Building Storm Katana – For Cobra’s Ninja Assassin, Storm Shadow

Hello Everybody, today I return to the comic book world of the G.I. Joes and to a story between two “brothers”. The brothers were Snake Eyes who I re-introduced you to a few posts back and the Ninja assassin named Storm Shadow. Both Snake and Shadow had originally served in the US military operating in southeast Asia. They were members of a LRRP or “Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol” with another team member who would later become the G.I. Joe named Stalker, You may recall I mentioned that Snake Eyes was rescued from the field of battle when he was injured, by a soldier of Japanese descent and that soldier turned out to be Thomas S. Arashikage or “Storm Shadow” – his Ninja clan name. After the war both men returned to normal life, Shadow to Japan and Snake to the US where he learnt his family had perished in an automobile accident. Having nothing to keep him in the US Snake travelled to stay with the one last person he considered family…Storm Shadow. Below are pictures of Hasbro’s “Storm Shadow ” action figure promo poster and my 2017 lightsaber Katana I created for Shadow,

However, things didn’t run smoothly as Snake became a member of the Arashikage clan and studied martial arts under Shadow’s uncle, the Hard Master. Snake excelled and surpassed Shadow becoming the clan leader elect causing tension. Then an assassination attempt on Snake’s life failed disastrously. The crime group Cobra and it’s leader Cobra Commander sent an assassin to kill Snake in revenge for Snake killing a member of the Commander’s family. Complicated? Well sadly the Hard Master died and was shot by an arrow that belonged to Storm Shadow and the assailant fled unseen escaping in a mini helicopter. Shadow was blamed and he fled also, later joining Cobra itself to try and discover the real killer. Whew! Ok enough talk, it’s about time I show you Gallery one of “Building Storm Katana”….

This is a no-nonsense lightsaber katana, just right for a silent, deadly Ninja assassin such as Storm Shadow. However even though Snake Eyes and Shadow seem to be on differing sides, this hilt is similar to that of his “brother” Snake’s Katana. Shadow is a traditional trained Ninja and as such would probably only use this weapon if it were to give him an edge in combat. Therefore I removed the Arashikage clan logo from the blade as this emits way too much light for it to be stealthy weapon. I did leave the logo on the pommel as this also acts as the on/off switch. The Tsuba handguard and pommel feature the same etching marks that resemble waves and currents – the elements of a storm. This katana also features a metal hilt body rather than a sword with a wooden core (called a Tang) in the handgrip – but the hilt is wrapped in a matching off white leather Tsuka Ito grip wrap that allows the alloy handle to show through. Ok then, again I am chatting too much so I had best showcase the detailed glamour shots in Gallery Two…

Just a few pictures to show off the details and in the last two shots you can see the Clan logo activation switch again but I also varied the angle the picture was taken from to show that the metallic hilt doesn’t stand out too much by shining, which is useful because Shadow can still use it to reflect light to distract an opponent – or sneakily momentarily blinding them! He is a Ninja after all.

Shadow and Snake obviously go their separate ways with Snake returning to the US and joining the special elite corps known as G.I.Joe, whilst Shadow (as I mention above) joined Cobra, the shadowy criminal organisation hoping to discover who killed his uncle and framed him. The two would eventually join forces when Shadow joins the Joes but it didn’t last long. As to what happened next depends on which movies or comic books you read as there are a few different strands of canon/lore (the Marvel comic timeline and the later reboot and G.I. Joe movies).

“Storm Shadow”

And that just about Tsuka Ito wraps up this saber offering (sorry bad pun but I’ve been holding off from saying it, honest!) Thank you so much for checking this one out and I hope you enjoyed it and the backstory, You will be pleased to know the next post will be planted firmly back in Star Wars territory with another “Starfighter Saber” inspired by a famous ship seen in the films. I still have a few more Power Rangers katanas but this past week I have worked on something I hope is really cool, when I saw what I had modelled I said…..”Hello there!”……that was a little hint.

Anyhoo, thanks for he support, be it from new visitors or my regular viewers it keeps me posting and please call back for upcoming posts. Till next time…..

“Building Storm Katana” is a For Tyeth Editions design, modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite. It is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Storm Shadow” was created by Larry Hama and is ©Copyright of Hasbro Toys.

