Asajj Ventress Project

[TheCheeker]

well today a buddy of mine told me his girlfriend is going to put together an Asajj Ventress costume and they've decided that i'm the man to help with the saber construction. :D As of right now all i'm doing is figuring out all the logistics and pricing stuff but i'm having trouble finding some good saber pics as reference. I'm assuming there's better reference material out there then what the clone wars series has to offer so i'm bringing the question to you fine people. If anyone has any reference pics or any good ideas on the hilt construction (like how to implement this using the mhs) they would be very much appreciated. :D

[Syphon]

Are you looking for the exact replicas or something close to it, if you got to www.randomsabers.com there are several different styles like asajj's but they are all custom made so no material lists, just pics

[TheCheeker]

i'm looking for something exact. it's my understanding that randomsabers doesn't do any replicas. just originals.

EDIT: for clarification i'm looking for asajj reference stuff not just random saber references

[xwingband]

Are you looking for the exact replicas or something close to it, if you got to www.randomsabers.com there are several different styles like asajj's but they are all custom made so no material lists, just pics

Or the fact that he's not accepting new orders for around two years... :roll:

Ventress' hilts are curved. PVC is a simple route. The sabers are pretty simple there is one emitter detail and the rest is a curved tube with black grip material.

[Barmic Rin]

PM Neophyl about the Ventress hilts he done for someone. They were cool.

I think he used a Henry pipe (from a Vacuum cleaner) the same as he did for his Dooku.

I personally prefer the look of Komari Vosa's hilts.

http://thelightsaber.com/IndexFolder/index2.htm

[Darth Lars]

There is no "one true" rendition of this saber. The character, and her sabers, look slightly different in different sources.
For instance, most sources of her sabers with a "cup" emitter, (like most prequel sabers), but the 12" figure's sabers have angled emitters. In the Clone Wars cartoon, the saber is simple, with the emitter being only a tube.
The "Unleashed" figure saber has an even weirder emitter: shaped like long cones, just like the flash hider on Han Solo's blaster ... :shock:
There are also three different-looking pommels.
I would ask your friend what source they are basing the costume on, and then using the same source for the design of the saber.

Some day, (when I have finished other projects), I would like to build her sabers, so I have already gathered some reference materials, building materials and formed a personal interpretation.
I prefer the look as drawn by Jan Duursema, but with the details inspired by other sources. The top should be in a couple segments - much like one that Luuke (of www.thelightsabers.com) designed, but with slightly different dimensions, and the curve being no more than 45°.
If you PM me your email address, I could send you a ZIP-archive with the "reference" images that I have gathered.

Most sources show the curve starting half-way down the hilt, so you should be able to put blade holder and a LED in the straight half.
However, because each saber is one-handed and made for a woman, I think they should be quite small: 1.25" diameter, maybe 9" long. I would use curved steel tubes, and darken the steel surface with "gun blue" liquid to get a raw, dark look. Wrap in two cross-overlapping strips of wet, black leather.

[valeon]

This should do the trick.
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

Just do a search for Asajj.

[TheCheeker]

thanks for the suggestions everyone. :D the help is much appreciated. once i get started on this i'll be sure to throw up progress pics in the gallery.

[Barmic Rin]

Well, I personally use Jan Duursema's art for references. She is pretty much the main artist for the star wars comics of the last 5yrs.

Others may disagree, but from the Ventress costumes i've seen, they tend to rely on her too.

[Barmic Rin]

Here's Neophyl's Ventress (and the man himself)

http://www.mintinbox.net/reportages/star_wars_celebration_europe/costumes

[Jedi-Loreen]

Do you mean this photo?

http://www.mintinbox.net/reportages/star_wars_celebration_europe/portal_skins/custom/reportages/celebration_europe/costumes/images/086_P1010466.jpg

[Lord Maul]

Hey Neo, why didn't you ever post pictures of your finished Dooku saber? Looks great in the pics.

[TheCheeker]

PVC is a simple route.

what type of pvc do you recommend? i stopped by home depot today and couldn't find anything that didn't bend to a right angle. this will be my first curved hilt so i'm not sure how to achieve something with a decent bend. should i get something that bends to a right angle and cut it at about 45 degrees or is there something that comes made that way?

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The pvc you're loking for is the electrical conduit type. It looks like this:

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/My%20pvc%20sabers/000_0231.jpg

You can then paint it to look like this:
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o141/Jay-gon_Jinn/My%20pvc%20sabers/000_0266.jpg

That started out as a 1" 45 deg elbow.

[TheCheeker]

perfect! thanks jay-gon! :D you said that was a 1" 45 degree elbow. does that mean a 1" diameter? how long is that pipe? if i want a smaller angle like say 30-35 degrees then would i have to sacrifice length? (lots of questions i know)

[Jay-gon Jinn]

The pipe is labelled 1" in the bins., and that is the inside diameter of the pipe, so a 1" polyC blade will fit right inside without any problem. These are pre-bent elbows, and they only come in 45 and 90 degrees. But you can add a coupler to either end to extend the length by adding a piece of straight pipe.