I am For Tyeth, and this is my little lightsaber themed corner of the Galaxy (well, the Internet).
Several years ago I discovered that I had a bit of talent designing Lightsabers when I won a design competition held by a custom saber manufacturer. That win encouraged me to push my ideas from just pencil and paper sketches into more realistic looking 3D models . But I needed somewhere to display my work so I will be showcasing some of my Lightsaber designs and some from my friends here!
You can find all the designs in the Saber Gallery.
I usually post at least one new saber a week, sometime more, plus I have little bits and pieces that are inspired by various “pop culture” influences – have you ever seen The Ghostbuster’s car Ecto 1 turned into a saber? Well I built one. Want to see what the Mandalorian’s lightsaber might look like? I have one of those too! So please take a look around and if you like what you see leave a comment or like, maybe even subscribe so you never miss a new post or design.
Hello and welcome back to what are the far reaches of the universe 3 million years in the future! What am I on about? Well today we are returning to the world of Red Dwarf, the cult classic Sci-Fi comedy show running from the 1980’s to the 2020’s! Way back on September 6th of 1988 the episode titled “Kryten” was broadcast in the UK and introduced us to a slightly confused android named Kryten. The crew of the ship Red Dwarf discover the ship wreck of a vessel named “Nova 5” and it’s er….crew?
I say crew in a loose sense of the word because the crew consisted of three females and the droid Kryten. The Dwarfers thought this would be an opportunity to unite with fellow human survivors BUT it turns out the last three women had died – and Kryten was unaware of their demise and continued to serve them as if alive for a few centuries! Kryten was kinda confused all right. And he looked a bit different than he does today…
This is Kryten (played by David Ross) the misguided mechanoid. Now I would have made a Kryten droid for the invasion but I was already flooded with “attendees” for that event so when I rewatched the episode I noticed that the Nova-5 had a kinda lightsaber-y shape, and I decided to replicate the vessel in saber form and here it is on the location of it’s “crash”….This is “Super-Nova 5″….
Getting back to building sabers was a good feeling and this hilt worked better than I imagined. I had done this type of “re-modelling” job before so I had to elevate this one and hopefully you’ll think I did OK. Part of the ship was obscured (as seen in the above screenshot) so I had to take artist’s license with the pommel area but I did convert the central segment into a crystal chamber, The silver cannister shaped pods are separate parts and the ship’s nameplate is 3D modelled and “shrinkwrapped” onto the surface of the hull plates. Two parts I am extremely happy with are the emitter and pommel which feature the same fluted channels which supports the nose cone structure. You can see similar features on the tower of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence Italy. So I had best showcase Gallery Two with the saber “indoors” so you can see it a bit clearer…enjoy…
In these pictures you can see the little details much better. The crystal chamber has locking “bank vault” style protective bars surrounding it and just next to that the nameplate is visible. I mentioned “Shrinkwrapping”, well this is the technique that allows a 3D part to be attached to another irregular shaped object and “melds” it to the shape making both segments appear as one. The back surface of the nameplate is stretched and moulded to fit around the cylinder. The saber’s “panel lines” texture I recycled from an add-on app in Blender that creates random generated spaceships.
And to round this design off I mentioned moulding 3D objects and changing their shapes, and Kryten first appeared in 1988 and now we are in 2026? Kryten has changed a bit too. Firstly due to scheduling issues back in 1988 and the fact that David Ross found the costume and make-up claustrophobic, he was replaced by Robert Llewellyn and the whole outfit had numerous modifications – so much so that Kryten was originally a Series 3 mech but later was addressed as a Serie 4000! Anyhoo, here is a quick pic of Kryten as seen in 2012….
And that brings this Red Dwarf inspired post to an end. I hope you enjoyed this one – Kryten has become a staple of Sci-Fi culture and as such Robert Llewellyn was the only original cast member that appeared in the er, short lived American remake of the show. But with that McNugget of trivia I have to end this post – if you know what the reference to a chicken McNugget is leave a comment below! In the meantime thanks for checking this out, all your support is much appreciated and I hope to see you next week. Till next time…..
Hello everybody and welcome to the culmination of the Droid Invasion with a visit from a very special little character. Now the Invasion has covered droids from many different franchises and today we go way back to 1977 again and introduce possibly the most important droid of all….R2-D2….but he may look a little different! A few weeks ago I showcased C-3PO as an upgraded BB-series droid, well I also modified our little friend Artoo in the same way and I’m really proud how he turned out. As with Threepio I was worried that messing about too much with an iconic figure might be frowned upon if I got it wrong but hopefully you’ll love him as much as I do . So without further wait, here is Gallery One featuring Artoo BBTwo!
