Saber Forum

Ultra Sabers Discussion => Ultra Sabers Reviews => Topic started by: Karmack on June 12, 2019, 06:53:12 PM



Title: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Karmack on June 12, 2019, 06:53:12 PM
Greetings everyone!   I've had my Dominix V5 for a bit now, and I thought I'd write up a short review of it to-date.  So, here goes..

First, my initial impression of the saber was "Wow!" when I saw it fresh out of the box.   I ordered the 'basic black' saber on purpose, I wanted it more subdued than the LE version, and the plan is to eventually have the D2, D3, D4 and D5 all in black and in the red-orange-yellow color family.   To that end the first two purchases were a replacement of my very first saber, a Dominix V3 with sound in SY, and this baby in Fire Orange:

(https://i.imgur.com/b7p78t0.jpg?1)

Now, I've had a long love affair with the Aeon/Dominix line.  My very first saber was a Dominix V3 over six years ago now.   In that time most of the sabers I've owned were either Aeons or Dominix variants, quite a few V4s as I looked for the best option combinations and, at various times, had to purge my collection for ... economic reasons. 

During that time, I've always loved the way the V3 and V4s handled, especially in the dueling arena.  When the new V5s came out, I was pumped.   They looked amazing, and a great upgrade, except for that one thing.

The claws.

And those evil points...

Nor was I alone.  When I saw folks flipping the claws I decided that might be the way to go, but there was something about the look of the saber that I didn't like.   But once I finally had my own V5, after getting my hand pinched by those points I quickly padded a flat-head screwdriver and carefully pried the claw away, intent on flipping it over...

...only to have one of the pressure pins stick in the emitter instead of the claw!   

Now I was stuck.  I had to get the pin out of one or the other before I could flip the claw around.   And try as I might, I couldn't get it out.  So, I finally pressed the claws back into the emitter in their original configuration.

>pinch<

Ouch....

Hmm...

In desperation I grabbed my dremil and put the sanding barrel on.  A few swipes and the very sharp edge of that claw was nicely beveled.  I gave the saber a few more swings.

No pinch...

*swing*   *swing*  *spin*

No pinch...

NO PINCH!   WOOT!

Elated that beveling the end and rounding that wicked edge off had mostly solved the issue, I put the saber aside for a bit.   But I was soon swinging it around again, spinning it, sparring (lightly) with it.   And I found something else:  My grip changed.   

I have large hands, and what I found was that I had begun using the curved area of the claws as a choke for gripping.  It was quite comfortable, with a good pre-machined bevel, and it greatly enhanced the grip.  Especially when I had on my heavy sparring mits.

All bonuses! 

But I wanted a bit more.   I wanted the hilt more subdued than the flashy LE version, but somehow the grenade grips and claws (fins?) begged for more...

So ... some color!

I again removed the claws, noting that this time the pins all came out with the claws, and set them aside for the moment.   I took off the pommel as well and put a temp V4 pommel on the hilt.  Then I masked off everything but the grenade grips on the hilt, as well as the core of the pommel, and headed for my painting station.    Once there, I applied 2 coats of Rustoleum "black steel" satin-finish paint to the grip areas, as well as the pommel fins and claws.

Then spent a day impatiently waiting for the paint to dry.....

Finally!   I unmasked everythning and re-assembled.  Again, I faced the question of flipping or not flipping the claws, and again decided against it.   Mainly because I was now gripping the saber routinely OVER the claws, and flipping them was no longer necessary or even beneficial.

The look was nice, with the grip areas, claws and fins a satin dark gray color against the wet-black of the anodizing.  A great contrast ... but just a bit to subtle.   It still needed something....

Copper...

Copper highlights!   Not everywhere, just in the narrow horizontal grooves of the grips and the bevels of the fins and claws.  Like pinstripes...   One last touch - the inner bevel around the emitter was given a copper touch as well.

Done.

Behold the slightly modified Dominix V5 "stealth".

(https://i.imgur.com/DGWsanz.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/QNByroW.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/TTTeGkq.jpg)
   *** On display on my work desk!   LOL ***

(https://i.imgur.com/ZbRTKZY.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/0aJFLql.jpg)
  *** showing off that emitter ***

So ... how does it rate?   I give it an 8.5 out of 10.   I love the look of the claws, but they do knock down the rating a bit in the handling department, particularly when comparing to a V3 or V4.  But as a display, this hilt rocks it, especially in the LE configuration or touched up a bit with some subtle highlights.

And I have to say, I am a bigger fan of the orange than I thought I would be.  Its a softer color than the others, without the blaring intensity of the BR, CG or GB or the awesome brilliance of AS or AB.   Its much like SRD - bright and vivid but with a softer overall impact.   

It may never be my "go to" dueler, but this saber rocks and while it will be display-worthy it will never become a 'shelf queen' in my collection!   :)

One last shot....

(https://i.imgur.com/fOolSHO.jpg)


(And a character note: For those who follow the stories in the FanFiction area, this is the saber used by Julwynn Cole, ne Hri



Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: tx_tuff on June 12, 2019, 08:30:57 PM
Nice review. That posting job came out sick! Really like it. In fact I thunk the whole saber would be wricked with it.

Sent from my LM-V405 using Tapatalk



Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Golden Fedora on June 12, 2019, 10:05:22 PM
looks great Karm. I love those copper accents


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Lord_S_Gray on June 12, 2019, 10:19:55 PM
Totally agree as a shelf piece that is amazing, the copper was the perfect addition that take it up that notch and add a splash of colour, claws might make it not so great for spinning but at least they are removable. Anyway great Job Karm, always great to see such simple but effective customization. 


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Therion Jinn on June 13, 2019, 02:36:16 AM
Looking very good there.
Your tale of the color is part of why I went with the all silver Initiate V5s back in the spring

Nice, subtle solution to the claws, too


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Karmack on June 13, 2019, 01:57:08 PM
... claws might make it not so great for spinning but at least they are removable... 

Actually, that's one of the things I was going to address but didn't very well.   IMHO, the claws really AREN'T removable.   Sure, you can take them off, but they sit in a channel milled into the saber, through that forward grip area.  The result is a grip area that has three deep grooves with VERY sharp edges.  I thought about buffing them down like I did the claw tips, but the result would have been a bright silver line showing where the claw mated with the saber, whether the claw was there or not.  And honestly, it looked ... odd.   It reminded me, albeit on a smaller scale, to the effect of taking the claws off the Butcher.

I totally understand why the sabers (V5 and Butcher) are milled the way they are, as milling that claw to conform to the surface of the saber would be a real pain.   But I REALLY wish I could get my hands on one that was not run through that channel milling process, as I'd love to get a clawless V5 and/or a clawless Butcher.  But I totally get why that's probably never going to happen.  :-)

Fortunately, the claws are nicely beveled and quite comfortable, though I have noticed that my copper accents are already coming off the grip area on the claws from handling, so I need to come up with an easy-to-renew solution to refresh the highlights.   Maybe a paint pen...   


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: chalion on June 13, 2019, 09:14:10 PM
Actually, that's one of the things I was going to address but didn't very well.   IMHO, the claws really AREN'T removable.   Sure, you can take them off, but they sit in a channel milled into the saber, through that forward grip area.  The result is a grip area that has three deep grooves with VERY sharp edges.  I thought about buffing them down like I did the claw tips, but the result would have been a bright silver line showing where the claw mated with the saber, whether the claw was there or not.  And honestly, it looked ... odd.   It reminded me, albeit on a smaller scale, to the effect of taking the claws off the Butcher.

I totally understand why the sabers (V5 and Butcher) are milled the way they are, as milling that claw to conform to the surface of the saber would be a real pain.   But I REALLY wish I could get my hands on one that was not run through that channel milling process, as I'd love to get a clawless V5 and/or a clawless Butcher.  But I totally get why that's probably never going to happen.  :-)

Fortunately, the claws are nicely beveled and quite comfortable, though I have noticed that my copper accents are already coming off the grip area on the claws from handling, so I need to come up with an easy-to-renew solution to refresh the highlights.   Maybe a paint pen... 
 

