Flamberge Review - Pics - Obsidian v4 & Emerald

[Sypho Ruut]

Flamberge

So here it is everybody, the Flamberge!

 First of all, this IS a review and not just a pictures thread, so a few thoughts on the hilt.
It's big. I have large hands, and this saber fills them easily. To put this into perspective, i cannot comfortably use both choke points on a dominix v3, as one hand covers them both. The diameter of this thing is what really makes it a beast, all the electronics that have to fit in there really make it a lump, so don't even consider this saber if you have little hands.
It's heavy. At least compared to other ultrasabers, this is not a lightweight beastie. There will be comparison photos to follow.
The pommel. It's fantastic, so comfortable that once it is available seperately i will be buying at least three, to replace the pommels of any sabers i buy in the future.

 The specs for this particular saber are as follows:
LE hilt, with covertec and recharge port + kill key,
Blazing Red cross, and Emerald driver for main,
8", 8", 40", all UEHG.

 My Emerald driver setup is as follows:
Pulse - 0.00, 0.02, 0.00, 0.02 - R@255 to R@216 (cross is the same)
Clash - 0.06, 0.12 - B&G@255 to R@255 (Cross continues full power)

 Anyway, without further ado i will get the good part!

 



Now for some comparisons:







Onto the mass:





That's right, it's still lighter than a sword of the same type, with smaller dimensions. It's large, but it's more a question of bulk than of mass, while this is a far heavier saber than most of us will be used to, it's also a long way from unwieldy.

Obsidian V4

The Obsidian V4 makes this saber complete, it really is awesome, there's simply no better word to describe the impact it has on you. It's beautifully simple to set up, and even simpler to use, the sounds are loud and clear, and even the enunciation during configuration is rather good.  It's brilliant not having to reconnect to the computer every time a change is needed, this combined with the recharge port really makes it a self-contained unit, so it will help preserve the life of the wires too as the battery and speaker pack won't need to be taken out quite so much. I have yet to find a negative for this amazing piece of kit.

 Lastly, i realise no review is complete without a full length photo, so here goes!

[JediXIX]

Excellent review my friend, points to you  

And thank you for the pics of the back showing the recharge / kill key port......  


I'm lucky enough to have 3 Emerald sabers so far, and when I was initially considering the Flamberge I had dismissed Emerald because of the point it wouldn't change the crossbar colours...... But I missed the point altogether...... One of the main benefits of the Emerald driver is PULSING, which is just sensational..... I think someone else idej mentioned the pulse effect also works slighty on the crossbar (not sure if that depends on which channel the crossbar LED's are set to, he has his set to channel 4), do you know which channel your crossbar is set to? do you notice a pulse on the crossbar? (maybe like a fade effect?)

[Sypho Ruut]

thank you sir!

 My cross is set to channel 4 also, and i've set it to pulse a similar amount to the main blade, but to keep the brightness equal between the three beams i use a somewhat lower power for the cross. I think the high end of the pulse is 255 for the main and about 200 for the cross, and then around about 40 lower for both on the low end of the pulse.

 Mine is set to an always-on av switch, hence why i got the kill key, it essentially allows me a fifth channel to control the switch as well.

 The only issue i've found is that i need to make custom blade plugs for the cross, as the sockets are too shallow to take an ordinary plug and the saber only comes with one

[Darth Calico]

Great review!  I'm curious to see what this saber might look like with different colors. Looks like you'll get to try it lots of colors with your Emerald driver!

[Sypho Ruut]

I can do some photos with different colours if you like!
  Not on the cross though, that's red or off I'll leave it off and do a few photos for other colours though, it'll at least give you an idea
Any requests?

[hazard502]

Wow a superb review and the comparison/specks on the scale was an awesome idea.(LOVE the sword too ).  And yes besides an amazing design it has really great tech to it just making it a force to be reckoned with.  I wouldn't go for it personally but it sure is great.  Point well earned.

