“Purrgil Saber” inspired by the hyperspace “Whales”

Hello Everybody and depending on when and where you are reading this…happy MAY THE 4TH BE WITH YOU day! And as a way for me to celebrate I have been gifted tickets to see The Phantom Menace on the big screen for a big anniversary I am celebrating also. I didn’t get to see the movie in cinema when it released in 1999 as I was on honeymoon but I’m making up for that by seeing it today…and yes I got VIP seating. So a massive thank you to Mrs Tyeth.
Now back to today’s post, well it isn’t exactly a May 4th celebration as I have been under the weather recently to produce one and I have a backlog of stuff I need to publish while I can. As a result I have a design to share inspired by my friend PsychoSith and the hyperspace travelling “whales” known as Purrgils in Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka. Let’s get started….

My friend PsychoSith is a talented artist and a while ago created some awesome pencil sketches of lightsabers which he shared on the forum Saberforum.com. The pictures were loved by the members and one person wondered what PsychoSith’s hilts would look like in 3D and I was approached to recreate them in Blender 3D. I thought it was a good idea as I was still having doubts of how good I was and needed to practice. So after about a week and a half’s work I came up with this..

I was really proud how this tuned out and was blessed with PsychoSith (and the forum members’) approval. You can see the post and further pictures by clicking this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/the-order-of-knighthood-rapier-lightsaber-by-psychosith/
I then did a few other designs by Psycho but sadly he no longer posts so the collaboration fizzled out. That was until I watched Star Wars Rebels and an episode in which the heroes are trying to obtain Hyperdrive Fuel from a Tibanna gas mining facility, floating in a gas cloud. The usual hijinks ensued and the Heroes needed help which came in the form of some space travelling whale-like creatures named Purrgils.

Ezra Bridger using the Force, was able to communicate with the animals who then defeated the Mining Guild TIE Fighters that were attacking. Again you can see this post with this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2020/07/25/tyeth-industries-experimentals-ftx-mg-a-new-tie-fighter/
The Purrgil, as mentioned travel through hyperspace and have a unique light display they show as they make the jump into the hyperspace lanes. I noticed a similarity with Psycho’s hilt so I modified it slightly and this is the result….Gallery One…..

I remodelled the emitter by removing the short perpendicular guard blade, and I added a set of eyes to give a creature look. The hilt colour was darkened to mimic the Purrgil before it has eaten Tibanna Gas (which fuels the animal). Upon digesting the gas the tentacles of the Purrgil begin to glow and flash in patterns before catapulting themselves into the famous tunnel corridors.

Here is my recreation of a Purrgil Hyperspace departure….

I realised the Purrgil lights were similar in colour to the beautiful glow worms I encountered in New Zealand so I copied the colour for the tentacles. The pommel or tail also had lights added and coloured to match and when the crystal is revealed the journey begins!

Now I’m afraid it is time for me to begin a journey…I’m off to the cinema! I might write up a little review but I think you all might have seen the film already, we’ll see.
I hope you enjoyed this post despite not being a May 4th special, I’m working as best I can at the moment. Which brings me to the support you all offer, thanks so much, all the comments and likes and subs lift my mood and keep motivating me to push on and create more. Whether you are a new or regular visitor, you’re very much appreciated. Now go and enjoy May 4th, and till next time……MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!

“Purrgil Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions/PsychoSith Sabers creation inspired by the “Purrgil” creatures seen in Star Wars Rebels and Ahsoka. The design was created by PsychoSith and modified/modelled/rendered by For Tyeth. The design, 3D model and renders were created in Blender 3D and are ©Copyright of PsychoSith/For Tyeth FTSabersite 2016-2024. “Purrgil” and all other Star Wars names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/LucasFilm Ltd.

“The Nite Owl Saber” inspired by Bo Katan-Kryze

Hello Everybody and welcome to today’s post which I can safely say is again firmly rooted in the Star Wars universe. I recently showcased my recent Zori Bliss and whilst building it I was reminded of another high flying rocket pack packing character, that being the Mandalorian lady named Bo Katan-Kryze. Bo Katan was the sister of the former Duchess Satine of Mandalore (whom Obi-Wan Kenobi was once enamoured of – maybe) and her loyalties to family and race were stressed. Satine believed that Mandalore should follow a peaceful, educated path whilst Bo Katan thought that Mandalore’s warrior heritage should be remembered and honoured. As a result of this disagreement Bo left her family clan, House Kryze, and became a member of the renegade faction named Death Watch. Death Watch in turn got entangled with the Empire and were connected to Darth Maul at one point. Anyhoo, suffice to say Bo was a warrior and streamlined look of my Zori saber reminded me of Bo and I wanted to see what the saber would look like in her armour’s colour scheme. First, here’s a pic of Bo then I’ll show you Gallery One…

The colours work well I think or maybe the saber just works with all colourways, I don’t know but I know I like it. It is almost identical to Zori’s hilt apart from the colour but I did add a little touch to mark this as a weapon for a Mandalorian…I added the Mythosaur skeleton skull emblem near the pommel (you may remember this logo from my Boba Fett themed sabers named Mandalawrian and the Amban Pulse Saber). You can view these two hilts by following these links: Mandalawrian: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2019/11/16/the-mandalawrian-saber-hes-here-to-take-you-in/ and the Amban Saber: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2022/01/29/amban-saber-inspired-by-the-book-of-boba-fett/ Here are a few more pics including the Mythosaur…onto Gallery Two….

