TOPIC: Revan hilt (PIC UPDATE) - Fractures and gold inlay

***RESERVED FOR FINISHED PICTURES ****

UPDATE 10/26/2016 : MONEY SHOTS and quick overview



Initial fire up pics:




Blood Orange Font:



Saber Specs:
ASP Fallen body - custom scarring and weathering with gold leaf gilding on the emitter and inlay in scars
Custom XQ-E Quad LED R/Pr/G/G with custom reflective coating on lens
12MM segmented AV switch with Red LED
12MM recharge port
Panasonic 18650B Battery
Spark2 sound board
Goth chassis


UPDATE 10/6/2016 - Current Emitter





9/20/16 - EDIT:
SOME PICS OF THE FIRST ROUND OF WEATHERING:








Original start of build...
I am placing an order for the ASP components for a Revan hilt today.

The plan is to cut and engrave factures and scarring into the hilt, and inlay some gold and or copper flake as well.

This will start as an empty, will either end up being sold or kept and electronics added.

trying to decide if I should get it ordered with weathering, or standard dual tone....

UPDATE: Order placed.

Questions on the emitter color - I've seen the detail right below the emitter as copper, gold, and more of a brass look. What is the correct color?
*** Most of the "cannon" pictures I see have this area golden in color ***

BLOOD ORANGE FONT PICS:













The red pops out more in pictures than to the naked eye on the font. In person this font is a dark orange, with pulses/flickers that add a lighter orange to it.

So now I wait for the parts - In the meantime I'd thought I'd share the overall design plan:

I've always wanted to do a Revan hilt with some custom detailing. The simplicity of the design and the metallic accents just seemed to be begging for some kind of custom work. I've seen some other very cool Revan hilts out there and many of them are inspiring this build. OvrcAHst's Hilt provided some inspiration as well as numerous "Steam Punk" style sabers. I want to create a show piece that would be a focal point of a Cosplay costume, or a display on a shelf. So to that end, I ordered some parts.

The ASP parts come powder coated black in the accent areas. Normally this would not be ideal for a Darth Revan hilt as the emitter should have a Gold/Copper band around it and possibly Copper for some of the accent bands around the hilt. In the case of this build the powder coating is actually a plus. The accent bands will have metal flake (Gold or Copper) inlayed on the powder coating. The powder coating will allow for a better contact surface and will help enhance the texture of the metallic flake. It should give it a more raw and "used" look and the slight texturing should catch the light in pretty spectacular fashion.

The goal is to use actual precious metal flake to produce very visually stunning accents.





Along with the addition of the metallic flake, I will be doing some scarring, fracturing, and light weathering to the hilt to give the saber a battle used look. I'm still trying to decide just how deep to go with the scarring and fractures. I'm toying with the idea of going fairly deep with some of it to recreate the hilt as if it was recovered from the wreckage of Revan's ship. Some deep fractures along the emitter could go as far as to penetrate through the entire emitter and allow light from the blade through. That combined with the Gold flake could create very gorgeous visual accent, especially with a Red LED.

This hilt will likely end up for sale once completed. But, we'll see, it may be hard to part with.

Jas-Ot wrote: I'm not completely familiar with your intended application method inlaying the copper/gold flake however it does sound interesting. If you're planning on adding colour (could be wrong) but I'd had thought while site-prep is required for any surface, the dual-tone would make it easier. I'd actually conclude that there's accuracy in either copper/gold or brass with the emitter band as it would depend on the level of aging/weathering that would be applied. Brass/gold with patina would make it appear darker (duller with less lustre) and going beyond that would borderline the bronze/copper colour. As I referenced in the other Thread, I was just the Tool that bought it. This sounds awesome. With how deep you go, I'd suggest you be conscious of how accessible the inside of the part is to enable a shine-through effect. I cut some slots in my US Raven recently on the Blade Holder (kinda resembles the Bastion windows) and to ensure nothing snags onto your blade, the inside needs to be sanded down pretty well more so than the outside IMO.

A relatively simplistic and streamlined design with spot accents is something I like (not always but still do). All colours are powdercoated onto aluminium except the last (Guardian w/out Shroud). Copper against Silver; Gold against Red; Brass against Gunmetal; Black Anodise against Silver Flange.

The application of the metallic flake is pretty straight forward. You take a diluted adhesive and spread across the surface, then you lightly place and sort of brush on, press in the flake. Once the area is covered you want to seal it in, in this care i'll probably use a clear enamel. The flake is seriously thin and brittle so it's a bit of a pain in the butt to work with, but it looks pretty cool. It has an older/raw metal look to it rather than a machined or sculpted jewelry appearance.

