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Thread: Custom Hilt - Darth Talon

  1. #1

    Default Custom Hilt - Darth Talon

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    Hi, everyone. I'm a costumer and prop builder, and I'm gearing up to work on a new project: Darth Talon from the Legacy comic series.

    For the past few years I've been carrying a bladeless saber prop when I costume at events and conventions. I made it from sink parts and a couple drawer pulls. It's nice to be able to clip the hilt onto my belt and not have to worry about a blade... but whenever I pose for pictures, it always looks pretty silly until I go back and Photoshop in a saber blade!






    For my Darth Talon costume, I want to go the extra mile and put an EL or LED blade on my saber. The saber hilt will be sculpted in oil clay, molded, cast in resin, and then antiqued to make the raised patterns really stand out. I have to do all of this because Talon's hilt is a very unique design:




    And now, my reason for posting on this forum:

    I have started researching options for the blade and inner workings of my Darth Talon lightsaber, and I would like very much to hear some input and suggestions from the folks who know a lot more about sabers than I do! I'm good at prop building, but I'm a novice when it comes to electronics! In other words, I know how to make the hilt... but I'm not sure of what to put inside it!


    Would anyone out there like to offer some suggestions, advice, or general know-how for this project?

    Please keep in mind that I'm not looking for suggestions on how to make something fast, cheap, or easy. I don't work that way! Instead, I'm looking for high quality and results that I will be proud of when the project is finished.... and I do love a good challenge! One of my main concerns is the size of the hilt. My current sink-pipe saber is a good size for a female's hands. My husband's modular LED saber, however, is considerably larger. If I were to add the sculpted design on top of that diameter, the saber would look much too large for me. I prefer LED sabers over EL, but I'm not sure if an LED setup could fit in a smaller hilt.

    (I am somewhat familiar with the different types of sabers. I have an Anakin FX, while my husband has two LED sabers, one of which is designed from the modular hilt system on this site. We also have an EL saber, which has a much smaller blade... but an annoying high pitched noise!)


    Pam :-)
    Pam Simpson
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    Pam's Twi'lek Creations: http://chucrew.com/Twilek/Twilek.htm
    Pam's Jade Creations: http://chucrew.com/Mara/MaraJade.htm

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  2. #2
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    Depending on the OD and ID of that saber you have, you could make it into a LED saber. If it is a 1.25 inch sinktube, then simply use the blade holder for 1.25 sink tubes sold in the store to make it functional. You would lose the fancy neck curves, but the basic hilt would stay the same.
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    Ooo... so this is you? http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/b...arth-talon.jpg

    Or are you the other one that has the talon costume that goes full out body paint?

    Either way... those drawing look MADE to be a Luxeon saber! They've got the flare and all. Looks like the illustrator even drew in a PolyC blade!

    Now the nitty gritty... Lord Maul is correct to ask the space you are working with. If you can base it around a pipe that will save you headaches because you can use off the shelf components for here pretty easily.

    If push comes to shove you can make a 3/4" blade also. That will really drop your diameter though. It would require more work but it's doable... and I like your attitude that you don't want to do it half baked.

    So in my mind if diameter is your biggest concern... go to a 3/4" blade. With a good style diffuser it will still spank EL in terms of brightness. Then I'm not sure how you want to go electronics wise. If you just want on/off a 3V setup with a CR123 is piss ant small. I did that on my Sidious saber (here) which had like 4" of space for my electronics.
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  4. #4

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    HIya Pam, nice to see another Eclipse member over here

    ID suggest going with an led based blade, they are much brighter than the older EL style.

    With Talons hilt size/style fitting sound in would be difficult (not impossible) but if you go for just the light up blade you can get some very small very good luxeon drivers. Ive had good success with the Konlux range as thye are VERY small (about an inch square and about 1/8" high. A proper diver takes all the hassle out of driving the led properly and increases the running time over using a simple resistor.

    Another suggestion would be to use some thin walled 1.25" tube as a basis for the sabre. This would give you the width to fit stuff in and would also allow you to use the shops blade holder too for ease of construction. Then you can sculpt your master around a identical tube, mold it and cast then slide it over the sabre. This will give you the strength of the metal inner but with all the detailing you want. It also shouldnt be too wide for you even with the sculpting.

    On the more electrical side of things fitting a rechargeable battery pack inside with a charge port is always a good idea as it means you dont have to dismantle the sabre to change batteries.

    Phil
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  5. #5

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    I am not sure, but I would believe that Darth Talon's lightsaber could have been based on this one. I have not seen it confirmed, though.
    It was made by Thomas Spanos, aka The Clone Emperor for his Clone Emperor costume. It was cast in metal, bored out and an EL driver was installed.

    Btw. Legacy cartoon artist Jan Duursema based the Imperial Knight Ganner Krieg on his likeness. He has of course made that costume also.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darth Lars
    I am not sure, but I would believe that Darth Talon's lightsaber could have been based on this one by Thomas J. Spanos, aka The Clone Emperor for his Clone Emperor costume. It was cast in metal, bored out and an EL driver was installed.