Oh yes, I did also add a few black accent marks on the emitter to help make this section look more like Bo’s helmet (the marks represent the visor opening). The saber also has an internal chamber but it is the same as Zori’s saber so I didn’t duplicate the images as I have been having texh issues once more and am struggling with my laptop to get it working for any length of time (if the laptop receives a Windows update it drains the battery). Anyhoo, hopefully this design made it thru to you before my machine shuts down. And I have still got more stuff that I hopefully will get to share with you on upcoming posts but I found this object in my warehouse and I’m slightly concerned as to what it means….any guesses?

I’m sure I’ve seen one of these somewhere back in time…I just can’t put my finger on where. Finally, the reason I chose the name “The Nite Owl Saber” for this hilt is that Bo Katan formed her own faction of warriors named the Nite Owls when she realised the mistake Death Watch had made and Bo changed her view to fight for the planet and the people of Mandalore alongside Sabine Wren, the Rebels and the remaining loyal families of Mandalore. Bo later became their de-facto leader.

Well while I try to jog my memory and work what that mystery object is I’m afraid I’ve run out of time for today. I’d like to thank all of you for checking this saber out and for all the fantastic support you have sent me. Either through just taking a look, or leaving motivating and kind comments and likes, all the feedback is much appreciated and keeps me battling on and creating. So whether you are a newcomer or one of my regular FT Family thanks so much. Hope to see you next week….Till next time….

“The Nite Owl Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by Bo Katan-Kryze seen in Star Wars Rebels. The design, 3D models and renders were created in Blender 3D by For Tyeth and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2024, “Bo Katan-Kryze” and all names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm ltd 2024.

TIE Defender Elite version two – “SkyStrike”

Hello Everybody and welcome. Can you believe we are nearly a third of the way through 2023? I guess I can’t waste much time so had best showcase this week’s offering. This time I have the TIE Defender Elite that I brought to you a while back but this time it is in the colours of the Skystrike Academy. The Skystrike Academy was sort of like the Empire’s version of “TopGun” where the best of the best new pilots went to train. The facility was commanded by Commander Vult Skerris, who I introduced you to in the original post in which I debuted the Defender. (You can view it using this link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2023/03/04/tie-defender-elite-skerris-a-recreation-of-the-galactic-empires-new-tie-fighter/) Skerris’ was given command of the academy and he flew a Defender with red markings to denote his superiority whilst his cadets had yellow trimmed ships. This yellow banded version also became the colours adopted by Defender Squadron One when the cadets passed their resting and entered service. So this offering is really a repaint of my “Skerris” red version, but I thought you might like to see it, plus I have more of my travel pics for later, so here is Gallery One…

The changes are subtle, but when in space the yellow actually shows up more than the red paint on Skerris’ personal ship so these ships were easier to spot. Skerris was ruthless and hated the Rebellion, so used whatever tactics he could to achieve victory – unfortunately this was accompanied by an arrogant and rule-breaking attitude. Skerris would even fire on damaged or unarmed vehicles if it meant another victim for his logbook. His student pilots weren’t so aggressive and regularly incurred Skerris’ wrath in dressing downs when they failed missions. Anyhoo, I had best show you the close up detail pictures and bring you the Glamour Shot gallery, enjoy…

In the end Skerris came to a sticky ending whilst pursuing some Rebel targets when he was hit by friendly fire launched from Grand Admiral Thrawn’s ship. Thrawn attempted to stop Hera Syndula from escaping but Skerris wanted the kill for himself and wouldn’t retreat. His ship was caught in the crossfire and partially disabled but Syndula’s was less so and Hera was able to fire upon the unshielded Skerris and make her escape to hyperspace. Skerris and his ship were destroyed but Defender Squadron One continued.

