“Shredded Saber” – inspired by Shredder of The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character

Hello Everybody, today we are going to visit a franchise I haven’t commented or designed for since maybe 2017! Whilst modelling my Katana there was a detail I added to it that reminded me of a person/character from popular culture and I couldn’t believe I’d not realised sooner. OK, long story short, back in 2017 I produced a set of saber designs for the four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, their Sensei Master Splinter and one for the arch enemy Shredder. I used the old software I had access to back then and always thought I could do better if I had bespoke 3D design applications to work with. The original design was ok and I was pleased with it at the time but I had that nagging sensation. You can check out the original design and post by clicking this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/04/08/shredder-lightsaber-for-the-turtles-arch-enemy/ .So fast forward to 2022 and I modelled a Katana including a version for Marvel Studio’s MoonKnight. This saber had a specific part that triggered my nagging sensation and I had an design epiphany. The design I came up with is for Shredder once again but this time is bespoke and updated! This is “Shredded Saber”….

Shredder was originally a martial artist named Oroku Saki, who lived in Japan. He was enamored with a young woman named Tang Shen. Unfortunately, she was in love with another man named Hamato Yoshi and there was bound to be conflict. The situation led to Oroku challenging Hamato to a fight to settle the love triangle “honourably” but Tang Shen persuaded Hamato to flee rather than fight. The pair fled to New York and eventually Oroku followed, after he had joined a criminal gang and trained to be a Ninja.. The criminal gang, called “The Foot” made Oroku the leader of the American arm of the organisation and Oroku used this to his advantage in taking revenge. He tracked down the lovers and in a sneak attack he killed Tang Shen….then attacked Hamato. During the fight Hamato’s pet rat, named Splinter, was freed from his cage when it was knocked over. Splinter despite being just a rat ATTACKED Oroko – scratching his face. Oroku brushed off the rodent and swung his katana which grazed the rat’s ear causing him to scamper away and run into the sewers. Later in another incident, four baby turtles and a container of “Nuclear Goop” were released into the sewers also. This Goop ended up mutating the turtles and Splinter who discovered the reptiles. The animals became the characters Master Splinter and Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael – the turtles. Oroku Saki continued his criminal activity and adopted a disguise that we know as the Shredder costume. And it was this costume’s helmet that inspired me! Here is the helmet and a few comparisons…

Well look at that! I didn’t realise when I came up with the MoonKnight Katana that I had inadvertently made a version of Shredder’s helmet decoration! The last two images show just the claws and emitter and in the final picture I added the pommel decoration onto the cylinder. That logo is actually the emblem of Shredder’s gang “The Foot”.

And that I’m afraid is just about all the time I have and I’ll have to finish shortly. I have mentioned I am in the planning stage of a big “Jedi Mission” that is coming soon but I am on standby awaiting the final documentation and briefing papers to arrive before I get the “GO” signal. And I am getting very nervous. So I am finishing off some upcoming posts and I have a ton of new stuff I hope you’ll come and check out – ranging from sabers of course all the way through to new on-screen used props, speederbikes, a couple of starships……and sabers for a Cat and a Mouse!

I’d like to finish by thanking all of you for today’s visit to my site and all the support you show me. It helps keep me motivated knowing folks out there enjoy what I do Till next time…..

“Shredded Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the Shredder character seen in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle franchise. The 3D design, model and renders were created by For Tyeth in Blender 3D and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2023. The Shredder, Splinter, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, TMNT and all character names, logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of VIACOM International Inc. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appeared in Mirage Comics.

“Repulsor Staff” – Inspired by Power Rangers’ Rita Repulsa

Hello Everybody and welcome to 2023 and the first post of the new year. Hope you had a great time over the festive period – I had a quiet but busy holiday with lots of planning as I wanted to start the year off on the right foot. As a result I am returning to the Power Rangers franchise today for this offering because I remembered long ago when I did my first Rangers tributes I got a lot of interruptions from a certain witch by the name of…Rita Repulsa! Yes the arch enemy of the Rangers (initially portrayed by Machiko Soga) kept nagging me to design/build a weapon for her too.

Well I wasn’t going to make the mistake of forgetting her this time and I have “revamped” her old staff I built back in 2017…which looked like this…

So the new staff had to look a bit like this original and a bit like the new staff that Rita had in the rebooted Power Rangers’ movie (with Elizabeth Banks portraying Rita). I’m gonna have to go all out on this one, so here is the new Blender 3D built “Repulsor Staff”…..

