Jamestan
Active Member
Okay so I just wanted to show you guys the work I've done on my force fx to get it more accurate. I've done the work on it in a few, lets call them 'episodes' (What else would you call it? lol) Hope you guys enjoy.
Episode IV - A New Cross Guard
First thing I did was remove the original cross guards, there's a nice tear down of the Kylo force FX online so I didn't bother showing how to do that here. Plus I forgot to take pics. Then I filed down the part that the arms attached onto, these stuck out too far and made the base extend out too much, the metal is really soft so a few passes with a file will get you there. As a precaution, I tucked the LED and wires inside and taped it closed to protect it while I filed away.
Then Bam! Sorry again I forgot to take pics of the making of the guards, It's basically a tube with another tube on it, you guys get the gist. I wanted to use steel as I know you can get real actual heat bluing on steel. Stainless would look even better but is far to expensive and harder to work with. So I made the parts, then got the torch out to give it the colors, and sealed it with lacquer to protect the finish. You'll see the bluing pattern change here and there between the pics further on, That's because as while I was working this I would practice and try to get the bluing better whenever I felt like it.
Here's the before and after pics. Lil stubby vs Tall dark and handsome.
Here I finished making the base ring, but when I attached everything on the handle I realized the bottom flares on the guards were too thin. So I made it out of some thicker stock, just a little bit. You can kinda tell the difference in the 2nd pic, but don't strain your eyes its very slight.
After the bluing, they looked a lot sexier. Don't mind the skinny handle part, I get to that in the next episode.
Here' what the pieces look like, these aren't the ones on my saber, but ones I made for a member here.
Episode V - The Handle Strikes Back
One of the biggest gripes, I and most of the people here on the forums have about the kylo force fx, is about how much thicker the middle handle part of the lightsaber is. Sure the all metal-ness of it was awesome and gave it the heft and weight that no other lightsaber had, but it also made it awkward to grab since the handle was so thick and just feel fat. The handle, along with the stubby original guards, gave it an overall look that wasn't inline with what we saw onscreen.
So, I tore down the handle and saw that I can take off the tube that was the original mid section and rebuild in its place a thinner version.
So I cut strips out of aluminum,based their dimensions off of the original handle, then glued these strips onto the aluminum tube that runs down the length of the handle.
This was actually a lot harder than I had first anticipated. the strips had to be cut perfectly straight, and very very close in thickness and length, so that when they are glued onto the handle they are spaced evenly and look right. I also had to notch the strips just enough to allow the little silver accent pieces to fit through.
I made a spacer guide for the top (as you can see in the 1st pic) to make sure it matched my references and help with alignment. the positioning of the first one is the most critical as it will set the spacing for the rest of the strips, get the first one a little crooked and they all get crooked. All in all there are twelve strips, that need to be glued into place, after careful gluing it all turned out alright.
The original paint job on the Force FX was kind of atrocious, especially on the cross guards, but the rest of the saber wasn't that good either. After watching all those tested videos on weathering for no apparent reason but entertainment, I figured I could give this weathering a try. I've painted before and I knew I couldn't do a worse job than whoever painted these originally, so I gave it a whack. In the end I think it turned out looking pretty good.
Episode VI - The Return of the Pommel
This was a quick one compared to the first two mods. I thought the sound on the saber was super awesome, it was all crackly and spitty, it just sounded rough and menacing, BUT the volume on the sucker was horrible. Noticing how the lower part of the pommel was hollow I decided to drill some holes into the speaker/battery case to allow the sound somewhere to go other than the keyhole slit at the bottom of the pommel. I also drilled some holes on the red bottom cap, although in hindsight I don't think this was necessary.
Speaking of the bottom of the pommel, I decided to polish and blast the cap with some anodized red paint to match some reference photos someone gave me.
Episode VII - The Red Wire Awakens (coming soon)
I don't like the red wire that comes with the saber and after hearing that the hero one is translucent red with a silver wire running through it, I knew I just had to do this. I think i will also make the wire holders out of metal as the silver paint on the rubber ones just keep on getting rubbed off.
