UT-60D Saber – Inspired by the Rogue One Gunship (Blender Version)

Hello Everybody, today I am bringing you a hilt that is sort of basic compared to the hilts I have created recently and bearing in mind the progress I have been making. I do however have a good reason. This hilt was one of my “test bed” models I worked on to learn the basics but whilst building it I got sidetracked by my TY Silencer. As a result I never posted this saber based on the Resistance’s troop transport/gunship, the UT-60D U-Wing fighter! I will show you the usual Work In Progress pictures and Glamour Shots, then I have BIG news concerning next week’s post. So first off here is UT-60D Saber….

UT-60D Emitter and Blades

UT-60D Pommel

UT-60D Forward

UT-60D Top Down

UT-60D Full Side View

This saber taught me how to make duplicate parts, inset panel sections, bevelled edges and was the first hilt I made with the faux cockpit section which lights up. The lit up cockpit later appeared on my TY Silencer hilt. Structurally, the saber features twin “wing blades” one either side of the plasma light blade. These represent the variable geometry wings (swing-wing) design of the UT-60D in the forward position. The cockpit forms the emitter and houses the blade socket which has transparent windows to allow the cockpit to light up. The handgrip features recessed gripping areas that mimic the travel/cargo cases the UT-60D transports. It also leads to the pommel that has four engine modules placed at each corner just like the Incom spaceship. Look closely at the engine pods and you will see my early attempts at mechanical detailing. A Covertech knob on the underside of the pommel allows it to be hung from your belt. That covers the structure of the hilt but it needed a paint job so I though a nice factory fresh blue and white would look good. Here are the Glamour Shots….

Cockpit Emitter and Wing Blade

Rear View showing quadruple engines

Engine pod close up details

Full length view.

I added the blue along the bevelled edges on the wings and the inner panels in a layout I thought would be plausible. I am a big aviation fan and had seen a real Earth aircraft in a similar scheme. The grey, I thought made a change from having black contrast and it makes the overall look seem sportier.

Now that just about wraps up the UT-60D Saber Blender Version. I just have time to tell you about a bit of exciting news! Next week I am going to be posting in collaboration with a fellow blogger for a spooky Halloween Special! The reason I didn’t have a top notch hilt today is that I have been hard at work on a very unique saber for this next special post. The saber will have a connection to the subject of my friend’s post so we have a Crossover! I hope you will join me and …My Mystery Guest…for our next post. Hopefully it will scare the socks off you all  😀 !

Of course before I go I’d like to say thanks for visiting today and supporting me and my site. Whether you are new or regular viewers, you are all appreciated. Till next time…..

“UT-60D U-Wing”, “Rogue One” and all other Star Wars related names, logos and images are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm. The “UT-60D Saber Blender Version” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2018.

Bistan Saber – Always up for a Fight

Hello Everybody (and my friend, DK44 who has been waiting for this post) I am sorry it is a little late, but I have tried to allow the two Green Onion Blog themed hilts get as much coverage as possible (I’m not sure Green Onion’s son, Zyler has seen his new saber yet!) But the world of sabers moves ever forward and so I have to post this design for a slightly overlooked character that appeared in Rogue One. The character is one of the crew of the UT-60D Troop Carriers that attacked Scarif Beach, the door gunner of the ship, Bistan!

Bistan was a corporal in the Alliance to Restore the Republic and fought against the evil forces of the ever growing First Order. He fought to help free his people from the tyranny of the First Order, but really he kinda liked the thrill of battle. At first, after the calls to rise and stand against the First Order were ignored he followed orders and remained on D’Qar. But upon hearing the impassioned speech from Jyn Erso and discovering General Raddus had decided to fight with her, he willingly volunteered to man the guns of a U-Wing Troop Carrier. And having seen him in battle in Rogue One I was inspired to create a hilt that might suit and represent him. So here it is, this is Bistan’s Saber….