In the past I had struggled with creating curved/organic like objects but I have now got a better idea how to model them and Rita’s staff does feature mystic swirling parts so I had to include something similar. In this case I added a “Torus Knot” which is a 3D object like a coiled snake but is a continuous loop. I used this loop as part of the struts holding the “axe-blade” in place. The staff features Rita’s iconic green, black and gold colouring, with black leather and brushed gold accents/parts. The staff also needed somewhere to store all Rita’s mystic power and spells so I incorporated a “Crystal Chamber Pommel” on the base of the staff…and I was pretty pleased how it turned out. You can see it here in Gallery Two…

The power crystal is suspended within a cage built from another crystal object from which I deleted the flat surfaces leaving just a wire frame. I then thickened the frame to make it more solid. The power crystal has all it’s flat surfaces which creates the facets. I think it looks suitably “astronomical” – Rita’s staff featured stars and crescent moon decorations – and hopefully meets with Rita’s approval.

Rita Repulsa – as portrayed by Elizabeth Banks

Bethells Beach

And now, you may have noticed that I try to create or find backgrounds that “Tie-in” or are associated with the design/model that I have created such as using images of a dockyard with shipping containers for my Power Ranger Katanas, well I managed to find information and images about the filming locations of the Rangers franchise and some of the beach fight scenes were shot at a place called Bethells Beach (Te Henga). Where better to display my new staff than here? It is very famous and well known, especially if you are a Lord Of The Rings or Xena Warrior Princess fan. The Rings of Power film shot scenes on this beach too so it is full of magic!

Finally, I also discovered that 2023 is the THIRTIETH anniversary of the franchise and sometime this year a new season of Power Rangers (Cosmic Force) is slated to be filmed. Maybe I’ll get to see it and find some more inspiration for new builds in future. And that I’m afraid is just about all the time I have and need to bring this post to an end. You can see all my Power Ranger designs old and new by clicking this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/tag/power-rangers/

I will be returning to the Star Wars franchise next time with another “Speedster” variant plus in the coming weeks I have much more to show including other props and objects from Star Wars. I hope you will return to check all that out. In the meantime, thanks so much for re-joining me in 2023, the support you show really means a lot. Till Next Time…..

“Repulsor Staff – Inspired by Power Rangers’ Rita Repulsa” is a For Tyeth Editions design, modelled and rendered in Blender 3D. The 3D model and rendered images are created by For Tyeth and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2023. “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers”, “Rita Repulsa” and all other names, logos, images or related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Saban International Entertainment 1993-2023.

“Max Interceptor” Saber – Inspired by Mad Max the Road Warrior

G’Day everybody and welcome back to my final telling of the tale of Max the Road Warrior. Max Rockatansky was an Australian police officer in the time after a terrible war resulted in a lack of resources and a collapse in societal behaviour. The Outback became even more lawless and biker gangs roam and pillaged in an attempt to get “black gold” or Juice for their vehicles. In what was left of the suburban areas folks tried to live as normal but it became ever more difficult. Max took his young family out to have a picnic one day but unfortunately he ran across one such biker gang. This gang had been investigated/pursued by the police including Max and his colleague friend, Goose, and in the action Goose was brutally killed in a bike crash. This damaged Max psychologically and tried to find comfort with his family with the picnic….then the confrontation occurred. Max was pushed over the edge….

Mad Max Interceptor

Max was driving his family to the countryside when he suffered a flat tire. He found a salvage yard and whilst bartering to get a new wheel his wife and child wandered off to look at the scenery. The biker gang turned up and there was a confrontation and Max’s wife and son were brutally attacked and killed. Max lost it and went on a crazed one man crusade to find the gang and gain vengeance. And he used his vehicle, the Pursuit Interceptor as a weapon. So I based my Max inspired saber on that vehicle, this is “Max Interceptor”….

As this hilt is modelled after a police car I made sure it was a tough utilitarian design with automotive detailing. The saber is solid with a very distinctive emitter and pommel. You will notice that the hilt is also a lot more black than the multicoloured Pursuit Interceptor I posted a picture of above. This saber is based on the car AFTER Max made some modifications. He emptied the boot/trunk to install larger fuel tanks, then added a new sleeker radiator grille and headlights…..then there was the Supercharger block on the famous V8 engine!

The Pursuit Special Interceptor and on the right, the mighty V8!

So, as you will have worked out, I modelled the emitter to represent the mighty engine block and supercharger. I gave the saber a black paint job but retained the yellow, red and blue stripes to hark back to the fact this used to be a police cruiser. The handle itself has a 3D modelled texture to provide MAXimum grip during combat. And finally, the pommel also features some 3D texturing with what appears to be tire treads….and that’s because the pommel is made up from the Interceptor’s rear wheel! Here’s the next gallery and some close ups….

The emitter has quite a bit of detail modelled into it, including the drive shaft socket for the radiator fan (this forms the actual emitter mouth). Above and below are rows of bolts that hold the upper and lower halves of the cylinder block together. Along the sides you can see the channels that indicate the row of four pistons that form the V configuration. The “power bulge” or inlet for the supercharger on top of the emitter also acts as one of the activation switches for the saber. Max famously boobytrapped his car so vigilantes and enemies couldn’t steal his ride, and so too is this saber rigged. It can be set to activate either by pressing the Supercharger OR by twisting the pommel cap or a combination of both ….very nasty if you tried to switch it on incorrectly as you’ll blow the saber up! Not very Jedi like I know but it is very Max-like.

