Despair - First Saber

[IvPalmer]

After much struggle, months of trials and general problems. I'm proud to present my first custom saber, Despair!

It's not completely 100%, I still need to do some weathering and minor design details, both inside and outside. As you can see in some pictures, my aux switch LED is very dim, I think I may have wired it wrong (cause it's also not working).

My board is installed in the grenade section, which was really really hard to fit, because it's between the LED and the switches. Another problem is I have to take everything out to remove the batteries, the wires are not long enough for me to remove the speaker-battery pack without disconnecting them.

I painted it myself, using a common spray paint. Of course it's not nearly as good as Tim's powder coating, but it's not that bad and I can scratch off easily and make it look weathered/used/laser struck/whatever. The problem with spray paint is that it's really hard to make it even, specially in a cylinder shape, and as I said, it comes off kinda easily.

The writings on the grenade were made with thin tape like all the non-painted parts of the hilt (took me a few hours) and it says "Despair" in Aurebesh.

Well I think that's about enough.. to the pictures!

photo 2.jpg photo 3.jpg photo 5.jpg photo 6.jpg photo 7.jpg

That's it guys, feel free to criticize it or give opinions and so on

Also, a big big big thank you to you all, everyone was extremely helpfull and I would've had a lot of trouble if it wasn't for you guys.
Special thanks to Tim, Forgetfull Jedi Knight, Silver Serpent and Erv!

Looking forward to build my second saber (Delirium)

[Evilpancreas]

Nice job! I really like the alternating bands of silver on the saber.

[Silver Serpent]

Super dim switch LED? I'm assuming you've either got the polarity reversed, or too big of a resistor on it.

For even painting, use light coats, and wait a few minutes between coats. Follow the paint baking tutorial http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...aking-Tutorial and feel free to apply a clear coat afterwards. If you want it extra durable, be sure to rough up the surface lightly, and use a self-etching aluminum primer before painting. Also try experimenting with different brands of spray paint. Some work better than others.

I love the way you did the writing on the hilt. Very simple, yet effective. Congrats on your build, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you can come up with next.

[patolcott]

Very good first saber good sir

[Darth Ryo]

That looking pretty good
Congratulations on your first saber!

[Starwinder]

Excellent job! Really like the color scheme and the text just below the BH - makes for a very sith-y appearance
Congrats!

[MandoJoe]

To be honest, at first, I thought that this was PC'd. I was terribly excited that Tim was now offering this amazing text option on PC parts. Now I'm sad, because you're awesome.

*chuckles* I'm kidding, of course. Looks fabulous. It's way too long for me (since I've got little girly hands), but the design itself is very nicely balanced. Paint looks great, too. Excellent work.

[Crystal Chambers]

Nice. Not an easy first build. You should look into installing a recharge port. So worth it. I thought Tim was offering laser etching? Did I dream that?

[IvPalmer]

Thanks for all the compliments guys!

Super dim switch LED? I'm assuming you've either got the polarity reversed, or too big of a resistor on it.

For even painting, use light coats, and wait a few minutes between coats. Follow the paint baking tutorial http://forums.thecustomsabershop.com...aking-Tutorial and feel free to apply a clear coat afterwards. If you want it extra durable, be sure to rough up the surface lightly, and use a self-etching aluminum primer before painting. Also try experimenting with different brands of spray paint. Some work better than others.

I love the way you did the writing on the hilt. Very simple, yet effective. Congrats on your build, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you can come up with next.

Yep, I got the polarity reversed, fixed now!

As for the painting tutorial, I wish I had remembered it existed before I started to paint! I might scratch off and start again later.

To be honest, at first, I thought that this was PC'd. I was terribly excited that Tim was now offering this amazing text option on PC parts. Now I'm sad, because you're awesome.

*chuckles* I'm kidding, of course. Looks fabulous. It's way too long for me (since I've got little girly hands), but the design itself is very nicely balanced. Paint looks great, too. Excellent work.

Thanks What I did was tape everything, draw on the tape with a pencil, then just cut the tape carefully around the drawing. The problem is, when you cut the tape, it's really hard not to scratch the aluminium, mine got a few scratches that are kinda hidden by the paint now. Here are some pics of the Painting + Drawing

IMG_6599.jpg IMG_6601.jpg

[IvPalmer]

Nice. Not an easy first build. You should look into installing a recharge port. So worth it. I thought Tim was offering laser etching? Did I dream that?

I planned a recharge port, but I read here that with the batteries I have (two 14500 3.7V Li-on) it wasn't recommended due to heat problems I guess.