And talking of things continuing it’s time to showcase my next batch of travel pics from my mission down under! Last week I posted pics of Mt Ruapeha and the SkyWaka gondola and I mentioned some other nearby landmarks that I visited. First I went underground when I visited the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves. These caves were mesmerising – to get into the main caverns you had to travel through a cave corridor formed by the flowing water passing through over thousands of years (Wai in Maori translates as “water” whilst Tomo translates to “hole” hence Waitomo is called “Waterhole”). The corridor was made of a limestone like rock and there were rock formations known as Stalagmites and Stalactites, making the the corridors look like the catacombs of Geonosis (seriously). Sadly though I couldn’t get photos because the caves have some creatures living in them that were sensitive to bright lights (so photography was banned) …Glow Worms! The worms lived by dangling on the ends of the roof formations and emitting a neon-like blue glow to attract food which they catch on a sticky silk line they extend . The worms pupate and the “insect” that hatches give birth to the next generation. We passed through these caves in boats powered by our guide pulling on ropes. The views were out of this world, especially when a large batch of worms were gathered – it looked like a starfield inside a cave! I did manage to get a few pics outside the cave and the chalet complex I stayed in that night…

I also mentioned last week a place named Lake Taupo which could be seen from the top of the gondola ride on Mt Ruapeha. This lake was 23km away but could still be seen easily and I took a boat trip on it….which was interesting! The boat captain gave his commentary during which he told us some disturbing news…the lake actually fills the top of an active volcano crater! And it was overdue to erupt by 1600 years…but the risk was worth going out onto the water for as there was a hidden treasure on the island in the middle of the lake….

The first pic shows the approach road to Lake Taupo which my relative described as a “small lake”….turns out that the lake is so big that the whole of Singapore could be built in it’s footprint (and remember this is an active volcanic crater!). The lake even has it’s own horizon on which you can see the curvature of the planet’s surface, it is that vast…but on that horizon was a lone island which had a surprise…massive Maori rock carvings! The carvings were beautiful and could only be seen by boat. The sculptor erected scaffolding made from tree trunks and carved representations of a face that has facial markings which told his family history. But this carving isn’t small by any means as this last picture shows with me in the foreground…

And that I’m afraid is about all the time I have for today. I really hope you liked the repainted TIE Defender (I know it was basic but I made up for that with travel pics😎). Thank you so much for calling in and checking this post out, all the support you give is much appreciated. So please call back next week when I will have a new design and more of my adventures. Till next time….

“TIE Defender Elite – SkyStrike” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the ship seen in Star Wars Rebels. The design, 3D models and renders were created by For Tyeth in Blender 3D and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2023. “Star Wars Rebels” and all other names, images, logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm ltd.

“Chopper V2 Saber” – Time for an upgrade!

Hello Everybody and welcome to today’s offering. Recently Star Wars Celebration, the travelling SW convention took place in London and all the big news about upcoming shows and movies etc was made public. Well there was news about the Ahsoka Tano live action series and that brought about speculation about other characters and one name popped up, that of Hera Syndula that appeared in Star Wars Rebels as the owner/captain of the ship The Ghost. I thought “hm…I haven’t done any Rebels inspired stuff for a while so how about if I did another saber or two?” The problem was I have already built a saber for Hera which you can see here> (https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2020/09/19/syndulla-a-saber-for-hera/) and I have built hilts for Zeb, Kanan and Ezra too. I even built a lightsaber inspired by Chopper, Hera’s Astromech…then I realised that his saber was done many years ago using the old software and looked like this:

Realising how old this design is now (and that Saberforge who offered the old software and ASP system no longer support it) I felt I had to redesign and build a new saber for ol’ Chopper! So I have….here is the new updated “Chopper V2″…

This saber I designed to be a “Shoto” or a saber that is held in your non dominant hand as a defensive weapon, alongside your main regular sized hilt in your main hand. Because Chopper is er, slightly shorter than most Astromechs he kinda suited the role of a Shoto! I again as with all my “droid inspired” builds tried to include as many little details as possible. From the chromed eye socket parts, to the LED bargraph lights on the side of his dome (which also has the antenna dish on top which is removable to allow the blade to extend), all the way down to the panelling and access doors. I even 3D modelled his spanner shaped arm appendage (which I then curved to fit his shape). I did however leave a couple of panels out that were situated at the lower half of his bodywork so I could fit in the handgrip portion of the hilt Anyhoo, enough chatting…here is Gallery Two featuring the glamour shots and details…

I feel this updated “Chopper Saber” looks even more like it’s inspiration, I’m just apologising that it took me so long to realise the fact it needed refreshing. Hopefully this is a worthy inclusion into my Astromech collection. And now….onto other news and more from my trip to Mordor…I mean New Zealand! Last week I posted an image of me with a Skywaka…no, not Luke Skywalker but the Mt Ruapehu Skywaka gondola ride! Early on in my trip I got to visit this attraction and it was stunning, even at the start of New Zealand’s autumn/fall (meaning there was less snow). But how could you not be impressed by a cable-car ride upto 2020m and which has a length of over 1.8km! The ride takes 12 minutes to reach the summit and the views are incredible and for good reason…Mt Ruapehu is an ACTIVE volcano (having erupted in 2006 and 07)! Though my Kiwi relative didn’t tell me that beforehand 🤨. From the summit you could see all the other peaks in the area. To get to the site however requires a drive down (or is that up?) State Highway 48 and what a drive that is too. Here are a few pics…