Bistan Saber Hilt

Bistan Saber Emitter

Bistan Saber Emitter 2

Bistan Saber Switch

Bistan Saber Body

Bistan Saber Pommel

Bistan Saber Pommel 2

Bistan Saber Horizontal

Bistan Saber Vertical Up

I am hoping this saber captures the look of the native of the planet Iakaru. For some reason when I saw the first pictures of him I could envisage the blue coloured blade projecting from the emitter with the spines. I think it may have something to do with the distinctive eyebrows he has! His pressure/survival suit also reminds me of the rings and blocks that are present on the emitter, switch and body sections of this hilt. The body section actually reminds me of the M-60 Machine gun (used by the United States military) too, on which the guns of the UT-60D were based on. The M-60 had a distinctive shoulder stock and fore-grip.

Bistan Himself

Bistan in the thick of battle! Note the Laser machine gun!

Bistan was originally described as a “Space Monkey” by the filming crew behind the scenes but Bistan was much more than that. He demonstrated great balance and rarely used safety harnesses, using his reflexes to stay firmly positioned at his gunnery station. He had exceptional eyesight and was credited with bringing down an AT-ACT  Walker by aiming the firepower of his weapon onto the knee joints of the Walker causing it to crash. Tragically the U-Wing he was aboard took a hit and crashed on Scarif  Beach killing him. Bistan was just 22 Standard Galactic years old.

Well, thank you for your patience waiting for this hilt, and I hope you liked it. I am still as always busy designing more hilts and trying to spread the word about FTSabersite. So I hope you would help me out and tell your friends  about this site, it would be much appreciated as is your continued support. I hope to have a few more hilts from my Guest Designer friends in future posts and I’m going to be gearing up for The Last Jedi with a few designs based on that new film. So please check in to see these in upcoming posts. Till next time!

“Bistan”, “Iakaru” and “Rogue One” and all names, logos and related material are trademark/© Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm 2017. FTSabersite and all it’s contents (including all hilt designs and those of the “Guest Designers”) are © Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite2017.

Informant Lightsaber for Bazine Netal

Hello Everybody, if this post is late I apologise but I have just got back from a mission to try and find this elusive character called Bazine Netal! Bazine is the shadowy female who was enjoying herself in Maz Kanata’s bar on Tokadano and radioed to the First Order that she had found the droid BB-8. You will have seen her wearing a very distinctly patterned and hooded costume. She wears the hood as a result of injuries she sustained on her first mission as an assassin where she was burnt with a flamethrower! After this first mission Bazine became a master of disguise and feared Bounty Hunter, using a snub nosed blaster (so uncivilised!), poisons, a mix of deadly Martial Arts and a couple of mini Thermal Detonators hidden in the heels of her shoes. Well I wondered what her lightsaber might look like if she had one, this is what I envisaged, this is INFORMANT…

Informant Hilt

Informant Emitter

Informant Emitter 2

Informant Switch

Informant Body

Informant Pommel

Informant Pommel 2

Informant Horizontal

Informant Vertical Up

I think this is suitably distinctive for Bazine’s character! I couldn’t quite match the pattern on her costume exactly but it’s pretty similar. How Bazine expects to stay inconspicuous dressed in that outfit I don’t know (but the material does have sensor jamming equipment sewn into it!). Anyway back to the saber and it has a plain simple monochrome scheme and a “Bad Guys” red blade. The emitter looks a little like a silver version of her hood. The main focal point is surely the diamond patterned hand grip section, made to look like Bazine’s costume as much as possible..

I managed to get a sample of the material!

The pommel caps off the hilt to give it a traditional look (similar to my Sasayaki Shi – Whispered Death Lightsaber hilt). The switch section is functional for ease of use and has a nice choke point for spinning techniques.

Bazine had a hard upbringing (she was only fourteen when she carried out her first fateful mission). Netal was an orphan on the planet Chaaktil before a character called Delphi Kloda took her under his wing at his Combat School where she learnt her skills. Those skills must be good as I didn’t find her! That doesn’t mean I have given up but for now I am running out of time again.

So I will have to end here but want to say thank you once more to everyone who follows and supports me and FTSabersite, new and old. I have had visitors from Russia, India and Turkey this past week so thanks for calling in. Please call back and see what new designs I have coming up, including a hilt or two for a YouTube Crime Fighter! Till next time.

“Bazine Netal”, “Maz Kanata”, “Tokadano” and all other names, logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm.

Stormtrooper Rogue Saber – Lightsaber for the Rogue Generation

Hello Everybody, I am still busy “Tagging” everything so much so it feels like I’m working in a Department Store! But as alaways I try to bring you something nice or new to look at and today I have another version of my Stormforce Stormtrooper hilt. The funny thing is I have been struggling for inspiration recently but this saber was staring me in the face all along. I will explain that comment later but first let me present the new version to you, this is Stormtrooper Rogue Saber…

Stormtrooper Rogue Hilt

Stormtrooper Rogue Emitter

Stormtrooper Rogue Emitter 2

Stormtrooper Rogue Switch

Stormtrooper Rogue Body

Stormtrooper Rogue Pommel

Stormtrooper Rogue Vertical Down

This saber shares the same parts as Stormforce and the other trooper based hilts, but this version has the new “Rank and Squad” colours added. During Rogue One the regular Stormtroopers appeared and some had these coloured patches on their usually gleaming white armour. The emitter has a long window which looks like the grill on the front of the troopers’ helmets and just above the switch section I added two panels of colour in-between the black ridges. The final panel which is yellow I added to the vented block just above the pommel of the weapon. Now this saber has an Identification system, so in theory if a parent had two younglings who both wanted one of these hilts they could buy two with a different combination of colours and rank. That way the younglings wouldn’t argue over who owned which saber!

I have these Drink Cup Toppers!

Here’s a Rogue Trooper

Now remember I said that the inspiration for this version was staring me in the face? Well the reason is that I went to my local cinema complex to see Rogue One and managed to get the set of drinks cup toppers seen above. One of the figures is the Stormtrooper and mine is stood on my TV stand watching me! I was struggling to think of a new design and happened to glance up at him then thought “Wait a minute he’s got new colours on his armour!” and so I adapted my original repaint! I have said before that I get my inspiration from some strange sources!

Well that little design and a quote I heard recently has triggered my imagination again. The result is three new designs inspired by a 1980’s Sci-Fi film which was over 7 hours long! Hopefully you will be able to join me to see these new hilts. First before I go, I need to say thank you again for your visit today (and continued support if you are a regular visitor!) It means a lot to me. Till next time.

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

UT-60D Lightsaber – Inspired by the U-Wing Transport

Hello Everybody, today I return to the Star Wars Universe and the time around the events of Rogue One. I promised I would come up with some more R1 inspired hilts and this one is based on the troop transporter Cassian Andor and K-2SO pilot to take Jyn to Jedha. That transport ship is the swing-wing (or Variable Geometry spacecraft to be technically correct) called the UT-60D U-Wing. The U-Wing was designed and built by Incom Corporation, the same company that builds the galaxy famous X-Wing (I think you might have guessed that, Incom like naming their ships after letters of the alphabet which is a bit of a clue!). Well it is time to present my design, this is UT-60D Lightsaber…

UT-60D Hilt

UT-60D Emitter

UT-60D Emitter 2

UT-60D Switch

UT-60D Body

UT-60D Pommel

UT-60D Vertical Up

UT-60D Vertical Down

Yes, the observant viewers will recognise this design from an earlier hilt I posted called Andorian Lightsaber (A Rogue Captain’s Weapon). However when I created the design I hadn’t learnt how to add the powder coat colours to replicate the Factory Finish found on U-Wings. Plus Cassian’s ship, Bravo One was rather scruffy looking so I made it using weathered parts. This version has nice clean blue powder coat accents around the lip of the forked emitter, similar to the trim found on the swing wings. The switch section also gets a coat of blue to create the look of the cockpit section. The pommel is meant to represent one of the four engine nacelles. As I mentioned in the Andorian Lightsaber post, the emitter has windows which look like the sliding doors of the U-Wing troop compartment…but it also looks a little like a certain earth based vehicle with a similar name…the Sikorsky UH-60 BlackHawk helicopter troop transport/gunship! Is it me or does that description of the helicopter sound familiar? The BlackHawk seems to do the same job as a U-Wing!