And this vehicle carried Max through the Wastelands of Australia till it was finally stolen then destroyed in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. It was his home as he travelled and encountered the Toecutter gang, Bartertown and the tribe of Tomorrow Morrow people. And maybe just maybe….out on the road Max is wandering still with a For Tyeth saber by his side.

That just about brings this telling to an end and this Mad Max inspired series. Thanks so much for checking it out and please take a look at the others I posted in recent weeks. Also thank you for all the positive comments about my Uhura and Nichelle Nichols inspired tribute last week, it meant a lot to me to know I did a good job. However that isn’t the end, I still have many more designs and prop models I have built so please call back to see those in upcoming posts. Till next time…..

 “Max Interceptor” saber is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the movie franchise Mad Max . The design, 3D model and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome” is a Warner Bros/Universal Pictures movie directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie. “Max Rockatansky”,, “Thunderdome” and all other names, logos, images and related material are currently owned Trademarks/©Copyright of Warner Bros/Universal Pictures 2021.

“Uhura Queen of Comms” Saber – A tribute to Star Trek’s Nichelle Nichols

nuqneH and welcome to the other franchise of the final frontier….Star Trek. Today I present my tribute to the actress and space pioneer Nichelle Nichols who portrayed Lt Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek series (and the first six movies) and sadly passed away recently. It was the news of Nichelle’s passing and a conversation with my friend Resa (from Graffiti Lux and Murals – Link: https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/ ) about Star Trek, the Emmy’s and Nichelle’s role that prompted me to create a saber in Ms Nichol’s honour.

Nichelle was (and still is) THE Lt Uhura, communications officer from the original show and canon movies. Uhura however was very nearly named Lt Sulu but this was changed to help the show’s creator, Gene Roddenberry achieve a diverse cast and George Takei’s character was named Sulu instead. Whilst reading for the part of Uhura, Nichelle had a book with her titled “Uhuru” by Robert Ruark. Uhuru means “freedom” in Swahili and when this was explained to Gene he adapted the word to “Uhura”. Lt Uhura first appeared in Star Trek in the episode titled “Man Trap” and joined the crew of the Enterprise as chief communications officer. OK, I think that will do as an introduction so I had best show you the saber I designed for Ms Nichols, this is “Uhura – Queen of Comms”…

With this saber I tried to capture the physical appearance of Uhura (sort of) in a similar way that I recreated Robocop with my “Pacifier” design. The saber is the same red colour as Uhura’s Starfleet uniform and even has the same black trim around the emitter to represent the collar design, whilst there is gold trim to signify her rank insignia bands on the sleeves. The emitter has nice slotted windows to allow the blade to shine through. The emitter is also contoured to provide grip and adds a bit of curve to the handle. There are slight bulges on either side of the hilt to replicate arms and you can see the gold trim on the “sleeves”. Of course all Starfleet uniforms must have the famous Federation emblem and so too does this hilt and the emblem also doubles as the saber’s activation switch. This emblem is 3D modelled and not just a graphic pasted on. Alright, I had best quickly move on to Gallery Two as I have a special “extra” later in this post so here are some detail pictures…..

Now you can clearly see the details I mentioned already but in these shots you can see the Covertech Wheel which is used to hang the saber on your belt, but also around the bottom of the handgrip you can see further gold trim and the handgrip appears slightly misshapen. The saber isn’t misshapen, I intentionally created a flared edge to make the bottom of the handgrip look like the hemline of Uhura’s uniform skirt. Below that there are sections to represent her legs and finally her black boots form the pommel end cap with the orange/gold rings in the pommel opening. These rings reminded me of Uhura’s earrings, those classic 60’s style hooped designs.

Uhura and Nichelle herself were both great communicators and inspirational. Nichelle was one of the first African American actresses to appear as a main character and had many fans including Martin Luther King Jr, who once spoke with Nichelle when she considered leaving the show and convinced her to stay aboard the Enterprise because she was such a positive role model. Uhura travelled space but as far as I know Nichelle never made it into space but was approached by NASA to be an ambassador to try and encourage more women and ethnic minority applicants to join the Air Force and NASA. So Nichelle was sort of an honourary astronaut! And because Nichelle and Uhura were such great communicators I thought “what else can I do to make this tribute extra poignant?” The answer….I created Uhura’s iconic communications desk earpiece! Here is Gallery Three with the comlink earpiece….

The first photo shows an actual studio prop of the earpiece to compare with my recreation. I did tweak the angled earbud section slightly so it would be more sturdy and I added a small plunger button on the earbud to allow Uhura to activate it as she held the comlink in place. Otherwise I think this is fairly close to the original prop.

