Ahsoka Tano with Petit Crouton and Luxeon V

[Matt Thorn]

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKwRBKMBI/AAAAAAAAG6M/QLJNsBiwBeE/s400/DSCN1099.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sUq6iefp8QTWAzrkkoSv1A?feat=embedwebsite)

Wow, it's been ages since I've posted to the gallery. But I'm pretty proud of this one, so I thought I'd post some photos (https://picasaweb.google.com/littlenemo1905/AhsokaStyleLightsaber?feat=directlink) and a video (http://youtu.be/eW-_KyyVgTg).

This is a Korbanth (http://www.sithplanet.com/index.php) AHS hilt running a Petit Crouton and Luxeon V. It uses two 14500 li-ion batteries. The charge port is hidden in the hilt, and that's one of my original Köjin Köbö kill keys you see there. The copper-colored button is the activation switch, and sits on top of a tactile switch.

To make room for the batteries, I had to cut two big chunks out of the two inner sleeves. This was more work than I had anticipated. I decided to put the speaker on the emitter side of the batteries, facing forward, and this involved cutting grooves with my Dremel, since the diameter of my Kobitone mylar speaker is 20mm, and the ID of the innermost sleeve is 19mm (3/4").

It's a tight fit all around. I had trouble keeping the end of the Petit Crouton from directly touching the speaker. (When they were in contact, there was a horrible buzzing/rattling.)

The biggest challenge, I suppose, was getting the heat sink, LED, and optics to all fit between the copper-colored button and the black knob above it. There's a hollow-set screw under the black knob that serves to hold the blade in, so obviously the top of collimator had to be below that screw. I solved the space problem by making a heat sink from a 3/4" bar of aluminum that is just 8mm thick, and flattening one side to make a shelf for the tactile switch to sit on. To hold the heat sink in place, I drilled and tapped a hole through the two inner sleeves, opposite the hole for the copper button, and put a very short hollow-set screw there.

One small problem I haven't resolved yet is how to keep the black knob on solidly. It has to be removed and replaced each time you want to access the screw that holds the blade in, and it's a fairly snug fit, but it does fall off some times. It would be nice the know could serve as a thumbscrew, but the bottom of the knob is curved to conform to the curve of the hilt, so it can just be turned. One possible solution is to use a lathe to remove the curve from the knob, and replace it with a TCSS bezel that would be fixed to the hilt. But I'm not confident I could do this well enough to make it both functional and good-looking.

One thing about this hilt: It is really petit. It is much, much smaller than the eFx replica (which now seems grotesquely large to me). It makes sense that a tiny teenaged girl would carry a hilt this size.

Enough talk. Here are the photos:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKv8K8ygI/AAAAAAAAG6I/EDdPOP9SAo8/s800/DSCN1098.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/q2i2_HT3E3oNnAHFcZ8bQQ?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKwRBKMBI/AAAAAAAAG6M/QLJNsBiwBeE/s800/DSCN1099.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sUq6iefp8QTWAzrkkoSv1A?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKxDLFuXI/AAAAAAAAG6Q/M2KBbJzg9VU/s800/DSCN1100.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/PJvE1LYa5Fdmxug30Gk9KA?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKymEieQI/AAAAAAAAG6U/8jhTz1phqpk/s800/DSCN1101.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/YzUisKazrS2UsjmGwxYvuQ?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKzM9gkEI/AAAAAAAAG6Y/SQ0r_HCcmts/s800/DSCN1102.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Kxmy90bs5d6wC6hjkub7LA?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqKzkjkioI/AAAAAAAAG6c/Vdx-97a21Ig/s800/DSCN1103.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jIBgiRLUIA91fDOOYQXYsA?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK0zgFYDI/AAAAAAAAG6g/bSlonWocdw8/s800/DSCN1104.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_uoxJZJl6faUo_GHifj2lA?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK0zgFYDI/AAAAAAAAG6g/bSlonWocdw8/s800/DSCN1104.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/_uoxJZJl6faUo_GHifj2lA?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK2kAu3II/AAAAAAAAG6o/X8usnZ6QWbw/s800/DSCN1107.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/UW66MBiIUZaQF0rYdX9nVw?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK36uBXSI/AAAAAAAAG6s/mKdUQ_wJ-u8/s800/DSCN1108.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KXN5kUOnbWem9mq5_Jh-Cw?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK4jkZvcI/AAAAAAAAG6w/sta-vVSztBc/s800/DSCN1109.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/OeH9v1UUL0s6iPj99XnmVg?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK5FQk1nI/AAAAAAAAG60/6gZiqJjHeeo/s800/DSCN1110.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fucdNvfD_VhNXaPgCf0Xwg?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK6F7oZlI/AAAAAAAAG64/gjTofcNqUho/s800/DSCN1111.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/LL6GSLuNLlZMHv6zGcOq5Q?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK6unJ1-I/AAAAAAAAG68/2-z1nek84Qg/s800/DSCN1112.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1C3APg3pjoaFyUGtmRMjJQ?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK7bOhXvI/AAAAAAAAG7A/1qhFdeQNVrI/s800/DSCN1113.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/TghoMKzSy0PEPlK3rX05xQ?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/TbqK8MOJIqI/AAAAAAAAG7E/dE560VztF6Y/s800/DSCN1114.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/4PMPUNLrQC6vHL-lnEjwHg?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/Tbq21iROrtI/AAAAAAAAG8w/ZYXNdhOTisA/s800/DSCN0954.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/II9WaRIbVQ47thqzciBbIg?feat=embedwebsite)
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/_THBqz9vPciU/Tb9efjzuvvI/AAAAAAAAG_w/wtwyMXJbRTE/s800/DSCN1124.JPG (https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/hmG4EnNRFCkmIn8SjqTnlg?feat=embedwebsite)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW-_KyyVgTg

[Darth Xusia]

WWOOOWWW...... That is some serious Cram-Fu. And here I thought I was doing good with a
Korbanth Mara Jade with USv2.1, LDM tru-purple led, 2x18650's, TCSS speaker, recharge port and a 1" blade
Which reminds me... I need to borrow a camera and post that saber on the forums.
Great build Matt.

[cardcollector]

Wow matt, great conversion. I wish I had gotten in on one of these now... Oh well...

I really like the tinyness of the saber. It makes it look more like a replica and less like a prop.

[Sunrider]

Great job man. Crammin is tough on those tiny hilts. Well done.:cool:

[ARKM]

Very nice conversion. Looks great.

[bk_renesis]

Cram-Fu in it's finest of forms. Cool saber.

[hebert466]

looks great!!!

[Tarrell]

"I solved the space problem by making a heat sink from a 3/4" bar of aluminum that is just 8mm thick, and flattening one side to make a shelf for the tactile switch to sit on."
Wow, thats some epic stuff, very cool saber, hows the weight feel?
I love how you managed cramfu everything down to such a small size, makes my saber project look huge and gangly, but im ok with that you know what they say guys with big lightsabers.... ;)

[Matt Thorn]

Wow, thats some epic stuff, very cool saber, hows the weight feel?

Without a blade, it's about 350gm (12oz). Fairly heavy for the compact size, but still lighter than most non-stunt sabers. An unconverted Korbanth Luminara Unduli hilt, by comparison, is about 400gm (14oz).

[dgdve]

Really really amazing job on the heatsink/switchplate shelf, I really wish I could think of a better way(aside from your idea) to 1)NOT alter that beautiful hilt in any way, but 2) fix the blade set screw/black button issue I know is bothering you.. Unfortunately they dont have set screws on tv so screen accuracy is a tough nut to crack (I'm sure you'll figure it out, I have faith in ya ;)).. To me you've absolutely done it!!

Ohh and about the build + major cram fu.. its (explitive removed) sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!!!

[Knighthammer]

great work Matt!
Good to see you drop by the forums too.

[Crystal Chambers]

Nice! Looks like some serious cram fu. Makes the other replica look like a toy. hehe

Retention screw idea......maybe a small magnet inside the cap.

[Matt Thorn]

Nice! Looks like some serious cram fu. Makes the other replica look like a toy. hehe

Thank you! Long time no type, huh?


Retention screw idea......maybe a small magnet inside the cap.

...

Crystal, you are a genius. That is SO doable. Thanks!