The Sikorsky UH-60 BlackHawk with sliding door!

A UT-60D U-Wing for comparison

The U-Wing is a workhorse transport utility spaceship and I hope I have created a Lightsaber design that is equally rugged, dependable and liked by it’s owners and by you my viewers!

The time has come for me to end this post (I just never have enough time!) but I’d like to thank you all for visiting and supporting this site. I have even had visitors from as far away as Chile and Malaysia so thanks, I did see you! I have to create some more hilts so I’ll end here but please call back to see what comes off my workbench in upcoming posts! Till next time.

Rogue One, U-Wing, Cassian Andor and all names, logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd. UH-60 BlackHawk is built and designed by Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation/Lockheed Martin and is Trademrked and ©Copyright of Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation.

Cutlass Lightsaber – Lightside Ceremonial Saber

Hello Everybody, today I bring to you the Lightside version of the First Order Ceremonial Saber I presented yesterday. I mentioned that the First Order and before that the Galactic Empire forces (or Imperials) were fond of showing their might with large Star Destroyers, hundreds of TIE-Fighters and ever larger “fully operational battle stations”. They also liked to have expensive trinkets such as nice weapons to go with their dress uniforms, for example Emperor Palpatine had two matching sabers made from very exotic rare metals. These ceremonial traits also affected the Republic forces during the golden age of peace when everyone thought the Sith were extinct and no threat, the military got lazy and pomp took over. Well this is a saber that could be worn by a high ranking Republic Naval officer. This design I call, Cutlass…

Cutlass Hilt

Cutlass Emitter

Cutlass Switch and Body

Cutlass Body, Coupler and Pommel

Cutlass FTE Pommel

Cutlass Vertical Up

Cutlass Vertical Down

Cutlass Hilt 2

This is the same saber as First Order Ceremonial, but the colours have been switched to reflect the fact it is owned by a Lightside follower. Just by changing the colour of the blade and hilt finish makes it look more elegant and less aggressive. Such is the power of colour! The FTE pommel again is just intended to be decorative this time as I didn’t envisage this as a battle weapon. However it would be battle ready after a little tweaking from yours truly. But this is really just to hang from the belt of a Republic official, maybe at the launch ceremony of a new Resolute Class Destroyer, or the opening of another Jedi Embassy somewhere in the Galaxy!

Yes Grethor should be here in my next post!

This post is nearing it’s end and I’ll have to start the closing ceremonies, but I will just stick with my saber the Bal’Demnian Blade! I will as always thank all of you for visiting today to check this design out. I appreciate the support and hope you will call back to see Grethor, a design inspired by the “Other” Sci-fi franchise, Star Trek! So I will finish here and just add the final touches to the gallery…..Till next time.

All Star Wars names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd. This website (FTSabersite) and all it’s contents are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017.

First Order Ceremonial Saber – A Hilt for Hux

Hello Everybody, I have been slightly distracted the past day or so due to a family emergency. Thankfully I have been informed my relative has received great care and treatment in hospital and is now part Bionic! This I feel is cause for celebration and ceremonies always have people dressed up in their best attire and in military circles they have Dress Uniforms. In the Navies of the Galaxy these dress uniforms are usually accompanied by a ceremonial saber, well after hearing General Hux shouting at the firing ceremony of Starkiller Base in The Force Awakens I decided to design a hilt for him (maybe it might pacify him a bit…all that pent up anger etc can’t be good for him 😀 ) So here is my (slightly delayed) design for Hux, this is First Order Ceremonial…