The first two pics show just how BIG Mt Ruapehu is (well it is the largest volcano in the Tongariro National Park) and a building that looks like a Swiss chalet style house, which is in fact an exclusive hotel. The gondola ride itself is as stated 1.8km long and carries you up to the Knoll Ridge Chalet (a restaurant and viewing point) in one of 48 carriages. On a day like I visited on you can see to the horizons. You can even see another fascinating landmark called Lake Taupo which is 23km away but I’ll chat about Taupo in an upcoming post. Oh yes…I mentioned Mordor? Well, Mt Ruapehu is sorta part of Middle Earth as Peter Jackson filmed bits of the Rings trilogy films on it’s slopes (namely scenes for Mordor and Mount Doom).

And sadly that is all the time I have and I need to end this post. I hope you enjoyed Chopper’s upgrades…they were well overdue, And I hope you enjoy what you see on FTSabersite in general. I want to thank you all for visiting and supporting me and the site, it means a great deal to me that folks like what I do and keeps me inspired to create more. So whether you are a regular caller here or this is your first trip to FTSabersite, please call back for future posts a I have much more to come. Till next time….

“Chopper V2 Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the droid character “Chopper” seen in Star Wars Rebels. The 3D design, models and renders were created by For Tyeth in Blender 3D and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2023. “Star Wars Rebels”, ” Chopper”and all other names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm ltd.

TIE Defender Elite “Skerris” – a recreation of the Galactic Empire’s new TIE Fighter

Hello Everybody and welcome to today’s post and before we go any further I need to say fasten your seatbelts! This weeks post we venture back to my “Shipyards” division as I showcase my attempt at building a new TIE Fighter design. The TIE version in question first appeared in the animated Star Wars Rebels show during an episode titled “Flight of the Defender”.

TIE Defender Elite on the left. ©Disney/Lucasfilm

The fighter was a new design developed by Grand Admiral Thrawn, the Chiss military genius (you can read about him in this post: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2021/04/24/tactician-v2-strikeback-thrawns-second-saber/) and was far superior to regular TIE-Fighters and Interceptors. The Defender had shields for a start which other TIEs didn’t posses and the new ship was fast because it had a Hyoerdrive unit built in so didn’t need boosters or Star Destroyers to transport them. But while I watched the cartoon I noticed that the Defender was good but to me looked a bit too slender so I decided to redesign and make some tweaks. This is the result of my efforts the TIE Defender Elite “Skerris”..

My redesign is slightly more bulky around the wing supports but I think the ship still has a sleek aggressive look. The distinctive wings each have two laser cannons plus two laser guided missiles between each wing plate. The plates also have carbon fibre-like solar panel texturing giving it the classic TIE Fighter checkerboard pattern to it’s wings. The fuselage is much closer to an original TIE but with an extended larger rear section. The Defender in the cartoon seemed too small at the back to be able to house the shield generator, Hyperdrive AND it didn’t have the Twin Ion Engines that give a TIE fighter it’s name. So my larger fuselage allowed me to add the Twin Engines (so technically this is a Tri Ion Engined ship!) Here is a picture of the Disney version again showing the rear and how small it is…

This rear fuselage seems too small to accommodate it’s tech. ©Disney/Lucasfilm

And now here is Gallery Two showcasing some up close details…

Hopefully these pics will give you a good idea of the shape and build of my version – I think it retains the sleek aggressive shape but looks more solidly built. In the last image you can see the lower two “exhaust ports” for the Twin Ion powerplants but you can clearly see the extra central exhaust and slotted vents arranged around it. These extra ports work like the Vectored Thrust nozzles on modern fighter jets like the American F22, F-35 and Russia’s Sukhoi SU-30 and 35 planes. This starfighter is also very agile as a result.

I named my fighter the “Skerris” variant after the Galactic Empire’s Ace pilot, Vult Skerris. Skerris was an instructor at the Empire’s SkyStrike Academy where the “topguns” of the galaxy trained. After working on developing the Defender Skerris was given the command of Defender Squadron One leading a mission to apprehend Senator Mon Mothma.

These last two images show the Defender out and about both in deep space and in the hangar of the Star Destroyer I designed a year or two back. I’m pleased how my tweaks on this ship turned out and feel the ship would be formidable against the Rebels. Luckily the Empire don’t own any of my variants!

And with that I must end this post, again I can’t divulge too much about my current situation but I hope you will call back next week to see a modification to my Puss in Boots themed saber. Thanks so much for visiting today and supporting myself and my site, all of the interactions motivate me and keeps me designing. Till next time….

