JunkSabers1138
Sr Member
Well guys, I've been waiting a LONG time for this thing. And you know what? The wait was WELL worth it!
Introducing my new H3 Master Katana from the guys at Zeist. Easily the finest sword I've ever owned. Truly a work of art that clearly shows Mr DeBraga's godlike sculpting ability, and a very durable weapon that shows that the guys know what they're doing.
Anyway, how can I describe this thing? Let me start from the beginning of the day I got it.
I knew from the FedEx tracking site that it was to come in sometime this past Wednesday. I had hoped it would come in before I had to leave for work that afternoon, but alas I had to leave abd asked my neighbor if she would stay at my place and accept the package for me. Well apparently the truck came in much later than expected; almost 8 PM. I was very anxious to get home when she called me at work to tell me it had come in!
But anyway, now to the good part. I rushed home as fast as I could and stormed into my house to see shipping tube sitting in my kitchen. It was a little banged up with some nigrigged tape repairs in the center, and I heavily suspect FedEx did a number on it because I KNOW the box was in good condition the day it shipped off (Imagine what UPS would have done! O_O ).
I then took the box to my room and opened up the tube to see a VERY nice (possibly nylon?) sword bag inside, so I figured the sword would be in great condition despite the shipping flaws. I quickly unzipped the bag to find ANOTHER bag, this one a more traditional japanese linen sword bag, the ties knotted up around a copper seppa. After unwrapping this part, I anxiously slid the bag down to reveal my new toy!
What I saw after that.... well what can I say, I was truly in awe. I knew the H3 was beautiful, but trust me everyone, online pictures do NOT do this thing any justice whatsoever! I saw the beautiful hand crafted hilt of one of the most legendary swords in existence. Nice clean cast with almost no imperfections, and very good quality hand-made brass truba and fittings; especially impressive given the fact that the makers are a small in-house business and not a big name like Hanwei. The tsuka just boggles my mind as to how it was carved... there are details WITHIN details here; bark on trees, texture to clothing and buildings, even tinier textures to the seemingly smooth areas of the hilt... I'm almost tempted to put it under a microscope and see what else I'm missing! Wow... just WOW! Jose, you are truly a gifted individual to be blessed with the talent to create something like this. You have made a deeply devoted fan very happy this week!
I noticed between the rear brass seppa and tsuba that there was a copper seppa, which is a good nod to Jose's stated fact that there were red seppa on the prop H3 sword. Being only one on there though I realized thats where the one on the sword bag was meant for, just in case I want to tighten up the fittings, which I may need to to as the tsuba will move by a millimeter or so if shifted with force, but putting it on is going to be tricky, as the tsuka has been fitted so tightly and sturdily onto the nakago that even when the pin is removed and my wrist slapped pretty hard, it wont budge at all and there are no vibrations, which is a good sign of its overall strength and durability.
Now on to the lower parts of the sword. I further slid the bag down to reveal a saya that can only be described as absolutely gorgeous! The finish was a sparkly/glittery maroon color with a high gloss sheen and smooth as silk to the touch, with a brass fitting were the sageo ties to (sageo was in a nice looking complex knot too for added touch). I was expecting just a simple flat black all wood or even aluminum saya... nothing special, but what I got just blew me away.
Unsheathing was a glorious moment. The T-10 blade has a very slick mirror polish and a beautiful, milky white hamon that looks like its slowly dripping down the edge (ok guys, i'll give you time to chuckle about "fangasms" for a bit.....). I had intended for this to be my beauty blade and intended only for tatami, however, there were a few TINY scuffs in a few areas along the upper part of the blade flat (likely caused by the incompetent illegitimates at FedEx no doubt... must have caused some shuffling in the saya which released fine debris that scuffed the blade while in transit. I know it had to be them because as I said, the sword was in pristine condition the day it shipped.).
Anyway, given that I could find a way to buff these scuffs out later, i decided to unleash this thing on some plastic jugs I collected from work for the time being. I filled the jugs up with water and got my garbage can out to use as a post. I mounted the first jug, readied myself, and swung. To me honest, I thought I missed, as there was no resistence... but oh the joy of hearing my brother go "Holy CRAP!!! That thing cuts like a friggin' LIGHTSABER!". I looked up and witnessed that I had made a horizontal cut that was so clean that the bottle just landed back on top of itself and barely let any water drip out, which is what made me think I missed at first. I then proceeded to continue slicing and dicing the remaining jugs into tiny ribbons of plastic and labels. In fact, even when the water was out, I can still use this thing to make repeated vertical tap-cuts into the rims of the jug base halves and literally make confetti strips out of them; the blade is THAT sharp! Compare that to my civil war CSA calvary saber, which makes more "burst cuts" than real slices and merely crushes the bottle edges rather than cut them. In short, this Master Katana cuts like a BEAST! Easily the best in my inventory. Next up, after the Albion Steel Blunt, I may go after either the Dark Magic or Masamune as I seek to complete my collection.
All in all, what can I say, this sword is a true fan's dream come true! I recommend this to any serious fan of swords, fantasy, or Highlander in general.
Mike, Brian, Ben, and yes, especially you Mr DeBraga, thank you all so very much for this masterpiece of Craftsmanship! You are the greatest friends a guy could ask for! May your future efforts be blessed and may more fans get to experience the joy of owning one of your swords.
I dont have many pictures up now since my mothers camera has gone missing, but I promise to take some more pictures of me and the sword very soon! Keep an eye open guys!
