“Magnum Robin 1 Saber” – Inspired by the famous Ferrari 308

Aloha Everybody, today I return to the Pacific Ocean islands of Hawaii with another saber inspired by the TV show Magnum P.I. You may recall I posted a saber back in August un memory of Roger Mosley who played the role of T.C. in the show and sadly passed away. The saber I have today is inspired by another icon from the show and that icon is Thomas Magnum’s car, the Ferrari 308 GTs (OK yes, the car actually belongs to the millionaire author Robin Masters that also owns the estate where Magnum lives). The vehicle became as much of a character in the series as did TC’s helicopter, and not surprisingly. The car was a beauty, designed by legendary design firm Pininfarina and was both powerful, fast and curvy.

The car was also a Targa “T-Top” with removable roof panels that upped the vehicles cool wow factor. What amazed me was how “invisible” the car was to all the suspects that Thomas tailed – I mean if you saw a Ferrari 308 in your rear-view you would definitely notice it, but the crooks never seemed to. The car also seemed to be expensive to own and run, with the show revealing that the car would need to be serviced and repaired by “authorised Ferrari technicians” and not the run of the mill garage mechanic that Magnum usually took the vehicle to if it had a dent or two. So, as I discovered that 308 cars were expensive I figured I ‘d have to settle for a lightsaber inspired by one. I think it’s time to put the saber in gear and hit the accelerator…time for “Magnum Robin 1” Gallery One …

Again I have managed to turn an automobile into a lightsaber! You may recall way back that I built a saber that resembled the Ghostbusters’ Ecto 1 and more recently I paid tribute to Mad Max’s Interceptor patrol car…but this is a pure speed demon of a saber. In full racing red this saber is the right colour and has sweeping curves just like it’s source of inspiration. I am quite proud I managed to replicate that curvature as it is a signature of Ferrari sports cars. Another feature I managed to incorporate was the Targa sunroof, which I created by modelling the front and rear windshields to form a hand-stop on the pommel section and the “front windscreen” acts as a guard for the activation switch. More on the switch later but first here is Gallery Two with the close up detail shots…

These close up pictures reveal more details and show off the “bodywork” moulding around the emitter. This represents the wheel arches on the sides of the saber and the two bulges on the upper represent the bonnet (or hood for US readers….) grills and panels. You will notice that the saber also has a couple of “prancing horse” replica badges too. The pommel as always represents the rear end of the car and features tail-lights and rear bumper details, along with a speaker/ventilation grille that sorta looks like a wheel hub. Two final details include the 3D modelled front radiator grille in the emitter mouth and the activation switch I mentioned earlier. The switch features the “Cross of Lorraine” emblem seen on Thomas Magnum’s ring he wears – the symbol being the emblem of the Marine squad he (and his friends Rick and TC) served in during Vietnam.

These last two images just attempt to show the curves of both my saber and the fabulous Ferrari itself – hopefully you can see the haunched stance and lines in both.

Finally…the show Magnum was set on the beautiful paradise islands of Hawaii and that chain of islands has been in the news recently with the eruption of a volcano named Mauna Loa located on the southern-most island, Hawaii itself (the tv show was mainly filmed on the island of Oahu further north). Well, this news of the eruption kinda sparked something in me and made me want to start up an old hobby I used to do years ago, flight simulation! I used to sim when I had a PC capable of running the software and I think I amassed a combined total of “flying hours” over 10,000. I had Microsoft’s Flight Simulator X and competed all the missions and license tests becoming a certified “Virtual Airline Transport Pilot” – I even flew a few trans Atlantic Concorde flights! Nowadays though I only have a laptop which sadly can’t handle a full simulator package but I did find an online simulator that allows me to take to the skies again, which I did and I “flew” to Hawaii and took a look at the volcano site….

The picture above shows the GPS map with the Hawaii island with the volcano located in the point of the light yellow triangle, whilst the centre panel of the image shows my “cockpit window” view of the crater! Sadly the sim doesn’t have special effects so there’s no lava flow. But I had a bit of fun flying around recreating medivac flights to and from the island!

Anyhoo…I am out of time, sorry I got distracted and waffled on about fkight simming but it was that hobby that started me designing things sort of as I used to repaint aircraft models and create scenery for the sim. But back to sabers and Star Wars, I hope you liked this offering today and please call back for future posts as I have many more lightsabers and SW vehicles/props to show you all. Thank you so much for visiting FTSabersite today, your support is much appreciated. Till next time….Aloha!