“Snake-Eyed Saber” Inspired by G.I. Joe’s Ninja Warrior

Hello Everybody, today I bring you another Katana design inspired by a character from Hasbro’s toy line of G.I. Joe. Way back in the 80’s there was a comic book that chronicled the adventures oand missions of an elite force known as the G.I. Joes and one character in particular I took an interest in, That was the elite commando and Ninja known as Snake Eyes. Not a lot was known about this mysterious, silent (literally) covert operations expert, except that he served in the US military in south east Asia where he was injured in combat but saved by another soldier of Japanese descent. This soldier risked his life to retrieve and carry Snake Eyes back to a chopper and rescue despite being ordered to leave Snake on the battlefield. Upon returning to the US and recovering from his injuries Snake discovered that his family had perished in a car accident. So Snake travelled with the Japanese soldier that saved his life and joined the soldier’s family clan….the Arashikage….a Ninja clan!

The Arashikage clan symbol (see explanation of this below)

Snake Eyes went on to study the martial arts and became a black belt in 12…yes 12 martial arts along with his now adopted blood brother who became known as Storm Shadow. Storm Shadow and Snake Eyes would later fall out after Shadow was inadvertently framed for the murder of the clan master. The leader of a group named Cobra blamed Snake Eyes for the death of his brother and sent an assassin to kill Snake but that assassin killed the clan father by mistake using a stolen arrow belonging to Shadow. Shadow fled and Snake returned to the US and the military joining the elite squad G.I Joe.

Snake Eyes left, and Storm Shadow on the right.

Snake’s problems didn’t end here however, as during a mission he received serious facial injuries whilst saving a female soldier named Scarlett, an accident which scarred his face and severed his vocal cords leaving him mute. He somehow survived and completed the mission and afterwards donned a mask and mysterious black body suit. Storm Shadow on the other hand…ended up joining the secretive criminal group Cobra in a attempt to discover the identity of the killer that killed his clan master. As an expert in Ninjitsu, Snake Eyes used bladed weapons such as “Knuckleduster Knives” and the famous Ninja sword or Katana. Today I showcase my lightsaber Katana in honour of this mysterious warrior, here is “Snake-Eyed Saber”

I took my recent Katana design and elongated the handgrip and Tsuka Ito wrapping, recoloured the hilt to match Snake’s stealthy black and silver colour scheme and added a glowing Arashikage clan symbol (if you look cloely to the image of Snake above you can see a non illuminated version of this logo on his Katana blade too.) This saber was difficult to get right because as I’ve mentioned before, trying to have two objects that are the same colour (or black in this case) is hard to make them appear and stand apart. But I worked hard to get the leather texture of the hadngrip wrap just the right shade and I’m pleased with the result (the leather really has a 3D look to it). I also liked how the whole saber looked, but enough chatter again…here are a few more pics in Gallery Two….

I added a second Arashikage symbol on the pommel, replacing my initials from the original Katana model. The complete symbol is actually a pair of symbols from the I-Ching, a form of divination or fortune telling, stacked one atop the other . The two symbols are Lí (the lower three lines) meaning “Flame” and the upper three rows are the symbol Kǎn meaning “Water”….the equal and opposite in all things. And what else has an equal and opposite in Star Wars? The Force of course! Light and Dark.

And as with Star Wars, there was bound to be conflict and it would transpire that Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow’s paths would cross again but that is for a future post where I will showcase Storm Shadow’s tribute. But before I finish I do want to show you how far my designing has progressed since I started….some viewers/readers may recall waaay back that I did a tribute to these two G.I.Joe characters and created a hilt for them using the old software I had access to…if you don’t recall then here is a quick glimpse of an old design!

Wow! I’ve come a long way since….wait for it….May 4th 2017! Yes five years ago! If you want to check this hilt out then you can find it here: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/05/04/snake-eyes-fire-and-water-lightsaber-a-ninjas-lightsaber/

That just about wraps up this tribute to the silent Ninja Warrior, Snake Eyes and his new lightsaber Katana. Thank you so much for checking it out. If you liked this one and my old design please have a look round at some of my other content. I will, as mentioned return to showcase Storm Shadow in a future post along with a set of FIVE katana hilts for a colourful bunch of Ninja teenagers, plus I have some starfighter inspired saber designs too. Oh and I may post on May the Fourth….you know….Star Wars Day! Once again, thanks and till next time….

“Snake-Eyed Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design, modelled and rendered by For Tyeth/FTSabersite in Blender 3D. The model and images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. It is inspired by characters from “G.I. Joe”, created by Hasbro Toys. and is Trademark/©Copyright of Hasbro Toys. The G.I. Joe movies are Trademark/©Copyright of Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and Hasbro Toys.

