Saber Forum

I am building a Rogue Jedi/Starkiller type of cosplay (or costume, whatever you would like it to be called). I am putting this together for a Comic con in Portland, Oregon that's in September called the Rose City Comic Con. It will also be used at a cancer awareness event which will be Star Wars themed, in which two friends and myself will be choreographing a saber battle to perform on stage in attempt to help raise money. The name for the character will be Trayc (pronounced trace) Sortok. Basically made up from mixing up letters from my name lol The story behind my character will be this...

Fallen to the Dark side at a young age, he was a trained by Maul while Maul was an apprentice to Sidious. He was sent to attack young padawan at the Jedi training facility at night while all were asleep. Trayc showed eagerness to complete the mission. He had felt honored to receive a mission at such a young age. He left that night to complete the missions. Trayc infiltrated the facility with no problems. Once in the room filled with future Jedi, he ignited his saber. The room filled with a blood red color and deep, dark hum of his saber. He approached one young padawan who was fast asleep. He raised his saber above his head to strike the first one down. Just as he was about to unleash a ferocious strike, the padawan's eyes opened. Trayc looked into his eyes as they the begin to fill with fear. The child's eyes then began to fill with tears. Something had struck Trayc while staring into the young padawan's eyes. Why was he doing this? Why strike someone down that was so innocent? Trayc powered down his saber, apologized to the padawan and fled out of the facility. He arrived back to report to Maul and Sidious. He had brought the news that he did not complete his mission. Filled with anger and hatred, Sidious wasted no time in force shocking Trayc for agonizing minutes. Thought to be dead, Sidious ordered Maul to dispose of the body. Maul lifted Trayc up with the force and threw him through a window where the body rolled down into a ravine. Trayc though was not dead. He awoke in a small stream with his body filled in pain.

Obi Wan had been out on a mission to pick up some items from a local shop for his speeder when he ran across the body of the young boy. They made eye contact which revealed white eyes due to the force shock from Sidious, and Trayc fell out of consciousness again.  Obi Wan brought the boy back to the Council where they discovered he had a high metachlorian count. Years later and fully recovered, Trayc had made it through the Jedi trials and was asked to be somewhat of a spy. A Jedi to be sent on special stealth missions.

Thats about it for now. But back to the costume lol Here is what I have so far!

(http://i46.tinypic.com/28me1yf.jpg)

I plan on getting white contacts, some foam for a shoulder pad, a gray shirt with some tears placed in it, gloves to go over the arm wraps and some black pants to complete this build! I also think I will be ordering a V3 Dark Liberator in AB. The Dark Liberator would be good for stealth type missions since it is black and not very flashy so it couldn't be seen easily in the shadows. I am very excited to complete this!

I'm excited to see how this turns out, I like the backstory and the costume parts sound awesome. Point!

I like your story line for the background of your character.  Well thought out and falls well within reason of the Star Wars Universe.  I look forward to seeing everything come to fruition.  Keep everyone posted on this and I like the choice of saber as well.  Of course I am going to be biased toward anything that has a Blue LED in it.  

Thanks! So am I!


Thank you! I actually kind of just made that up as I was typing. I knew I wanted the whole dark side to jedi story. But everything else was on the spot.

While the site is very girly - kiwistrawberry lenses are affordable and from what I hear, comfortable. I bought my aqua lenses here.

http://www.kiwiberry1-collection.com/products-page/14-0mm/geo-cpf1-solid-white/ (http://www.kiwiberry1-collection.com/products-page/14-0mm/geo-cpf1-solid-white/)
http://www.kiwiberry1-collection.com/products-page/cosplayanimation-lenses/gngdueba-manson-white-070/ (http://www.kiwiberry1-collection.com/products-page/cosplayanimation-lenses/gngdueba-manson-white-070/)

I think the site might be down or something cause it takes me to some knock off search engine.

Here is more of the process. Getting the shoulder piece started. Got the foam cut out and molded. Tomorrow I will use a dremmel tool to round out the edges to make it look more smooth. I'll be spray painting and adding some screws here and there. I am also thinking about putting some kind of LED's on it to play as a "scrambler" so it will actually have some kind of purpose other than looks lol. Since my character is a rogue/stealth it would be cool to have something to throw off security systems or something along those lines. I also got my black gloves and gray shirt which I will also be posting tomorrow.

(http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/2041/imag0805k.jpg) (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/528/imag0805k.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

Love the back story, and the costume ideas you have...

That being said... put on a suit, and dye your hair blonde... and you could totally be Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother.

Like I said once before, you could totally pull off Starkiller. Dye your hair and beard black, and dual wield.

That is the second time I have heard that one! Lol


I might have to actually shave one of these days and maybe I'd look more like him lol I don't think I'd like having black hair though. Maybe some temp stuff if they make that? Lol

Most costume shops have this two day spray stuff, that works well and usually is all washed out after two days/washes.

Yup!! Used it on my daughters hair or events like dance performances as well as halloween. Might be able to find some in stores like Hot Topic or Spencers Gifts.

I'll have to look into that!

Here are some more pics with further progress. Excuse the girly stuff lol It is in my girlfriends room.

Here are the handwraps and gloves...

(http://i45.tinypic.com/30xkgzt.jpg)

Shoulder gaurd, gloves, wraps and shirt I will be wearing...

(http://i48.tinypic.com/a2g4k7.jpg)

A small customization to the saber. I wrapped the bottom half in black sports tape for added comfort and cosmetic looks...

(http://i47.tinypic.com/eqxb11.jpg)

And everything together!

(http://i50.tinypic.com/dczrqu.jpg)

Next I will be trying to find some leather strips or something along those lines to get the harness completed. After that I need some pants and boots with some kind of wrap over the ankles. I might keep the pants that I am wearing. They are kind of a faded, worn black but I am not sure if i'll keep them for this project. I was thinking about maybe adding a little battle worn look to the shirt by making a couple slits here and there. After the slits were cut I would run a lighter in the outsides of the slit to give it a burnt look as if a saber had made the cuts. I thought that was a pretty cool original idea that I at least hadn't seen. For the ankle wraps I will probably just pick up some kind of cheap fabric from Joann's. Also, the other day when I picked up the gloves and foam tiles at the local Sports Authority, I saw a neck guard that covers of the bottom half of the face and the whole neck. I thought it would be nice for the stealthiness of my character.

(http://i46.tinypic.com/1o3ghi.jpg)

I am super excited for this build. I know it is simple and what not but I am having a lot of fun with it as this is exactly what I would want to look like if I were actually in Star Wars lol It is my first costume build and I will be wearing this at my first Comic Con in August as well as the Star Wars cancer awareness rally where myself and a couple friends will be putting on a saber performance on stage.

Spray painted the shoulder guard and added some screws.(http://i46.tinypic.com/35bc7sj.jpg)

I also have a couple black belts to go across the chest and abdomen. Now i just need a couple leather straps to go over the shoulders and I will be able to piece this all together!

Great fun.  I really appreciate the WIP stages...a little at a time...coming along nicely.

Thanks for the share.

No problem! It's a lot of fun doing it. I'm thinking about getting the shoulder straps tonight but I'm watching the NBA finals lol

Very nice progress on the shoulder piece. It looks cool with the added screws. It's amazing what you can do with normal stuff lying around!

Coming along very nicely, cant wait to see the final product.

Thank you Solinus! It's definitely the more challenging part. I'm not sure if I am entirely happy woth it so i might do another one. I'll wait til everything is complete to see how it looks though. Thank you as well Spidey. Im excited for it to be done as well!

I love the hand wraps/gloves. They look really good. Also just my opinion but the neck/lower face cover would look completely awesome. Something like that would be a definite plus. Good work Stockton!

Yeah its like $10 at the local sports store so I think I'll have to swing in and grab one!

Nicely done!  The screws were a nice touch, I appriciate the eye for detail

I finally got a couple yards of black faux leathet and got the harness done! I just... Forgot to take a picture and now I'm at work lol but it does look rather good I think. Definitely will have pictures posted tomorrow sometime. So close to being finished!

Aaaaand here are the pictures with the completed harness and shoulder guard!

Close up shot of harness

(http://i47.tinypic.com/2dtvjn5.jpg)

W/Saber

(http://i50.tinypic.com/jsgby1.jpg)

I am trying to figure out how to make the harness look a little better. Any suggestions on what I should add? Also, I am thinking about attatching another belt about 6 inches from the bottom of the harness. I'm thinking that might look better.

i think the only problem with the harness is how shiny it is, buy some black webbing, and either cover it, or redo the straps with the black webbing. Its also going to breathe a lot better than the synthetic you used.

