TOPIC: ASP "Interceptor"

Very nice work on the mods you made. The plug convinced me to sand mine down too. I'm waiting to get a little more done before posting a update.

I agree with you on the claws and love all the different configurations. I think you'll have to find some brass greeblies now to fill some holes!

Thank you! I think I'm done with updates for the moment.

I have 5 more of the same screw I'm using for LED retention I could use if needed. And as much as I like it in that spot, it may have to be the "display" screw, since even after a bit more trimming down my hand keeps loosening it during prolonged spinning.

And for the second switch hole I'll probably put one of the 12mm recharge ports I have in it, even though (for the moment at least) it won't be connected to anything.

I kinda wish I had picked up a 2nd gold thumbscrew when I got the first one in my last TCSS order, since they fit so well in the switch holes. The original plan was to modify it to be the top of a kill key, but I ended up liking the convenience of not needing an allen key every time I want to put a blade in.

Okay apparently I lied about the updates.

Received my missing stand and clip in the mail today, a little over a month since I received my saber. Arrived in a flexible envelope, which worried me slightly but everything was okay.

I ended up with the silver Imperial stand, which is the one I wanted.





Assembly was fairly straightforward, though it also came with instructions. Just don't force anything and you'll be ok. Unfortunately, the center medallion was adhered/cut at an angle. Which will only bother me tremendously.

All in all though, it's a really nice stand, and I'm glad I wasn't one of the people earlier in the ASP queue who got the older MK.1 laser cut stands.

The belt clip I got wasn't the newer SF one with the included D-ring hook, nor the one in development with spots for the allen wrench and kill key, but the classic Covertec brand and Prequel movie accurate one.


I'd love to be able to tell you how it works with the saber, except they forgot my missing covertec wheel and screw... Maybe I can demand a brass one because of this? Good thing I made an unwrapping video.

Very nice review, Jaden!

I know what you're saying about the soundboard and battery life. My saber kept repeating "Sabercore Crimson" when I powered it up and kinda freaked me out a bit until I realised that the battery needed recharging.

It is a bit tight when inserting the soundboard again, and I'd say at least in-hilt recharge as an added feature or upgraded is a must. I like your "deep sleep" suggestion. I'm not a fan of pulling the soundboard out every time the battery needs recharging.

Your comments about the rolled and folded posters strikes a chord. The haphazard way the boxes are packed just makes me shake my head in disbelief. There really should be better quality control at the end of the production and packaging processes to ensure that a. you get the correct parts, and b. there are no missing items. SF would be saving a lot in re-ship and re-stock fees with some improvements in their processes.

Congrats on your saber!

I like this design, and what you've done with it. On my light-side similar ASP I was really tempted to go with all of the other parts you used...

If I get a second saber though, it won't be a dark-side version of what I have. It'll probably be a weathered Gladius v2. Something a bit more practical, something I don't have to adjust before and after dueling.

Also thanks for the mod tips and ideas. I already have recharge ports on the way, and plan on some other things here and there too. Will update as things progress, and probably do a post for each non-trivial mod in case it helps others.

Sucks they forgot your covertech knob again! I think it's also interesting they sent the old covertech clip, I guess they are still out of the new one. At least you got the luck of getting the stand you wanted.

I'd ask for a brass one they have them in stock, I just got mine that I ordered today.

Gnost-Dural wrote: That reminds me; when I went to give the battery its first full charge, I decided to try out my photo red tri-cree I wired up. When I plugged it in the board started to act like that, but operated just fine with the SF quad yellow. I assumed I must have wired it wrong, but I tried it again later after I charged the battery up fully and it works just fine. I knew the dies SF switched to where supposed to be more efficient, but I didn't know they'd be that much more so.
I can't speak for how others' sabers were packed, but I wouldn't say mine was pack haphazardly. It was the "wrap the hilt in an insane amount of bubble wrap, then tape it to the blade" packing that is pretty standard in the saber industry. When I ordered some small parts and blade stock for my Graflex build from TCSS they were packed that way. My guess is that the posters were meant to be wrapped around the blade before it went in the box, but whoever was packing my stuff almost forgot and just put them on top.
I will say that as much as I enjoyed receiving a USPS Toblerone of Joy instead of the newer SF branded rectangular box, next time I would hope for the latter. The Toblerone had a bit of give in the middle, which was noticeable when my mailman was carrying it under his arm.

There's definitely been some growing pains with SF during the whole ASP process and growth that was required because of it. It wasn't that long ago the company was just 8 employees (and 5 of them made all the sabers). Hopefully they take everything they learned and apply it to ABP (adaptive blaster parts) they plan to get started later in the year.