First Order Ceremonial Hilt

First Order Ceremonial Emitter

First Order Ceremonial Switch and Body

First Order Ceremonial Coupler and Pommel

First Order Ceremonial FTE Pommel

First Order Ceremonial Vertical Up

First Order Ceremonial Vertical Down

First Order Ceremonial Hilt 2

As I mentioned this hilt is slightly delayed, the reason is I posted another design and mentioned I ought to create a saber for Hux in the write up. However I got distracted by some event or new theme and I forgot to post this. Ooops! Ok back to this “new” design, starting at the emitter. The Sith red blade is surrounded by the claws of the emitter as an aggressive look to project the message of power. The rest of the saber is designed to have a pompous, showy look to reflect the beliefs/ego of the First Order. They believe they are the leading power of the Galaxy. The FTE pommel adds extra decadence and is just there as decoration…this saber isn’t meant for combat, just show. The Jedi and other “Good Guy” factions around the Galaxy are just as bad, we like to show off how caring and correct we are, therefore I have a Lightside version also which I will present shortly!

Oh no! Now what? It’s ok, I know what’s happening. My security measures detected some chatter on the communications channels from the “Delta Quadrant” and I think FTSabersite may be getting a visit from some designs based on the other Sci-Fi franchise…Star Trek! If you are fluent in Klingon you may be able to translate the image above^^ and have a small idea of what’s coming!

The time is close where I have to end, but I hope you enjoyed this design (sorry it was kind of late). As I have mentioned I have a few special new designs coming soon so I hope you can join me to see those. Thank you so much for visiting today and supporting me and the site. I am off to watch Rogue One now to spark my imagination and hopefully create more new sabers….Till next time.

The First Order, General Hux, The Force Awakens and all other names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd.

BB-8 Lightsaber – Inspired by TFA’s favourite droid

Hello Everybody, yes this is my special guest for today’s post! May I introduce BB-8 but I think most people already know him! He’s a BB unit with a selenium drive and a thermal hyperscan vindicator, in orange and white. One of a kind. That is until now as I have recreated him in saber form. I had to do a little bit more work on this design (more layers of colour you see) but I think it turned out well. As always you can decide for yourselves, so here I present BB-8 Lightsaber…

BB-8 Hilt

BB-8 Hilt Emitter

BB-8 Hilt Emitter 2

BB-8 Hilt Switch

BB-8 Hilt Pommel

BB-8 Hilt Pommel 2

BB-8 Hilt Vertical Up

BB-8 Hilt Vertical Down

BB-8 Hilt Horizontal

Well, this saber sort of bleeps and squeaks for itself! I tried to create a stubby but still usable hilt that had little accents similar to the markings and panels of BB-8. I gave the emitter alternating panels of Candy Orange and White with contrasting black recesses, then lower down the emitter are a set of Candy Orange panels around it’s base. The body is mostly White with black recessed panels (one of which houses the activation switch and recharging port). Around the base of the body section are alternating blocks of Candy Orange and White giving a slightly bulbous feel to the base of the hilt. The pommel is a nice black finish just to finish the saber off. I hope BB-8 approves of my little homage…

Ah, I think that means yes but I’d like to point something out to our little spherical friend! He (or the Disney producers) may have stolen a gimmick from a very talented (and sorely missed) actor by the name of Bob Hoskins (famous for films such as Mona Lisa and Who Framed Roger Rabbit)! Yes, believe it or not Bob did this “Thumbs Up” gesture in the early 80’s. A company called British Gas had a TV ad campaign and Bob starred in it and, well take a look…

Does this count as “Gimmick Infringement”? I wonder where Disney got the idea from? 😀

Well I am afraid it is nearly time to end this post as it is running out of gas! But I would like to say thank you for visiting and checking out this new design. BB-8 may have copied Bob Hoskins but I don’t like copying so I need to create some new designs. This may take a while so I may be taking a small break from posting to concentrate on my work (I will let you know before if I do!). However I have a small article about the work that goes into my designs for tomorrow’s post so please call back to see that. Thanks again and….Till next time.

BB-8, The Force Awakens and all related names, logos, images and material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm ltd. British Gas and “Don’t you just love being in control – London gangsters” advert are Trademark/©Copyright of British Gas.

