I never played the force unleashed games so sabers or the characters were never near and dear to me, unlike the Knights of the Old Republic where I went head over heels with the story of Revan. That said, I always thought the Starkiller saber was very cool. It's mash up of graflex parts, exposed crystal, and the dirtiness of it always appealed to me. More than once I had a Monarch in my cart, but never could pull the trigger. Not to take anything away from the Monarch, but this was a hilt I always figured I would hand build.
Not too long ago I traded my friend Christian Gayle a CF8 for a personal project he was working on, and when he showed me I was like YES! I must build that too, a Flex 2.0 converted into a Starkiller. This was the version of the saber I had to do.
So, I'm getting this project underway.
The basic premise here is to take a Flex 2.0 - cut and mill the shroud into the SK design, cut open the blade holder for the exposed crystal chamber and mount a control box on the top of the shroud - Modify the lower body by moving the clamp down to the top of the lower body and cutting the lips off, adding a new flared pommel and grips. Light acid weathering in spots, and various enamels, screws, rivets, etc to complete the look.
Here's the parts list going into mine with retail prices (incase anyone else is interested in trying this)
1) Flex 2.0 (scratch N Dent) $155
2) JK-Sabers flared pommel kit - $77
3) 3D printed Control box in Stainless steal - $45
4) 3D Printed grips in polished plastic - $17
5) Replica Glass eye - $10
6) Brass tubing (various sizes) $10
7) TGS bunny ears - $35
3D printed chassis - $50
9) Veco Bass Speaker - $6.50
10) Prizm v5 - $115
11) LED and Heatsink (dR/G/rB) - $35
12) Tactile Switches - $3
13) 8-32 button head screws 1/2" (6) - $1.50
14) 8-32 button head screw 1/8" (2) - $.60
15) 8-32 set screws (various) - $1.50
16) 18650 3400 mah battery $9
17) 5mm RGB LED - $1.50
18) Crystal - ????
19) Misc (Wire, resistors, heat shrink, paint, etc) - $20+
As of right now this is in it's infancy and outside of getting the Flex prepped for cutting and milling, and fitting the pommel on, there hasn't been a whole lot done yet. I'm waiting for the Crontrol box and grips to be printed, and for the Prizm v5 to be released. Otherwise all other parts are in hand.
Here's the pommel attached:
This will be a slow build as I'm doing it between commissions and parallel to a few other personal builds.