“TIE Defender Elite Skerris” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the TIE Defender seen in Disney/Lucasfilm’s “Star Wars Rebels”. The 3D model and mods were modelled in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2023. The “TIE Fighter” and all it’s variants are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm (as are all names, logos, images and related material).

“Mando Super Commando Saber” – Inspired by Maul’s Mando Mercs

Hello Everybody, I have been extremely busy this past week both with designing and with making preparations for a BIG secret mission for me next year that requires a lot of planning so I am a little tired but I do have a nice saber to show you today. The saber is another of my “Trooper Phase Two” themed hilts but one with a twist. It is inspired by the group of soldiers from the planet Mandalore known as “Death Watch”. This group were a fierce bunch that caused trouble during the latter stages of the Clone Wars and was led by a man named Pre Vizla. Pre Vizsla was a member of Clan Vizsla, a once highly respected family but which became more mercenary during a civil war on Mandalor.e This turmoil eventually led to the group being taken over by Darth Maul (who had survived the encounter with Qui-Gon Jinn and had formed his own crime syndicate called the Shadow Collective). The Death Watch soldiers were similar in appearance to Jango Fett, Boba Fett and the Mandalorian Din Djarin (from the Disney+ show) however when Maul became their leader they changed their colours, literally. Here is how they looked:

The Death Watch painted their armour to match the colours of Darth Maul’s famous tribal tattoo pattern, red and black. Some members also added horn decorations to their helmets in Maul’s image. Ok, I have chatted enough, you want to see the saber I’m betting so here is Gallery One….

As you can see this is the saber I built for Clone Commander Cody which I showed you a few weeks ago but this saber has a much more aggressive red and black theme. You may have also noticed that the emitter has some appendages attached now in the shape of a set of horns! These are to mimic the horns of Maul and the ones found on the Super Commando helmets. The horns make the emitter look so much more different that I’m going to include a gallery just for the emitter, here it is…..

In the first picture you can see the emitter blade matrix where the plasma blade originates from, whilst the other pics give various angles of the “helmet” design of the emitter. The final image is one of the Super Commando’s helmets for comparison. However, I didn’t just add the horns to look pretty, I intended that these acted as controls for the saber to adjust power levels, blade length and the middle horn is a release lever/catch to open the saber’s body to reveal this….

Yes, this saber also has a crystal chamber! And I have modified the chamber from my previous version – if you look very closely you can see that the crystal is made from the same transparent material I used on the “Margrave Saber” display case lid. The material holds a glowing inner lozenge shaped crystal. The chamber has added gold accents on the silver barrels.

Back in the Star Wars storyline, the Super Commandoes broke free from Maul’s leadership when Sabine Wren and Bo Katarn returned to Mandalore and wrested the leadership position away from Maul and Vizsla. Sabine and Bo worked together to help re-unite the Mandalore people and Bo eventually adopted the mantle of the ruler of Mandalore. (You can see more about Sabine Wren here: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2020/08/22/the-artisan-staff-inspired-by-sabine-wren/)

Now I think that just about wraps this “Commando Trooper” saber up. I hope you liked the theme and it’s backstory inspiration. As I mention I am very busy planning my mission but fear not as luckily I still have quite a bit of material ready to post over the next few weeks/months. This includes more sabers, non saber prop objects, some custom painted vehicles and I am working on my end of year review too! So I hope you’ll return to check all that out. In the meantime, I need to thank you all for visiting today and supporting me – as always it’s much appreciated whether this is your first visit or if you are a regular viewer/reader. Please feel free to have a look around my site and if you’d like to leave a comment, like a post or two, or even subscribe to get notifications of new posts that would be great and helps a lot. Till next time……

“Mando Super Commando Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and was modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. The 3D model and renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Star Wars”, “Mandalorian Super Commandos” and all other names, logos and related materials are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.

“Speedster” Bike – Something a bit different

Hello Everybody and welcome to today’s post, and today I change up a few gears as we return to the Star Wars universe. During the past month or two I have had a few extra spare hours as my real everyday life issues settle down so I took the opportunity to re-watch some SW cartoons and indulge in viewing some motorsport. As some of you may recall from my early days blogging, that I am a fan of motorsport and I recently watched some really good MotoGP motorcycling races. That coupled with watching Star Wars and seeing some Speederbikes prompted my imagination to spark. In Star Wars some of the foot soldiers of the Republic Clone Army were equipped with hovering Speederbikes (you may recall the Speederbikes from Return of the Jedi with Luke and Leia chasing Biker Scouts through the forest of Endor). These first generation Speederbikes were called BARC Speeders or “Bike Advanced Recon Commando speeder” and were built by the Aratech Repulsor Company. The bikes looked a bit like this…

BARC Speederbike

These speeders had more fairings and bodyshell coverings than the later era versions in Return of the Jedi and the styling with the grille inlets reminded me of the aesthetics of Formula 1 racing cars of the 1930s/40s. I immediately thought of the famous Mercedes Benz Silver Arrows cars and the Audi Auto Union race cars like these…

So I decided I would design a new Speederbike influenced by these beauties. Believe it or not the following design’s main body was created from just two cubes which I rounded off and contoured. I then did add the extra bits like the seat panel, footrests, handlebar grips and the air intake/radiator grilles. Ok, enough chatting, it’s time to bring my new speeder out for a spin….

