Kreyhn's Asclepius (saber)

[Kreyhn]

Concept:
The concept for this saber is to have a snake wrapping around the hilt in the fashion of the rod of Asclepius, the Greek healer.

Design:
The snake will be wrapped tightly around the hilt closer to the pommel, and will have a more lengthened wrap up the main section of the hilt. Finally, the head will be on the front of the blade holder to be the most prominent aspect while wielding the saber. I've gotten a good deal of work done so far, and I'll get some pictures of my sketches and drafts up.

[CET]

I look forward to seeing some concept art.

[Kreyhn]

And here they are! Please pardon the autoenhancement, although I do feel like it came out easier to see than a plain photo of my pencil sketch.


Also, here is the scale rough model I'm working with for size and position.

[sks1138]

Very cool design. I like it!

[daaguilar]

(I just watched that video of the snake climbing the tree on facebook today!)
Gotta say, I was really unsure of how an idea like this would turn out but wow I am in love with that sketch. Very excited to see how this one turns out!

[Kreyhn]

Today I've been working on getting the grip (hehehe) just right. The coiled portions and the neck should be easy to design, but the straighter body running vertical is a different story. I want to have that portion fit in the gap of my hand as I grip the saber, but I still want the body to have a somewhat organic shape to look like a snake. To get it just right, I used some sculpey wrapped around my test-pipe in the basic shape I wanted it to take, but a little wider. From there, I cut down the edges of what I had molded on in order to get that shape just right.
_______________ (vvv thumbs up! vvv) _______


With extra to trim off, of course the areas where the snake switches to a coiling form didn't come out, but that will be the next step. Back to the paper!

[Kreyhn]

In my research of snake form, I had come across another way that snakes wrapped around branches and climbed trees. This pattern is similar to an s-form around the object in question. A while ago, I had thought of making the snake take this form around the saber, since it did seem more natural. It didn't fit the classic rod of Asclepius with a coiling wrapped snake, though. I remembered this idea a few nights ago as I was falling asleep, and in my dream, I envisioned a way to have both, to make the grip more comfortable, and to have the entire thing look more "organic" or more naturally snake-like. So I headed back to the drawing board to make my changes. The long vertical grip section in the U shape now also resembles the original wooden rough-draft I had partially completed earlier this year (no pictures of that one yet, maybe I'll get a few up). Playing with Illustrator (I haven't used it before, and after watching some basic guides, I really like it as a computer drawing tool!), as well as drawing on a PVC tube, I came up with a new design for the snake-shroud:

[Kreyhn]

The shroud design! This one is a PVC rough draft. My lightsaber design is primarily based around the shroud, and it's been fun designing it just right. It fits perfectly in my hand with the way the snake, well, snakes around the hilt. I'm thinking I'll mess with the blade holder to do my own design there as well, but that's further down the road.



My next step was to use paper and a crayon to trace the snake design so I can put together a digital, 2D image that I can manipulate to make the curves flow, as well as make it editable and give it other design elements for the acid etch process later. Learning to use illustrator is fun, but I'm not too good at it yet.

[Kreyhn]

I've been silent for a while, mainly lurking on the forum and putting together designs in illustrator for the parts of the saber I'm customizing. I have a render for what the shape of my snake wrap will be, and I'll be getting that design cut from vinyl. I've also finished my design for my blade holder! I bought the cylindrical blade holder mainly to see what it felt like, but being that it's the right height for what I'm looking for and it's basically a blank, I'm planning to do some cutting on it. Here is the tentative design for that piece:



The plastic piece is a 3D printed version of the same blade holder to practice my dremel fu when the time comes. My university's library has a cheap printing service available that I utilized.

I've also been planning the chassis, and I realized that the way my MHS parts are all lined together, I have room in my saber to to a crystal chamber. Further, the mechanism to reveal it will be (I think) fairly spectacular. More on that later, I think!

[FenixFire]

What type of printer is it? From the photo it looks like a photopolymer printer, this material quickly becomes brittle and you may be disappointed with the durability of the material. I recently did a chamber part for a build using NEXT material (one of the most durable photopolymer RP material), yet even with the piece only being used for my sons science fair and never being dueled with...it's has started to warp and crack as it absorbs atmospheric humidity.
I have only been dealing with rapid prototyping since 2000 and currently have a fortus 500 and a Projet 5500 in my design studio, so take my opinion as you want. You'll definitely want the chassis either sls printed in vinyl or fdm printed in ABS.