Cobra Command Lightsaber – Cobra’s Kyber Weapon

Hello Everybody, I feel I should post a design for the boss of the evil organisation known as Cobra, the enemy of the G.I.Joes. He is known as Cobra Commander, but very little else is known about him. I tried sending some of my data droids to get some info but all of it is classified! He does wear a mirror like face mask along with his helmet and uniform, and in the movies he appears to have some sort of breathing apparatus under that façade. He and his right hand man, second in command Destro, control Cobra with an iron grip in an attempt to gain world domination. So that’s a little about the man in charge and here is my design for his new Lightsaber… Cobra Command….

Cobra Command Hilt

Cobra Command Emitter

Cobra Command Emitter 2

Cobra Command Switch

Cobra Command Body

Cobra Command Pommel

Cobra Command Pommel 2

Cobra Command Horizontal

Cobra Command Horizontal Side Detail

This is Cobra Command, I think it looks sinister enough to be owned by a megalomaniac! The saber has a Sith red blade which projects from an emitter that shares a similar shape to Cobra Commander’s helmet. The switch is functional and has a matching groove to that of the emitter part. The grip of the body is the same Cobalt Blue as the early uniforms that the officers of Cobra wore (including C.C. himself) from the comic books I remember reading in the 1980’s. The pommel is another emitter with a forked shroud, which just looks so much like the fangs of a Cobra (and other creatures!) I plugged the pommel with a blade plug to add that bit of “bling” most power hungry people like to show off.

Really? I’m a MEGALOMANIAC?

I think Cobra Commander will calm down soon and will hopefully like his new saber and take my comment as a compliment! I hope you too enjoyed this hilt. I am always working on new designs, and I have a new Star Trek hilt coming up soon. This one belongs to the Engineering department for sure.

I am nearing the time I have to end but I’d like to say hello and  thanks to all of you who have visited recently, including the viewers from Finland and Australia! I look forward to you calling in again to see my next designs. Thanks to all for the continued support…Till next time.

G.I. Joe was created by Hasbro Toys. and is Trademark/©Copyright of Hasbro Toys. The G.I. Joe movies are Trademark/©Copyright of Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and Hasbro Toys.

Storm Shadow Fire and Water – Another Ninja’s Lightsaber

Hello Everybody, today as promised I bring to you the second in the Fire and Water pair of Katanas I designed for the two ninjas of the G.I. Joe franchise. Yesterday we met Snake Eyes the G.I. Joe hero who was badly injured but went on to become one of their most deadly combatants. This time we meet his counterpart who fights for the organisation called Cobra, this man is called Storm Shadow. At one point in history Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow found themselves together at the same ninja training clan, the Arashikage. They fought as spiritual brothers whilst members of the clan but events would lead Snake to be recruited by G.I. Joe while Shadow joined Cobra. I imagined a situation where both Ninja were being trained by their Sensei but when they parted ways they took with them a Lightsaber each and these were the designs I came up with, had Lightsabers existed. So this is the hilt of Storm Shadow, this is Storm Shadow’s Fire and Water…

Storm Shadow’s Fire and Water Hilt

Fire and Water Emitter

Fire and Water Emitter 2

Fire and Water Switch

Fire and Water Bodies and Coupler

Fire and Water Pommel

Fire and Water Vertical Up

This design is the same as Snake Eyes’ but in Standard Dual Tone finish. This was to achieve a sort of Ying-Yang vibe to the pair as Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow appear to be opposites and equals. However, usually white is associated with the “Good Guys” and black with the “Bad Guys” but in this case it may have been reversed! In the comics Snake Eyes battles for good and Storm Shadow for evil but later in the storyline it may be that Storm Shadow joined Cobra to avenge a wrong committed by Cobra Commander! So much like in Star Wars, there is the Lightside and Darkside….and that murky bit in-between that’s Grey. And we may see more of this theme in the Last Jedi!

Storm Shadow (source Sideshowtoys.com)

And his clan Tattoo

As you can see from the above pictures Storm Shadow adopts a more traditional look of a Ninja that we are so used to seeing in movies today. In the G.I. Joe movie franchise he actually wears a white full length leather coat, but you wouldn’t want to mess with him whatever he was wearing!

I am once more approaching the sunset of this post and will have to end shortly. Before I go I’d like to thank all of the new viewers I have received these past few days, it’s nice to see interest in my site growing from all parts of the globe. I haven’t forgotten my regular followers and viewers, thanks for sticking with me you are appreciated. I hope all new and regular viewers will return to see what new designs I have to come. Thanks and…Till next time.

OH AND HAPPY MAY THE FOURTH

BE WITH YOU DAY!

G.I. Joe was created by Hasbro Toys. and is Trademark/©Copyright of Hasbro Toys. The G.I. Joe movies are Trademark/©Copyright of Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and Hasbro Toys.