    Btw. He has met Legacy cartoon artist Jan Duursema many times, and she (also?) based the Imperial Knight Ganner Krieg on his likeness. He has of course made that costume also.
    Entirely possible. I noticed the likeness too.

    It is rather well known she likes the fans and I believe the Quilian Vos Pam posted herself with was used for the comic likeness. Overall I think it's cool to be known as a top notch costumer that does that character... like Gil as Porkins, etc...
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  7. #7

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    Since you're going to resin-cast the final 'shell' you have more options than a sinktube.

    First, you need to consider what battery/driver setup you're using. I practically preach the benefit of the 18650 Li-Po or Li-Ion batteries. From there you need a driver, and since a red LuxIII wants 1.5 amps, I'd go with a 1400 mAh driver from Dealextreme.com - they are a bit of a PITA to solder in correctly, but once you're done, you get a 17mm wide driver, which fits very nicely with your 18mm wide battery. This can all fit inside a small tube for casting purposes. I used a leftover nylon blade diffuser , which left me about 1mm of clearance, but you could use PVC, PC, whatever. From there you can hide your switch and recharge port anywhere along the molded saber body you'd like to.

    After that, get Tim's LED/Blade holder that we use in a lot of custom pieces, and include that and your battery/driver tube in your original molding. Add a LuxIII Red and a switch and a recharge port and a little wire, and you're done.

    Staying away from the sinktube/AAA battery setup will let you have a much smaller interior diameter, which means that after you're done adding your shell you get a 'normal' feeling hilt in your hand, and not one that feels like the thick end of a baseball bat. I found that out the hard war.

    I've done a project very similar to this in the past, and am actually working with a friend for another one currently. If you want some more pointers, feel free to PM me.

  8. #8
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    Hi Pam. Nice to see another female on the boards. I love your Mara Jade costume, and your other Twi'leks. I havne't seen your Darth Talon before.

    I believe that photo of the Darth Talon with the body suit is Summer Wermo from the TF.N boards.
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  9. #9

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    .
    Hello again, everyone.

    Wow... what a great response! I debated posting here for quite a while, and now I'm glad that I finally got up the nerve to do so. My thanks to every one of you for posting your thoughts and suggestions. I was feeling rather overwhelmed on where to start with this saber project.... but now that I have some ideas and hilt components to focus my research on, this project is starting to feel like something I really can accomplish. I'm looking forward to learning about how all of this will come together into what I'm certain will be the coolest prop I've ever made!

    I'm just now gearing up to make a Talon costume, so there are no pictures of me with that one yet. I've been costuming as a Twi'lek for years, but always as a green or blue character. The two best-known Darth Talon costumers are Summer with her bodysuit version, and Courtney with her skimpy one. Mine won't be finished until next summer, since I'm aiming to make it as accurate as possible to the reference images, and that takes a surprising amount of time. I have most of the supplies I need for the costume itself, now it's just a matter of assembling everything (and keeping up with my intensified gym schedule for the next few months!)

    Thanks again,

    Pam :-)
    Pam Simpson
    501st Legion - EU Detachment CO
    Rebel Legion - Endor Base
    Pam's Twi'lek Creations: http://chucrew.com/Twilek/Twilek.htm
    Pam's Jade Creations: http://chucrew.com/Mara/MaraJade.htm

    http://chucrew.com/Banner.jpg

  10. #10

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    Hi, folks!

    I got a bit of friendly ribbing for not posting progress pics of my Talon saber. It's all wired and sculpted, but I still haven't gotten around to painting it yet. Too many things keep happening "in real life" to give me enough time to play with my toys!

    I used a 1.25" sink pipe and blade holder, a Lux III red LED, a Li-Ion 18650 rechargeable battery, and a resistor. I was a bit worried that the resistor might build up too much heat in the enclosed pipe... but there isn't much that it needs to burn off, and the hilt doesn't get hot at all. I made two blades, one with corbin film, and one with clear cellophane inside. I actually like that one better, since it lights evenly down the length of the blade. The switch doesn't show up in this picture, but I took a square soft-touch switch and dremeled the corners off of it, and then built it up to a rounded shape with the sculpting putty so that it could be inset and made part of the scultped design as much as possible. The recharge port is in line with the switch, and is set flush against the sculpt.

    The hilt, as expected, came out a little heavier than I wanted it to because of the sculpting material on top. It isn't bad at all, but I like things to be very lightweight (wimpy girl hands!), so I'm still planning to make a mold and cast a new saber shell in a lightweight resin sometime.





    With the corbin film, before I sculpted the hilt...






    Couldn't have done this without your help, Novastar and Dregan! Thanks!


    Pam
    Pam Simpson
    501st Legion - EU Detachment CO
    Rebel Legion - Endor Base
    Pam's Twi'lek Creations: http://chucrew.com/Twilek/Twilek.htm
    Pam's Jade Creations: http://chucrew.com/Mara/MaraJade.htm

    http://chucrew.com/Banner.jpg

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