So that's as far as I've gone, I'll make sure to update this thread whenever I do further mods.
Thank you for checking out my work.
Episode IV - A New Cross Guard
First thing I did was remove the original cross guards, there's a nice tear down of the Kylo force FX online so I didn't bother showing how to do that here. Plus I forgot to take pics. Then I filed down the part that the arms attached onto, these stuck out too far and made the base extend out too much, the metal is really soft so a few passes with a file will get you there. As a precaution, I tucked the LED and wires inside and taped it closed to protect it while I filed away.
Then Bam! Sorry again I forgot to take pics of the making of the guards, It's basically a tube with another tube on it, you guys get the gist. I wanted to use steel as I know you can get real actual heat bluing on steel. Stainless would look even better but is far to expensive and harder to work with. So I made the parts, then got the torch out to give it the colors, and sealed it with lacquer to protect the finish. You'll see the bluing pattern change here and there between the pics further on, That's because as while I was working this I would practice and try to get the bluing better whenever I felt like it.
Here's the before and after pics. Lil stubby vs Tall dark and handsome.
Here I finished making the base ring, but when I attached everything on the handle I realized the bottom flares on the guards were too thin. So I made it out of some thicker stock, just a little bit. You can kinda tell the difference in the 2nd pic, but don't strain your eyes its very slight.
After the bluing, they looked a lot sexier. Don't mind the skinny handle part, I get to that in the next episode.
Here' what the pieces look like, these aren't the ones on my saber, but ones I made for a member here.
Episode V - The Handle Strikes Back
One of the biggest gripes, I and most of the people here on the forums have about the kylo force fx, is about how much thicker the middle handle part of the lightsaber is. Sure the all metal-ness of it was awesome and gave it the heft and weight that no other lightsaber had, but it also made it awkward to grab since the handle was so thick and just feel fat. The handle, along with the stubby original guards, gave it an overall look that wasn't inline with what we saw onscreen.
So, I tore down the handle and saw that I can take off the tube that was the original mid section and rebuild in its place a thinner version.
So I cut strips out of aluminum,based their dimensions off of the original handle, then glued these strips onto the aluminum tube that runs down the length of the handle.
This was actually a lot harder than I had first anticipated. the strips had to be cut perfectly straight, and very very close in thickness and length, so that when they are glued onto the handle they are spaced evenly and look right. I also had to notch the strips just enough to allow the little silver accent pieces to fit through.
I made a spacer guide for the top (as you can see in the 1st pic) to make sure it matched my references and help with alignment. the positioning of the first one is the most critical as it will set the spacing for the rest of the strips, get the first one a little crooked and they all get crooked. All in all there are twelve strips, that need to be glued into place, after careful gluing it all turned out alright.
The original paint job on the Force FX was kind of atrocious, especially on the cross guards, but the rest of the saber wasn't that good either. After watching all those tested videos on weathering for no apparent reason but entertainment, I figured I could give this weathering a try. I've painted before and I knew I couldn't do a worse job than whoever painted these originally, so I gave it a whack. In the end I think it turned out looking pretty good.
Episode VI - The Return of the Pommel
This was a quick one compared to the first two mods. I thought the sound on the saber was super awesome, it was all crackly and spitty, it just sounded rough and menacing, BUT the volume on the sucker was horrible. Noticing how the lower part of the pommel was hollow I decided to drill some holes into the speaker/battery case to allow the sound somewhere to go other than the keyhole slit at the bottom of the pommel. I also drilled some holes on the red bottom cap, although in hindsight I don't think this was necessary.
Speaking of the bottom of the pommel, I decided to polish and blast the cap with some anodized red paint to match some reference photos someone gave me.
Episode VII - The Red Wire Awakens (coming soon)
I don't like the red wire that comes with the saber and after hearing that the hero one is translucent red with a silver wire running through it, I knew I just had to do this. I think i will also make the wire holders out of metal as the silver paint on the rubber ones just keep on getting rubbed off.
So that's as far as I've gone, I'll make sure to update this thread whenever I do further mods.
Thank you for checking out my work.
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