I do wonder how much all the extra postage for missing/incorrect/improperly functioning items has cost them in the long run.
ToyKeeper wrote: That's funny, "if". Once the saber fever sets in, there's no turning back. Can't go wrong with that; it pretty much SF's #1 dueler. I myself have considered a grey weathered one with a color mixing LED in the future. I'd call it the Student, and load some fonts based on the different forms of lightsaber combat (they have voice clips of their practitioners guiding and/or berating you, like Satele Shan and Galen Marek for Niman and Dooku for Makashi).
Do posts for the trivial ones as well! The only thing we like more than saber pictures around here is updated pictures of sabers!
jonnys95s10 wrote: It may work out for the best, since the newer one has that deeper channel and the overhang from the Avenger pommel might have prevented the saber from going in all the way. Plus now if I ever want to join one of those super strict cosplay groups, I know I have at least one thing that would get approved.
Oh I did. My email basically said that I'm sure in the rush to get all the missing clips and stands out my additional items were overlooked. I then provided a video of me opening the envelope and emptying the contents, as well as a transcript of my previous correspondence with Isha on the matter. I ended with saying that I assume they decided covertec wheel color based on the finish of the hilt (since it was not a option to specify on the ASP form), but if possible I would like a brass one. And I reiterated that I needed both the wheel AND the screw.

Though I'd be fine with weathered as well, which I feel could go with any hilt (as there'd be wear and tear on it from taking in and out of the clip), and I could request a brass one on my next saber and swap them. I could weather a black one if I had to, but I really don't want a silver one.

Jaden Korr wrote: Yes, it comes highly recommended for dueling purposes.

I was looking into various options, both stock and DIY, and the DIY design I settled on happens to be almost identical to SF's hero tier.

... and at the moment the current promotion means that a hero tier would come with an empty Xiphos hilt and day blade, with a cost that is only slightly higher than DIY.

... and I already have a DIY project which will likely leave me with a spare set of ASP electronics.

You can see where this is going.

Hey Jaden, Two things (*insert reasons why I'm uneducated here*): going back a few Posts (maybe several) I noticed that your Stand supplied features a different configured slotting system compared to others that have shared them (and most recently Ex66's). Are there multiple design versions floating around or is this a Chapter from the Book of Acceptance without understand Why?

With the LED Module received. You wrote that you 'unscrewed' it to reveal the die ratio configuration. Is this a simple threaded part that can simply be screwed again to tighten for intended function? Have some LED QCs on Order and am intrigued with possible changes to the ratios as you have updated for Yellow however I believe some dies are just white in appearance but project the colour differently. For the colours that are white looking or say between Blue and Royal Blue, how do you tell the difference to what it actually is?

OvrcAHst wrote: Yes, it's a simple screw-in pill. Here are the parts:

You should be able to see the die configuration by looking, though the colors aren't always obvious. Here is an indigo module, three royal blue and one red:

Red LEDs are easy to spot, white LEDs should appear various shades of yellow, but others may be a little tricky.


Telling the difference between blue and royal blue, or even between green and blue, will be difficult. The tint may differ slightly to the eye, and may be more pronounced if you shine a UV light at it, but your best bet is to turn it on and look. It helps if you have an adjustable power supply to limit amperage to something super-low. A spectrometer would help too. For example, here's a red XP-E2 I used as a bike tail light:



Without tools though, I'm not sure how to tell the difference.

OvrcAHst wrote:
Watches Ex66's video You're right. That's also how they appear on the LazerForge website. Not sure if mine is new or a old one they had laying around (would explain the off center medallion).

Pictures of the instructions:


Stand from the side (ignore the fingerprints and protective backing residue I have to remove):

From the back showing the support bar:

With sabers in various spots:



As Toykeeper demonstrated, the heatsink module screws together. I'll add that if you receive the heatsink module style that have been coming with the ASP kits, make sure that the optic stays level when screwing it back together and doesn't partially start threading into that upper threading (which is for the thin necks). Simply holding the bottom of the heatsink and the top of the optic using your thumb and middle finger of one hand and screwing the top on with the other should do the trick. But if you get the heatsink style that is shown on the main site (and below), you won't have to worry about that.


And as Toykeeper also said, the best way to tell the die's color is to turn it on. I'd do it without the optic on and away from your eyes, preferably toward another surface (I nearly blinded myself when I was testing my photo red LED). For LED stars that aren't already soldered, I have a 2 AAA wired battery pack that I briefly touch the positive and negative wires to the corresponding pads on the LED (I also include a resistor if the color requires it).

As for telling the difference between regular blue and royal blue (let's say in a arctic blue or cyan LED and you want to know what blues were used), that's going to be hard if you don't already know what the two look like by themselves or have something to compare to (like a medium blue LED which has both or separate deep and light blue LEDs). I only have experience with regular blue, and I'd describe it as electric. In the picture below of my Graflex's LED, I'd say the ambient light in person is something in between the light ring outside the white and the darker area around that.

