Naasad Tal's First Saber - Starkiller Replica from MHS parts

[NaasadTal]

Greetings vode, I hope I picked the right place for this thread (if not, feel free to relocate it)

I am working on a Starkiller Training Gear costume for my 2nd 501st approved costume & of course I need a lightsaber.

Starkiller's hilt is by far one of my all time favorite hilts so I had to make sure I did it justice. I have a large con coming up in just a few weeks & I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get a combat-ready hilt together in time for that so I made myself a PVC hilt which will serve as a decent stand in til I finish up my combat hilt.

Here is my PVC hilt:


The PVC hilt does what it's supposed to do (look good), but it's not strong enough for combat (which is the end goal for my saber), so I looked into commissioning someone to make me a screen accurate Starkiler hilt out of aluminum, but that didn't work out. After that, I decided to tackle the job myself & set about reading everything I could about the subject. I've been thru all of Madcow's video tutorials (absolutely amazing stuff in there) & I've spent the last 2 weeks pouring over items in the shop & assembling what I think is everything I'm gonna need for my build. Below is a render done on the MHS builder of the basic body:



Here's the list of parts I'll be using for the body:
- MHSV1 blade holder style 2
- 4" extension
- 5" extension
- MPS Pommel Style 10
- Double Male Connector style 1 for connecting the extensions (shown in later MHS Builder renders)
- MHS Sleeve Material (for the grip & graflex style shroud)

When I first started planning out my saber, I knew space was going to be an issue because of the crystal chamber, then I found Rob's video on building a chassis & decided that's probably going to be the best option for saving space (plus it looks freaking cool :P). I drew up a blueprint of my plan for the Chassis which will also house the crystal chamber. One of the things that I have always been interested in is electronics & I'm REALLY looking forward to getting a chance to do that with this saber. Here'e the chassis blueprint which is drawn to scale as I needed to make sure the speaker was in the right place for what I have planned:



I've got all the parts for the chassis picked out (except the spacers which are out of stock currently) & I will probably be picking those up soon since they are pretty cheap & they are in stock at the moment.

Thanx for taking the time to read thru my build thread, I am SUPER excited to start working on this & see it come to life. I'm looking forward to hearing your compliments & critiques as this build progresses.