And that just about ends this message and post, I hope I have done both Lt Uhura and Ms Nichols justice with this design. I also hope my friend and fellow Trekkie fan Nancy enjoyed this post as she just posted an article about the 40th anniversary of Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan. You might like to see that on her blog Graphic Novelty² (link: https://graphicnovelty2.com/ ).

I’d like to thank you all for checking this post out and for all the support you give me and my little site. All the kind words and comments are much appreciated, Please call back for future posts as I conclude my Katana saber series, I complete my Mad Max collection and finish off with some “new” Star Wars vehicle models. Till next time……Live long and prosper……

“Uhura Queen of Comms Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions creation inspired by Nichelle Nichols and Lt Nyota Uhura from CBS/Paramount’s Star Trek franchise. The saber design, models and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. Star Trek and all names, logos, images and related materials are Trademark and ©Copyrights of Desiluu Productions, and Paramount Television Pictures.

“Blaster Master Saber” – Inspired by the character from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome

G’day Everybody and welcome back to the second part of the “Telling” of Max Rockatansky and his adventures in the wastelands of the aftermath. Two weeks ago I be telling you about how Max, a former police officer, became the Road Warrior – a lone wanderer who lost his family after they were killed by a biker gang. Max travelled the desert wastes of Australia (caused by a nuclear war) in his old police cruiser which he modified to help him survive. The car had turbos and expanded fuel tanks to hold as much “Juice” as possible. It was also equipped with booby traps….however in the film Beyond Thunderdome his car was stolen and Max was stranded in the desert. He managed to track his car and the thief back to an outpost called Bartertown. He eventually negotiated entry into the settlement and searched for his car. A deal went bad and because of a feud between two members of Bartertown, Max got entered into a gladiatorial fight in the Thunderdome. Here he fought one half of a character known as “Master Blaster”.

Master and Blaster (aka MasterBlaster)

MasterBllaster was in fact two people, a large hulking giant named Blaster that carried his companion, named Master, around on his shoulders. They lived symbiotically but Master wanted to control Bartertown. The problem was that Aunty Entity, an Amazonian-like woman (played by Tina Turner) ruled Bartertown. Max came to Aunty’s attention due to his efforts to regain his car, and Aunty decided to manipulate Max into a situation where he had to fight Blaster in Thunderdome in an attempt to retain her control of the outpost. Well I think it’s time to show you my version of Blaster in lightsaber form, this is Blaster Master Saber…

I attempted to recreate Blaster and build a saber that was imposing and leather clad. I also tried to recreate the iconic helmet. The emitter is obviously intended to be the helmet with glowing eyes created by cutouts to allow the blade to shine thru. It also has the metal rings that adorn the helmet, and in my design these rings also act as the controls for the saber (they are press switches). The blade is an orange colour that replicates the lights in the underground power plant facility where Blaster and Master live (the power plant is fuelled by Methane gas produced by pigs which they keep). The hilt body is clad in a thick, heavily stitched leather wrapping similar to Blaster’s singlet trousers. And finally I gave the hilt a no-nonsense pommel to look like his boots. Finally one small detail on the helmet is the wire mesh texture inbetween the ribs of the metal cage that forms the headgear. I was tempted to try and 3D model the mesh using a Wireframe but realised it would make the model too complex so I settled on using graphics to show a mesh pattern. I think it works still. Anyhoo, you can decide as I bring you Gallery Two with some close ups….

So, MasterBlaster and Max were fighting for survival in the ‘Dome and Max discovered that Blaster was vulnerable to high pitched noises and used a Bosun’s whistle to deafen and disorientate Blaster, eventually giving him the upper hand. Max was in position to end the battle but in the process he knocked blaster’s helmet off as the giant fell to the floor. As Max approached, about to deal the fatal blow….he saw that Blaster had Down’s Syndrome. Shocked, Max refused to kill Blaster as he believed Blaster was being used just as he had been manipulated by Aunty Entity. Refusing to kill broke the rule of Thunderdome of “Two men enter…One man leaves” and Entity was furious. She had Blaster killed anyway and exiled Master to a life in the pig pens beneath the outpost. This would have been tough for the now lonely Master who himself suffered from Dwarfism. Then Entity dealt with Max by having him stripped of his possessions and tied to a donkey which was then forced out into the desert. Eventually the donkey collapsed and Max freed himself, only to come into contact with a tribe of children descendant’s of the survivors of a plane crash years earlier. They though Max was a hero who fell from the sky, the Captain….but that be another “Telling” for another time…..

A few interesting facts: The Master was played by Angelo Rossitto, who had Dwarfism and measured just 2 feet 11 inches in height. Blaster however was portrayed by TWO actors, the first being the giant man named Paul Larsson that measured in at 6 feet 8 inches tall (and was a plumber from Sydney in real life)….but the “face” of Blaster was played by actor Stephen Hayes, who did indeed have Down Syndrome – and was one of the first, if not THE first person to land a substantial film role whilst having the condition.

