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

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

Mad Max Interceptor

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Power Green Katana” – A saber for Tommy Oliver

Hello Everybody, today I bring my “Power Ranger Katanas” sub series to a close with a saber for possibly the most popular Ranger character of them all – Tommy Oliver. Tommy was the original Green Ranger starting way back in the first Rangers series “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” and throughout his time on the show was the Green Ranger, the White Ranger, Zeo Ranger V–Red, the Red Turbo Ranger, and the Dino Thunder Black Ranger! Quite a list. He was also a member of four Power Ranger teams and he became a legend. Tommy would also make numerous cameo appearances in the show (as the actor Jason David Franks had left the show but made one-off returns for special events/storylines).

The legendary Green Ranger Tommy Oliver (as Dragon Ranger Green)

Tommy was a formidable martial artist who was a Karate black belt 3rd Dan, then later in the show he had progressed to 8th Dan. He even sparred against his fellow Red Ranger (Jason Lee Scott) in a martial arts tournament after which he became a Ranger and drew the attention of the Pink Ranger and a certain mystic character named Rita Repulsa….(Yes that Rita, who some may recall from my earlier Power Ranger posts). Rita tried to seduce Tommy and succeeded to lure him to join her by giving him a Dragon Power Coin which increased his power and skills. He also fell under Rita’s spell. But more on that later, I need to show you the green katana….Gallery One…

This is as mentioned the last of the colour schemes in the Ranger line up and is another modification of my base Katana model. As a result it doesn’t have anything new but the texturing on the leather is another variety of leather with a different grain pattern. I was experimenting with these textures to learn the best settings to get the graphics to look as real as possible and now I think I have the hang of it. You can take a look at the other Ranger Katanas in this series (and my earlier 2017 Ranger saber collection) on my site by clicking the following link: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/tag/power-rangers/

You will also see Rita Repulsa’s staff weapon too. I may work on making a Blender 3D version of Rita’s staff so she doesn’t feel left out.

“YOU’D BETTER BUILD ME SOMETHING TOO TYETH….I’M STILL HERE!” (<Rita)

OK! Er, after that little interruption….Tommy later was able to break the spell on him and he pledged himself to the Rangers once again, this time forever and he was called upon to return and help future teams in later shows.

Tommy was portrayed by the actor Jason David Franks who in real life was an adept martial artist having studied several fighting styles and he even developed his own fighting system named “Tosu Kune Do”. This was similar to what Bruce Lee achieved with his “Jeet Kune Do” system. For Jason’s contributions to martial arts and Karate in particular he was inducted into the World Karate Union Hall Of Fame. Around 2010 Jason became a professional Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) fighter …so not a person to mess with!

I am nearing the end of this post and series of hilts so it’s time I did a “family photo” of all five hilts together as the team they represent. Here are a couple of pictures…

I couldn’t help myself and set the image up with a backdrop of storage containers, sorta like the industrial locations where most of the Ranger’s battles took place (usually at dockyards or in parking lots).

And that brings me to the end of this series (I just have one more for Rita)…I hope you have enjoyed these next gen sabers . I think they are an improvement on my 2017 series. I can now concentrate on my next projects and I have more Star Wars movie/show props that I have modelled, some spaceship designs to come, hopefully some more costume and Nerf blaster news, and my review of my latest lightsaber in my collection. So I hope you will call back for all that content in future posts. Thank you so much for supporting me and my site, whether a new or regular visitor to this site you make it possible for me to keep designing and posting. I appreciate all of you. Till next time….

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

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

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

Master and Blaster (aka MasterBlaster)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

“Thunderdome Saber” – Inspired by Mad Max 3 Beyond Thunderdome

G’day Cobbers……this be the telling of a man, a myth….a Max. The man was Max Rockatansky also be knowing as “The Sky Captain” who came to our space after the big explosion and the black gold ran out. He was to save us and return us to the big shining Tomorrow-morrow Land. But first Max had to survive a journey….through Bartertown and the THUNDERDOME! Yes today folks we travel “down under” to Australia of the near future and the world of Max Rockatansky. Max was a former police officer whose family was killed by a rogue biker gang that prowled the wastelands of Australia after a nuclear war. Max set out to bring his own form of justice onto the bike gang and hunted them down, earning the name the “Road Warrior”….then later he came upon an outpost town named Bartertown. Here he tried to get more “Juice” for his vehicle but fell foul of the trading post’s traditions and ended up fighting in the Thunderdome.

Well, back in reality my friend The Vintage Toy Advertiser (his site: https://thevintagetoyadvertiser.org/) “challenged” me to design a saber (or two) inspired by Mad Max and this is the first of three designs I have accomplished. This saber is inspired by and modelled on the infamous “Thunderdome” fighting arena seen in the third movie. The dome was a metal cage which two combatants entered and fought to the death to settle arguments and disputes. The dome had two rules…Two men enter, one man leaves, and the second rule was “There are no rules”. Inside were a variety of weapons as well as Bungy-cord harnesses which allowed the fighters to jump and climb about the inside of the locked dome – and allow them to grab weapons hanging from the roof. Well that brings me to the first gallery of pictures….prepare to enter “Thunderdome”!

This saber is based on my previous “Rapier” designs I made for Inigo Montoya and Zorro and I used the “basket handguard” to replicate the Thunderdome itself. The dome was made of metal grating so I created a half sphere then added a Modifier to turn the sphere into a “Wireframe” mesh which I then thickened the struts to form the cage structure. I then added the single (and locked) cage door on one side. To give the dome an old frontier look I applied a texture of flaking painted metal. The dome protects the users’ hand and covers the activation switch module that I shaped to look like a coffin (morbid I know, but it does represent the rule of only one man leaves the dome). The leather handgrip is reminiscent of Max’s jacket and the clothing worn by his adversary, the Master Blaster. But more about Master Blaster in a future post, for now I will present the second batch of images and some closeups of the details.

In the first image you can see how the dome would look if it were a freestanding object. You can also see the “doorway” that I added which is highlighted silver. The second image shows the “coffin switch” and leather detailing. The switch is basic but the whole Bartertown and Mad Max setting is dystopian and kinda apocalyptic so I didn’t want a fancy activation box…just something that looked thrown together and functional. The leather I am really pleased with as I am getting better at setting the texture up to show off the details – I have nailed the function which creates the illusion of “bumps and ridges” known as Bump Mapping. This makes the stitching on the leather appear to pop out (and the grain also looks as if it is rough). Finally just as a reminder of the rules of Thunderdome, I added the text around the pommel which reads “Two men enter….One man leaves” in a metallic silver to match the doorway. I managed to find a suitable background image that looks like the post apocalyptic outback too.

This is just the first basic saber I did to get me in the mood and I have TWO more Mad Max themed sabers to showcase in future posts but I also have news of a new arrival at “Tyeth Towers”. I mentioned a week or two ago that I was awaiting a parcel from America…well it arrived and here is a sneak peek at what that parcel contained….

My new saber…a beautiful gift!

You might recognise this lightsaber as it is modelled on the one owned by Luke Skywalker in Return of the Jedi. This is a fully working replica and was gifted to me by an extremely generous member of the saber community as thanks for my designing. I will have a special featured post showcasing this hilt more coming soon.

And that just about wraps up this edition, thanks so much to The Vintage Toy Advertiser for his newest challenge to me, and thank you to all my viewers/readers. You are all very much appreciated and I hope you enjoyed this post and will call back to check out my new saber and all the new designs I have coming up (the Mad Max trilogy and a new collection of “Phase Two Trooper” lightsabers). I’m off to visit Tomorrow-Morrow Land…….Till next time…..

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

“Power Pair” Katanas – Two sabers for two Rangers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I think I have a new problem!!

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

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

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

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

Building Storm Katana – For Cobra’s Ninja Assassin, Storm Shadow

Hello Everybody, today I return to the comic book world of the G.I. Joes and to a story between two “brothers”. The brothers were Snake Eyes who I re-introduced you to a few posts back and the Ninja assassin named Storm Shadow. Both Snake and Shadow had originally served in the US military operating in southeast Asia. They were members of a LRRP or “Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol” with another team member who would later become the G.I. Joe named Stalker, You may recall I mentioned that Snake Eyes was rescued from the field of battle when he was injured, by a soldier of Japanese descent and that soldier turned out to be Thomas S. Arashikage or “Storm Shadow” – his Ninja clan name. After the war both men returned to normal life, Shadow to Japan and Snake to the US where he learnt his family had perished in an automobile accident. Having nothing to keep him in the US Snake travelled to stay with the one last person he considered family…Storm Shadow. Below are pictures of Hasbro’s “Storm Shadow ” action figure promo poster and my 2017 lightsaber Katana I created for Shadow,

However, things didn’t run smoothly as Snake became a member of the Arashikage clan and studied martial arts under Shadow’s uncle, the Hard Master. Snake excelled and surpassed Shadow becoming the clan leader elect causing tension. Then an assassination attempt on Snake’s life failed disastrously. The crime group Cobra and it’s leader Cobra Commander sent an assassin to kill Snake in revenge for Snake killing a member of the Commander’s family. Complicated? Well sadly the Hard Master died and was shot by an arrow that belonged to Storm Shadow and the assailant fled unseen escaping in a mini helicopter. Shadow was blamed and he fled also, later joining Cobra itself to try and discover the real killer. Whew! Ok enough talk, it’s about time I show you Gallery one of “Building Storm Katana”….

This is a no-nonsense lightsaber katana, just right for a silent, deadly Ninja assassin such as Storm Shadow. However even though Snake Eyes and Shadow seem to be on differing sides, this hilt is similar to that of his “brother” Snake’s Katana. Shadow is a traditional trained Ninja and as such would probably only use this weapon if it were to give him an edge in combat. Therefore I removed the Arashikage clan logo from the blade as this emits way too much light for it to be stealthy weapon. I did leave the logo on the pommel as this also acts as the on/off switch. The Tsuba handguard and pommel feature the same etching marks that resemble waves and currents – the elements of a storm. This katana also features a metal hilt body rather than a sword with a wooden core (called a Tang) in the handgrip – but the hilt is wrapped in a matching off white leather Tsuka Ito grip wrap that allows the alloy handle to show through. Ok then, again I am chatting too much so I had best showcase the detailed glamour shots in Gallery Two…

Just a few pictures to show off the details and in the last two shots you can see the Clan logo activation switch again but I also varied the angle the picture was taken from to show that the metallic hilt doesn’t stand out too much by shining, which is useful because Shadow can still use it to reflect light to distract an opponent – or sneakily momentarily blinding them! He is a Ninja after all.

Shadow and Snake obviously go their separate ways with Snake returning to the US and joining the special elite corps known as G.I.Joe, whilst Shadow (as I mention above) joined Cobra, the shadowy criminal organisation hoping to discover who killed his uncle and framed him. The two would eventually join forces when Shadow joins the Joes but it didn’t last long. As to what happened next depends on which movies or comic books you read as there are a few different strands of canon/lore (the Marvel comic timeline and the later reboot and G.I. Joe movies).

“Storm Shadow”

And that just about Tsuka Ito wraps up this saber offering (sorry bad pun but I’ve been holding off from saying it, honest!) Thank you so much for checking this one out and I hope you enjoyed it and the backstory, You will be pleased to know the next post will be planted firmly back in Star Wars territory with another “Starfighter Saber” inspired by a famous ship seen in the films. I still have a few more Power Rangers katanas but this past week I have worked on something I hope is really cool, when I saw what I had modelled I said…..”Hello there!”……that was a little hint.

Anyhoo, thanks for he support, be it from new visitors or my regular viewers it keeps me posting and please call back for upcoming posts. Till next time…..

“Building Storm Katana” is a For Tyeth Editions design, modelled and rendered in Blender 3D by For Tyeth/FTSabersite. It is ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. “Storm Shadow” was created by Larry Hama and is ©Copyright of Hasbro Toys.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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