“Magnum Robin 1 Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the Ferrari 308 sports car seen in the 1980’s TV show Magnum P.I. The design, 3D model and renders were created in Blender 3D by For Tyeth and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. Magnum P.I. and all names, logos, pictures and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Belisarius Productions, Inc, Glen A. Larson Productions and Universal Pictures. The Ferrari 308 GTS was designed by Pininfarina and built by Ferrari S.p.A. and is Trademarked/©Copyright of Ferrari.

“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.

MAGNUM TC – In remembrance of Roger E. Mosley (Theodore “T.C.” Calvin)

Hello Everybody….Now I know what you’re thinking, that little voice in my head has been telling me I haven’t done any TV show related sabers recently. Well unfortunately recent events have made me realise this big time with the sad news of the passing of a gentle giant of 80’s television, Roger E. Mosley. Unfortunately Roger was involved in a motor vehicle accident and died from his injuries on 7th August. And the reason this news hit me so hard is that Roger was a big part of a TV show I loved as a Youngling, Magnum P.I. – where Roger played the part of Theodore T.C. Calvin. TC was a Vietnam veteran chopper pilot who set up an Island Hopping helicopter charter company in the show. TC was a member of the same platoon as Tom Selleck’s Magnum character and after the war became Magnum’s “unofficial chauffeur” flying Thomas to the various islands during cases. It was because of watching Roger “flying” the now famous little helicopter that I got interested in flying myself.

Seeing the little Hughes MD500 helicopter swoop down over the water of Honolulu’s Waikiki beachfront past the Rainbow Hilton hotel was amazing and I wanted to do the same. I couldn’t in real life but I did in Flight Simulator – I found an addon of the helicopter and repainted the texture graphics to look like TC’s helicopter and I then flew many hours of simulated action in Microsoft Flight Sim (even recreating scenes from the show using scenery I made). Sadly when Roger was TC on the TV way back in the 80’s it was difficult for a kid to find out much about actors and characters due to there being no internet to access so I didn’t know much about him. I am now looking back on his life and finding stuff out I couldn’t discover back then. I also wanted to pay tribute to Roger so I quickly designed a saber that might look familiar….this is for you Roger…

This is the MAGNUM TC saber, based on the iconic helicopter Roger flew in the show. It has the same curvy sleek shape and I managed to recreate the same colour scheme. Surprisingly this colour scheme was not specially commissioned for the show, it was a factory regular paintjob, but boy did it become famous. The helicopter in real life was a Hughes 500 , which a military version saw service in Vietnam and was nicknamed “The Flying Egg”. But it was a tough little bird and because of it’s Egg shape, it saved many flyers’ lives as during crashes it “rolled” and absorbed impacts that would have killed occupants of other helicopters. In the show Magnum called upon T.C. to fly him to the outlying islands of Hawaii during cases and he always promised to buy T.C. a beer or pay for fuel…but rarely did! So basically the helicopter and Roger became iconic and was an obvious choice to replicate as my tribute. Here is gallery two with a few close up details….

I made the emitter to be as curvy as I could reasonably to replicate the forward fuselage and cockpit area of the chopper…I even added small landing gear skids on the bottom to act as a a built in display stand! The sweeping handgrip represents the tailboom whilst the pommel area features a “tail rotor” in the endcap as a pommel insert. The saber also features “aircraft registration” numbers – in this case N1095A, which is the number seen on the helicopter in the show intro. Then to top the design off, and to just reinforce what this saber represented I added the iconic “Island Hoppers” charter company logo on the activation switch.

As I mentioned above, while I was a kid I never got to really “know” Roger or learn of his other works because the Internet of things hadn’t took off but I have since learned he starred in “Roots”, a biopic film about Sonny Liston the world famous boxer and countless supporting roles in other US dramas and action shows like Starsky and Hutch. Roger loved Magnum so much that he even took a role in the recent 2019 Magnum reboot playing the part of the “new” TC’s barber named “Booky”.

