Alien hilts.

[Va Tosh]

I am new to this.
I wanted a dueling blade to teach my son control, respect and weapon skills since he's 3 on the 18th Nov 2010. With this in mind I looked for cheep dueling blades and plumped for a pair of Ultrasabers Initiate v2 with connector for him (2 in case he has a friend around, he's not tall enough to wield a battlestaff: 1blue 1green) & a Phantom for myself (1green 1RGB). These are generally excellent & the RGB also brilliant for colour mixing of light lessons (I am a science teacher). The only things I'm not completely happy with are the lack of sound and the grip (guarded switches uncomfortable).

To this end I am planning to construct a saber of my own using MHS parts & Crystal focus board. This will be project #1 aka Excaliber. If I knew how to copy renderings off of the MHS builder software I would include one?

I have a question though has anyone made a saber for inhuman hands?
I am thinking of the 3 digited Blood Carvers or tentacled Krevaaki.
Also what eperience do people have of incorporating wood / bone as shrouds or hilt grips (thinking of bloodwood & ancestor bone for Blood carver one or Bogwood for Krevaaki)?
Finally, for now, has anyone used RGBA or RGGB LEDs. Since CFv5 supports a flash on clash / lockup by activating a second die I was going to try R+G base to make yellow & highlight clashes with the Amber, or B+G to make cyan and the highlight with the other G anyone know if this would be effective as these are expensive bits especially brought singly and I can't see myself ever being a jobing smith.

Sorry my first post is so long, just wanted to say hello really but so many queations & ideas have to kill some before my head explodes.

[Jedi-Loreen]

Welcome.

There's a lot of reading to be done here. Some of the answers you seek are already here.



And good luck with getting a CF, it's not the easiest thing to acquire.

[FenderBender]

Welcome!

Indeed, as J-Lo mentions, the CF's aren't easy to come by as they are released in VERY limited numbers and sell out in a matter of seconds. Literally. Also, before attempting to wire up a CF with the works (Flash on Clash with a LEDengin - RGGB, RGBA, RGBW, RRRR, BBBB, GGGG, AAAA etc), I would suggest reading the tutorials here in the welcome area. There is information here from how to get your render into a post (or into MSpaint to tweak and edit it as you see fit) to wiring simple stunts and sabers with sound.

To answer your question on the LEDengin multi-dice 10W's: Yes, they are in use quite a bit. A few of us use them quite regularly They are great LEDs and yes a little pricey compared with other LEDs out there. But for multidice power, and versatility they can't currently be beat. Though, I would only use them on a CF, anything less than a CF and there are other LED options available for color mixing that are cheaper. Color mixing is an art form in itself and takes some practice getting the process down as well as some investment in some tools.

Good luck, and when you get stuck and need some answers, don't hesitate to ask.

[Va Tosh]

I have contacted Erv at Plector re. a CF, but if not likely to get one soon will go without until I can. That said I will make a quiet saber to start with.
All the MHS parts are ordered including the anodising. As I live in UK used JD-sabers as middlemen so I don't have to front all the P&P, import duty etc. myself. They will also do the anodising for me cheeply and drill my pommel insert for free.

The pommel insert has a single illuminated LED yellow switch a simple on/off, surrounded by 8 accent LED driven by JD-sabers accent board. This leaves the hilt completely devoid of any other switches etc. This should make it a more comfortable a grip.

Will use a single colour LED <white> with yellow filters to start with to avoid the cost of LEDengines RGBA or RGGBs but do intend experimenting with these when I build sabers 2 & 3. Which will be designed for Blood Carver & Krevaaki 'hands', that said the screw grip on the Krevaaki saber would also work well for aliens with prehensile tails & other non-digited limbs.

Will post more on saber 1 'eXcaliber' when I find the post on getting renderings off of the MHS builder. What a lot of resources there are here!?

[Va Tosh]

[IMG][/IMG]

Project name: Excaliber <sure someone has already done this>
MHS parts anodised and then painted.
White LED with yellow filters.
Single Latching illuminated yellow switch in centre of pomel insert & surrounded by 8 small yellow accent LED.

Hope image comes out I'm not too good with computer stuff.
Va Tosh

[Jedi-Loreen]

IMO, the yellow O-rings will detract from the look of the anodizing.

Also, you can't use this switch bezel nut on an illuminated switch.



It's only for this type of switch.



That's beside the fact that it would probably look ugly sticking out of the bottom of the pommel.

[iamdrake]

The first thing I thought when I saw the title of this message is... aren't all lightsaber hilts alien?

[Va Tosh]

Jedi-Loreen:
The yellow O-rings may not work, I'll try them & if I don't like them use black or try and get some brown ones.
I only used that bezel as I couldn't find one for an illumunated switch and wanted to show on the render where the switch was.
If it looks ugly when fitted I will probably still go with it as I want to avoid switches / activation boxes around the grip to make it fit my hands better.
Thanx for your input, its nice to get critique & a different perspective on things.

iamdrake:
Tricky one this as there is a very large human population in the SW-galaxy in fact they are the most populace species I believe. So I don't think my title was too misleading? Can't find any threads or gallary posts that look as if they were intended for anything other than humans or small humanoid forms. A spiral screw hilt for tails and tentacles is definitely a possibility.

[Skottsaber]

I also had O-Rings on my first saber, they look nice in theory, but once you get them they don't really go well with the MHS and don't really feel lightsaberish, just an experience.