Jordan's first two MHS builds.

[Jordandau]

Been on here just about a year, and I just now finished my first MHS builds. I did a few sink tube sabers first to get the basics of soldering and dremmeling down. I've watched closely and stolen a lot of good ideas, I'm sure you can see that in some of the design work. In my rush to get these together I made mistakes, but creative thinking and a little adapting made it all work. Next time I will definitely screw everything together with the optics in place before drilling haha.

Both are using Jedi MR boards powered by 18650 3.7 Li-ions with illuminated anti vandal switches. Both were weathered using aluminum black. I then used flat black spray enamel and sanded it off in key spots to look used. A nice baked on coat of matte clear coat keeps it protected. The aluminum black is pretty nasty stuff, I'll probably just use paint next time. Thanks equinox for mentioning that you got your batteries out of dead laptops, now I have a drawer full of batteries ready to go.

Up first is an Obi inspired saber with a Rebel blue LED. When I first lit it up I was bummed it was such a light blue compared to my MR AOTC obi. I got over that quickly and now I love the cyan like color. I'm using a thick walled trans-white blade with a bit of clear wrapping paper.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/obisideview.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/obilitup.jpg


Next up is a sith inspired saber running a red P4. The blacking process was way more intense at first, but most of it rubbed off on my hands. Excitement got the best of me and I set it up without a resister, man that was a bright two seconds. I didn't put the heatsink and optics in when I was drilling my switch hole and it ended up being smack dab in the middle of the heatsink. I had to dremmel a bit off for it to fit. With this saber I had an idea to use a radio shack 7 color LED and instead of hooking it up to a momentary switch I'd use the clash sensor to trigger the color changes. Since this board has power going through the sensor leads, that either cancelled out the clash sensor or shorted out the board, turning it off. So I just have it setup to cycle and stay red.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/sithsideview.jpg
http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/sithlitup.jpg

Here's a video showing both:
http://www.youtube.com/jordandau#p/a/u/0/IOGfIl2FdiU


http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/th_cleansaber.jpg (http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/?action=view&current=cleansaber.jpg)http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/th_dirtysaber.jpg (http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/?action=view&current=dirtysaber.jpg)http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/th_sithsaber.jpg (http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/?action=view&current=sithsaber.jpg)http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/th_obisaber.jpg (http://s70.photobucket.com/albums/i94/jordandaugmail/Sabers/?action=view&current=obisaber.jpg)

[Spidergate]

I like the saber designs and weathering. Very nice. Keep it up.

[Doc B]

I'm loving the weathering. I've been wondering if there's a thread on weathering techniques on here. I don't recall running into one. If there is, could someone point me in the right direction. If not, then care to share your technique, Jordandau?

EDIT: Wow! I must be really tired. You did share. Ignore the man behind the curtain. We'll blame it on the eggnog.

[Jordandau]

Yeah I used birchwood casey aluminum black. It lets off some pretty heavy fumes and you definitely don't want it on your skin. I'd suggest maybe using paint and sanding it off.

[Doc B]

That's a great suggestion. Now I'm wondering how one could do that with a powder coating?

[Azmaria Dei]

excellent builds and very well weathered. i look forward to seeing more from you! ^_^

Doc B - try either drybrushing some thin paint on in a few areas and/or using some high grit sandpaper. in either order... scrapes and texturing from high-grit sandpaper can collect paint to give incredible detailing.

[Doc B]

I'm kind of wondering about a black wash, if one did not want to use sand paper on a powder coat.

[Azmaria Dei]

I'm kind of wondering about a black wash, if one did not want to use sand paper on a powder coat.

i have a couple paints like that that i've used on miniatures and figures. you need a lighter undercoat and some sort of detailing or texturing for it to settle in for maximum effect.

[Doc B]

i have a couple paints like that that i've used on miniatures and figures. you need a lighter undercoat and some sort of detailing or texturing for it to settle in for maximum effect.

Fellow geek, huh? Big shocker that I would find people on a lightsaber forum that have other geeky hobbies like miniature painting. ;-)

I was actually thinking about using a Citadel brand black wash; the same that I would use on my 40K minis. Jordandau, thanks for sparking the wheels of inspiration with your posting.

[Jordandau]

I also noticed that when I used a high grit (220) sandpaper it left a lot of paint powder behind. Spread that around and clear coating it would probably look nice too.

[Doc B]

Good call! And that level grit probably won't badly disrupt any powder coating.

[Azmaria Dei]

then we use the same paints! ^_^ and as for high-grit, i always get that sort of thing confused... i meant high as in higher numbers, like 180 or higher... sorry about that - i should have clarified. do you have any greenware sanding pads?

[Doc B]

Totally. I was actually thinking of using some really high grit sandpaper so I could wear the paint but keep the shine.

[Caine Drathul]

Excellent work. Not only did you do your homework and go about building in the best logical way, you ended up with some great builds!

[Jordandau]

Thank you. I did screw up some things and create headaches for myself that could have been avoided with a little more thought. But overall I'm happy with it. I'm anxious to get started on some more, can't wait for the new soundboard to show up (hint hint).

[jedimastergarcia87]

Very nice sabers. I like the Sith saber the best. I would take those to a convention and walk around like Starkiller or something. xD Too bad you couldn't do your plan on the Sith saber though, atleast it works.

[polarcupz]

I like both. You blew a P4? Those are kind of touchy leds...
Keep up the good work!

[Jordandau]

I hooked it up to the MR board straight with no resistor. It was very bright for about two seconds, then dim, then nothing.

[cardcollector]

You have toasted your led... You might want to think about getting a buckpuck instead of a resistor..,

[Jordandau]

Thats the problem, I didn't use a resistor. I've since replaced it and added the proper resistor, and everything's working fine.

[Azmaria Dei]

yeah you definitely need a resistor for pairing a red P4 with an MR board

[Darth Astronimus]

WOW those are epically nice. Cant wait to see more from you.
:)

[Hasid Lafre]

yeah you definitely need a resistor for pairing a red P4 with an MR board

Thats the first ive ever heard of needing a resistor with an mr board driving any led.

[Skottsaber]

Unfortunately recent Red P4s are more sensitive to voltage than before. So you do need to resistor them just in case.

[jedimastergarcia87]

Cool sabers. I like your Sith saber best. I actually did that color combo for awhile on Star Wars The Force Unleashed II. Nice color combo.

[JRD1]

Very nice sabers, that first one is very kool!