ToyKeeper,
Thank You. The threaded part is good to know. Much like unscrewing the jar of jam for my morning toast, screwing it to tighten seems easy enough. With heat dispersion a natural occurrence from the LED would it stand to reason the presumed threads are not glued? I kind of concluded that the die configuration would be easy to recognise once exposed however as you've confirmed, my hesitancy stemmed from identifying the actual die from general observation rather than by use of equipment. Having a general idea (well.. using the known ratios) as a guide it was more a measure of determining if different ratios were/are now used. I may just have to pop the tops of them when I get them and Post pictures to ask, "Name that Colour!".

Jaden,
I recalled seeing yours and thought, that version looks better and appears sturdier without the use of glue as the base and rear is double enforced rather than a single strut across the centre. Even with Ex66's Video, without glue it seems to have the same flimsiness as the older type that I didn't think much of even when using as a charging station. I actually use a block of packing foam that came in the box for the charging platform now.

Thank you with the add-on explanation of the LED. Ordinarily I do shine it onto the ceiling (rather looking square at it ) however even with presuming that the 'known' ratios are correct, there is sometimes blurring that occurs which disables otherwise knowing what the ratio is. I've tested the 'wall/ceiling-shine' with a 12WMint Green, my Graflex BBW and OWK-ROTS RbBW and can tell a distinct difference both without blade and with blade illumination. Curiosity sometimes will influence the query 'but what if the ratio I think it is, is actually something different?'

So the negative wires from my yellow LED snapped today at the resistor, so I took the heat shrink off and here's what I found:



There's a 1Ω and a 3.9Ω. When I line them back up it seems like the 1Ω goes to the ambers and the 3.9Ω goes to the green.

Later I'll reattach them (just to make sure nothing else is wrong), but more than likely I'll end up replacing all the wires with the stronger stranded wire I have.

Got my missing covertec knob and screw in the mail yesterday, and now my order is complete!





I received a weathered one, which i was fine with. Around where the belt clip would rub against it there is a nice amount of weathering. The holes around the outside ring of the knob do add just a bit of extra flair to it that makes it stand out, compared to the ones you'd get from TCSS or elsewhere. The screw, while 8-32 thread size like the rest of the screws used on the saber, required an even bigger size allen wrench, bringing the number of required wrenches to 3. Though the socket head on the screw seems a tad bigger than the required wrench, so when its nearly tight you have to press down a lot, otherwise the allen key will just spin.



It doesn't get in the way of my grip, especially with the extra grip area provided by the pommel. It allows my bottom hand to lock in using my pointer finger.

Here's where things get interesting:

Here's my dilemma: I really like the location of the knob in terms of grip, but aesthetically the way it hangs over into the grenade grip isn't ideal. But if you scoot in back a bit, it will still hang over the edge on the opposite side.


It will look fine a bit further back on the body (just below the threads), but that would get in the way of my grip.


With a bit of sanding I could put it in place of the LED retention screw (I'd just have to get a longer screw), but this would get in the way of spinning the saber (which is the same reason I got rid of the brass screw i had been using there).

So while its placement may not be the best aesthetically, it is the best practically. I haven't gotten around to timing the body now that I have the knob, but I'll be using the sanding method for this as opposed to timing shims.

And lastly, it works great with the belt clip. The hilt is nice and secure on my belt and doesn't wiggle around, yet isn't too difficult to get out. And even if the spring locking mechanism were to wear out, I feel I wouldn't have to worry too much about the hilt falling out.

That's tough. You said it would be in the way of your grip if you put it further down on the hilt. Not ever having held one, I would think the further down the better. I would worry that if it over laps the ridges in the grenade section, and you use it frequently, the caps might cause just enough play in the knob to cause it to work loose.

I guess it doesn't impede the grip of my bottom hand if I put it there, but I prefer it being between my pointer and middle finger.

Looking at it now I realize the picture doesn't make it clear, but the covertec knob's base does rest on the raised parts of the grenade grip section, so there isn't any give to the knob in terms of perpendicular movement to the hilt, even when the screw isn't all the way tight. I'm happy though that screw hole is perfectly centered between the grenade grip ridges. If it wasn't aligned either in between the grips or centered with one it would've driven me crazy.

I may end up getting a brass one, if I can figure what I can do to the anodized brass colored aluminum to make it match the patina of the real brass hardware on the rest of the hilt.

On a semi-related note, when you sanded down that LF kill key for your Redeemer, how did the colored face come off? If i were to get a brass one from LF (or more likely the ASP site) and sanded the face a little bit, would it end up looking like the weathered brass LF plugs (which Im also thinking about getting), or would it look like a stubborn clearance sticker that just won't come off a box no matter how much you pick at it?

Jaden Korr wrote:
The brass covertech knob is actually solid brass so it will naturally patina.