This is my interpretation of Artoo as a BB-series droid and I’m so pleased with it because I feel the colour scheme matched with the spheres perfectly. Actually I think I worried too much because BB-8 became a beloved character and his paint job went a long way to establish him as a fan favourite. I had to build a new dome for Artoo and I tried to add as many details as possible with limited space – but he’s still recognisable. And finally there is his lower body sphere…although it is based on the BB-8 body I originally made, this one has some extra modelled details. The black and silver vent grille and Artoo’s iconic three blue “arms” are all fully 3D modelled and attached as sub-assemblies, carefully wrapped to fit the spherical bodyshell. All in all I think this conversion was a success and here is Gallery Two showing Artoo in a more familiar corridor location…
Who would have thought that after nearly 50 years that Artoo would still be such a star? I feel it’s down to his character and human traits that endear us to him (and we have to remember the great Kenny Baker who performed as Artoo for so many years). So I just had to re-unite Artoo and Threepio in a corridor for a final photo-op!
Now I think I can finally say the invasion is over, but rather than think of it as an invasion it was more of a get together of old friends. And speaking of friends I’m afraid I have to tell you time has beaten me again. I hope you enjoyed this series, it was quite a bit of work to put together but I loved every minute doing it. Thank you so much for taking time to check out each week and watch the gang grow…
And that’s it folks. Thanks for all the support and positive comments you have sent me and for the visits/time you have taken checking my site out. I hope you will call back for future posts as there are more designs from the MARVEL universe, a few Katana hilts on the horizon, and beyond the horizon in deep space more Red Dwarf! Till next time……
Hello Everybody and welcome to this week’s exciting episode of For Tyeth Editions….with a bit of a difference! This week doesn’t feature a crazy lightsaber but instead I have a crazy BLASTER to showcase. Now regular followers will remember in October I had a visit from Rocket the Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy where he showed me his rocket propelled grenade saber blaster…..thing! or “Boom!” as he called it. It was an all purpose assault laser rifle with built in grenade launcher and lightsaber functions. It was impressive but also built for raccoons so it was a bit small for human claws. Well, Rocket suggested to me that I try my hand at designing a weapon suited for humans, saying that I’d branched out before when I built a Zodiac Six machine gun blaster and had the skills. So I took on his challenge. I couldn’t just make a replica of an existing manufacturer’s blaster – I needed to make my own design stand out from the likes of BlasTech (who made Han Solo’s blaster pistol) or the SoroSuub Corporation (who built Padme Amidala’s ELG-3A blaster) – it needed something to shield it from comparisons with other brands. So I set to work and came up with the “Powerhouse”….
This blaster is double barrelled and also features multiple smaller ports for firing various smaller more concentrated munitions such as “Area Clearance Bolts” – explosive laser bolts that explode to clear out barricaded gun emplacements staged in corridors for example. There are two rotary controls to control the Rate Of Fire (or ROF) and power of the traditional “lasers” whilst the second controls the specialist munitions selection and ROF. Not bad I thought for my foray into personal firearm design but OK, it had small bunker buster munitions combined with regular laser functions but I still felt it needed that shield….OH YES…. Then inspiration struck! My friend and fellow blogger Resa once again provided me with the inspiration I needed. A long time ago…Resa sent me some photos from the then new series “The Mandolorian” asking whether I had seen the show and these great action shots. The pictures were of a gunfight featuring Fennec Shand and some of the troops had shields made of plasma or some energy. Here they are….
I hadn’t seen the show but agreed that these pictures and shields looked interesting. I said I’d be interested in trying to recreate something similar but needed to work out how to get a transparent object/texture to glow in Blender so as to get the same effect The conversation with Resa took place back in August of…2022 and I just figured out the technique in October last year! I may be a bit slower in my old age but I get to where I’m going eventually, So, would you like to see the Powerhouse’s secret strength? Of course you would so here is Gallery Two….