And that just about brings me to the end of this “Telling” , I hope you enjoyed the post. I have one final Mad Max themed hilt to come but I also have a tribute to Lt Uhura from Star Trek, a Magnum PI themed red sports car saber, some new land/air speeder vehicles….and a whole collection of Phase Two Trooper lightsabers all coming in future posts. I hope you’ll return to check those out. But for now thank you so much for your support and visit today. I couldn’t blog without an audience of fantastic followers and you have kept me blogging for SIX years now – I received a notification from WordPress this week congratulating me. So thanks again and Till next time…..

“Blaster Master Saber”  is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the movie Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome. The design, 3D model and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome” is a Warner Bros/Universal Pictures movie directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie. “MasterBlaster”, “Mad Max”, “Thunderdome” and all other names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Warner Bros/Universal Pictures (1985).

“Power Pair” Katanas – Two sabers for two Rangers

Hello Everybody, welcome to my next offering and today I have to post TWO sabers as I am getting very busy and need some more space in my workshop (I’ll explain why later in the post – It’s exciting news). Regular viewers will be aware that I have been posting a series of Katana lightsabers and in particular katanas for the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. Well today I’ll post the sabers for the Pink and Yellow Rangers. The Pink Ranger was portrayed by Amy Jo Johnson in the original Power Rangers TV show and Thuy Trang played the Yellow Ranger. Amy later went on to be a music star and recorded four albums (I think) but sadly Thuy was involved in a car crash and died.

So as before, I took my basic Katana model and recoloured it to match each character so I won’t bore you with all the pictures I normally do but you will have two galleries one for each Ranger. Here is the Pink Gallery…

I managed to tweak the colours to get a pretty good match to those of the Pink Ranger’s costume, and the leather has another nice texture and grain to it. Each Katana I have made has had a different leather wrap material. I am also quite pleased with the glow colour I achieved for the blade and pommel decoration -pink can get washed out if you don’t get the brightness level just right. Ok so that is the saber for Kimberly (Amy Jo) now it’s Trini’s turn to get a hilt – here’s Gallery Two…

This saber has a very solid yellow/gold look which I broke up by using the black diamond inlays on the handgrip. This gives the hilt a Tigerish look as well which kind of resembles Thuy herself. Thuy was very famous for doing her own stunts and injuring herself many times (in particular she blew her knee joint in one accident). Thuy is sorely missed.

You can see my earlier lightsaber designs I did for the Rangers by following these links:

Pink Ranger: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/03/05/ranger-pink-inspired-by-the-new-power-rangers-film/

Yellow Ranger: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/03/11/ranger-yellow-trini-kwans-new-saber/

OK! So I need to explain why I need to get these Katanas showcased, and it’s because I’m diversifying. I have started to model other items and props from the Star Wars universe and I have two “Teaser” images of a little something I have built for a future post…see if you can guess what these could be…

As always I have numerous variants of this object and I will post all of them in time along with other random stuff too.

BUT the good news doesn’t stop here, I am currently awaiting for a Customs receipt for a parcel I am waiting for which has been sent all the way from California! Yes my collection is about to expand, I just need to pay a few taxes before it is finally delivered to my door. But the wait will be SOOO worth it! Again this new acquisition will feature in an upcoming extra special post.

I am coming to the end of this post however so I’d like to thank you all for checking these Power Ranger Katana hilts out. Your visit and support is very much appreciated and helps inspire me to keep designing. As I say above I still have much more to come so I hope you’ll all return to check those out. And please leave a comment, maybe a like or two and if you think I deserve one, subscribe to this blog so you never miss any new content. I’d love to see you all back here as regular visitors! Thanks again and Till Next Time….

“Power Pair Katanas” are For Tyeth Edition designs created by For Tyeth in Blender 3D. They are inspired by Saban International’s “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” tv series and franchise. The 3D models and renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “The Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” and all names, logos, images, and related material are Trademarked and ©Copyright of Saban International.

“Moonlight Katana” inspired by Marvel’s Moon Knight

Hello Everybody, today I dive outside of the Star Wars universe again but into another that features a familiar face. The show that inspired today’s post is Marvel Studios’ “Moon Knight” – a show about a man with Dissociative Identity Disorder that is drawn into an ancient Egyptian mystery involving Egyptian gods, and uses his multiple personas to solve it….and it stars Oscar Isaac (who just happens to be Poe Dameron so this is a sort of Star Wars post too!). Now as with most new shows on Disney+ I haven’t seen it yet but from my little research I discovered Oscar Isaac plays the character named Marc Spector and his alter egos Moon Knight, Steven Grant and Mr Knight. To differentiate the various “alters” Oscar used different accents for each one and at first filmed all the scenes for Marc Spector in order then would record second takes as one of his alters characters, allowing himself time to “get into each character”. However as he became more comfortable with each character he was able to switch between them in one take. This level of acting reminds me of an actor who also took on multiple roles in one movie…that actor being the great Sir Alec Guinness…but Sir Alec just had EIGHT characters to portray! (In the movie “Kind Hearts and Coronets….check it out if you haven’t seen it already, it’s rather good 😎) Anyhoo….this post is about a saber I designed based on the Moon Knight show and I just had a few images and non spoiler reviews to go on so I set to work on modifying my Katana and used this picture as a guide….

