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

Execute66 wrote:
Thanks man!

The "Fallen" is my first saber build. It's also my first foray ino gilding with metalic flake. It's been fun working on the hilt. It's just about ready for the electronics. Just need a little touch up around the emitter since I redid it and a spray of clear coat and it's ready to go.

Jas-Ot wrote:
So R + Pr would be like a Medium Red? I've been thinking about trying that combo. Have you done that before?

HotRod wrote:
Nope, first try. Kouri had the recommendation so if it looks bad I'll just blame him
This does of course assume SF builds the LED correctly.

Couple pics of the Emitter with the redone gold leaf: (also added to the first post)





The pictures barely do it justice, it's gorgeous in person. No way to really capture how the light reflects off it in a picture. I am so happy with how it turned out this time. I can't wait to get it's LED put in and see how the the shine through spots look with it.

What I did:

1) steel wool - took off the original gold leaf and paint
2) used some 80 and 220 grit sandpaper to strip off about 95% of the powerder coat around the emitter. I left the slightest amount (looked like a very light weathering) for minor texture.
3) Applied the gold leaf - let set for 24 hours
4) second layer of gold leaf - let set for 48 hours
5) dry brushed the hell out of the leaf - smoothing it out and bringing out just the slightest bit of texture.

To Do:
1) need to apply some very thinned out "tarnished gold" acrylic paint in a couple spots on the emitter to highlight the fractures - going to go VERY thin this time.
2) sand off powerder coat from inside emitter - I don't like the black powerder coat inside. Planning to polish the inside up so the LED can shine more.
3) clear coat the hilt
4) buy/build chassis
5) install electronics (ordered)

Looks great man! Keep up the good work.

Muns wrote:
Thank you!

It is nice to get some positive feedback on my work!

PARTS!



R/Pr/G/G LED Will be attached to SPARK2 for some Red with yellow/orange blade effects.

Spark2 and Goth Chassis ordered.

Spark2 should be here in a couple days (Thanks to Scott for doing a one off order for me)
Chassis should arrive next week

This hilt should be fully done by Halloween!

Which chassis did you get? I went with his modular parts (since I was putting the recharge port in the hilt I didn't need a spot for one like the all in one chassises have) and got a bass speaker holder and the combo 18650 and Spark 2 holder in black. They printed out great (I did a bit of painting on top of it), but the "prongs" that are supposed to hold the board in are too close together for the board to fit, but not enough for it to be for having the Tru-Drive separated, so I'm going to have to cut them off.

I got the module one as well. 18560 + spark2 holder and the separate speaker holder.

Ordered mine in white, was planning on painting them too. Copper with gold/bronze.

Ha I did something similar. Did a base of metallic silver, sanded a bit of, then did a layer of gold and sanded that off a bit.

Also on the battery and board holder the holes for the threaded rods are tight enough you have to screw them in instead of pushing them through (like with a TCSS chassis disk). Takes a bit more effort but it's worth it for the extra stability.

Spark2 just arrived, so tempted to wire it up before I get the chassis....

I mean I do need to test everything......... Just not keen on shoving it all in the hilt without the chassis...

Spark2 wired up and fully tested.

The red shine through on the gold of the emitter is gorgeous. I had it pulsing with the slightest bit of orange in. I didn't take any pictures since the saber was half open and a bit of a Frankenstein monster since I'm still waiting for the chassis.

I'll save the money shot for when it's completed....

That moment after your third attempt at cramming your new goth chassis with sounds board and battery into your hilt and you've shortened every wire to the point where now everything is basically just coated in heatshrink.

That moment when you realize you need to rewire pretty much the whole damn thing... hopefully there is enough wire where it counts....

Some lessons need to be learned the hard way.

Good luck, bud. Just go slow and walkaway if you get frustrated. You've done a fantastic job so far

Guess it doesn't help much now, but my usual plan for simple builds is to mount the LED, switch, and maybe recharge port (if it's by the switch/es) first, then run wires long to exit the pommel and reach the soundboard when its chassis is *just* outside of the hilt. That way, once everything's back in, there's enough slack to slide out the LED, chassis, or switches, if need be.

Kouri wrote:
That's how I wired it to test before the chassis arrived. The chassis added enough length that it basically takes up the entire body section. I believe the fallen body is shorter than most.

My only concern is having to resolder and then reconnect some of the wires to the Spark2 since the pads on it are so small. I'll just have to be extra careful. Also won't be able to pull the chassis out the pommel end for access to the SD card.

In hind sight, it would have been better to make use of the extra room in the emitter for wiring.

Maybe rotate the chassis some? Last hilt I was working on, I found I could rotate the chassis so the wires sat on the side, rather than the top - then they'd slide next to the switch, rather than bumping into it.

Or maybe just glue the chassis to the threads on the switch section, and unscrew the body for SD-access? I remember thinking if I ever got around to a high-end SF build, I'd machine an aluminum adapter that would secure inside the switch sections with threaded holes to secure a Goth3D chassis.

The main issue I have right now is that a couple of the leads coming from the back of the soundboard are rubbing against the inside of the hilt and keeping the chassis from spinning freely. I'm going to have to re do them so that they attach to the bottom of the board and thread down the bottom side of the chassis. I think with that change I can get everything to work. I have everything crammed in there right now, buts it's so tight that I worry about breaking loose a wire if I have to unscrew the body.

As an aside, WOW the motion sensing on the Spark2 is amazing. I compare it to the sabercore2.0 or any of my older MR boards and it's just miles beyond them. Really impressive.

I feel like Phil needs to talk to Scott and get a strripped down, single font version of the spark2 to replace the sabercore boards.

I tend to glue my wires down to the chassis to keep them from bumping around the hilt. I wound up buying some black hot-glue sticks to match the stuff SF uses on installs. I don't typically glue directly to the board, though, unless I've wrapped it in heatshrink.

There's actually a new style budget-board coming from china with swappable sound fonts - but no idea on its motion sensing. Hasn't been released yet since most reputable sellers sent them back when it was found out they just copied the default NEC soundfonts. Should be out in another month or two when the revised SD contents are ready. I'd wager Sabercore 3.0 is going to be running the same hardware.