Empirical

To say that I am proud to present this saber would be a gross insult to understatements. Many of those in the SSBT know how frustrated I have been personally because I have been pigeon-holed into the roll of "Master of Cram-fu/conversions" and although I enjoy the challenge of converting some of these "tiny" 1:1 sized hilts, I got into this Community to create sabers. So I say a hearty "thank you" to Lord Dracus for believing in me enough to commission this project. It is the culmination of more than 120 real hours of work. It started as a design sketch and ended as a unique multi-layered and elegantly weathered Crystal Focus saber homage to the original MPP Darth Vader sabers. This thread will also be a slight departure for me, because I want Lord Dracus to see the entire story of...Empirical.

The original Design sketches (as presented to Lord Dracus):



Once he approved the design, I needed to design a viable framework and unique pommel to fit the design:



With that out of the way, the "Deep grip grooves" needed to be engineered. I promised that the light would eerily shine out as from within the grips. Below you will see the grip work and the hidden light/sound vents/holes (which are hidden to the eye by the outer grip rings:





Next, the shrouds. Wow, this took 3 different sets of shrouds to get right. The big problem was how to get the shroud "separation" that exists in the design drawings. I started by using aluminum sleeve material for the shrouds and that simply did not work the way I wanted it, so I went with brass tube instead and used the aluminum tube as a "shim shroud" or "underlay" to gain that separation between the primary 45 degree emitter shroud and the main shroud overlay.




Next, had to move on to the weathering. This needed to be unique. I have been experimenting a great deal lately with baked enamels, different textures and color melding/multiple baking bleed through. This saber had 12 layers of paint and has been baked for 3 hours five separate times. The desired effect was a "used black" and "patina silver". I believed (and rightly so) that a copper base primer/texture would allow for adequate bleed through (if baked at just the right time) and in combination with a bright silver would give me the patina that I wanted. The gently weathered black is more of a standard light emory sand technique.




And a final clear coat (3 layers) You can also see the 7/8" ID BH:



And I was talking about that "underlay" to separate the shrouds...you can see it here:



Now it is time to move on to the electronics install (this is some SERIOUS Cram-fu since the ID of this saber is 1.025"):




The CF must be protected by antistatic material on the bottom side of the underlay shroud (no shorts here!):



This is the underlay shroud in place:



For the pommel insert, I wanted there to be the illusion of an exposed crystal. However, I needed the recharge port and wanted dome extra sound vents. I decided to use and acrylic half-sphere to both house the port and sound holes and provide the visual effect I wanted. This is that piece and the result:



Here are some shots of the inner "shine through" of light provided by those 4 accent LEDs you saw in the electronics pix. you can also see the Aux switch hidden there next to the power AV switch:



And the first assembled ignited pix:



This saber is Unique and I felt as though it needed a stand that would complement it. I contacted Arkai at Halon Customs. He has never let me down before and I am proud to say that he came through with flying colors this time as well and I am proud to have my baby displayed on his masterpiece of a "Death Star" vertical stand!

Now, on to the traditional post.

I proudly present "Empirical"!

The Particulars:

Crystal Focus Saber Core v4.2
LDM's "All-Sith" Compilation of fonts includes:
1. Sidious by Novastar
2. Starkiller by Novastar and Bin Adam
3. Resblade by Novastar
4. Vader V4 by Madcow
5. Dooku Ep. II by Sekrogue
6. Korriban by Madcow
Menu Effects by LDM and XL97
Seoul P4 Red (overdriven @1.4A)
(6) 5mm HO Accent LEDs
Lighted red ring latching AV main power switch
TCSS HO Speaker
7.4V Li-ion Battery solution
Crystal Pommel
Reverse Sound
LDM Custom Weathering
Red anodized "long" kill key
Aluminum LDM 7/8" Blade plug
7/8" bullet-tipped Nylon blade
"Death Star" Custom stand by Halon Customs

The BMT:



The Glams:



The detail Glams:





Patina Detail Pix:



That's it. I sure hope he likes it.