Katuso Lightsaber 2- K-2SO now has new colours!

Hello Everybody, today I return to the world of Rogue One, and a style makeover for K-2SO! In my last post for his design (Katuso Lightsaber found here) I felt there was something not quite right. As mentioned before the software I use to build the saber designs only has 4 colour choices, Standard silver and black, all Black, all Silver and Weathered. None of these schemes looked right so I just used naked silver coloured parts. It still looked like a droid but I knew I could do better, and here is that (hopefully) improved version, this is Katuso (V2)…

Katuso Hilt

Katuso Emitter

Katuso Switch

Katuso Body

Katuso Pommel

Katuso Vertical Up

Katuso Vertical Down

Oh hello K-2SO…

So this has been K-2SO’s new clothes. I hope they suit him much better than the last outfit he had! I was able to give the saber a much darker (but not plain black) coating which I liked far better. Because of the options Saberforge offer now for different colours and textures I was also able to add some nice little yellow flashes. If you look closely at K-2SO he has yellow bands around his shoulder joints, which are rank insignia. These were impossible to add before. Should you want to make this even more accurate I am sure you could find some vinyl stickers of the First Order/Imperial cogs you can see on his shoulders and stick those on!

I hope you can see the improvements and enjoyed this new redesign. I may have a few more sabers I need to revisit so I would like to invite you back to see those and the new designs from myself and my friends from around the Galaxy. There will be the final couple of Power Ranger hilts, a few more Father and Son double sets and a Celebration of St Patrick’s Day with a brand new Guest Designer!  A lot to look forward to. Thank you for visiting. Till next time.

“K-2SO”, “Rogue One – A Star Wars Story” and all related names, logos and material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm. Katuso Lightsaber is a For Tyeth Edition and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017.

Stormforce Lightsaber – A Slight Redesign.

Hello Everybody, today I am delving into my back catalogue of designs! This saber I designed over a year ago but as much as I liked it, it wasn’t quite perfect. I have now set that right. The problem was I intended this saber to be used by the Stormtroopers and all of their equipment is black and white in colour (I know black and white aren’t colours, they are Shades and Tones!). The saber builder only allows the four colour schemes I’ve mentioned before, Standard Dual Tone, all black, all silver or old and weathered. I wanted a white hilt with black accents, now the Stormtroopers can have one, this is that saber….Stormforce…

Stormforce Hilt

Stormforce Emitter

Stormforce Emitter 2

Stormforce Switch

Stormforce Body

Stormforce Pommel

Stormforce Vertical Down

As I said at the beginning, this saber is old and I posted the original version 1 year and 2 weeks ago on the Saberforgeforum website’s ASP Hilt Design Page (Link no longer works – Saberforgeforum has closed). The members had discussed the fabulous concept art by Ralph McQuarrie and one particular image shows a Stormtrooper with a saber! It was originally intended by George Lucas that the Troopers also had sabers but decided against it, as just having the Jedi Knights and the Sith owning sabers gave them an aura of mystique and exclusivity. It didn’t stop fans from dreaming and designing however and a few bespoke built sabers were made by fans. In this next mini gallery are a few pictures showing the concept art, my original version of this hilt and one of the fan built Trooper sabers.

Ralph McQuarrie’s fantastic artwork

Fan built Stormtrooper style hilt

Original Stormforce in Standard finish

I’m afraid I can’t remember the name of the fan who built the Stormtrooper styled hilt but will credit them when my memory comes back. As you can see Stormforce lacked something when it was just silver and black, and I was so pleased when I was able to add the white effect to it.

Well that time is fast approaching, and I will have to bring this post to an end. I hope you liked my redesign (though for many of you it will have been the first time you had seen this saber  😀 !) I have a few more hilts I want to revisit and display here so I sincerely hope you too will revisit FTSabersite to see them. Thank you for your company today and your support. Till next time.

“Stormforce Lightsaber”  is a “For Tyeth Editions” design. This website, it’s design and contents including “For Tyeth Designs” are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017.