Tenel Ka Lightsaber... need advice!

[Eiyame]

Please for the love of the gods to not use Sculpey; you will melt your wiring inside even with just a heat gun and it would take forever to set. Sculpey has to be baked at 275 for 15 minutes and that's pieaces only 1/2 thick at points your are going to have an 1 and a half or more to set and the backing draws out the water in the clay. And with a heat gun you'll be there for days, and metal conducts hot and cold VERY well. (I would know I set my saber hilt by the AC outlet and damn near froze my figures to it when I picked it up)

Honestly fiberglass is your best option but if you have no experience working with it its not going to be a good idea to try on a $200+ lightsaber.

The problem I see with Crayola Air Dry Clay is that the last time I used it (was over 10 years ago) But if I remember right it was kinda foamy even when dry. Though you could use that as the base (I know it takes paint really good, though acrylic not spray paint) and then put a resin sealer over the top of it to seal it and make it hard.

Though if I wear you I wouldn't duel with it. I think you would end up breaking or cracking whatever you use to make the bone handle. Which would be a sad day.

There is my two cents on the subject. Good Luck

[Master Nero Attoru]

Please for the love of the gods to not use Sculpey; you will melt your wiring inside even with just a heat gun and it would take forever to set. Sculpey has to be baked at 275 for 15 minutes and that's pieaces only 1/2 thick at points your are going to have an 1 and a half or more to set and the backing draws out the water in the clay. And with a heat gun you'll be there for days, and metal conducts hot and cold VERY well. (I would know I set my saber hilt by the AC outlet and damn near froze my figures to it when I picked it up)

Ah good advice.  If that's the process you need to use then the only option I can think of is to wedge the switch out and remove the electronics... but to do so you need to unsolder the leads to the switch itself.  All in all, I'd avoid this if I were you.

Maybe something that doesn't require such extreme conditions for drying...

[Manroon]

You might perhaps email US and see about buying an empty hilt and pommel, doing your sculpting and firing, being sure of course to leave a little gap around the switch mount, and then mailing the toothified hilt back in to have the electronics added. It might be more pricey, but it would get the job done, and most of the extra cost would probably just be in shipping I'd imagine, so it might not be as bad as you'd think.

[Big Andy]

You might perhaps email US and see about buying an empty hilt and pommel, doing your sculpting and firing, being sure of course to leave a little gap around the switch mount, and then mailing the toothified hilt back in to have the electronics added. It might be more pricey, but it would get the job done, and most of the extra cost would probably just be in shipping I'd imagine, so it might not be as bad as you'd think.

No need to email them...
http://www.ultrasabers.com/DominixV2-p/zdiy-aeon.htm
http://www.ultrasabers.com/product-p/parts%20-%203aa%20battery%20holder.htm
http://www.ultrasabers.com/product-p/z-electronics-guardedlatching.htm
http://www.ultrasabers.com/product-p/led%20module.htm

[Manroon]

No, you'd have to email them if you want to send it back in to have the stuff installed. If you just buy the parts, you'll have to put it together yourself.

[flurrsprite]

Thanks for the input everyone! I don't think Sculpey's the way to go, but I do like the look of the Magic Sculpt that Ninja-Jedi suggested. I've worked with two part epoxy before and it's pretty sturdy after it air dries (no kiln/oven necessary!). Here's a tutorial someone posted about Magic Sculpt: http://kitkraft.biz/blog/?p=443

I don't have any experience with fiberglass, alas, but I think I should be fine with epoxy Plus, I already ordered the saber! Cross my fingers?

[srams]

MOD EDITED FOR CONTENT: Link to what is technically a competitor's site, which is prohibited by the rules. Please remember to review them. Thanks! =/\=Moderator Manroon

[Darth Vapour]

I have used magic sculpt on several sabers (fully custom built) and it works great. Definitely the way to go

[Darth Vapour]

Here is a link to one of them  http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=8455.msg121664#msg121664. You can sculpt it to what you want to, smooth it with water. Once set you can sand, carve, drill, whatever you like with standard woodworking tools.

Great choice of hilt by the way, I can't wait to see it

[flurrsprite]

Looks great, Darth Vapour!! Can't wait to start working on it The saber should arrive on Monday, and then I can get to work...!

[flurrsprite]

Got the saber!!

The color's perfect! Love that it's more blue than in the pictures. And the silvery sheen of the blade when it's off is cool too.

Now, on to fix up the hilt!

[Manroon]

Gonna look siiiiiiiick when it's done! Can't wait to see!

[Master Nero Attoru]

Gonna look siiiiiiiick when it's done! Can't wait to see!

Agreed, I love it already and you haven't even modded it haha

[thejedimasternick]

I actually just got done making a tooth styled saber just a few hours ago, hah. Well, I can give you some hints and ideas of what to use. I did a lot of scraps for the parts, and it really depends on what you want to do. Of course, the tricky part is the electronic install, but, if well planned, you can do it.







Now, its not exactly Tenel's, but, I was going more for a dino bone. The saber itself is PVC piping, oven bake polymer clay, and some fiberglass resin bondo. The tooth part comes off from the bottom so I can switch out the batteries when need be. I didnt use a saber, persay, but you could easily do the same to another saber if you like, well, except bake the thing. The electronics are simple, LED module for a 1" diameter pipe, battery pack, and switch. I like that switch just because it snaps and is a little more solid and rigid than other activation switches.

[flurrsprite]

ooh! missed your post @thejedimasternick ! but that's pretty awesome! the resin looks neat. i actually like how it looks prior to being painted, it looks like some mysterious crystal or something.

howeverrrr i did just finish my saber, hooray! well, i'm still in debate about the switch, i think i want to round off the button with some epoxy but it doesn't look too bad with the original one maybe i'll just paint it gold...

i had all of my pictures to base the saber off of... and then decided to wing it haha. i went for creepy and stabbity, shaping it to look like a dagger. i used a shark tooth as inspiration, with the little teeth growing in off the sides. i also carved into the tooth to personalize it a bit

pic spam below, hope you all like it! i'm finishing up the rest of my costume, i'll post pics of the whole outfit once completed.