Hopefully you will be able to see the Formula 1 racing influence in this design and I hope/think it still looks like a Star Wars universe vehicle at the same time. The speeder has outrigger plates that emit energy to control steering and look like the stramlining wheel covers used on racing cars of the 30s/40s. When the speeder comes to a stop and deactivates these outrigger plates retract into the side of the bodywork so it can be stored for transport in battle cruisers. It features three small engines so there is redundancy if one engine should fail – you still have two good engines running. Now onto Gallery Two and a few detail pictures…

In these pictures you can see the rear bodyshell with black panelling – these panels are access plates for maintenance and areas for storage of a trooper’s equipment (sort of like pannier bags). The seat module has ridges to provide a non slip cushioning for any sized trooper. I added a set of basic handlebars with an array of digital display dials. And this type of bike is famous for hovering rather than having wheels and in the last picture you can see the “repulsor vents” where the energy is released creating the levitating cushion the bike glides on. And as I was riding out and about in my local forest…this bike comes in a nice dark green camouflage pattern! Though I do have a repainted variant which will follow in a future post and it is modified a little…here are the teaser images again…

Ok that was fun racing round my local woodland. And don’t worry this bike doesn’t give off emissions! But sadly I am approaching the end of the track and will need to garage my speeder and this post. I hope you liked this switch from lightsabers. This is the first in a few new vehicle designs I have coming up so I really hope you’ll call back to check them out. There will still be sabers too.

Thank you so much for your time today and for checking this site out. All your support is much appreciated and motivates me to work hard and produce new stuff (I have enough to last till new year I think!). Please leave a like, comment or subscribe if you aren’t already. Till next time….

“Speedster” is a For Tyeth Editions vehicle design inspired by the “BARC Speederbike” seen in Star Wars The Clone Wars series and Rebels. The 3D model and renders were created by For Tyeth/FTSabersite and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. All Star Wars names, references and material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm. “Mercedes Benz Silver Arrows” name and cars belongs to the Mercedes Benz Motor Company, whilst the “Audi Auto Union” cars and name belong to Audi.

Tactician V2 : Strikeback – Thrawn’s second saber

Hello Everybody, today I revisit an old design with my newest design and it features a very distinctive and famous strategist. That strategist is the member of the Chiss Ascendancy that joined the Imperial Naval Fleet and rose to fame as Grand Admiral Thrawn! So, as I sort of stated I have already honoured the Grand Admiral with a saber but it was long ago back when I used the “old software” I had at my disposal and had to use other people’s parts. I did however heavily modify those saber parts to create the saber Tactician. Here is a quick reminder of that hilt…

You may recall that Thrawn as he was referred to in the “core worlds” was born in the “Unknown Regions” and was called Mitth’raw’nuruodo. His birth name was Kivu’raw’nuru (Kivu being similar to an earth family surname). He later changed his name when he became an adult and joined the military of the Chiss Ascendency. It was whilst he was carrying out a mission to examine the “Known Regions” and it’s species that he allowed himself to be “captured” by an Imperial squadron of troops as he stowed away on their ship when they came to investigate the disturbances at their camp. Thrawn eventually worked his way into the Imperial Navy by enlisting after showing promise and that he may have something to offer, and finally attained the rank of Grand Admiral after catching The Emperor’s attention.

As you can see from the title images here, Thrawn was a distinctive looking character having blue skin and bright red eyes so when I came up with the first Tactician saber above I had to photo edit the preview pictures to add the blue paintwork (the company that provided the saber building software didn’t have powdercoat or custom paintwork on general offer back then). But I struggled and “painted” each image pixel by pixel but after all the hard work I knew I could do better….so here is Tactician V2: Strikeback….

