Hi everyone!
So, the reason I'm making this thread is because I have crafted a custom Corran Horn inspired saber. Now, keep in mind that this saber is inspired by the description of Corran Horn's saber in "I, Jedi"...that doesn't mean that it is going to be like someone else's vision. The description that this saber is based off of is as follows:
"To serve as the hilt, for example, I salvaged the throttle assembly and handlebar tube from a junked speeder bike. The recharger port and wiring came from a comlink. A tri-fighter laser flashback suppressor became the parabolic, high-energy flux aperture to stabilize the blade and I pulled the dynoric laser feed line from the same broken laser cannon to act as the superconductor for energy transference from the power cell to the blade. Buttons and switches were easy to find."Additionally, I found this quote from Michael Stackpole: ""I don't see it (the overall saber) as 'longer than normal', but it does have to be long enough for the throttle part to fit in one hand, and the grip above it for the other hand, so the blade length can be change with a twist of the wrist. I didn't specify which model speederbike was used for the hilt."
Now, I had not initially set out to make a Corran style saber. Instead, I found my hilt first and was then inspired as to the direction to take. There are a couple of things that I want to point out before you continue any further:
1) I am still waiting on a shipment from US. That shipment has my AS LED, color disks, batteries, blade, and latching switch. I stuck a spare momentary switch into my switch hole just to give you an idea of how it will look when it's together.
2) Yes, I ordered color disks. Why? Because ladies and gentlemen, I crafted a device to put a color disk into place with just a quick twist of a screw! While I don't have my AS LED yet, I do have SY, and SRD. Because of the fact that they can both be altered by color disks, I used them to test my device. Though I don't have pics of it in action, it DOES work! I used a purple disk (because that's what I had beside me) and it turned my SY orangish-red when it was in place. When it was not in place, the SY shone through nicely
Basically, I did it!
I'm going to break this down a little bit at a time.
First, the hilt. The hilt came off of an old, rusty pair of shears that the previous tenants of this house left behind. I could have thrown the shears out, but when I felt the metal handles, I knew they could be decent saber hilts. My first step was to take off the green wrapping that was on the handles, and cut them down to size. Once that was done, I had to get rid of the rust that had seeped underneath the wrapping. I then made myself a pommel. I just cut part of the handle off and left enough room for it to slide into place. The pics I have first are in comparison to the other side of the shears. I used the other one to make a new saber for my fiancee. Unfortunately, the one that I had built for her before had a plastic emitter and the threads stripped on the first hit
Oh well, a full metal one will be better for her anyway
The reason the pommel isn't on the hilt in the first pics is because the glue was drying on the handle. I had to pull it off in order to cut the pommel, and then decided to Gorilla Glue it in place so it wouldn't fly apart in tough dueling sessions. This was the result:
Once that was done, I took a couple of pics with a blade in to see how it felt and looked. I was pleased with it, and was then inspired to do the Corran hilt.
At that point, it was just a shade over 15" in length with the pommel cap on. I took a pic with the pommel cap on and compared it to my Libby and my Arbiter to give you all an idea of sizes.
Here's two pics of the grip/throttle. Since the original Corran hilt was made from the handle of a speeder bike, I wanted the second grip to be the "throttle". My fiancee wanted her saber to be shorter, so I took the section that I cut off of her saber, split it down the middle, put it into place and wrapped it in electrical tape. I made sure that there was enough overlap in my taping that there are ridges for the grip. It feels really nice, and as a bonus, it actually moves so you can treat it like a real throttle!
The emitter is based off of the fact that it was made (in the book) of a Tri-Wing Fighter's flashback suppressor. I thought it might be this kind of Tri-Wing:
Here's some pics of my first attempt at my emitter. It was, of course, on my practice piece so I could alter things a bit if needed. BTW, the third pic has the screw which controls the color disk.
The electrical tape will be removed once the final parts arrive. Either way, here's what my device looks like inside the practice piece.
Here's what it looks like when it's up, out of the way. This is how the AS will be visible.
That was my last update...until today!! I did some more work on the saber tonight and am very pleased with it. I'll explain more as you see the pics. First up, we have a couple of pics in comparison to my other sabers (except for the Luke ROTJ).
As you can see in these pics, I moved the button down from the original position. In addition, I found a part of the shears that I turned into a (non-functional) activator box.
Here's the throttle grip moved down into place. You can see the button, and also the screw that controls the color disk.
Here's the emitter on the saber instead of being on a practice piece.
Here's the emitter's retention screw and the color disk screw.
So, let me know what you think!!! I don't have a final measurement, but you can see that it is shorter than the Arbiter, but a shade longer than the Guardian. So, it's on the long side, but it's also meant to be like a speeder's handlebar.
