Page 4 of 6 FirstFirst ... 2 3 4 5 6 LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 53

Thread: WIP -Fett263's Proffieboard Kylo CG 2.0 Neopixel (Pic Heavy)

  1. #31

    Default

    Clean up the wires as best I could, not pretty but this is only my third saber and I'm more about function but I know other guys have their wires look all neat and clean and professional looking, mine will not be confused with a professional but they work so I'm happy with them. Plus, from a character point of view Kylo definitely takes after his dad and there are all kinds of wires everywhere on the Falcon, so I'm just following canon

    thumbnail_20181218_205331.jpg

    I also mounted and glued the switch into the chassis, I cut out a small piece of plastic from and old dvd case and used it as a backer for the switch to give me more surface area to glue to.

    thumbnail_20181218_205322.jpg

    Next up is the body plates, I actually spent a lot of time on my first build testing out hinges and such for the reveal section but nothing worked so I ended up going to the tried and true solution - DUCT TAPE, and I'm doing it again for this build. I actually just use a piece of black duct tape to join the two plates into a clamshell. Where the "hing" is, I have a thin strip of black electrical tape facing out so the seam isn't visible. It actually works great, and again since the theme of this post is - it ain't pretty but it's functional here it is.

    thumbnail_20181218_155118.jpg

    I glued the back plate in place and need to wait for it to set completely, but once it does it works great, there's enough flexibility in the tape to manuever the cover but having one side fixed the reveal cover actually stays closed pretty well even with the few magnets.

    thumbnail_20181218_155028.jpg
    thumbnail_20181218_204828.jpg

    I also got the 2nd battery put in place, unfortunately it sits a little high on the bottom side I'll need to create a cut out on the inner silver cover or omit it, but it fits in there and the top portion is a nice fit and holds the battery in place to prevent it from trying to drop out.

    thumbnail_20181218_154917.jpg

    It is very tight, and with my fat fingers I am not actually toggling the switch with my fingers, I kinda knew this going in, but since I need the allen wrench for the blade set screws, it will also double as the switch toggle, it works like a charm.

    thumbnail_20181218_154947.jpg

    I'm letting the back plate glue take overnight and then tomorrow I'll start looking at the wire clips, red wire and blue wires, etc.

  2. #32

    Default

    Next up, the wire holder, red wire and blue wires. I'm using KR Sabers accuracy kit parts for all three.

    In order to help secure the red wire I stripped a little of the insulation off the tip and bent the wire into a hook that will slip into the space between the shroud and insert.

    thumbnail_20181219_083107.jpg

    Then I'm starting from the top down, so I glued the uppermost wire holder in place as well as the 2nd and I have the 2nd currently screwed in the chamber, just to keep it in place, the inner screw will be removed after the glue is all set up. As noted earlier the screws inside the chamber were interfering with the fit so I'm not keeping.

    thumbnail_20181219_104208.jpg

    I let the glue set up on the top two wire holders for half a day, then I moved onto the lower two. I once again screwed the third in from inside the chamber to hold in place but will be removing the inner screw once it's all set up. Just a note the accurate red wire is very rigid to I found it best to shape it ahead of time, particularly the turn into the pommel, just be sure you thread the wire holders on before you bend or it's a lot harder to slip them on.

    thumbnail_20181219_104723.jpg

    Up next the blue wires for the gash insert, I cut them to size leaving a little extra to be tucked in to the space above and below. I am using a very small piece of clear double sided tape at the top to secure, the fit into the shroud is tight enough to prevent them from falling out, I used tweezers to position and tuck in but the tape gives just a little more security.

    thumbnail_20181219_105528.jpg

    I still have a lot of weathering/painting to finish but it's coming together and starting to look like the real deal.

    thumbnail_20181219_153507.jpg

    I also took a look at the diffusion on the quillions and I ended up leaving it alone. There is a slight bit of corn-cobbing on the side where teh strip is closer to the edge of the blade but I just rotated that side to face down on both of the quillions and it's only noticeable if you get really close and the saber is upside down. From all other angles and any distance besides "in your face" they look great.

    thumbnail_20181219_161833.jpg

    I also decided to stick with the new TCSS neopixel tip, it looks great, nice and bright and matches the rest of the blade nicely (and no more trying to drill out the tip myself).

    thumbnail_20181219_161842.jpg

    Finally, I installed thePropilcator's main blade sleeve to finish it off.

    thumbnail_20181219_162015.jpg

    The end result so far, I'm going to play around with the main style a bit more, want to see how different color combos while creating the unstable effects look. I also have to start working on the weathering and paint update, will be doing a little at a time, particularly on the side blade ports.

    thumbnail_20181219_161824.jpg

  3. #33

    Default

    I made an "on-the-fly" modification to the design that definitely would have been easier had I thought of it earlier. In testing things out I just wasn't happy with the switch location, it was too tight against the battery and a general PITA to toggle and it needed to be easier. So I just decided to fix it. If you're building DEFINITELY do this modification like first thing.