As far as color goes, my initial thought was to use actual 23karat gold flake. That might be a little too flashy though against the copper and the weathering and I'm thinking I may go with an alloy flake that has a little darker/brownish color to it, halfway between gold and copper.

As for the deep scarring for the emitter and some "shine through" I have some grinding/polishing wheels for the dremel that are an inch in diameter and should work well to eliminate any burrs. I'll be using two different diamond cutting/etching tools on the dremel to achieve the scarring. I've done some test runs on Nickle plated steel and it looks awesome. I've used these in the past on paintball guns which were aluminum and they are very effective. It's time consuming to do the scarring, not terribly hard from an artisitic standpoint, it just takes forever to do it.

Received the Hilt today.




Did a quick screw in of the switch and recharge port for looks.

The switch section and the retention screws on the emitter already line up with the screws 180 degrees behind the switches. Obviously the main body and covertech wheel do not line up yet and need some adjustment.

First order of business will be to get the main body and pommel aligned. Then I'll get started on the scarring. I must say, even though it's done with black accents, it's a pretty sharp looking hilt as is. Great two handed length and a would make for a fantastic dueling saber.

EDIT: Now that I'm holding this thing, it might be hard to part with.....

Finally got time to work on the hilt.

I aligned the parts with a combination of sanding and plumbing tape on the threads.

Finished the first round of scarring.













I'm planning on taking some of the scars deeper and wider. After that I'll get a polishing wheel on them to remove any burs. For those that are interested in the process, this is all done with a Dremel using diamond crusted engraving attachments. I've got about 6 hours put into this so far.

Hilt's looking good mate, your efforts and patience are paying off. Is the use of the diamond crusted attachment being done completely random or as on-the-fly to an imagined pattern? Or did you presketch a specific pattern and carbon trace onto the Hilt first (much like getting a Tattoo done)?

Awesome job you've done there Jas-Ot. I've been thinking of buying a empty hilt to try that style of scarring on. Can't wait to see the finished saber.

OvrcAHst wrote:
I drew a pattern using a sharpie, and mostly followed that. I improvised a bit here and there where I thought it would look cooler, or better.

I did some more work after I posted these pics, and now have the scarring on the emitter going deep and there are "shine through" areas along the emitter where the light from the blade will come through along the scars. It needs a little cleanup from the polishing wheels, but it looks awesome in person.

Next steps are to get the hilt cleaned up and then see about getting the copper/gold done. I'm currently researching a traditional gilding technique using metal flake that may work, although I'm note sure how durable it would be. I may have to experiment a bit. Worst case is I may have to resort to some enamel with precious metal in it.

I'd personally just spray the hilt with DupliColor Metal Cast Orange, then clean the raised areas off with some lacquer thinner. Would leave some nice copper-looking cracks.

But yeah, if you're going for actual metal-leafing, that'd be pretty cool.

Kouri wrote:
I'm thinking of a combo of the two. Basically exactly what you suggested along with a tiny bit of grime in the cracks/scars for a copper with carbon scoring effect. But then do actual metallic leaf gilding on the emitter. I found a copper/gold alloy leaf that might look really sweet. My only concern is durability.

jonnys95s10 wrote:
If you plan to do something like this, make sure you use the right tools and take your time. It's REALLY easy to slip and mess up your hilt.

Jas-Ot wrote: Well, the right thing to do would be to Post some updated pics!?

OvrcAHst wrote:
Yeah yeah.... I'll get around to some more pics.

This is a real art to making those cracks looks real and you've done a marvelous job here, pattern or no pattern. I can't wait to see more pics. Weathering is something I've not yet dared to try.

Finally got some pictures of the "finished" scarring on the emitter. Purple LED for these pics.







It's even cooler in person. VERY happy with how this has turned out so far. Can't wait to get the weathering and copper/gold done.
HotRod wrote:
Thanks! I've done this type of thing before on other items (models, paintball guns), but this is my first Lightsaber. It just takes some patience and a steady hand. I may do a similar thing in PVC for a scratch build I have planned for down the road (Double bladed Jedi Guardian styled hilt), but that might be a good year out.

The way the light penetrates through those cracks...... Wow, Just WOW

HotRod wrote:
It's really cool looking in person. It's just tiny holes/cracks along the scarring, but it reflects off the metal. It will be even more stunning if I can get the metal flake to work...

I could see going further on this thing and putting a "crystal" inside the hilt that some of the scarring down towards the switch section or base of the hilt might shine through too. Could be achieved pretty easily with just a couple accent LEDs. We will see though.

Jas-Ot wrote: Ahem.. Have you met ma girl Grace? Now that's the Money-shot! Awesome detailing and execution. Well Done! Kinda wanting to replicate the same on my shattered Fallen too for the cracked shine-through.

Outstanding job on that shattered weathering...