Look out for that Crescent shaped object!

The pic above shows Oscar as Marc Spector and on the right as the character Moon Knight himself. Moon Knight has some mythical powers and weapons based on Egyptian mythology and wears a face covering made of bandages….pretty unique so enough talk…here is “Moonlight Katana”….

I took the basic katana model I had and again tweaked the colours and textures to recreate the look of Moon Knight, using the Tsuka Ito hilt wrappings to represent MK’s facial bandage wrapping. The costume designer on the show, Meghan Kasperlik, also went to town with the design of the hero’s costume using multiple fabrics to prevent him (and other characters) from appearing flat onscreen (due to stage lighting which can bleach out details). The materials included one that had a silvery Lame texturing…and in all the costume had 803 pieces to construct it. It also featured an emblem on the chest known as the “Symbol of Khonshu” the Egyptian God of the moon and it is this emblem from which Moon Knight empowers his “Crescent Darts”. These are a mixture of a martial arts Ninjitsu throwing star (called a Shuriken) and Xena Warrior Princess’ “Chakram” throwing ring weapon. However the Crescent Darts featured heavily in the promo images for the show and it’s logo so I had to incorporate one or two into this hilt. And to do this I added an illuminated Crescent to the pommel but I also added two more to the Tsuba handguard to make a set of claws (I used one complete dart and one half shaped dart to produce three claws – this left an opening for the blade to still be useable where the fourth claw would have been). Whilst coming up with interesting angles to take the Gallery pictures I had a “Happy Accident” and aligned the saber in such a way that the graphics I used for the background actually interacted with the hilt and created a neat effect, here are a few pictures to show you…

The background image is actually a picture of a temple amphitheatre taken at night and as I rotated the camera the moon in the graphics spun behind the emitter and claws and created this eclipse-like effect. The picture had an eclipse in it but then when positioned it formed a corona for the hilt! I gave this saber a blue glow but couldn’t decide if it looked best so I did a version with gold too….

I kinda like both! Anyhoo, I am drawing short on much more to say about this show as I haven’t ssen it…but I do have a few Trivia bits you might enjoy. During the filming of scenes where Oscar had to interact and talk to his other “alters” his brother Michael Benjamin Hernandez acted as his body double! And here is a little tidbit of info my friend Nancy of Graphic Novelty² will probably know….one of her favourite Canadian comic writers named Jeff Lemire worked on the Moon Knight comic series! You can read Nancy’s great blog at https://graphicnovelty2.com/.

Well, that just about brings this post to an end, I hope you enjoyed it despite my lack of knowledge on the show (I will eventually get to watch all of these new programs). I will just add that I am going to be busy for the first half of next week on Jedi business so may be late responding to any comments you might leave but I should be back home by Wednesday – I hope!

So as always thank you so much for checking out this design and post, it’s much appreciated. I still have a few more sabers to come and other prop models in future posts so I hope you’ll call back to see those. Till next time….

“Moonlight Katana” is For Tyeth Editions design inspired by Marvel Studios comic book and TV series “Moon Knight”. The 3d model, design and renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Moon Knight” is a comic book series and TV show owned by Marvel Studios and all names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Marvel Studios.

“Power Red Katana” Blender 3D Nex Gen – Inspired by Saban’s Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers

Hello Everybody, today I have to return to the world of Power Rangers and my collection of Nex Gen Katana hilts I designed recently. I say this as I saw a video posted on YouTube earlier today and it seemed to suggest there is going to be yet another reboot of the franchise. I have yet to look further into the story but I was already showing off my new designs anyway. And today we look at the Red Ranger, Jason Scott Lee, and his saber. Now the Red Ranger already had a sword in the show but it seemed heavy and cumbersome as seen here…

Red Ranger with original Ranger sword -looks like a wrench!

It also didn’t feature a plasma lightsaber cutting edge. My design is a Nex Gen Katana that is lightweight, sleek, strong and was wrapped by myself! Enough chatter…here is Gallery One of “Power Red Katana”….