The blaster can create a curved shield which can be adjusted larger for size (though this can drain power if done too often) and it automatically switches on/off to allow your own discharge to pass by. This switching function is almost instantaneous as it is coupled to the trigger. This function has big advantages in “CQB” or Close Quarter Battle as you make your way through tight corridors of ships or military bases because you can activate the shield and point the blaster around a corner then poke your head behind to peer around the wall’s edge but still be protected – you can even take a quick shot if necessary knowing the shield switches too fast for an opponent to get a shot off back at you! I’m quite pleased with this new weapon, though lightsabers will always be my main focus. I hope you liked this one too…and to Resa, I said I’d do a shield design – thanks once more for the input.
And once again the clock has beaten me and I am near the end of this post. As usual I have more still to bring you in upcoming posts including those special twinned Katanas I’ve mentioned…the final instalment of the droid invasion with the star of the show, and hilts from Red Dwarf, Marvel and who knows what I may come up with in-between! So for now may I say a massive thank you for checking this post out. Whether you are a regular caller or a relative newcomer you are all appreciated and the support you show is phenomenal. Till next time…..
Hello Everybody and welcome to 2026 and FTSabersite. I hope you have all managed to put 2025 behind you and have some optimism for this new year – despite the rocky start we have experienced already. It has begun much in the same vein as the end of last year but with much more dire prospects if certain people and bodies of power don’t back off with their “trigger happy” attitudes. ANYHOO….I try not to get involved in the “Entanglements” of real world here (though sometimes words have to be written just to show I’m aware) so…..in my last regular post and my end of year review I mentioned I got a garbled message from the X-Wing of Red 5…well it landed and I am about to introduce you to one of it’s occupants – you might recognise him…sort of….Here is Three-BPO!
This is what our friend C-Threepio might look like if converted into a BB droid! I think it kinda works but I’m also a bit worried it would be impractical. You see Anakin Skywalker assembled Threepio as a servant/protocol droid to help his mother Shmii with household tasks…and this droid doesn’t have much in the way of arms to help it carry out tasks such as preparing and serving food and drinks! BB droids do have appendages but they are much shorter and spindly, not great for carrying trays. But I wanted to see how Threepio would look as a BB so Three-BPO was developed. 3-BPO: Are you in charge here? I want to complain…I arrive with a friend of mine when I took a wrong turn and was met by an annoying black and white creature that shoved me into a workshop and I end up looking like a beachball! What are you going to do? And it feels chilly in here, do you have your heating on? FT: Wait…are you the droid C-3PO? Oh by the Force! I’m sorry did you say black and white creature?…..ROCKET!!!!!! RR: You called? Oh do you like the upgrades I did? I figured you had modernised Bumblebee and BB-8…I thought these two were in for upgrade too. FT: NOOOOooo! These are icons of the Resistance not baubles! I’m gonna have to restore him back to original condition now. And 3-BPO, it’s no wonder you feel chilly….some of your parts are showig! 3-BPO: Some of my parts are showing? Not again!!!! NOOOOOOooooo!
Ok seriously, as you can see I kinda remodelled Threepio as a BB model droid and hopefully I managed to retain a bit of his character. The head dome features Threepio’s iconic eyes which in this form make him look slightly bemused, but they are illuminated as were the original eyes. There is a decorative rim with the protruding screw that holds the front and back shells together – this in my opinion always reminded me of the droid/cyborg seen in Metropolis. Not surprising considering the famous SW concept artist Ralph McQuarrie was inspired by that film when designing Threepio. The lower sphere features the circular chest-plates as the body’s “hubcaps” and between the hemispherical rails there are “missing” panels revealing exposed wiring to mimic Threepio’s abdominal wires, This is a slightly less detailed build but it was harder to include all the little greeblies C-3PO has on his arms and legs because BB droids lack limbs – however I may have a full humanoid form build of him sometime this year. 3-BPO: Don’t forget my little friend too! He’s also in need of attention and a post on your site Sir. FT: OK I’ll take a look at him too. Everyone be prepared for this post soon.
And I’m afraid this just about wraps up this first episode of 2026. I will say that I have still got designs left over from last year to post and I have come up with new builds THIS year. I was bored during the early hours of New Year’s Day after the fireworks had finished and by 2:30am I had built a Red Dwarf inspired saber. So I hope you will continue to call back to FTSabersite to check that out and many more posts. You are always welcome and appreciated. Thanks and Till next time…..