Snake Eyes Fire and Water Lightsaber – A Ninja’s Lightsaber

Hello Everybody, today we enter the world of  Comic Book international peace keeping and the franchise known as G.I. Joe. This range of action toys created by Hasbro, started out way back in the 1960’s as 12″ tall authentic styled figures named Action Sailor, Soldier or Marine. They represented the branches of the military of the US and a licenced version was launched in the UK called Action Man. Eventually these toys were re-vamped in a smaller size of 3.75″ poseable action figures. They had vehicle accessories, play-sets and a new back story of the G.I. Joes facing the threat from COBRA and their leader Cobra Commander (Long time followers will remember my Destro Lightsaber , he was Cobra Commander’s right hand man). However one of the most popular figures in this new range was that of a mysterious black clad Ninja with a Katana and a pet wolf. That Ninja was called Snake Eyes, and this is my lightsaber design for him…

Snake Eyes Fire and Water

Snake Eyes Emitter

Snake Eyes Emitter 2

Snake Eyes Switch

Snake Eyes Bodies and Coupler

Snake Eyes Pommel

Snake Eyes Vertical Up

I tried to create a saber similar to a Katana but with the added advantage of a lightsaber blade. This design I created long before my The Long and Short FT Katana Collection. I used the body sections that have Grenade grip blocks as I thought they looked like the tattoo Snake Eyes had on his forearm. The tattoo was the insignia of the Ninja clan he was a member of with his spiritual “brother” however things would change and they end up on opposing sides. The emitter has what appears to be a snake’s fangs and a medium blue blade. The whole saber is in tactical black to help it remain stealthy, just like it’s new owner.

Snake Eyes Himself

And his clan Tattoo

As you can see from the images above Snake Eyes is a formidable looking guy, due to having to wear a mask to cover facial injuries he sustained on a mission. These injuries didn’t stop him from mastering 12 martial arts and serving in the Special Forces and Delta Force. The second image shows his clan tattoo, representing the I-Ching symbol for Fire and Water! Snake Eyes represents one half of the symbolism, and his “brother” (who we shall meet in my next post) is the other half.

I hope Snake Eyes approves of this new weapon, as in the movies based on the toys he is portrayed by Ray “Darth Maul” Park! I also hope you liked this back to basics Katana style hilt and you will join me to see his “brother’s” hilt. Thank you so much for your support today, I appreciate it but sadly I have to end now so…Till next time!

G.I. Joe was created by Hasbro Toys. and is Trademark/©Copyright of Hasbro Toys. The G.I. Joe movies are Trademark/©Copyright of Paramount Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment and Hasbro Toys.

Destro Lightsaber – A GI Joe inspired hilt

Ooops! I got a little carried away celebrating Mr Hamill’s birthday yesterday and forgot to post my second purple saber I promised! Well I will set that right here. Back in the 80’s in the Outer Rim of the UK (where I live!) a comic was launched that pitted brave international military specialists against an evil dictator and his minion army. The good guys were called Action Force and the bad guys were called Cobra. In the US however the comic and the good guys were titled after the nickname for military personnel – GI Joes. Cobra remained Cobra and was headed by Cobra Commander and his right hand man DESTRO! It was this individual that stood out as he wore what appeared to be a chrome full faced mask. It completely encased his head and contrasted with his black outfit. At the time it was startling.

While using the ASP builder I noticed one particular pommel looked to have a pattern that mimicked a face. When I changed this pommel’s colour to silver I immediately saw the potential for a Destro hilt. So here is Destro…

Destro Hilt

Destro Emitter

Destro Emitter 2

Destro Switch

Destro Body

Destro Pommel

Desto Vertical Up

Destro Vertical Down

Destro reference picture

The pommel has a ridge that looks like the bridge of a nose and a few details that look like eyes when held at a certain angle. Combining this with the jet black hilt handle and silver accent lines make this elegant and aggressive at  the same time. To top it off I added a purple(indigo) blade which contrasts with the black and looks intimidating.

Destro never used a sword as far as I recall but he may have chosen something like this had he done so. I do know of two brothers from the GI Joe universe who did use swords to great effect, the brothers Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. They were brothers, they were Ninjas…they were enemies! One fought for the Joes, the other for Cobra. I designed sabers for them also but those weapons are for a future post. (I know I’m a tease!)

I do hope you come back to check out the sabers for Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and all the other designs by me and my friends. Meanwhile I thank you for your company here and hope you enjoyed! Till next time.

GI Joe, Destro, Snake Eyes, Storm Shadow and Cobra Commander are Trademark/©Copyright of Hasbro toys.