This is my base Katana model and I have recoloured the handgrip, Tsuka Ito wraps and blade colours to match the Red Ranger costume. The leather is a nice deep red that suggests status or importance, almost regal. I discovered that I can use the base texture used for the leather and using photo editing software edit the colour to any shade I want. Then I apply the extra layers to add the detail and depth effects. This means I can have normal plain leather in any colour but then I can have a stitched leather base image that I can recolour so I don’t have hundreds of texture files clogging up my hard drive storage. Anyhoo, too much talk, here is another trio of pictures…

You might be able to make out the shipping containers in the background of these gallery pictures and I chose this environment as I recall a lot of the battles the Ranger’s had with Rita Repulsa’s “Putty Men” took place in car parks or dockside locations with shipping containers.

And talking of shipping…my parcel I was waiting for last week has arrived and my Nerf blaster arsenal seems to be getting bigger….a LOT bigger. First the blaster I was waiting for last week was a Nerf Sharpshot which came with Velcro tipped darts so you could play “Dart Tag” games against each other. Well the blaster is very sleek and svelte and with a minor paint job would look wicked as a Sci-Fi/Star Wars-y blaster. And it should be easy to paint. The blaster looks like this…

The yellow plates actually unscrew off the blaster so I should be able to spray paint them separately quite easy – when I can get outdoors to paint! But when I said my collection was growing I meant it…not just my two big tripod mounted Havok Fire blasters, or the X-Shot round ball blasters….No, I bought a few more and now this is just part of the For Tyeth arsenal….

I think I have a new problem!!

There are 8 further blasters marked in the pic above and these are new additions! Some are “Classic Nerf” items I got from Ebay and some are fresh brand new ones! Number 8 is one called a Retaliator that I may paint to look like a Clone Trooper blaster – it already has a Star Wars look/feel to it. Number 1 is a Nerf Strongarm revolver which also has “Clone Vibes” to it.

Oh, just before I go…here is the original Red Ranger hilt I designed back in 2017 with the old software I had!…

Anyhoo, that just about brings this post to an end, I am still expanding my collection, both blasters and sabers, so I hope you will call back to FTSabersite to see future posts on all of that. Next week I should be revealing a new “Master Series” lightsaber to celebrate the finale of the Disney+ series “Obi-Wan-Kenobi” and it may or may not be his saber🤔. In the meantime thank you for visiting my site today and for the support, as always whether you are a new visitor or one of my regulars, please comment, leave a like or two if you want and maybe subscribe if you haven’t. I appreciate all the help and kind words. Till next time….

“Power Red Katana” is For Tyeth Editions design,modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite. The design, 3D model and images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” was created by Saban International, and all names, logos, images and related material are Trademark.©Copyright of Saban International.

Power Blue Katana – The Nex-Gen Power Ranger sabers.

Hello Everybody, it’s that time again for another post and a big trip down “memory lane” to some sabers that I covered way back when. To be precise, I’m going back to March of 2017 when Saban Intl released the reboot of their popular “Power Rangers” movie. As I usually do I created some designs inspired by the characters in the film and from my knowledge of the TV show, but I was using the old design software I had access to. The designs were OK and I was pleased with them because I created techniques to use the “Virtual Saber Builder” software in ways it wasn’t meant to be – I found a way to put the parts in unique order so I got combinations other members of the saber community using it couldn’t achieve. The saber I designed for the Blue Power Ranger (aka Billy) looked like this (old pictures coming up!)…..

This design was loosely based on a Katana with the elongated handgrips and silver switch, mid-hilt decorative band and the ornate pommel. The pommel is the section that I tweaked so that there was a silver insert in the pommel opening. This object is actually a blade plug part usually fitted into the emitter of a saber when not in use and the software normally wouldn’t allow it to be placed in the pommel but I found a way.

You can see further images of the original here: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2017/03/14/ranger-blue-lightsaber-billys-new-gadget/

So I was pleased with my design but you know me, I always felt I could do better I just didn’t have a 3D design software to do it, FAST FORWARD to 2022 and I have finally gotten around to re-forging my designs after I created my first proper Katana a few weeks back. So without further wait I present “Power Blue Katana” the Blender 3D version!…

I took the “Snake Eyes” themed hilt with the lengthened handgrip and gave it a Power Ranger Blue colour scheme and blade. The texturing again is quite detailed when zoomed in and you can see the grain in the leather. The Tsuka Ito wrapping imitates the Power Ranger costumes nicely with the diamond patterning. This range of Katanas also has a bespoke Power Rangers lightning bolt logo on the pommel (instead of a blade plug!).

I really had fun revisiting this old theme and I even had a ” happy accident” that resulted in a kinda unique view of this hilt…whilst positioning the virtual camera in Blender, I accidently set it’s co-ordinates so the camera was INSIDE the body of the hilt looking down through it – it created a sort of “time tunnel” or wormhole effect….

The spiral effect is created by the Tsuka Ito grip wrapping showing through the inner cylinder of the handgrip. I just thought it looked a bit arty so I created the final image by duplicating the model of the hilt and arranging them to show off their lines.