[Sypho Ruut]

Thank you sir!
 Definitely, whether it's your style or not, it's a superb piece of machining
The covertec doesn't get in the way either, as the pommel acts as an extension of the grip, just like a traditional scent-stopper pommel on a longsword. It doesn't translate so well in the photos because my hand&half has a wheel pommel, but it works the same way, the grip doesn't need to be too long as the hands sit very naturally on the hilt

[Connah]

is that a hanweii hand an a half i see there?

if i had the money i would probably have gotten a flamberge, they do look ace and i like the cross guard

[Sypho Ruut]

It is indeed sir! i was lucky enough to get it just before the factory fire along with their practical norman sword, they're both now considerably more expensive than they were then. One company in Germany still offers the odd hanwei piece here and there for knock down prices, particularly in the tinker pierce lineup, that's where i got my 9th century viking sword from, it's all good kit

 Yeah, i got it primarily because it's a good design over the film tie-in, although the 8 inch blades were too much. I cut mine down to 6" and they're about the limit, at least for someone used to the hanwei, so if you plan on a future purchase, i'd recommend the latter!

[Connah]

the cross guard on my hand and a half is roughly 4 or 5 inches long so I'd cut it down to about that length

I've got the Hanwei norman sword from the knight shop, literally the last one they had in stock after the fire, but i'm thinking of replacing it with one from the same company as my hand and a half. A mate of mine has got the hanwei hand and a half, personally i find the cross guard too short and the blade too bendy, but i'm used to my monster

but yeah back to the topic, Flamberges look cool, i'm tempted, but bank says no.....maybe theres a way i could make a cross guard for my existing saber

[Sypho Ruut]

A dominix v4.. it's possible, i'd probably see if there's any metalwork or machine shops near you who could thread the emitter and make a cross mounted on a collar (think of a polo mint with a stick either side) with the reciprocal thread. The easier way would be to attach the cross the same way you attach the blade. A metal tube with the inner diameter the same as the outer diameter of your emitter, your cross mounted on this larger tube, and the whole assembly held onto the emitter with three or four grub screws into dimples drilled or tapped into aluminium.

 the only thing that could possibly make the flamberge more impressive would be the option for an angled cross, more like the highland style of greatsword hilt. An angle of about 15-20 degrees makes a much bigger cross feasable, although admittedly the main blade would probably be a little too short to carry it off well.


 I can't say i've noticed much flex in the hanwei, but i agree on the size of the cross, i'd prefer closer to 6 or 7 inches. I should probably just bite the bullet and have a go with a langes messer though, it's a much easier solution.

[Zren Tobas]

Very nice, uh, mean Personally I would've gone all black for the red blades for sure

[Packer221]

Great saber review, although I'm not the type to get a with saber

[JerryVader]

So I'm new to the Obsidian sound board and Ultrasabers (The Flamberge is my first one), but I got my Flamberge in the mail recently.  How did you set the crossbar settings to "flickr" or "pulse"?  I have the Emerald 4 channel driver, but I think I'm just too new to know what settings I'm "tweaking" for a good flicker effect on both the main blade and the crossbar.  Any help/insight would be most appreciated!

-Jerry

[Sypho Ruut]

 Hi Jerry, I have the cross set to channel 4 on my driver, so to make it flicker, all i do is set channel 4 to full brightness for 0.04 of a second, have a ramp down time of 0, and have the second colour as channel 4 at a lower setting. Ramp up time also at 0.

 This means you get 0.04 seconds of full brightness, 0 ramp means it is followed immediately by 0.04 seconds of a lower brightness, and 0 ramp up means it goes back immediately to full brightness.

This is only possible with emerald though, the obsidian alone won't allow you to do this.


   In other news, this same saber actually is back for repair at the moment, i'm not certain what i did, but i somehow have confused the obsidian beta release to the point it no longer wants to talk to me! it's to be expected really, a prototype release is never going to be as stable as a full commercial release, i wouldn't worry about it.