Roger was and still is THE original TC and played the part from 1980 through to 1988. He insisted that the character of TC was “straight-edged” as Roger himself never smoked, drank or took drugs. In the show a stunt double was brought in to replace Roger during flying/stunt scenes with the stunt pilot wearing a padded bodysuit to mimic Roger’s massive physique but…during the show’s time on air Roger actually acquired a real world helicopter pilot’s license but was prevented from doing dangerous scenes by the studios, however in some shots you may see Roger at the controls! (And this is no small feat, I know flying a simulated helicopter is difficult enough!). And Roger seems to have been a great family man as he was married to his wife Antoinette Laudermilk for nearly six decades. My thoughts and prayers go out to all his surviving relatives and friends. I am just sorry it took me so long to really get to “know” him.

Now I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention the sad passing of Nichelle Nichols who played Lt Uhura in the original Star Trek shows and movies. I chatted with my friend Resa about Uhura and said I’d do a saber inspired by Miss Nichols too but I ashamedly got side-tracked but I will complete that design too. I am slow sometimes but I usually finish what I start!

So with that I am at the end of this post of remembrance, again my condolences go out to Roger’s family and friends. My thanks go out to you, my readers/viewers for checking this tribute out. I hope it was fitting and that you will call back to see the Lt Uhura/Nichelle Nichols tribute when I complete it. Till next time…..soar high in Hawaiian skies….

“Magnum TC Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design built as tribute to Roger E. Mosley aka “Theodore T.C. Calvin”. “TC” and “Thoedore Calvin” are creations of Belisarius Productions and Glen A, Larson Productions and all names, images , logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright of Belisarius and Glen A. Larson Productions. For Tyeth’s tribute designs (including the 3D model and renderings) are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022.

Yes My Lord – Dave Prowse, Lord Vader, Legend and Gent has passed away

It is with great sadness that I find that Dave Prowse, the body and actor beneath the Darth Vader suit has passed away, aged 85. He was a giant of the acting galaxy but probably never got as much recognition as he should have earlier in Star Wars history (as he was kept in secrecy behind the mask to preserve his mystique). Dave was however seen in film and on screen if you knew how to recognise him, he appeared in several Hammer Horror movies with Peter Cushing (usually playing Frankenstein’s monster or the Mummy) and for kids of the UK back in the 1980’s will remember him as the face of a government road safety campaign. He was the Green Cross Code Man, a superhero that taught kids how to safely cross roads as well as the Dark Lord that tried to rule the galaxy far far away!

David Prowse Green Cross Code Man – Credit: Daily Mail Newspaper Group

David was a proud Bristol born gentleman who had a career in bodybuilding which led to him getting the roles in the Hammer movies due to his physique. He also appeared in A Clockwork Orange with Malcolm McDowell . Dave was then cast as the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Vader, though we didn’t hear him as his dialogue was famously dubbed over by James Earl Jones due to his West Country accent.

I obviously haven’t had chance to build or design a hilt in his honour but I did model Darth Vader’s hilt a while ago so I will repost the pictures here…

My thoughts and prayers go out to Mr Prowse’s family, friends and the Star Wars community at large. You were the ultimate on screen villain but a gentle green giant off it.

May the Force keep and protect you forever more My Lord….

My saber is bleeding and for one day I am a Sith

Images via Daily Mail Newsgroup, Bristol Post.

Eruption Saber – A proper Tribute to Eddie Van Halen

Hello everyone, today is bittersweet as I return to the sad news of the passing of Eddie Van Halen, the guitar genius of the band that shares his family name. This is my way of thanking Eddie for all the inspiration he gave to me as a budding musician.

Eddie Lodewijk Van Halen was born in Jan 1955 to Dutch father, Jan Van Halen who was a jazz pianist, clarinetist and saxophonist (I guess Eddie was always gonna be a great with those genes) and his mother Eugenia (nee van Beers) who was of Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) descent.

The Van Halen family moved to the USA and settled in Pasadena California in 1962. Eddie had an older brother named Alex and the pair studied classical piano from an early age in San Pedro but Eddie couldn’t read music! He learnt by watching and listening…and when he had to perform Beethoven or Mozart pieces he would improvise! Alex decided to pick up the guitar prompting Eddie to buy a drum kit to accompany his brother. However after hearing Alex drumming the song Wipe Out by The Safari’s the pair “swapped” instruments and Eddie began studying guitar. He practised whenever he could, carrying the guitar around with him. They soon realised that rock music was much more cool than classical and formed a band….and Eddie built a guitar!

Eddie Van Halen and….Frankie!

The guitar became famous as the “Frankenstrat” built from various parts and modified pieces that allowed Eddie to create out-of-this-world sounds. Eddie also became synonymous with a playing technique he called “Tapping” where he used the fingers of both hands to tap and hold the strings on the fretboard to play ultra fast notes up and down the musical scales. Later Eddie would invent a device to assist holding the guitar in position whilst he “Tapped”. He also designed other guitar parts so he was a designer too….and I think it’s time to show you my design in honour of EVH…This is my “Eruption Saber”….

You may have seen this saber before if you follow my site. I posted one picture of this as a variant to my Obi-Wan Kenobi Master K (https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2019/10/12/master-k-saber-an-obi-wan-kenobi-inpsired-hilt/) hilt but the news of Eddie’s passing was so sudden I totally forgot I had built it. However I have added a few more details I’ll show below. But first this saber shares a similar colour scheme as Eddie’s famous Frankenstrat of black, white and red abstract stripes and shapes. The Frankenstrat was originally black until Eddie felt it needed a coat of bright red bicycle paint! The guitar was also updated with pickups (the magnetic elements that pick up the strings vibrations and turn the movement into electrical signals) that were assembled by Duncan Seymour – a famous guitar technician who also modified some pickups for Brian May. Now as this saber is an “old” design I felt I needed to upgrade it so in tribute to one of Eddie’s most famous tunes named Eruption…I added a crystal chamber with the power of that Van Halen solo!

I felt there was so much power in the crystal of this hilt it needed to be caged! But there was no caging Van Halen and the band toured the world and their fame grew globally. Eddie worked and collaborated with many names in music including Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, Nicolette Larson, Michael Jackson (remember the solo in “Beat It”? That was Eddie!), Brian May, Sammy Hagar, Black Sabbath, Roger Waters and Toto guitarist Steve Lukather. He even wrote film scores and appeared in Frank Sinatra videos and in a stroke of comic genius….Two And A Half Men…

So to round this tribute off I produced a couple of “Posters” featuring the big man himself, the Frankenstrat and a tip of the hat to another great EVH recording – Panama.

Now I feel I have done my tribute properly and thanked Eddie for all he gave me. I hope he would have approved. I just have to perfect my version of “Jump!” on keyboard.

Again my thoughts and prayers are with Eddie’s family, friends and all who have been affected by, inspired by or were just entertained by the great man.

That brings a close to this post…thank you all for checking this tribute out and for all the comments and support you have given me, hopefully this has given some back. I appreciate all of your efforts and hope you will return to see upcoming posts featuring many more new saber designs, some spaceships and much more. Till next time…...JUMP!

WMG (on behalf of Warner Rhino Off Roster-Audio); LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, UMPI, Abramus Digital, SOLAR Music Rights Management, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, UMPG Publishing, Warner Chappell, LatinAutor – ACODEM, ASCAP, CMRRA, LatinAutorPerf, LatinAutor – UMPG, PEDL, and 20 Music Rights Societies

“Eruption Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2020. The “Frankenstrat” and the associated Frankenstrat pattern along with all other images, logos and related material are Trademark/©Copyright belonging to the Van Halen estate. The “Two and a Half Men” video clip is Copyright of Chuck Lorre Productions/ The Tannenbaum Company/ Warner Bros. Television.

A Tribute to the late great Eddie Van Halen

Hello Everybody, this week has not been the greatest as the world awoke on Oct 6/7^th to the sad news that a musical genius and guitar god, Eddie Van Halen passed away from his battle with cancer. He was just 65 years old, yet in that time he created his own style and guitar playing techniques despite not being able to read music! He also, like Brian May of Queen, built his own guitar….the Frankenstrat. You will more than likely have seen it and recognise it as soon as you see this pattern.

Frankenstrat pattern Trademark/©Copyright of Eddie Van Halen

You will definitely have heard his guitar too….just listen to the solo in Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” and of course with his own band, Van Halen…anyone remember “Jump!”?

And that song is what makes this news hard for me to take as I am a keyboard player and just like with “Bohemian Rhapsody” I attempted to learn how to play Jump! – complete with his KEYBOARD solo! A few years ago I posted a tribute design inspired by EVH and the song Jump! and here are the pics…

As a result of this news I have been knocked for a loop and haven’t felt that inclined to work on a post this week, however I do have a small gallery featuring a Guardians of the Galaxy inspired hilt in post two for today. But I will end this tribute by sending my condolences, thoughts and prayers to his son Wolfgang and all of Eddie’s family and friends. RIP Eddie, thanks and you’ll forever be on my playlist of the masters.

“Eddie didn’t just play a guitar….he conducted a six string orchestra” – FT

Jump Lightsaber is a For Tyeth Editions design and ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017-2020. This website and it’s content are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2017-202.

The FrankenStrat pattern can be found on Eddie Van Halen’s guitar and is Trademark/©Copyright of Eddie Van Halen.

Red (5) Special – A Thank You To Dr Brian May

Hello Everybody, today I wish to present something very different and very personal at this very crazy time in the world. As you know we are in the grip of a global pandemic and a lot of the planet is in lockdown to attempt to close the virus down. With this lockdown society has had to find new ways to entertain itself and one individual has gone about it in a very humble and genuine way. That person is an idol of mine and he is called Dr Brian May. Yes, the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. Brian has quietly gone about producing YouTube “Micro Concerts” and tutorials each and every evening to entertain and more importantly reassure us that there are folks out there that are thinking of you and me, so we don’t feel so isolated.

BrianMay.Com on YouTube > CLICK HERE

BrianMay.Com Main Website > CLICK HERE

Now I have a very strong emotional connection with Queen and Brian’s work, the day I was born Bohemian Rhapsody was sat at No.1 in the charts, the first piece of music I remember hearing was the guitar solo from Killer Queen, I taught myself music and piano – starting with a Stylophone! I progressed to proper home keyboards when I convinced my parents I was serious I wanted to learn. I practised Bohemian for over 20 years to get to a “passable rendition” of it…still haven’t nailed it. I did become good enough to play in a band and performed the song around the clubs of the UK….and I even had the honour of performing on a stage that Brian, Roger, John and Freddie stomped on during their 1974 tour. I had serious goosebumps that night! But I realised when I saw the videos that Brian is now posting that I hadn’t really thanked him for what he (and Queen) had given me. This was partly due to not having access to social media and partly because I was shy about reaching out. Well that ends today. I have designed a little something as a “virtual gift” to Brian and it combines elements of his career, music, his love of Astrophysics…oh and he is a BIG Star Wars fan too. This is Red (5) Special….

Red (5) Special pic 1

Red (5) Special pic 2

Red (5) Special pic 3

Red (5) Special pic 4

This is Brian’s beloved guitar the “Red Special” or as she is sometimes called, “The Lady” modelled as best I can in 3D! Brian and his father famously built this guitar from scratch using parts such as a knife blade and a 100 year old piece of wood from a fireplace mantlepiece! Luckily I didn’t have to source parts but I did have a really difficult job recreating the beautiful shape of this instrument (and all the other parts). It has the selector switches, the rotary knobs, the famous triple Humbucking pickups, a tremolo arm…the tuning head with machineheads…and if you look on the back I even added the two black access panels/repair patches you don’t normally see! However, this isn’t 100% accurate as I intended this model to form a display stand for a new…lightsaber! Well Brian is a Star Wars fan so I imagined what a saber would look like with a guitar shaped display stand and realised I could expand the triple pickups to form a cradle to hold a saber…

Red (5) Special stand pic 1

Red (5) Special stand pic 2

Red (5) Special stand pic 3

Red (5) Special stand pic 4

And the saber is a design I modified from my Altenweg Shoto design I made last year as I realised it had a bit of a Flash Gordon look to it so was a perfect hilt to use. And I’m allowed to mention Flash Gordon on this website as Queen and Brian had a little role in it. It was a spectacular mash up of movie magic and magnificent music. And as I near the end of this offering I have a few more images to share…

Red (5) Special studio pic 1

Red (5) Special wireframe (note the backpanels!)

Clay sculpt preview image.

Red Specal replica

My Red Special poster.

It turns out a guitar makes a decent display stand and I have nearly come to the end of this post…Oh wait, you may ask what connection to Astrophysics does this model and guitar have? Look closely near the white switches and you’ll see Brian’s star logo to represent his love of astronomy and his Doctorate on the subject (He’s probably even used radio telescopes like Jodrell Bank!). And why is there a 5 in the name of this model? Red 5 was Luke Skywalker’s callsign in the Death Star attack in Star Wars of course!

I want to finish by saying thanks once more to Brian and I sincerely hope he likes this, it meant a lot to model it and is my small way of saying thanks for all he has done, is doing and will continue to do for all of us in the future.

Stay safe, well and keep rockin – we appreciate Everything You Do.   For Tyeth.

And NO SYNTHESIZERS were used in the making of this design!

All images and likenesses of the “Red Special” are Trademark/©Copyright and belong to Dr Brian May. All names, images logos and related material belong to their respective owners. The Blender 3D “Red (5) Special” model and renderings were made by me, For Tyeth and are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020.

“Montoya Saber” – Inspired by Inigo

Hello Everybody, today I bring you my second Rapier style lightsaber which is a inspired by a character from the 1987 hit film “The Princess Bride”. “Inconceivable!” you can’t make a saber made of light! Well, I proved last week that it is possible with my “Master Z” saber for Zorro, so I have built one for “My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father….prepare to die!”. Technically this saber is just an inspired by version of his rapier as I am working on a more accurate version (coming soon I hope but it is complex, very complex). But this saber is quite complex itself and to show you I have a couple of wireframe pictures for you to take a look at…

“Montoya Saber” Wireframe 1

“Montoya Saber” Wireframe 2

I can now make much more complicated objects now I have an I5 processor powered laptop. It can compute all the data for the polygons and the texturing which makes the models look so much more realistic. As you can see in the picture the handguard is in fact a wire basket and Blender/my laptop has to map out the position, size and shape of each little strut within that basket, hence the big strain on the computer and software! Luckily Blender has some clever tricks called “Modifiers” used to make modelling easier and one is called “Wireframe Modifier”. I have used this technique before on my “Spidey Saber” to make the web like shrouds, but it was perfect for this saber too to make the basket shaped guard. The wireframe modifier turned the bowl shaped part into a wire framework – a bit like early 3D computer game graphics – and allows me to alter the thickness of each strut to make the frame look “solid”. The ornamental globes on the pommel and at each end of the Quillon bar are also Wireframes but have a set of panels beneath the wires to fill in the gaps. I can make the struts one colour but the panels can be coloured differently giving the globes that Faberge like look! And speaking of coloured pictures I think it’s time to show you the Glamour Shot gallery…enjoy….

“Montoya Saber” emitter/handguard 1

“Montoya Saber” Handgrip and handguard 2

“Montoya Saber” Top down view 3

“Montoya Saber” User’s viewpoint 4

“Montoya Saber” the view your opponent might have! 5

I decided to go with a regal black and gold colour scheme with an amber/gold blade. Now I have added the texture graphics you can see the complexity of the struts making the basket handguard. I was able to select certain rows of struts and rotate them clockwise around the saber, then selected a second set of struts and rotated those counter-clockwise to create a zig-zagged pattern or swirl effect. I can just imagine my old (but much loved) previous laptop being asked to model this and it saying, “Please don’t make me try and build this!”

I also decided that as “The Princess Bride” became such a classic cult film I would make a few posters for this hilt…

“Montoya Saber” poster 1

“Montoya Saber” poster 2

These are nothing too fancy just some toying around with object placement and lighting. Also, I normally add the lettering and text in a photo-editing package known as GIMP (which stands for Gnu Image Manipulation Program), but Blender can also add text as a 2D layer in Compositing Mode (where you build images/videos in layers) or as in this case, I added a 3D model of the text! Blender even allows you to type a word or text, then convert it into a 3D model which you can edit, morph and add textures. This now means I only need to fire up Blender to do all my workload to create my designs and images.

And finally, as I mentioned above this is just an “inspired by” version of Inigo Montoya’s hilt – I am working on building something that looks a lot closer to the real thing for a future post – however it is very, very complex and I am working hard on it…this is the real prop I am hoping to recreate…wish me luck!

The real Inigo Montoya Rapier hilt (as seen in The Princess Bride 1987)

I think that just about wraps up this post and design. I will be working on the proper Montoya hilt and will post it as soon as possible but in the meantime I have a few other new things to post for you. These include Darth Maul’s new saberstaff from the new Clone Wars season 7, a whole new collection of original For Tyeth designs and as Disney/Lucasfilm has announced a new project named “The High Republic” which is set 200 years before The Phantom Menace I am going to attempt designing some sabers for the new sagas to come! I hope you will call back to FTSabersite to see those. I want to say a big thank you to all who visit and support me and FTSabersite, especially the viewer who logged in from New Caledonia! Thank you whoever you are and I hope you liked what you saw. Whether a new or regular visitor/supporter, thank you – you’re much appreciated and are what keeps me designing! Till next time….

“Montoya Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2020. It is inspired by the sword seen in the movie “The Princess Bride” and all names, quotes, images or related material are Trademarked/©Copyright of Act III Communications, Buttercup Films Ltd and The Princess Bride Ltd. 1987-2020.

Frankie’s “Nothin’ Nerdy” Saber – a 1000 Subscriber gift

Hello Everybody for an impromptu “Special Gift” post! I have recently “met” a nice young lady by the name of  “Nothin Nerdy” also known as Frankie, who has her own YoutTube and Twitch streaming channels. On these channels Frankie livestreams while she plays Star Wars computer games such as “Star Wars: The Old Republic” (SWTOR) and the new “Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order”. However I was introduced to Frankie when I saw her video on YouTube where she was unboxing her new custom saber. I left a comment on her video and to my surprise Frankie replied and from there we started a conversation and we got to know each other a bit. Frankie helped me get into using message boards and live streaming (giving me instructions on how to sign up etc) and I introduced her to some of my designs. Well, Frankie had the ambition of reaching 1000 subscribers on YouTube before the new year and I kinda suggested that if she reached that milestone I would design a custom saber just for her. Frankie reached that milestone in the past few days and as I am a Jedi I kept my promise and here is the saber…Now Frankie just follow the instructions and reach out…call to your saber!…

See Frankie, I kept my word as a Jedi, I hope you like it! It has a double pronged/shrouded emitter (which are all the rage at the moment!), gold accents and trim, as well as an illuminated activation switch. The saber even has a “Double Crystal Chamber” with a red and green crystal cube. And just to make sure we know you are a Jedi it has the Order’s logo on the pommel. Oh! I just realised you can’t see those details in the reveal video so here are a few images for you (I know you like gold!)….

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber 1

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber 2

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber Pommel

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber with blade

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber with blade 2

These pictures are textured using a basic preview material making the model gold all over so you can’t really see it in full “Technicolour” so how about I take you on a virtual tour of your hilt? Here is a short video to show off some of the details…

I think you can see all the details in this video and as you are a fan of the Jedi Consular character in SWTOR I made a double bladed staff version for you too! The saber also sports the pink blade you hinted at so this is quite unique (and the switch matches too). I hope this saber and staff serve you long and well, I’ll arrange with you to send some full size images and videos for you to keep OK? Here are a few of them…

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber pics 1

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber pics 2

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber pics 3

Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber pics 4

Now I’d like to share a few links to Frankie’s Social Media platforms as she deserves as much support as possible so if you like Star Wars, computer gaming or generally having fun celebrating all things Star Wars then please check them out.

Nothin’ Nerdy YouTube: Nothin’ Nerdy YouTube Channel

Nothin’ Nerdy Twitch: Nothin’ Nerdy’s Twitch Channel

Nothin’ Nerdy Facebook: Nothin’ Nerdy’s Facebook

Please visit Frankie and help her channels out, you will have a great time as the community that has built up around her are a great bunch.

Thanks Frankie for becoming a friend of mine and I hope you have continued success in the future…and speaking of futures that includes “Level Up Days” and guess who just got a little bit older today? Yes For Tyeth just became “For T Four” (Forty Four) years young and I just wanted to share with you a few pics of my birthday presents I got!

A cool Japanese style Vader T-shirt

An even cooler Rise of Skywalker T-shirt

And look at these figures, Darth Maul vs For Ty – er, Qui-Gon Jinn!

Ok I think that just about wraps up this special “Gift Giving” post, I hope you all enjoyed it and again to Frankie, thank you for being such a warm welcoming member of the SW community and inviting me to join your circle of friends and I hope you will feel part of the For Tyeth family here!

To all my followers, new and regular (including those in Brazil – I see you!) thanks so much for your continued support it means a lot. Please call back for future posts as I hope to do a review of “The Rise of Skywalker” and I have a whole storeroom full of new saber designs to show you all. Till next time….