Introducing my new H3 Master Katana from the guys at Zeist. Easily the finest sword I've ever owned. Truly a work of art that clearly shows Mr DeBraga's godlike sculpting ability, and a very durable weapon that shows that the guys know what they're doing.
Anyway, how can I describe this thing? Let me start from the beginning of the day I got it.
I knew from the FedEx tracking site that it was to come in sometime this past Wednesday. I had hoped it would come in before I had to leave for work that afternoon, but alas I had to leave abd asked my neighbor if she would stay at my place and accept the package for me. Well apparently the truck came in much later than expected; almost 8 PM. I was very anxious to get home when she called me at work to tell me it had come in!
But anyway, now to the good part. I rushed home as fast as I could and stormed into my house to see shipping tube sitting in my kitchen. It was a little banged up with some nigrigged tape repairs in the center, and I heavily suspect FedEx did a number on it because I KNOW the box was in good condition the day it shipped off (Imagine what UPS would have done! O_O ).
I then took the box to my room and opened up the tube to see a VERY nice (possibly nylon?) sword bag inside, so I figured the sword would be in great condition despite the shipping flaws. I quickly unzipped the bag to find ANOTHER bag, this one a more traditional japanese linen sword bag, the ties knotted up around a copper seppa. After unwrapping this part, I anxiously slid the bag down to reveal my new toy!
What I saw after that.... well what can I say, I was truly in awe. I knew the H3 was beautiful, but trust me everyone, online pictures do NOT do this thing any justice whatsoever! I saw the beautiful hand crafted hilt of one of the most legendary swords in existence. Nice clean cast with almost no imperfections, and very good quality hand-made brass truba and fittings; especially impressive given the fact that the makers are a small in-house business and not a big name like Hanwei. The tsuka just boggles my mind as to how it was carved... there are details WITHIN details here; bark on trees, texture to clothing and buildings, even tinier textures to the seemingly smooth areas of the hilt... I'm almost tempted to put it under a microscope and see what else I'm missing! Wow... just WOW! Jose, you are truly a gifted individual to be blessed with the talent to create something like this. You have made a deeply devoted fan very happy this week!
I noticed between the rear brass seppa and tsuba that there was a copper seppa, which is a good nod to Jose's stated fact that there were red seppa on the prop H3 sword. Being only one on there though I realized thats where the one on the sword bag was meant for, just in case I want to tighten up the fittings, which I may need to to as the tsuba will move by a millimeter or so if shifted with force, but putting it on is going to be tricky, as the tsuka has been fitted so tightly and sturdily onto the nakago that even when the pin is removed and my wrist slapped pretty hard, it wont budge at all and there are no vibrations, which is a good sign of its overall strength and durability.
Now on to the lower parts of the sword. I further slid the bag down to reveal a saya that can only be described as absolutely gorgeous! The finish was a sparkly/glittery maroon color with a high gloss sheen and smooth as silk to the touch, with a brass fitting were the sageo ties to (sageo was in a nice looking complex knot too for added touch). I was expecting just a simple flat black all wood or even aluminum saya... nothing special, but what I got just blew me away.
Unsheathing was a glorious moment. The T-10 blade has a very slick mirror polish and a beautiful, milky white hamon that looks like its slowly dripping down the edge (ok guys, i'll give you time to chuckle about "fangasms" for a bit.....). I had intended for this to be my beauty blade and intended only for tatami, however, there were a few TINY scuffs in a few areas along the upper part of the blade flat (likely caused by the incompetent illegitimates at FedEx no doubt... must have caused some shuffling in the saya which released fine debris that scuffed the blade while in transit. I know it had to be them because as I said, the sword was in pristine condition the day it shipped.).
Anyway, given that I could find a way to buff these scuffs out later, i decided to unleash this thing on some plastic jugs I collected from work for the time being. I filled the jugs up with water and got my garbage can out to use as a post. I mounted the first jug, readied myself, and swung. To me honest, I thought I missed, as there was no resistence... but oh the joy of hearing my brother go "Holy CRAP!!! That thing cuts like a friggin' LIGHTSABER!". I looked up and witnessed that I had made a horizontal cut that was so clean that the bottle just landed back on top of itself and barely let any water drip out, which is what made me think I missed at first. I then proceeded to continue slicing and dicing the remaining jugs into tiny ribbons of plastic and labels. In fact, even when the water was out, I can still use this thing to make repeated vertical tap-cuts into the rims of the jug base halves and literally make confetti strips out of them; the blade is THAT sharp! Compare that to my civil war CSA calvary saber, which makes more "burst cuts" than real slices and merely crushes the bottle edges rather than cut them. In short, this Master Katana cuts like a BEAST! Easily the best in my inventory. Next up, after the Albion Steel Blunt, I may go after either the Dark Magic or Masamune as I seek to complete my collection.
All in all, what can I say, this sword is a true fan's dream come true! I recommend this to any serious fan of swords, fantasy, or Highlander in general.
Mike, Brian, Ben, and yes, especially you Mr DeBraga, thank you all so very much for this masterpiece of Craftsmanship! You are the greatest friends a guy could ask for! May your future efforts be blessed and may more fans get to experience the joy of owning one of your swords.
I dont have many pictures up now since my mothers camera has gone missing, but I promise to take some more pictures of me and the sword very soon! Keep an eye open guys!
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