    Anyway, I decided to turn the switch 90 degrees, so I cut out a notch in the inner tube (which was much more harrowing and stressful with all of the electronics installed and wires everywhere. So it's definitely not pretty but it's so much more functional now.


    thumbnail_20181220_145457.jpg

    Then I cut a notch into the chassis to let the switch face up - it's not secured yet it's press fitting into the notch in the chassis and the inner tube and it pretty stable anyway but eventually I'll secure it to the chassis I'm sure.

    thumbnail_20181220_151833.jpg

    Now there's a little more room for the battery and more importantly it's 1000x easier to toggle the switch, especially with gloves on when in costume. Definitely should have thought of this earlier but I'm much happier with it.


    thumbnail_20181220_151930.jpg

    The battery is sitting high in the chamber currently, but that's partially because I had to pull out as much slack as possible to keep the chassis, board and wires away from the grinding tool while I cut. I had a few tiny slips and just about gave myself a heart attack each time. I was smart enough to hold a small metal board against the wires and chassis as a backstop, but it still makes your heart jump when the tool slips and you envision all your wires or your board getting cut.

    I'll work on reorganizing the wires and still have to figure out what to do with the inner cover, I'll still need to notch it out because of the JST connectors or just skip it and get some extra magnets on the outer cover to give it a stronger closing force. I'll play around a bit with it all and see which direction to go, but wanted to share this new modification with everyone.

  4. #34

    Default

    Did you order The Proplicator's 7/8" quillions? I'm going to give these a whirl on mine I guess. I'll probably start mine in March. Have a few projects ahead of this one, but its in line. I got the KR accuracy kit. I haven't made up my mind on which battery solution. I think I'd be ok with a single 21700 that was replaceable via the removeable cover. I don't care about a crystal chamber, as this will be a trooping saber. Thanks for doing a detailed install.

    Tom

    "Mistakes are our greatest teacher."

  5. #35

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Tom Tilmon View Post
    Did you order The Proplicator's 7/8" quillions? I'm going to give these a whirl on mine I guess. I'll probably start mine in March. Have a few projects ahead of this one, but its in line. I got the KR accuracy kit. I haven't made up my mind on which battery solution. I think I'd be ok with a single 21700 that was replaceable via the removeable cover. I don't care about a crystal chamber, as this will be a trooping saber. Thanks for doing a detailed install.

    Tom
    Yes, I'm using theProplicator's 7/8 inch quillions, I think he lists them under PPv2.
    Thank you for all the help and info, I never would have gotten to this point without help.

  6. #36

    Default

    Finished up the painting/weathering, I was going for this general look-

    reference photo:
    Kylo_Ren's_lightsaber_prop.jpg

    And here's mine:

    thumbnail_20181221_151011.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120302.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120320.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120339.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120403.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120216.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120226.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120233.jpg
    thumbnail_20181221_120247.jpg

    Still testing out styles, etc. Will post a video of everything when I'm happy with the coloring/unstable effects.

  7. #37

    Default

    Video of a few styles:


  8. #38

    Default

    Been doing a lot of testing for unstable styles for Kylo, starting to narrow down. I've been looking for a style that looks good in person and also in still pics for events. I wanted the look of the fire blade but wanted to have the retraction of the blade be towards the hilt, I also wanted to minimize the black spots in the blade in still pics but keep the unstable look and fluctuations in the blade. I know a lot of guys have their own so I took a look at those for inspiration but played around with my own combinations. Here's what I've come up with so far, but every day I play on the Style Editor to see what else I can do, so who knows if I'll ever be satisfied.


  9. #39

    Default

    I did a couple of functional mods to help keep the reveal chamber cover and battery in place better. Unfortunately, once everything was wired up I could not get the JST connectors into the bottom section of the chassis as originally planned so the 2nd battery in the reveal chamber is sitting too high for the inner silver cover. So I decided to cut off one of the magnet strips and use it to secure the outer cover more securely.

    First, I cut the cover.
    thumbnail_20181221_110552.jpg


    Then I positioned the cut strip on the side magnets and used double sided tape to attach to the outer cover in the correct position. From there I'm just using a little bit of the Gorilla Glue to reinforce. I also added a zip tie (loose enough to slip the battery out for changing) to help keep the battery in the chamber, it's usually the weight of the battery that causes the cover to open, now with the battery secured and the additional magnet strip I can swing the saber without holding the cover and it still stays closed (one side is already secured with the duct tape "hinge").
    thumbnail_20181226_152449.jpg

    Now the cover stays closed and flush very nicely no matter the orientation.
    thumbnail_20181227_095158.jpg

  10. #40

    Default

    After some feedback and more testing here's my favorite style, it's a slight variation on Style 2 (which was most popular) from my last tests. It looks really good in person (it washes out a little in the video) and it also photographs nicely.

    Also, showing the clash, blast and lockup along with Smoothswing (using KSith's font).


    And some pics:
    thumbnail_20181228_134449.jpg

    thumbnail_20181228_134443.jpg

    thumbnail_20181228_134445.jpg

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •