Hey Everyone! So after many months of going back and forth on what I wanted to do on my Dark Initiate, I finally said screw it and just started. I decided to first add some weathering to the hilt. I started with 60 grit, moved to 165, 220, and finished it off with 300 grit sandpaper.
I decided to add Kind of a fade to the sanding/weathering. This was mainly because when I hold the hilt I tend to favor the top half, so I figured fading would make more sense.
Hey Everyone! So after many months of going back and forth on what I wanted to do on my Dark Initiate, I finally said screw it and just started. I decided to first add some weathering to the hilt. I started with 60 grit, moved to 165, 220, and finished it off with 300 grit sandpaper.
I decided to add Kind of a fade to the sanding/weathering. This was mainly because when I hold the hilt I tend to favor the top half, so I figured fading would make more sense.
The next step was to add a D-Ring to the pommel.
For this I started off by placing the D-Ring on the pommel, and then securing it with some Gorilla Glue Epoxy. Next I marked where I wanted to drill the holes, and used a drill bit that was a tad bit smaller than the screw themselves. Once I got through the Pommel I started with a Power drill, and finished off the screw with a hand Screw driver. This was mainly because I didn't want to break off the heads of the screws.
The Third step was adding Vent holes into the top of the Hilt. My dad got a new Drill Press so I said why the hell not!
Here are some close ups of both sides.
If you haven't noticed, the vent holes are uneven. This was my bad! It was our first time really using the Drill Press, Not that it was that hard to use, but Keeping a Round object completely secure and lined up with out a triangle was a little difficult. It's okay though, It doesn't really bother me, I kind of like it like that. Anyways! After I drilled the holes, I used another drill bit (don't remember what it was called), but it was used to smooth out the edges, and kind of adds that slant 360 degree around the vent holes.
The last step was adding some grip. This was just adding some Fabric that I got from my mom. I didnt do anything special with it just wrapped it a few times.
Thats about all I got! I am pretty sure I am done with customizing on this one. If I do anything else it may just be some dings or dents to resemble blaster marks. But I found I can get that effect just from fighting with friends and dropping it on accident! Anyways, Hope this helps anyone that decides to do some customizing on their own sabers!