This saber has the same sort of colouration but this time I didn’t have to paint the hilt pixel by pixel as Blender 3D applied the texture to the model when I built it! It is still the same deep “Chiss Blue” to represent the Chiss species and has nice contrasting brushed silver metal accents with the shroud (you may recognise this from my The Dark Republic saber!). This saber has a red lit activation switch to match the red blade and peek ever so closely to the third image and you might just see two spots of red “peeking” out. These are two windows that allow the light from the blade to shine through but they also pay tribute to my first Tactician hilt and to the Chiss’ red eyes…

How ’bout that? Three pairs of “eyes” spying on us from afar! I say from afar because at the end of the cartoon series Star Wars Rebels, Thrawn was involved in a possible final battle with the Rebels (Ezra, Hera, Kanan, Reb) on Lothal and during the fight his ship was attacked by some Purgil space creatures and we don’t yet know if he survived! But as I said earlier I wanted to improve on my first Tactician saber and when I saw the “eyes” I had created with the windows on the Dark Republic hilt I knew this would suit Thrawn also. And just as a final decorative touch I added two Chiss Ascendency logos made into 3D on the handgrip and on the pommel insert – though Thrawn would probably disapprove saying “decoration is not needed on a weapon of battle – all that matters is that it performs in time of need!”. Well it does work and I hope you all like the Strikeback version.

That just about brings me to the end of this week’s post, I do hope you liked it. I will have to do some thinking about my next few posts as the big “May the 4th” is coming up so I might need to show off something bigger…hm….Anyhoo, thank you so much for your support and visit today. It is really appreciated and I have noticed many new viewer figures coming from new locations around the globe and you’re all welcome. If you all enjoy what you see here please comment, like and maybe subscribe if you haven’t already. I still have much more to come in future posts so do call back…..Till next time…..

“Tactician V2:Strikeback” is a For Tyeth Editions design and was built and rendered in Blender 3D. The design and images are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2021. “Grand Admiral Thrawn” first appeared in the books by Timothy Zhan and is a Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm having appeared in “Star Wars: Rebels”.

“The Last of the Lasat” Saber – inspired by Zeb Orrelius

Hello Everybody, today we return to my series of Star Wars Rebels inspired hilts and I have a saber for another member of the crew of the starship The Ghost. I have built sabers for Ezra Bridger, Kanan Jarrus, Sabine Wren, Chopper the droid and I present a hilt for the final member of the Spectres…Zeb Orrelius. Zeb is a member of the Lasat species and was a member of the Lasan Honour Guard, protecting the Lasat royal family. Then the Empire arrived on the planet of Lasan and using a new devastating laser weapon wiped out all of the natives save for a handful of Lasan including Zeb. He believed he was the sole survivor and developed a deep seated hatred of the Empire, inspiring him to join the fight against the galactic tyranny. With his Bo-Rifle (a powerful folding weapon synonymous with the Lasan Honour Guard) he caused problems for the Imperials until he crossed paths with the rest of the crew of the Ghost. Zeb became the “muscle” for the rebel Ghost crew…not surprising when you see how imposing he is. Here’s a picture of him…

©Disney/Lucasfilm

So if I was to design a hilt for this big guy…it has to be powerful and impressive. Well I was tinkering as I do and had started to build a hilt – I had a handgrip and switch – it was going well. Then I came to build the emitter and let’s say I had a “happy little accident” and adjusted the shape of the emitter forgetting that it was still connected to the rest of the handle. In Blender you can either build the saber as if carving it on a woodworking lathe – you have a cylinder and “work” it into the shape you want by using loops and adjusting their size or using the second method, you break the handle into sections and then connect the parts to form one solid hilt. I forgot which method I was using and when I attempted to ”thicken” the outer shell of the emitter the “Solidify” function affected the handgrip too. However it created an interesting effect and combined with the texture colours made this saber look very much as if it belonged to Zeb. So here is my new saber, “The Last of the Lasat”….

The saber features some very organic looking ridges which are the result of the Solidify function I used. I had modelled some angled finger grips with rings but when I added “thickness” to the model it duplicated the rings causing them to form the ridges. They looked just like the dark markings on Zeb’s head and body whilst the emitter sorta reminded me of the tufted beard he sports. The blade is a pleasing yellow colour – similar to the colour of the nebula that surrounded a strange planet Zeb visited after the conflicts ended (more on this later). The pommel is made from a regular cog shaped part which I thickened again with the Solidify tool. I added the blade and an activation switch to finish the saber. I was interested to see how the saber performed so I took it to a local cave where I do my testing, here are a few Glamour Shots…

The saber was powerful enough to cut through rocks and boulders, matching Zeb’s strength so I think he’ll be able to handle it. I mentioned earlier a strange planet Zeb visited after the Empire was defeated, well that planet turned out to be the sanctuary where the fellow survivors of the Lasat race fled to. Zeb discovered he wasn’t the last of his kind as he had believed for so long and he found this out because of another person we have met recently. That person was Agent Kallus or Fulcrum as he had become. Agent Kallus was the Imperial agent that led the devastating attack on Lasan, he then had an encounter with Zeb on an Ice planet where each began to rely on the other to escape. A bond was formed and when Kallus learnt of the survivors he visited and earned the trust of group when they realised he had redeemed himself. Kallus then delivered Zeb to the new home world of the Lasat race. A happy ending….