Krylon Leafing pens do ok for touch-ups, but note if you sweat on it, it will discolor. I used a Krylon Gold leafing pen on my Dark Graflex and it looked ok, but the day before I was going to clear coat it, it started to dull out. When I applied the clear coat, it ran like water. I instead went with Liquid Leaf in gold and it worked fine, but the leaf particulates were a little clumpy. With the clear coat on it now it looks fine, but you can see the brush strokes.


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: TheDutchman on June 14, 2019, 06:20:17 PM
Greetings everyone!   I've had my Dominix V5 for a bit now, and I thought I'd write up a short review of it to-date.  So, here goes..

First, my initial impression of the saber was "Wow!" when I saw it fresh out of the box.   I ordered the 'basic black' saber on purpose, I wanted it more subdued than the LE version, and the plan is to eventually have the D2, D3, D4 and D5 all in black and in the red-orange-yellow color family.   To that end the first two purchases were a replacement of my very first saber, a Dominix V3 with sound in SY, and this baby in Fire Orange:

(https://i.imgur.com/b7p78t0.jpg?1)

Now, I've had a long love affair with the Aeon/Dominix line.  My very first saber was a Dominix V3 over six years ago now.   In that time most of the sabers I've owned were either Aeons or Dominix variants, quite a few V4s as I looked for the best option combinations and, at various times, had to purge my collection for ... economic reasons. 

During that time, I've always loved the way the V3 and V4s handled, especially in the dueling arena.  When the new V5s came out, I was pumped.   They looked amazing, and a great upgrade, except for that one thing.

The claws.

And those evil points...

Nor was I alone.  When I saw folks flipping the claws I decided that might be the way to go, but there was something about the look of the saber that I didn't like.   But once I finally had my own V5, after getting my hand pinched by those points I quickly padded a flat-head screwdriver and carefully pried the claw away, intent on flipping it over...

...only to have one of the pressure pins stick in the emitter instead of the claw!   

Now I was stuck.  I had to get the pin out of one or the other before I could flip the claw around.   And try as I might, I couldn't get it out.  So, I finally pressed the claws back into the emitter in their original configuration.

>pinch<

Ouch....

Hmm...

In desperation I grabbed my dremil and put the sanding barrel on.  A few swipes and the very sharp edge of that claw was nicely beveled.  I gave the saber a few more swings.

No pinch...

*swing*   *swing*  *spin*

No pinch...

NO PINCH!   WOOT!

Elated that beveling the end and rounding that wicked edge off had mostly solved the issue, I put the saber aside for a bit.   But I was soon swinging it around again, spinning it, sparring (lightly) with it.   And I found something else:  My grip changed.   

I have large hands, and what I found was that I had begun using the curved area of the claws as a choke for gripping.  It was quite comfortable, with a good pre-machined bevel, and it greatly enhanced the grip.  Especially when I had on my heavy sparring mits.

All bonuses! 

But I wanted a bit more.   I wanted the hilt more subdued than the flashy LE version, but somehow the grenade grips and claws (fins?) begged for more...

So ... some color!

I again removed the claws, noting that this time the pins all came out with the claws, and set them aside for the moment.   I took off the pommel as well and put a temp V4 pommel on the hilt.  Then I masked off everything but the grenade grips on the hilt, as well as the core of the pommel, and headed for my painting station.    Once there, I applied 2 coats of Rustoleum "black steel" satin-finish paint to the grip areas, as well as the pommel fins and claws.

Then spent a day impatiently waiting for the paint to dry.....

Finally!   I unmasked everythning and re-assembled.  Again, I faced the question of flipping or not flipping the claws, and again decided against it.   Mainly because I was now gripping the saber routinely OVER the claws, and flipping them was no longer necessary or even beneficial.

The look was nice, with the grip areas, claws and fins a satin dark gray color against the wet-black of the anodizing.  A great contrast ... but just a bit to subtle.   It still needed something....

Copper...

Copper highlights!   Not everywhere, just in the narrow horizontal grooves of the grips and the bevels of the fins and claws.  Like pinstripes...   One last touch - the inner bevel around the emitter was given a copper touch as well.

Done.

Behold the slightly modified Dominix V5 "stealth".

(https://i.imgur.com/DGWsanz.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/QNByroW.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/TTTeGkq.jpg)
   *** On display on my work desk!   LOL ***

(https://i.imgur.com/ZbRTKZY.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/0aJFLql.jpg)
  *** showing off that emitter ***

So ... how does it rate?   I give it an 8.5 out of 10.   I love the look of the claws, but they do knock down the rating a bit in the handling department, particularly when comparing to a V3 or V4.  But as a display, this hilt rocks it, especially in the LE configuration or touched up a bit with some subtle highlights.

And I have to say, I am a bigger fan of the orange than I thought I would be.  Its a softer color than the others, without the blaring intensity of the BR, CG or GB or the awesome brilliance of AS or AB.   Its much like SRD - bright and vivid but with a softer overall impact.   

It may never be my "go to" dueler, but this saber rocks and while it will be display-worthy it will never become a 'shelf queen' in my collection!   :)

One last shot....

(https://i.imgur.com/fOolSHO.jpg)


(And a character note: For those who follow the stories in the FanFiction area, this is the saber used by Julwynn Cole, ne Hri


Love, LOVE, LOVE this review Karm!  I already have the benefit of having read your incredible stories and know what an excellent author you are; but now I can say that you could REALLY write saber/product reviews that are also enjoyable  :)

I really love what you did with the coloring; the copper accents are the perfect compliment to the black hilt!  Coupled with the natural silhouette of the saber hilt: absolutely beautiful!

And I LOVE having a physical analogue of your characters' lightsabers!  Not to mention that Julwynn is such a great character, given her extended history and her current situation(s)  ;)


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: chalion on June 14, 2019, 08:51:32 PM
I didn't think about it till just now, so I had to go back to your original post, but you colored the places where on a Dominix LE V5 would have had bare metal. Did you sand off the anodizing and then paint over the bare metal, or just painted over the anodizing?

I ask this because on my Graflex CE and Dark Graflex I had sanded the switch box areas that I had painted over, so the paint would get a better grip.


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Karmack on June 14, 2019, 09:05:18 PM
I did not sand off the anodizing.   One reason I used the paint I did is because it is an "all surface" paint designed to adhere to multiple surfaces with little or no preparation. 


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: JNovaarii on June 17, 2019, 04:05:14 AM
Nice saber Kar.  Eventually I will get the Initiate Le V5 as that will fit the bill for my Fi'arii character, Jeskaaro Nova'arii.  Cheers and May the Force be with You!


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Malik Thanewulf on June 18, 2019, 06:25:51 PM
I like this saber a lot. I want it and it's golden twin. As for me, I'm not flipping the claws. I just like the original version.


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: ScificommodoreJones on July 11, 2019, 02:04:05 PM
great detailed review thank you helps those of us new to Ultrasabers


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Gearhead on February 05, 2020, 05:35:33 PM
Just want to say that I love what you did to your Dominix, Karmack.  Looks fantastic.


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Karmack on February 05, 2020, 06:41:30 PM
Thanks Gearhead!


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Wamp Rat on February 06, 2020, 05:06:32 AM
That's the "Chosen One"! That's the one I must have! I have spoken...


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Locke Lo on February 09, 2020, 12:28:37 PM
Really like the look is this. The color just pops and I’m thinking more and more of getting the v5 as my second hilt. Nicely done on the hilt and review


Title: Re: Dominix V5 Dilemma - To flip, or not to flip...
Post by: Infinit01 on February 10, 2020, 11:40:58 AM
Good thread, Karmack. I vote for flipping the claws since it goes with the saber and what you're trying to do with it