I hope you enjoyed this revisit to an old theme…and hopefully I did justice to the Blue Ranger with the new custom Katana. I do have hilts for the other members of the Ranger quintet which I’ll post in upcoming instalments I also still have another G.I. Joe themed saber and a range of hilts for some teen Ninjas….and if that wasn’t enough I have a nother Starfighter saber….and more blasters and gifts to talk about!

Thanks so much for your visit and support, it does mean a lot to me and keeps me designing and posting. Please be sure to call back to see all the upcoming stuff, and don’t be afraid to comment or leave a like or two. But for now I have to bring this post to an end so Till next time…..

“Power Blue Katana” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by Saban’s “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” franchise. The 3D models and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. MMPR and all associated content (names, movies, shows etc) are Trademarked and ©Copyright of Saban International and Lionsgate Studios.

“Pacifier” Saber – Inspired by OCP’s Robocop

Hello Everybody and welcome to my 600th post! Yes, believe it or not this is number six hundred – how have I managed to reach this many I’m not sure but it has been fun. And today I’m going to take you on a trip to the city of Detroit in the not so distant future and show you a saber inspired by the peacekeeper known as ROBOCOP! I had an exchange of comments with my friend Resa (find her fantastic blog here: https://graffitiluxandmurals.com/) , who kind of mistook my Boba Fett saber’s title image for the character Robocop which led me to the idea of recreating the cyborg in saber form.

I was a fan of the film Robocop and vaguely remember when it came out way back in 1987 (yes, I’m old….I’m very old!) and was amazed by the cyborg police officer. That officer was the man, Alex Murphy, who served in Detroit and in the line of duty was “murdered” by a crime gang led by a creep named Boddicker. Boddicker however was secretly connected to a mega corporation named Omni Consumer Products (aka OCP) – a company which more or less ran the city and it’s police department. Because it ran the police force OCP tried to cut corners and developed a robotic alternative to human cops in the shape of a droid named ED-209. Unfortunately ED-209 was flawed and an accident during a board meeting demonstration led to a board member being shot dead. Another exec, Bob Morton, saw an opportunity to push his idea for a cheaper human/robot alternative and was given permission to develop his “Robocop” program. He just needed a human. That human was Alex Murphy.

A 3D printed set of Robocop armour

After investigating a crime gang Alex Murphy ends up being trapped in an abandoned warehouse where the gang he was pursuing surround him and in quite a graphic scene, shoot him multiple times with pistols and shotguns and is left for dead. He is rushed to hospital but is pronounced dead…..then his remains are taken and integrated into the cyborg being developed by Morton (with OCP claiming that Murphy was an OCP cop so he “belonged” to the company so they could use his body). The cyborg was successfully assembled, but the integration of man and machine led to fragments of Murphy’s memory and past life slip into “Robocop” and he became aware of his past life and he wanted justice….armed with his high powered pistol he set out to get it. But I thought he might like to own a lightsaber too…so here is “Pacifier”…..

This saber as you can see is heavily based on the cybernetic body armour worn by Robocop. I basically turned the cyborg into a saber. The emitter is essentially his head and helmet, complete with OCP markings on the side and the famous cutout shape that revealed Officer Murphy’s mouth and lower face. The neck section of the hilt represents the rubber neck gaiter which leads to his upper torso. The handgrip features rounded oblong plates shaped to represent the upper arm shells and, mounted on the “chestplate” area are two activation switches. Below the switch section another ribbed section connects to the lower body and two more of the shell plates are used to replicate the thigh armour which famously splits open to reveal the hidden holster for Robocop’s machine pistol. On the base plate of the pommel cap is a 3D modelled “OCP” logo.

But of course we need to see this lawman in action so I figured a few images of him on patrol would be cool so I rendered a few images in some suitably grimy, grungy scenery…here is a Glamour(?) Shot gallery…

The first three images are actually located in a factory in Los Angeles that was used as the location for the Machine Shop/Milling factory seen in the movie “The Terminator” because I couldn’t find any Detroit factory interior images….but I did find an abandoned highway underpass for the last two images…just the sort of place where the criminal underworld would plot and plan their crimes!

Now in the film it turns out that Boddicker is secretly connected to the President of OCP and the Chief Exec had some “safeguards” programmed into Murphy…so when Murphy tried to apprehend the crooks, well…I’ll let you check the movie out (however I will warn that the film probably ISN’T SUITED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN as some of it is very graphic ok!

Well, I’m getting near to the end of this day’s patrol and the end of this 600th post. Thank you all so much for your support of me and my little site over the years. You are all very much appreciated, whether this is your first visit or if you are a veteran visitor….I thank you all. I can’t promise I will be around for another 600 posts but I will do my best. So please call back and see what else I have in store as I venture towards maybe 1000? Till next time…..

“Pacifier” Saber is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the character and film “Robocop”. The saber is modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022.” Robocop” is an Orion Pictures movie and is Trademark/©Copyright of Orion Pictures Corporation.