Hello Everybody and welcome to the end…..wait! Don’t leave, I just meant the end of 2025! This is my annual year end review and I’m afraid it isn’t as exciting previous years but then this has been a crazy hectic year of upheaval for a lot of people. Luckily I have been busy these past twelve months, designing, modelling then rendering and finally posting new designs here. This post is more of a guide to look back on those designs in case you missed them. The review usually covers four pages so I best get started with January and a very special gift!
January: This month/year started with the most special act- a friend of mine whom I met on the fan forum owned by a big custom replica lightsaber manufacturer company (Ultrasabers and Saberforum.com) sent me a gift. I post a few pictures of my designs on the forum and on occaision I help members by creating/editing images for their Fan Fiction stories. My friend, called TheDutchman, felt that I had helped so many members (including himself) and without asking for anything in return, I should get a saber so he sent one to me. I was so humbled that I had to build a 3D replica of it. It is called “The Concordance of Fealty” and you can see it by following the links here along with the rest of January’s posts:
February: February returned to a normal pattern and I continued with designs for the Klingons, Thundercats and another Katana inspired KaTrona hilt based on Bumblebee from Transformers fame. We will see later many more droids so be sure to check out December’s madness, but first here are February’s pics and links:
March: Month three saw me branch out and creating designs for Thundercats, Marvel’s Ant-Man and Wasp movies, I even travelled 3 million light years from Earth as I ventured into the sci-fi comedy world of Red Dwarf and met a Tyrannosaurus Budgie named “Petey”. Once again here are the pics and links to those crazy posts!
Hello Everybody and welcome to the next instalment of the Droid Invasion series I have been posting. It started way back on September 27th with Sgt Maj Zero from “Terrahawks” fame and brought us to here , December the 27th with two more droids to showcase. Now technically one has already appeared on FTSabersite, that being Old B.O.B. Well you may recall B.O.B. was in a bad condition all beat up outta shape and needing repairs. I took that challenge on and today with his friend V.I.N.Cent I am happy to say I finished restoring our brave hero. His Repulsor-lift leg was missing, his defensive armaments were defective, paint was scuffed, scratched and bodywork dented…a lot to repair but I did it and now here is V.I.N.Cent and the new improved B.O.B!…
FT: Hey come in closer to the middle so we can see you. B.O.B. I ain’t sure ahm ready! FT: You are my little friend, I fixed everything that needed work, I think you’re in perfect working order now, don’t be worried by my viewers, they’ve waited a long time to see ya! B.O.B. Canna bring a friend with me? V.I.N.Cent is here too. FT: If you feel better with him by you go for it. Hopefully having a fellow droid will help…here they come….
FT: Please welcome B.O.B. and V.I.N.Cent everybody….Wow! It’s amazing what a little bit of elbow grease can achieve! V.I.N.Cent: You humanoids require oil on your joints too? FT: Er no, it’s just a figure of speech meaning hard work. Nice to see you both. V.I.N.Cent: When I heard you were trying to fix B.O.B. I had to come and support him…but it looks as if you have done his repairs well, but we do look a bit much alike, how do we tell each other apart? FT: How to tell you apart? Well you know each other and you know yourselves but for us non droids…you have red markings on your dome which B.O.B. doesn’t but you both have your names on your chest-plates!
B.O.B. Why blow me down! We got name badge thingies on ah chests! V.I.N.Cent: I can see, very posh but effective…plus it fits with our colour schemes, good job. FT: And B.O.B. we can see your new pincer arm too and your defensive modules have been uprated. Your blasters were replaced with a more powerful laser module so you only need one as it has improved targeting software – you should see a display showing “Laser Module 1” that’s your laser controls…ok? B.O.B. Yep, I see it Laser Module 1 and…Wow! There’s multiple aiming dots….does that mean I can fire at more than one target at a time? FT: Yes and much more but I’ll need to instruct you on the features. B.O.B. This is too much thank you man…wait! What’s the “L.S. Module”? FT: Oh I’ll tell you about that in a moment….can you give us a twirl so we can see your new look better? B.O.B. Er sure….Here GOOOoooooooes!
B.O.B. AH THINK I GOT MA BEARINGS WRONG! The world’s gone upside itself! Woah!! Is this right? FT: Be Careful! Your Repulsors and directional stabilisers are upgraded too! V.IN.Cent: Now you tell him? Help him will you please? FT: Yes sorry forgot about that, Rocket distracted me. Anyhoo, you know normally I don’t do repairs….I build stuff as tributes to certain people, characters and things sci-fi? Well I couldn’t repair you and not give you a present so there’s a super special upgrade – The L.S. Module…..try it out….
BVROOM! HMMMMMMMMMMMM
B.O.B. Ah got a lightsaber now? Ooh! Ahnd there’s a whole bunch o’ commands to use it! Ahm I Jedi now? I heard ov ’em, never thought I’d be one! FT: First steps first, I’ll give you some training then maybe we can see how you get on, it’s hard work to be a Jedi. B.O.B. Ah don’t mind hard work, but wowee a saber! FT: And V.I.N.Cent? Don’t feel left out – if you want these upgrades too I can do that for ya, you deserve it for being such a good pal to B.O.B. V.I.N.Cent: Really? That would be appreciated….can I chose the colour? FT: I’m sure I can work something out. Thanks you two for showing off your new looks. Now you can have many more years adventure!
Well…I think B.O.B. turned out rather well and he seems to like his new “clothes and upgrades”. He was so much fun to work on, but as ever there are always little mods I see that I want to do here and there, so there could be further upgrades in future (I got to re-watch The Black Hole fully and noticed some details). I hope you folks liked the changes and it leaves me with one job now and that’s to get the final lineup photo of all the droids I’ve featured…get together everyone and say cheese!
Ten droids from every corner and franchise in the galaxy gathered together! I’m kinda proud (and surprised myself) to pull this off. I had forgotten how many droid builds I had done. V.I.N.Cent: ER MASTER TYETH! I have a message coming through on RED 5’s radio frequency…..shall I patch it through? FT: RED 5? But that’s IMPOSSIBLE! Yes…yes patch it in! ??1: BurWeet Bop Dee ??2: Don’t you call me a fly by night pilot….you know I hate space travel you oversized blob of gree….OH MY! Master Tyeth? Er, could my little companion and I land in your docking bay? ??1: DeDe Da Dwoot ….DaDot ??2: Yes I’ll tell Master Tyeth you want to join this get together, stop distracting me while I fly….. FT: Wait….I recognise your voices….it can’t be, can it? Yes of course land on pad 1138….I’ll meet you down there.
It sounds like there are TWO droids flying an X-Wing to my home? And they want to join in this party? Well I thought this was the last day…ok maybe not! I’m going to have to leave now and greet these new visitors so please accept my thanks for checking out B.O.B. and V.I.N.Cent and for ALL the support you have shown throughout this past year. We passed another milestone of 16,000 views last week and that’s unbelievable but much appreciated. I hope you will call back for my year end review which will now feature some hints on who is flying RED 5! Till next time…..
Hello Everybody and welcome to yet another day of the Droid Invasion here on FTSabersite. I am hoping this week’s post goes to plan as I am feeling old and tired by all the crazy shenanigans going on around the globe at the moment. Unfortunately this week’s post will be a bit shorter as I test out a few settings to reduce my WP media storage usage, so fewer images I’m afraid till I get things sorted. However I have been reliably informed by K-4 that an incoming Trans-mat should be delivering a few Imperials……IMPERIALS! Noooh! Not Imperial Stormtroopers….here?!! K-4: Negative Master Tyeth….not Stormtroopers but Imperials from Skaro! FT: Imperials from…SKARO….that’s the planet of the Daleks! K-4: Affirmative! Planet Skaro, once inhabited by two species…the Thaals and the Kaleds….Planet decimated by civil war, resulting in the genesis of the Dalek race. Daleks spread across the galaxy overthrowing many civilisations…Exterminating those that opposed them. The Imperial Dalek has arrived and is in the basement now. FT: The Daleks are here?!! K-4: Affirmative….look on the security scanner….
FT: THEY’RE IN THE BASEMENT?! Ooh! Wait a minute this one is white and gold…it’s an Imperial Dalek from the time the Doctor and my friend Ace encountered them in the mid 1980’s! Ace demolished one with a Bazooka and another one with her baseball bat! K-4: You know of the Mistress Companion Ace? How is this possible? That would make you….at least 50! FT: It’s a “Timey-Wimey Thing” but I met Ace at a comic and Sci-Fi convention a few years ago. I got a photo taken with her, lovely person. But what is an Imperial Dalek doing coming here? What’s it doing? K-4: It appears to be searching….for you I suggest. I don’t think they have sensed your presence yet but they are getting closer!
FT: Yes it is closer, the security door is sealed isn’t it? K-4: Yes it is locked but the Daleks could probably decode the locks. FT: That’s lucky then it should buy us some time till Dale-K can get downstairs and greet our latest….guest. K-4: Ah yes…modern Daleks are much improved and can “Elevate” now can’t they? Is Dale-K still around, I thought he’d left ages ago? FT: Dale wanted to hang around after all and has been playing hide and seek from you…that’s why your sensors didn’t sniff him out! I’m sure he’ll be able to escort this Imperial to the party.
ID-1:MARST-ERR TY-YETH! ARE YOU THERE? WE KNOW YOU ARE HII-DING! COME OUT OR BE EX-COMMUNICATED! WE’VE COME FOR THE PAR-TEE! FT: ER, yes I’m here but what do you mean Ex-Communicated? And are there more than just you? ID-1:YOU SENT THE IN-VIIITE AND IT SAID IMPERIAL DALEK AND OOONE GUEST….I BROUGHT MY FERS-TIVE FRIEND WITH ME. HE WILL BRING COLL-OUR TO THE PRO-CEEDINGS! FT: There’s two of you? I thought you had brought dozens of your friends, that’s a relief cos I don’t think I would have had enough “Synth Alk” for all of you to drink! My friend Dale-K should be down to meet you in a moment…ok? ID-1:WE WILL WAAAYT! I HAVEN’T HAD SYNTH ALK FOR CENTURIES…THOUGH I’D BEST NOT DRINK TOOOH MUCH, I HAVE TO FLY BACK TO SKAR-OH! HA…HAHA….AAAA..HA
Dale-K:MARST-ER TY-YETH, I HAVE FOUND OUR GUESTS! SHUD I ES-CORT THEM UP TO THE PAR-TEE AREA? FT: If you think they’re safe then yes invite them up…I must say you all lock rather dressed up for Christmas! ID-1:HOW DID YOU KNOW MY COMP-ANION WAS CALLED CHRIS-MASS? WE CALL HIM THAT COS HE LOOOKS LIKE A PART-EE DECK-ORATION! FT: I didn’t know, I just like your colour schemes! Anyway let me welcome you to Tyeth Towers and come up to meet the other guests here so far!
WOW! Another week over with and the lineup is nearly complete! I really hope you’re enjoying this series as it nears an end but I have a bit of a tease for you….there is ANOTHER droid who will be making an appearance soon. I can’t say who or I’d have to “bleep” his name out! However stay tuned as I have the finale to the Invasion and my usual year end review still to come.
And that just about does it for this week. Thank you so much for dropping in and taking a look at the crazy creatings here on my little site. Your support is especially appreciated at times like this when I know a lot of you are preparing for the holiday season. All the comments, likes, views and subscriptions are very precious to me and keep the craziness continuing….so whether a new or regular visitor thanks again. Till next time…..
Hello Everybody and welcome to this week’s post. Can you believe this will be day SEVEN of my series of droid related stories? A whole week of chaos if you were to string the posts one day after the other. Today though I’m hoping things will be a turn for the better as I have invited a droid in hopes that he can help me fix Old B.O.B. (from the movie The Black Hole) that I built a while ago. As you may recall B.O.B. was damaged from the attacks he suffered in the film and I am trying to restore him. To help me I invited a droid with a brain the size of a small planet and an I.Q. and cognitive test result that are off the charts….yes today we welcome back Marvin the Paranoid Android! Now Marvin did seem a dour character in the cult TV show “Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy” but from what I’ve read and seen he doesn’t actually exhibit signs of being paranoid and only slight signs of a downward mood. Anyway I’m not a droid doctor but I’m hoping that giving him a challenge to fix B.O.B. will cheer him up! MARV: I wouldn’t bet on it……so that’s why you called me back here? Fix B.O.B. hm? I suppose I could have a look at him….if I can’t repair him no-one else will be able to. FT: Nooh! I wanted to see you again, and you are a favourite with FTSabersite followers. I do hope you can help, I’d appreciate any help I can get…he took quite a beating. MARV: Do you have a workshop then? FT: Yes in the tech bay next to my hangar I have a workspace and tools….I’m not allowed to build sabers in the flat in case of accidents! MARV: That’s wise I suppose but why you’d want to worry about a small accident when there’s a big boulder named Atlas hurtling toward your planet I don’t know….. FT: Atlas? Oh do you mean that unidentified object outside this star system that appears to be heading to Earth? I don’t know if it’s real or just a YouTube story…don’t worry though this base I have is solid. Shall we go downstairs and we can get to work ready for the big party? MARV: You know I’m not a big party goer….people think I’m a Soda-Stream machine…..oh well lead on……
OK everyone we’re going downstairs to my workshop, I’ll talk again in a moment….