The design seems very solid though, looks good.

Looks good from here.

One of the major hurdles I had to overcome with my sculptures and fabrication projects was getting past the construction stage where the item is en flux...I can offer that it looks fine, move on to another element, and it will all come together  :)

Yeah I do agree that it is a bit too shiny. I think I might try taking some sandpaper to it later. Should give it a more worn look and take some of the shine away.


Yeah I am just stumped as to what else to add to it. I want some kind of clips or something along those lines to add but no idea what lol

The piece you have started looks a bit tight, so IMO extra details at this point would look cluttered.

Are you installing a second shoulder piece?

Perhaps a small center chest plate, maybe with an emblem of some sort?

I think it will just be the one shoulder piece and I have not though about a chest piece yet. Might be something I will have to think of. The details I was thinking of would not be very big by any means. Idk I guess I will just let the creative juices start flowing over the next couple days now that the main part is done.

the costume looks good already but if your looking for suggestion u could try to weather it prob some tutorials out their u can find, maybe for extra flair u could make  a powered up device of some sort purely prop but u could add LED to give a powered up look but i think it looks good as is also well done

Yeah I have been toying with the idea of adding some kind of power box to it. Not good with electronics though lol

I think it's fine the way it is. If I were to add anything to the shoulder piece itself would be an insignia of some kind. Maybe a marking of your house, or a clan marking or something.

There's a good idea. I think I'll look into that. Thanks Solinus!

i was thinking that a cowl or wrap would do nicely to cover the straps. I can't find a picture of what I mean, can't quite seem to type the right words in google... whatever. Anyway, what I am talking about would be a light loose material that would just wrap around your chest and back under your arms tighter at first and then sort of drape around your shoulders and neck, leaving the shoulder guard open of course, and either tucking back into the tighter part or hanging behind you. I hope that makes sense.

oh, I found a pic of something similar looking, but not exactly. Anyway, maybe that would do the job.
 (http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/3154724f95b6d315d7a628666ec6232a/http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn209/Non-fangirl-of-Sasuke/Anime%20RPC/Anime_Warrior_by_chaotixwolf.jpg)

if that's not a look you like, then even just adding a strap going diagonally down from the harness to maybe just hang around one side and then up to your back or something would break up the lines and draw the eye...

I actually do want some kind of cowl buy i have no idea how to make one :(

Does this help?


http://eqos.deviantart.com/art/Pattern-Large-Hood-201862413 (http://eqos.deviantart.com/art/Pattern-Large-Hood-201862413)

I might be able to try something with that. Thanks Relmeob! I was thinking more along the lines of something like this though. Just not covering the face and basically be over one shoulder so the shoulder guard could be revealed.

(http://i49.tinypic.com/179vgy.jpg)

That is easy enough, just a large sleeve cowl...a fabric tube.

Your only real issue will be heat...that much fabric to get the appearance as noted will be so hot.

You will need to find a lightweight fabric that will not weigh itself down...a dyed muslin would work I think, inexpensive also.

The part I want is just the piece that goes over his shoulders. I don't want any sleeves of any kind. It seems rather simple but I have no idea where to start!

Lol, no worries...it is called a sleeve cowl because of the shape, there is no sleeve.

Picture a tube sock...cut the foot off...you have a tube or sleeve.

If this were larger then you could wear it as a a cowl.

That is basically it...find some decent fabric that lays nicely, cut it with a gentle taper, make one long stitch, put it on.

Easy peasy   ;D

You are the man! Sorry I didn't catch what you were saying previously. Makes total sense now though and like you said seems very easy!

Very easy project...use tape to make your "stitch" first, to test the lay and fit.

I will do that. Thank you so much Relmeob. I will probably go get the fabric sometime this weekend and try that method out. Should look real nice I think :)

So I grabbed a sash I have for another costume and wrapped it around my neck and shoulder and this is what happened. it is just wound around me a few times so making something that is stitched to itself would undoubtedly make better on my attempt.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/287eq01.jpg) (http://i46.tinypic.com/287eq01.jpg)

I think you will end up with something that will be awesome for your outfit. I'm excited to see what it finishes up like :)

That is almost exactly the look I want. If it turns out how I want in my head, it will be great!

For something you just "threw around your neck" that looks pretty darn cool. Point!

How do you get the arm wraps to stay on?
Max