Ladies Copper Saber (for lack of a better name)
I got a GB stunt Sentinel v4 with recharge port out of a free grab bag last year and set it a side with plans to do something to it someday. In March I finally gutted it and decided to test salt etching on it. I practiced a few different resists so the line work isn’t consistent.
Popped the pommel into the lathe for nice crisp lines and used Sharpie as the first resist
Line work isn’t the finest, my hands shake now-a-days.
Salt etching uses a DC power supply, salt, water and cotton swabs. Simple yet time consuming. You have to continuously swipe the damp cotton over the surface evenly and is actually a very involved process. It took almost about 45 mis to do the pommel.
**Warning** This process creates Chorine gas and that is very toxic. This process must be done in a very well ventilated area. DO NOT INHALE THE GAS, it is a visible smoke with a strong caustic/metallic smell. If you can smell it, you need to be in an area with stronger ventilation. Attempt this at your own risk and do your research before you start.
I didn’t get the bite I wanted because the Sharpie was scrubbed off prematurely.
On the rest of the hilt I used a fine tipped paint pen. This held up well to the etching but where you hold it can get rubbed off. I suggest doing your line work in sections to prevent the paint from being rubbed off during the handling of the saber during etching. (constantly turning the saber to etch evenly)
I planned on putting the original electronics back into the hilt and was considering painting blue details to match. Discussing it with Logos and oxidized copper was mentioned… lightbulb. I picked up several shades of Testors Model Master Acrylic paint and Enamel. I played around with Teal, Green Zinc Chromate and Signal Green acrylic and wasn’t happy with the results. I then played with Turquoise enamel but it needed something. Picked up a bottle of Vallejo Model Wash in Dark Green and voila.
Unfortunately I didn’t save any of the pictures from the painting process.
I painted the blade plug for the saber with the same oxidized copper scheme
Logos mentioned a cyan LED would look really good with the color scheme of the saber over the guardian blue so I picked up a Tri Cyan LUXEON Rebel directly from the manufacturer. I want to thank Rapine, Tx and ScifiDude for their advice (a few others also, but I don’t believe they are on this forum) figuring out the resistor value I needed was making me a bit nervous. I also decided to use one of the other guy’s boards (PM for details) and learning to wire that also was wigging me out. I set the electronics aside until boredom set in…
Last week I finally got up the courage and was equally bored enough to start the electronics. Even picked up a shiny new electric solder station for this. Still need to buy finer tips tho, was tricky doing the PCB.
The AV switch
Due to the size of the AV I had to glue it in instead of using the nut. Not pretty but out of sight, out of mind.
Soldered the speaker wires and popped it into a chassis from TCSS.
*Skipping details of soldering the PCB*
And more work on the LED
Everything was finished and ready to pop the battery in. Oh and the previously mentioned paint job.
And the moment of truth… then disappointment. Light but no sound. Looked everything over and nothing was bridged and my joints were ugly but solid.
*Other guy’s PCB cut from pic*
A special shout out to ScifiDude who recommended checking the speaker, that turned out to be the issue and saved me a great deal of work, anxiety and heartache.
And now, the final product.
Lighting sucks, I know.
Instead of a recharge port, I painted and glued in a filagree metal bead, fits the feel of the saber well.
Pommel I picked up from TCSS
Crappy pic, but the flash shows the mottling of the wash well.
Blade plug illuminated.
And a pleasant surprise
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