will no doubt have seen me mention Boro’ on numerous occasions as I have displayed some of his fabulous saber designs here on FTSabersite. I have also mentioned his YouTube Channel and had a link to it in the sidebar since I started this site. Well today Boro’ or daftPirate as he is known on YouTube uploaded a new video about his recent Lightsaber deliveries and gave a bit of news about his plans for the channel. He also gave a shout out to me and this site! It was the most wonderful and weird sensation hearing my name broadcast on the World Wide Web – I am still shaking from nervous energy from the surprise.

Borommakot you are a Pirate and a Gentleman!

Here are the links to his channel and to today’s video, please check them out:

daftPirate’s YouTube Channel

and here is the link to

daftPirate’s Latest Video

I also hope you don’t mind Boro’ but I borrowed your banner to place at the top of this post! For anyone who is new to this site here is a gallery of a few of Borommakot’s designs posted here so far…Enjoy!

Aquarius Hilt

Capricorn Hilt

Sagittarius Staff

Libra Hilt

Aires Hilt

Martyr Hilt

This post is coming to an end but I would like to thank Borommakot one final time and thank you my viewers and followers for visiting today. Please come back and check out more new designs from Boro’ and myself, there are still many, many more! Till next time.

Borommakot’s Guest Designs appear here with permission and are ©Copyright of Borommakot This site and it’s contents are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017.

The Busby Babes – I’ll Remember Them (Mancunian RED)

On this day in 1958 a tragic accident befell Manchester United Football Team. Whilst on a trip for a European Cup match, the aircraft they were travelling in experienced difficulties on take off and crashed, killing most of the players on board.

I’d like to take this moment to remember them.

Click here to see my tribute design Mancunian RED.

 

Farewell Carrie Fisher – You will always be our Princess.

I am so sorry to have to post this message, I am devastated to hear that Carrie Fisher has passed away as a result of the heart attack she suffered recently. I am at a loss.

My thoughts go out to her family and friends.