“Hello there!”….yes hello everybody! If you recognised the quote then you may have an idea who this post and saber design is in tribute to. As some of you will know Disney and Lucasfilm has just broadcast it’s latest Star Wars live action show, “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and the finale aired this week. Sadly I don’t have Disney+ in my cable subscription so haven’t seen any of the shows (I still have to watch The Mandalorian too yet) BUT I felt it was time that I modelled the classic Obi-Wan Kenobi saber that he uses during the time this show is set. The show takes place between the movies “Revenge of the Sith” and the original Star Wars (A New Hope) and tells the story of what Kenobi was doing on Tatooine and how he was overseeing the young Luke Skywalker. This saber was Kenobi’s THIRD lightsaber, having lost his first during his battle with Darth Maul in “The Phantom Menace” then when he was captured by Count Dooku and the Geonossians in “Attack of the Clones” his second saber was taken from him. So much for “Remember, you lightsaber is your life”! Anyhoo the third saber was an elegant “Thin Neck” style lightsaber that looked a bit like this:
It was a much more complex lightsaber and one that Obi-Wan was constantly modifying and “tinkering” with. And this is the saber he used to defeat Anakin Skywalker in the pivotal duel that led to the emergence of Darth Vader – you know the whole “ANAKIN! You were the Chosen One!” bit. So it was this saber I had to model and after about two weeks’ of tinkering myself I came up with this…here’s a few “arty” work in progress shots….
These pictures show the 3D model with a “MatCap” texture on it. The MatCap texture creates a sort of “Clay Model” effect so I can see how a model is shaping up before I apply the final textures. I realised I had added a part that isn’t on the Episode 3 saber so I had to remodel that part (if you look on the neck there is a round drum shaped object with a fan like insert – this is known as the wind vane and was in real life a part of an old World War 1 rifle launched grenade!). So another hour of work and I had removed the incorrect part and modelled a new neck section. I then started adding the final textures and little details till I came up with this….here is Gallery One….
I think I came pretty close considering I had no diagrams or blueprints to base the model off, I just estimated the dimensions and did it by eye (though it isn’t far off). The saber has the elegant bell/cup shaped emitter sat atop the brass/copper thin neck section. I made the thin neck look darker and tarnished as Obi-Wan had used this hilt in battle on the volcanic planet of Mustafar so would have some signs of wear. Next to the thin neck is the black “Grenade Grip” foregrip which gives the hilt amazing tactile feeling when you hold one. The mid section of the hilt is the switch section with the copper “printed circuit” board plate. This mid section also has two old transistors used to replicate buttons on the side of the hilt. To finish the saber I modelled the “Booster Gear Cog” which is the ribbed black segment with the small belt hanging Covertech wheel attached. The Booster Cog was again a piece of WW2 hardware, this time being a section of barrel from a heavy machine gun recoil absorber. Then finally another iconic part, I modelled the pommel….this time the pommel was made out of an old sink faucet/tap. A famous bathroom accessories company named Armitage Shanks produced a faucet/tap knob called the “Starlight” and it is this knob that was used by Roger Christian (the prop designer of Star Wars) to build Sir Alec Guinness’ famous lightsaber. Anyhoo, I’m taking too much again and its time for some close up detail pictures of what I just spoke about, here’s Gallery Two….
You can clearly see the thin neck, grenade grip, the transistors and circuit board and the Booster Gear Cog in these images. And you might just be able to make out some etching, which says “Graflex” – this marking shows that the switch section is made from the clamp found on old press photographers’ cameras which were made between 1958-1970. The famous Skywalker lightsaber which Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan gives to Luke was made using a Graflex camera flashgun.
Now I mentioned that this was a saber I am including in my “Master Series” of designs and so it needs something special to qualify and that something is of course, a heart of Kyber crystal. SO this hilt features a crystal chamber inside and when opened you can see the glowing crystal within…here’s Gallery Three!….
A fitting finale to this saber design and hopefully a fitting tribute to Obi-Wan Kenobi. I have heard/read mixed reviews about the Disney show so I can’t say how good it is or not but at least we still have the original Star Wars movie content (with Sir Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor as young Obi) to enjoy. And i hope you have enjoyed this Master Series offering, I was happy with the results of two and bit week’s work. You can see other “FT Master Series” hilts by clicking this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/tag/ft-master-series/
And that just about wraps up this post and tribute to Master Kenobi. Obi-Wan did have one more saber variant seen in Star Wars (A New Hope) but I still have to model that one for a future post. Hopefully you will call back to FTSabersite to check it out and much more that I have lined up. But for now thank you all for visiting and supporting me and this site, it’s much appreciated. Please comment, maybe leave a like and subscribe if you haven’t already. Till next time…..
“Kenobi Saber – FT Master Series” is a For Tyeth Editions creation inspired by the lightsaber seen in “Star Wars” Episodes 3&4 and “SW Obi-Wan Kenobi” on Disney+. The saber was 3D modelled and rendered by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and the files/models/images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The saber and all related names and images are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.
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