Fett263's Korbanth Crossguard 2.0 Neopixel (Prizm 5.1)

Hi All,

I am new to the custom saber scene but a 20+ year veteran of SW costuming (501st) and props. I wanted to post about my first build to pay forward all of the great advice I read and received. Having never built a custom saber, and especially not a neopixel, I took my time and read up and asked questions of one of my Garrison members, and big contributors here, Megtooth Sith (Thanks Tom!). I went back and forth on in-hilt or neopixel and then ultimately just jumped in with both feet after reading up on the successes and difficulties others had here and elsewhere. Overall, it was not as difficult as I thought it would be but It was also full of trial and error, setbacks and problem solving.

While reading and deciding on my design I took my time and planned out what I wanted, and kept note of pitfalls and troubles others ran into to try to avoid any catastrophic mistakes.

Here’s the major parts I used:
• Korbanth Crossguard 2.0 hilt
• Prizm 5.1 sound board
• Goth 3Designs Padawan Chassis Variant 1 Style 2
• 18650 high drain battery
• 28mm bass speaker
• For connectors I went with GX-16 connectors for a few reasons (more below) with ShotkCustomWorx holders for the connectors
• I picked up the skinny neopixels from China via a major online retailer ;-)
• For my quillion blades I picked up 3D printed unstable blades from TheProplicator (I requested them to have a larger inner diameter to fit the neopixels and blade film and they came out great) I also picked up the unstable sleeve for the main blade to finish off the look
• The rest is all the basics you’d expect

I’m using three different GX-16 connectors for my build; 5-pin, 4-pin and 3-pin.
Attachment 16858

Main blade is a 5-pin connector
1. Positive (battery)
2. L1, L2 from board
3. Data Line (from Quillion 1 for Trident support)
4. Negative (battery)
5. Negative (board)

This allows me to go without a kill key, instead the main blade connects the battery and board, when the blade is inserted pin 4 and pin 5 connect the battery negative to the board. It also allows me to recharge using the main blade connector with a charger connected to pins 1 & 4 since there wasn’t a good location for a recharge port on the hilt.
Attachment 16859

Quillion 1 is a 4-pin connector
1. Positive (battery)
2. L1, L2 from board
3. Data Line
4. Data Line End (return from last quillion pixel to enable Trident support - this connects to the Data Line for the main blade)

Quillion 2 is a 3-pin connector
1. Positive (battery)
2. L1, L2 from board
3. Data Line

I opened up the side ports to 7/8 inches to accommodate the GX-16 connector and holder. I just used a dremel and sanding drum to open them up by 1/8 inch.

I came up with a different solution for the AUX switch as well. My AUX is located in the middle of the emitter cutaway to make it look like part of the inner parts of the blade. I was also a more natural location for me when holding the saber. I used a standard momentary switch (which helps with feeling it with a glove on in costume) and I tapped the hole and threaded the switch from the inside. Now this took tweezers and a LOT of patience but I was happy with the end result. It puts the AUX switch opposite the main switch for simple pressing.
Attachment 16860
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For my main blade I used the standard foam, diffuser, clear blade build but for my quillions I got 3D printed unstable blades because I preferred the look both lit and unlit to the straight quillions. I had the blades opened up a little on the inner diameter (after discussing with the designer) to be able to get the strips as deep as possible. I’m using varying thicknesses of blade film to diffuse, the base of the blade is thicker and does a good job with diffusion but the ends are thinner so I had to use additional wraps to prevent “corn-cobbing”. The end result came out great (IMHO) and looks even better in person than the pics show.
Attachment 16863
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Here's a quick vid of it in action:
https://vimeo.com/284838040

I’m still fine-tuning the weathering and final details on the saber, I wanted to make sure everything was working perfectly electronically before gluing on the final parts, etc. More pics once I get the rest of the parts installed...

Dude nice. Thanks for posting this. I’m in the process of getting all the stuff for the same build just with a proffieboard. How are the quillons diffused with the blade film? Do you see any corncobbing or shadowing? I think he said he changed the inner diameter of his quillons to 9mm so I’m thinking maybe about using trimmed down 5050 strips.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Meatsweats

Dude nice. Thanks for posting this. I’m in the process of getting all the stuff for the same build just with a proffieboard. How are the quillons diffused with the blade film? Do you see any corncobbing or shadowing? I think he said he changed the inner diameter of his quillons to 9mm so I’m thinking maybe about using trimmed down 5050 strips.

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Sure, I essentially rolled the blade film into a tight tube (like the "Corbin" style blades) around the pixel strip itself, it was really just trial and error for the thickness needed (I probably should have kept track of the final lengths but I didn't at the time). Since the end of the quillion thins out I did need additional wraps for the last 4-5 pixels.

Here's the assembly, for the end of the strip I cut a small piece and rolled the film tightly around the strip itself and used a very small piece of clear tape to keep it tight on the last 4-5 pixels for extra diffusion.
Attachment 16867

Then I rolled another "tube" out of the film to cover the full length of the strip, also very tightly rolled to fit into the cavity, this tube isn't attached to the pixels but is pretty snug around them. I also cut a small piece of foam to support the base and keep it in place (it doesn't actually cover any pixels).
Attachment 16868

The blade itself gives the rest of the diffusion, I had his original set but couldn't get the pixels in far enough so I requested he open up the inner diameter and he got it really well opened for the next set almost to very tip. The original set didn't need as much film because the walls were thicker, so when I got the new set I had to re-test with a longer piece of film but eventually got it to just the right place.
Attachment 16869

It took a few "tests" to get it just right but I had extra film to mess around with. I got it to the right thickness to where there was no "corn-cobbing" and the color was consistent with the main blade.
Attachment 16870

I hope that helps, I want to say the main tube was made out of about 5 ~ 6 inches of film rolled tightly (just based on the scraps I had left) but it may have been a little less as I started thick and slowly trimmed back to get to the desired result. The cover over the last 4-5 pixels was maybe 3 or 4 wraps if memory serves.

Extremely helpful! Thank you!

Awesome job Fernando!!!!! Now we gotta get those quillion delay programmed in. I hope you left enough spare wires for that other board we talked about!!!! Now, I need to build a Korbanth. It came out great!

Tom

Good job, and nice saber pick. Kylo's crossgaurd is one of my favs. I really like the unstable quillons you have.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Tom Tilmon

Awesome job Fernando!!!!! Now we gotta get those quillion delay programmed in. I hope you left enough spare wires for that other board we talked about!!!! Now, I need to build a Korbanth. It came out great!

Tom

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Thanks Tom, and thanks for the help throughout, I'm still tweaking the Prizm settings using the manual, open to input on best parameters if you've determined. I did leave spare wire for a future upgrade. Definitely not done yet, but the hard part is over...

OK, played around with the settings and got the delay worked out on the quillions. Take a look:

https://vimeo.com/285153849

Awesome.

Finished up the details, here's just a bunch of pics and new video

Saber Hilt
Attachment 16878
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Kylo Ren
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New Video
https://vimeo.com/285409490