Hello Everybody, and especially to DK44 and his younglings (hi guys!). Today is VERY, VERY exciting as not only do I have a completely new bespoke FT Editions design but I have learned there is going to be a new season of Star Wars – The Clone Wars which is mega news…and I may have been overdoing things a little, but more on that later. You all came to see a new saber so I had best get on with this post.
I have had a bit of a Voltron Legendary Defenders theme going after I was introduced to it by DK44. The group of five intrepid heroes lends itself to inspire new designs. I built an “inspired by” hilt (see it here) as a way to practise using Blender and I think I have the hang of it now. So here is a saber which came about through my conversation with DK44, where he asked “Are you making a Voltron Katana Tyeth?”…Er, yes I have and I have taken it step further, here is Voltron Paladin “Crystal” Katana…
So to tie in this design with the original Voltron saber seen in the cartoon I used the same style yellow/black handgrips for the body. I just straightened out the bend from the handgrip and added a few indents for grip and detail. The tsuba handguard is a basic hexagonal shape with faces that could have further details etched into. The activation switch sits in it’s own recessed cavity so users don’t accidently de-activate the blade during battle. And as a finishing touch I used the Robo Lion head models I previewed in earlier posts as a pommel piece! And I envisaged that each Lion Head would be colour coded to the Paladin that was using the saber, This means you could make five sabers in corresponding colours, one for each member of Voltron. (To save space I just displayed the yellow version but you can switch colours easily enough).
But I can hear you all say, “Hey Tyeth! Why is this a “Crystal” Katana? It isn’t made of crystal!”….Well no, it isn’t made of crystal but this saber does contain a “Crystal Chamber” which I made and slotted in! It is my first chamber so is basic but I know I can develop it and make it look more “techy” for use in future builds. And if you missed the crystal chamber in the above pics here is a second gallery of close-up pics…
Because I learned how to merge two model files into one, I was able to build the saber hilt in one file and a second file for the chamber. I tweaked the chamber and when I was happy with it I imported it into the file with the saber and positioned it into the hilt. This means I have so much more control as I can create any object then merge it into whichever project I am working on. And speaking of projects…remember I mentioned above I may have been overdoing things? I have gotten a bit carried away building and I have FIVE more brand new hilts waiting to be displayed!! I have two Solo movie inspired hilts, two droid replicas and a special TLJ inspired saber coming up!
I am afraid I’m out of time for this Crystal Katana offering, I hope you all enjoyed it. Please call back to see my five new hilts in future posts (Now I don’t usually brag or show off about my creations but I have to say I think you will be impressed by the TLJ saber – I even impressed myself). I very much appreciate your support and comments. Till next time….
“Voltron Legendary Defenders” and all names, logos and related materials are Trademark/© Copyright of DreamWorks Entertainment. “Voltron Paladin Crystal Katana” is an FT Editions saber and is © Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-18.