That just about wraps up this hilt for Zeb…not the last of his kind…Orrelius. I hope you liked it. I was amazed how it turned out considering the way it came from a mishap! However I still have over half a dozen new hilts and starship designs to bring you and maybe a few bits of artwork. Please call back for future posts and check out what’s in store, but for now thank you so much for the support and for visiting today. All of your views, likes and comments make it worthwhile me creating and I much appreciate you all. Till next time….

“The Last of the Lasat” saber is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by Zeb Orrelius, featured in Star Wars Rebels. The lightsaber 3D model and renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020. “Zeb Orrelius”, “Star Wars:Rebels” and all other names, images, logos and related material are Trademark/’©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.

“Syndulla” A saber for Hera

Hello Everybody, I hope you are all well as I have another new design to showcase for you today. This time we are staying in the galaxy and time period seen in Star Wars Rebels, and as I have built sabers for Kanan Jarrus, Ezra Bridger and more recently Sabine Wren’s staff I felt the Captain of the rebel ship The Ghost should get a hilt too. The Captain of The Ghost is a young female Twi’Lek named Hera Syndulla, who is a wily, cunning, battle hardened warrior revolutionary. Not surprising as her father was Cham Syndulla, a prominent activist and thorn in the side of the early Empire led by Palpatine and Vader. Hera was born and raised on Ryloth but didn’t have the greatest of relationships with her father, it started well but in war it deteriorated. It got so bad that when a rebellion starfighter crash landed in the Syndulla homestead’s grounds Hera recovered the astromech and repaired it, then formed a friendship with the droid.

Eventually the situation got to the point where Hera left to become a pilot and formed her own band of rebels (who you can see above ^^) whilst her father continued his efforts against the Empire around their homeworld. Over many skirmishes Hera recruited her crew and raised trouble for the Empire, irritating Grand Moff (Governor) Tarkin and Vader. So, even though Hera is famous as a crack shot with a blaster I felt Captain Syndulla needed a saber. I built one and sent it to her…but I think she may not recognise it….

Can you see a saber in the picture above? Well, after the events of the Clone Wars and Order 66 (the Emperor’s purge on the Jedi) it was illegal to use, own or even carry a lightsaber (or any parts thereof) so I had to be clever and disguise her new saber so it would go undetected. I think I did a good job…it looks like there are just a few tools and measuring devices on Hera’s workbench right? Then may I show you this….

Yep! I turned a Hydro-Wrench into a lightsaber…cunning aren’t I! I doubt any Stormtrooper or Imperial official would recognise this as a saber. The Hydro-Wrench has a power activator that I modified to be the ignition switch so the on/off switch was camouflaged already. The saber also features hidden controls that adjust the lightsaber’s blade length and power settings and to access them you have to twist the red torque adjuster lever to open the grille covering the settings panel.

Form and function plus a bit of ingenuity (if I say so myself 😎) This panel is accessed when you twist the red lever which in turn rotates the grille There are two Hex-Head dials that alter the blade length and power settings along with four light emitting diodes that display a traffic light colour scale to show settings. Oh and the red Torque Lever also acts as a convenient belt hanging device – just clip it onto your workbelt and the saber is hidden with your other tools! I think that’s pretty neat…

A Hydro-Wrench Lightsaber? OK that’s pretty clever!

Ah! I think Hera likes the saber, now she’s recognised it. I felt this reflected her character of being resourceful and able to adapt to difficult, dangerous situations. Her calm thinking and skills saved the day on many occaisions leading to her (and her crew) being recruited to a Rebel faction led by the mysterious “Fulcrum” who we met a few posts back. She even managed to reconcile with her father when one particular mission resulted in their paths crossing. And an interesting fact: If you watch the movie Rogue One when we see the ships parked outside the Rebel Base on Yavin 4 listen carefully and you might hear a General Syndulla being summoned on the tannoy – General Hera Syndulla!

Soo, that just about wraps up this saber offering, I hope you liked it as much as Hera seems to. It was fun thinking “outside the box” to come up with a design so well camouflaged. Star Wars Rebels has really sparked my imagination and as a result I still have a few more “Rebels” hilts and a couple of ships to bring to your attention in future posts. I sincerely hope you’ll call back to see those as I also have more Guardians of the Galaxy hilts too. But for now I’d like to say thanks to all of you for visiting and supporting me and the site, whether a first timer or a regular visitor, you’re much appreciated. Till next time….

“Syndulla Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the cartoon “Star Wars: Rebels”. The 3D models and renderings are ©ForTyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020. “Star Wars: Rebels”, “Hera Syndulla” and all other SW names, logos, images and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm.