Cannibal869 proudly presents "OPTIMUS VIR"

[cannibal869]

Howdy all,

Posting pics of my latest creation, "OPTIMUS VIR"
This is a saber which I will present to my best man as a thank you gift at my wedding this coming June.
Thank you TroyO for the name suggestion (which translates as "best man" in latin - go figure :rolleyes: )

Anyhow, this was a fun build for me, mostly cause I can envision this saber one day being passed on from my friend to his (currently 4 year old) son.
I also got him one of the new 2010 Hasbro Obi-Wan sabers to play with in the meantime until he goes from youngling to padawan status ;)

Specifics:

All MHS parts - the ribbed / choke combo was powdercoated in both "black gold glimmer" and "copper metallic"
Simple shroud work powdercoated in "bonded black chrome"
Aurebesh hand engraving of the saber's name into the hilt, also PC in "bonded black chrome"
Green P4 LED
MR Jedi board (I think it's an Obi-Wan, but I'm not 100% sure)
Lighted green anti-vandal DPDT switch with bezel
TCSS Premium speaker
6AAA
crystal pommel with green 5mm LED

Onto the Glams (all click-able)!

http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir1.jpg (http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir1.jpg)
http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir2.jpg (http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir2.jpg)
http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir5.jpg (http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir5.jpg)
http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir3.jpg (http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir3.jpg)
http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir4.jpg (http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir4.jpg)
http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir6.jpg (http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/cannibal869/Lightsabers/OptimusVir6.jpg)

Hope you guys enjoy!
-C

[Ki-Djowac]

What's not to like on this one ? Awesome saber !

[Caine Drathul]

You know, I am an ordained minister...if you let me officiate, I won't charge you at all....my fee could be a saber! :grin:

Seriously, what an awesome gift. Very nice build.

[cannibal869]

You know, I am an ordained minister...if you let me officiate, I won't charge you at all....my fee could be a saber! :grin:

Seriously, what an awesome gift. Very nice build.

LOL man I wish I knew that about you sooner.. I might have just taken you up on that... oh well. Thanks for the offer (and the positive comments).

-C

[Et Kin Evenstar]

Every time i see a new saber like this it inspires me. Gorgeous saber!

[cardcollector]

THe saber has a nice solid look to it, I like that a lot!

[Darth Zion]

It would be sweet if after you said your vows and what-not, while you walking back you had a line of sabers being held up like a (Not sure what branch of service it is) milatary wedding.

[ArkaiHalon]

I really, really like this saber. it's got a nice design, well executed.

the only thing I don't like is the shroud looks like it would be pretty rough on the hands.

great job, and if your friend doesn't like it, I'll take it instead.

[Cantina Chef]

Love it dude. reminds me of my most recent build number 17 :) ...great minds think alike :) can i make one suggestion because i love it on mine and it would work perfect with your set up...recharge port in the choke...love the engraving...love the saber...lucky best man!

[Darth Midian]

Wow, that's awesome. Really awesome.

[mihunai]

Personally not too keen on such grip-altering overlays, but the execution of
the saber is excellent!

The engraving especially.

It allso has this compact solid look to it, which is allways a good thing.

Keep it up :)

mTm

[$tarkiller]

Very well thought out, Cannibal. Excellent construction of a beautiful piece of equipment!

[Rafalema]

That is one awesome saber..

[Tava]

I like this saber except for the shroud. Don't get me wrong, the work is beautiful, but I just think it would bite into the users hands to much. Other then that its sweet.

[Crystal Chambers]

Looks really nice. Good job!

I don't think the overlay is much of an issue where the grip would most likely be lower, and the highest point of the choke blocks the pointy bits of the overlay.

[Sairon]

Very nice saber, I'm sure the recipient will love it greatly. (you gonna have one of those wedding duels? lol I'd love to see that) Kidding aside it is a very sleek looking saber, very well done as usual.

[cannibal869]

Thanks guys - actually no there will be no wedding duel, although technically we both have our own lightsabers. I suppose it could be done, but organizing / learning the first dance is proving to be enough of a headache right now.

And actually the shroud is surprisingly easy on the hands - I'm more worried about accidentally bending the front part of it - I plan on pre-bending those "prongs" downward into the choke to minimize the chance of them catching on something... and I still might do something to jazz up the shroud a bit more - maybe cut some "gills" into it or maybe do some more aurebesh. We'll see... ;)

[jedimastergarcia87]

Cool saber. How does the Mara grips go on? Do they just slide on and then tighten the screws? How does the bullet tip blades look in person? Hope your buddy likes his saber.

[cannibal869]

Cool saber. How does the Mara grips go on? Do they just slide on and then tighten the screws? How does the bullet tip blades look in person? Hope your buddy likes his saber.

The grips are the MHS "4" double female grooved" extension shown here:
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/4-Double-Female-Grooved-P454.aspx
http://www.thecustomsabershop.com/Assets/ProductImages/df4gra.jpg

They're kinda pre-assembled, so it's a very easy screw on attachment / extension. The only thing you have to do is get the screws and modify them to fit - Tim posted that he's going to get the 1/8" screws, but they're not in yet, so I had to dremel down the 1/4" ones.

The bullet tips look ok in person, but there is a slight light "gap" that you can see in the pics. I tried using the 3/4" mirror on the 1" bullet tip to try and fill it in, but it didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped. Oh well.
The final blade will be a shorter 31" round tip one anyway since he has a young son (I would hate to have him accidentally poke his eye out with the bullet tip).

[Sunrider]

I must say besides the ouchie looking shroud this saber looks awesome. Nice MHS config.:)

[mongo]

Beautiful saber the color scheme has inspired me to start powder coating some things.
Very nice work.