“Frankie’s Nothin’ Nerdy Saber” is a For Tyeth Editions design and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2019. “Nothin’Nerdy” is ©Copyright of Frankie.

Dishonoured Saber – Inspired by EA Games’ Jedi Fallen Order

Hello Everybody, I was going to post a hilt based on the famous Star Destroyer ship today but I have had a change of plans. The reason being that I have been working on a hilt inspired by the upcoming computer game by EA Games and Respawn Games, named Jedi Fallen Order. There has been a trailer posted online advertising it and numerous pictures of the cover art for the game featuring a damaged hilt with wires hanging out of it and a blue blade projecting from a distinctive emitter.

Box Cover Art Copyright of EA Games and Respawn Games

Well news of this game buzzed the Internet and Social Media and the very day these images were posted certain individuals set to work “creating” their own 3D take on it. I liked the design and wanted to complete the hilt as it looks as if part was missing. so I set to work and came up with my own version. Well, it turns out one professional saber designer posted his design and complimented himself on how quickly he had built “his” model – within 24 hours. I built the base model of mine in roughly the same length of time but didn’t post it as I was going to post it nearer the release date of the game. However the designer works for one of the big saber manufacturers in America and they have started selling the model and people have started receiving them, so I felt I should post my version now as twin pronged emitters seem to be popular right now. So here are a few work in progress images…

Dishonoured Saber in studio 1

Dishonoured Saber Wireframe 1

As you can see it has a distinctive double prong emitter (my own modified design), a nice thin necked section, the Knurled handgrip section but it has my own designed pommel part. The original emitter had two flat plates above and below the blade but I made an inset and raised it to make the plate seem embossed up. The pommel I also made to reflect the emitter having a twin pronged opening and some nice inlaid segments, not visible in these pics but there is one that show the details below in the glamour pictures. The knurling on the handgrip are properly aligned on my design and appear as “blocks” (as per the original EA/Respawn version) rather than the “diamond” shaped cutting on the other designer’s model. However enough chat, you want to see a few more pictures so it is time for the Glamour Shots….

Dishonoured Saber 1

Dishonoured Saber Emitter 1

Dishonoured Saber pommel with inlays

Dishonoured Saber Emitter lit

Dishonoured Saber Thin Neck

Dishonoured Saber full length lit

You can now see that the pommel has some nice inlaid sections filled with an accent colour. You will also be able to see the two tiered plates on the emitter making them look like medieval shields. And there is also some etched circuitry patterns located between these plates – just like EA/Respawn’s original. But to demonstrate I am not just copying a design and that I am always trying new stuff I made a few variants of the design and I have finally worked out how to add 3D image backgrounds so here are a few more pictures for you to enjoy…

Dishonoured Saber in the Falcon

First model I made named “Orderly”

I also have a Darkside Version!

I aso have a Darkside Version Two!

The EA Games original prototyp model.

My new “Temple” emitter for an upcoming new model.

I have a Dishonoured Saber in the Falcon! You can also see my original model I made which I called “Orderly” as in Fallen ORDER but I thought “Dishonoured” fit better as a name. There is also my Darkside versions with Sith red blades and a much darker and sleek black and silver colour scheme. The next picture shows a prototype model that was built by EA/Respawn Games’ design team to evaluate “THIER” design. The picture was circulated on the internet after the lead designer (allegedly) posted it on his Social Media – I included this to give credit to EA and Respawn Games for their work. Finally the final picture shows how I have modified my own design and modelled a new emitter named “Temple” with silver and gold and a Jedi symbol embossed onto it. (This will feature in another new build of mine in the near future!)

I think that just about wraps up this offering. I want to thank EA Games and Respawn Games for creating the original design. It was fun testing my skill in making this tribute of sorts. I hope you enjoyed it and I will post the Star Destroyer hilt next week as I have gone overboard with the 3D image backdrops. I want to thank you, my viewers/readers, whether a regular or new first time visitor I really appreciate your support as it keeps me designing and building. Till next time…..

“Dishonoured Saber” is a For Tyeth Edition hilt inspired by “Jedi Fallen Order” and is ©Copyright of For Tyeth?FTSabersite 2016-2019. “Jedi Fallen Order” is an EA Games/Respawn Games developed computer game due out in November 2019. All names, logos, and related materials of the game are Trademark/©Copyright of EA Games/Respawn Games.