TOPIC: SF Renegade - Spark2 Custom build

I finally got around to building this in between a half dozen other builds in progress and thought it was time to share.

Story:

I bought the empty hilt back in spring shortly after the new apprentice line hilts were introduced. I instantly liked the design of the renegade and had some lofty plans for building one. Originally this was going to get etched, inlayed with some gold leaf, weathered, and some accent LEDs installed. Basically what would have amounted to a pretty involved build. So it sat.... I've had all the components for it for months, but never got around to it because of the "lofty" plans.

Then this weekend I got done building a Flex and some custom Crystal Chamber parts for another build which the epoxy needed to set in on and I found myself with about an hour and half of free time.... So, I said screw it, it's getting installed as is.... And so it did...

Parts

-- SF Renegade "Dual tone" hilt - not sure what amounts to dual tone for this hilt but it's basically black with silver highlights
-- SF X4 LED - pR/R/G/G - setup for dual channel - Reds on channel 1 Greens on channel 2
-- NEC Spark2 Sound board - Dual channel color mixing, FOC, Aux effects, 3 sound fonts
-- Panasonic 18650 3400mah Li-Ion battery (the usual go to)
-- "Button top" Red ring momentary switch
-- 12mm Offset RCP
-- VECO 28mm bass speaker
-- Goth 3Designs chassis (Board, battery and speaker)
-- 30awg wiring

Finished build

I'm a fan of using the Spark2 board with the X4 star due to the dual channel color mixing, and ability to have aux effects with a single button setup. This makes for nice mid grade board experience with the simple design of the SF hilts. With the NBv4 out, this makes for more a toss up consideration now. While the NBv4 lacks the aux button features, it's motion and clash sensing are top notch and it will now push the X4 star properly and allow for color mixing. Being only a $13 price difference between the two boards, it makes for a tough decision. That being said, this hilt got the Spark2.

Like any good SF hilt build I do, a 1.11" Goth chassis is present. No fancy painting on this one, just your basic white. One thing that sets a "budget" build apart from a "good" install IMO is the use of a chassis. No matter how simple. My go to for SF hilts is the Goth line of 3d printed parts. They never disappoint.

I'm currently in a sort of "orange phase" where I'm loving orange blades, so the main font on this hilt gets a blood orange blade, with a nice yellow FOC and Aux effect. The end result of the blade color and the mostly black hilt really gives the saber a wonderful old republic "sith-ish" feel and look to it. For an added slice of fun, I put a Kylo Ren styled font on for the main font.

The hilt is extremely comfortable in hand, with the natural choke point at the "neck" and it spins easily. It's also long enough for a comfortable two handed grip. It has a simple yet elegant feel to it, something you would expect to see hanging from the belt of an accomplished force wielder. While the V4 infinity blade looks great in it, I'm still more partial to a thin walled blade. a 32" thin walled blade feels "right" in this hilt due to it's size and balance.

My over all impression... The Renegade is a SOLID addition to the apprentice line and has quickly earned a top spot IMO as far as the line itself goes. I was originally planning on selling this, but I'm not so sure now. I'm thinking of buying and building another to make a staff......

Awesome, I think I'll go for that finish if I ever get another one

It looks pretty great as it is. I will most likely do a little weathering to it just to make it look more "real" but as is it's pretty darn nice.

Nice! Of all the new Apprentice sabers, this one and the Talon grabbed my attention right off the bat! Great job on the custom install!

That's pretty dang awesome, great work! I like the dual tone, it's got a lot more black than the standard and looks more "detailed" because of how they used the black to accent some of the details, like the handle rings. That font sounds really good too.

The more I play with that hilt the more I like it. I've had just about every apprentice line hilt come across my workbench, and this one is way up there. Really nice design. This and the Acolyte/Disciple are my favs of the line so far. Definitely a more dark side looking saber, and this finish on it looks fantastic with any shade of red, orange, or yellow. Green is even pretty tasty on it, but the warmer colors are gorgeous.

Could not agree more! However, you know that every time someone on the web says the word "Gorgeous", they owe Jordan Moll a quarter!

Crap, at this point I owe him a commission then lol.

Brax wrote:
The World Wrestling Entertainment company (WWE) have a term for this quote stealing....they call it "Gimmick Infringement!"

@ Jas-Ot, Great hilt, install and video. I'm glad to see the Disciple/Acolyte are still getting some love out there. I also ventured over to your channel and subscribed.

For Tyeth

Sweet, thanks man. I don't post a whole lot of videos, but I 'm going to try and start doing a video for each build I do from now on.

A little pose with the saber, give you an idea of that gorgeous blood orange blade.

It's going up for sale.

Jas-Ot wrote:
Wow! That was a brief love affair!

Well, It was my plan to sell it all along, I tend to fall in love with every saber I build. The commissioned ones are obviously easier to part with cause the belong to someone else.

I think down the road I will build a staff out of two renegades, but I'll probably do it as a single board. So, this one stays as is, and hopefully finds a loving home.

i love blood orange, maybe more than red

I really contemplated going for that dual-tone finish myself. Stuck with standard, so I can modify it more down the road. But that's a great saber you've got there!