MARV: Really? Is this B.O.B. ?He’s in a worse condition than me! You want me to fix this? FT: Well yes if you can…B.O.B. is a brave, courageous droid that deserves to be fixed right? MARV: He’s really “bent” out of shape…he needs a panel beater more than he needs MY skills… FT: I’m not a panel beater so could you do it? Please? MARV: I guess it will fill a few minutes of my time while that rock gets closer….I suppose you want him painted too? FT: No…just get him in shape, this is a “sympathetic restoration”
MARV: Hm….Maybe if I use a sledgehammer I can knock out a few dents! Even if I can he still won’t be 100%. Do you have a sledgehammer? FT: I’d prefer that you didn’t flatten him any further…we’re trying to rebuild him….we have the technology! MARV: I think you’re quoting the wrong franchise….not that anyone will get that joke….OK I’ll try a different approach.
WOOOOOOAH! WAIT! NOT THE LATHE!
FT: I want you to remove the damage not turn him into matchsticks! MARV: Sorry, but it’s been a while since I did a real job, I only got asked to open doors, check airlocks and pick up pieces of paper by Zaphod, Trillian and Dent. And me with my intellect…my knowledge is 50,000 times that of a normal human like you. FT: I hoped that fixing my friend would be something different and something to be be proud of when you did it. You’d be a hero and I’m a Jedi Master, does that raise me above that of a “normal human”? MARV: Slightly higher I guess, I would be a Hero? FT: Yes! Everybody in the FTSabersite family are rooting for you. MARV: I understand, OK go and finish setting things up for the droid get-together and I’ll do what I can here….which is a lot because I have a brain the size of a small planet and I only need a percentage of that to concentrate on this….I could write a treaty and restore galaxy-wide peace with my remaining runtime…not that anyone would listen to me, no-one does….except For…..
I’ve left Marvin to his task. I know he can fix B.O.B. and I’m hoping this will lighten his mood a bit. So back to the realities of setting this get-together up…I still have three attendees to come and I still have to write up my end of year report. Sadly I am getting really close to my limits on WordPress and will have to consider “pruning back” and deleting some old content and files so don’t be surprised if some posts disappear next year ok.
MARV: FOR! I think I have success but I want to surprise you with how he looks now….come down and see….
MARV: I found the answer to how to fix B.O.B. but he needs to change his name to For-T-2! FT: What have you done Marvin! Please tell that ain’t B.O.B. MARV: Doesn’t he look better like this? FT: NOoooh! Sorry but….OH thanks for trying.
OH HECK! Will this madness ever end? I’m not sure but now I DEFINITELY have my hands full with chores to do and restore B.O.B. myself. Time to add Marvin to the growing line-up,,,,
And that just about wraps up this post….what a mess huh? You would have thought that Sirius Cybernetics Corporation would have installed a program for mechanical engineering and droid repair! Looks like I’ll have to do it myself. But I want to thank Marvin for his efforts and to thank you all, my friends, for taking time to check out this post. I still have three more episodes of the Invasion to come, along with my year end review and hopefully in the new year some new sabers to showcase, So thank you very much for all the support, be it viewing, leaving a comment or like or even subscribing, all your efforts and contributions help me in my efforts to create. Till next time…..
Hello and welcome to yet another exciting episode of the Droid Invasion. Today we go back to the beginning of how this series was inspired with my variation of the EF KaTrona katana hilts suggested by Experience Film. His idea was sci-fi/cyberpunk katana hilts with a strong TRON theme to them. They were popular and I thought to myself, “These are cool but what if they had “personalised” tsuba handguards to depict different characters?”. The Tsubas of the TRON hilts were partially flattened hemispheres to form a disk but….what if I didn’t flatten the guard so I had a full half sphere (i.e bowl shaped). Well as soon as I did that the sci-fi detailing and shape screamed “BB Droid” to me. So I set to work building a BB-8 KaTrona saber! It featured half of BB-8’s lower body ball as the handguard and a smaller half dome to represent his head was used as the Habald (the ferrule part from which the blade extends from the handle and Tsuba)
Upon seeing this version of the KaTrona, my great friend MtPA (who is a big fan of androids, Daleks and robotics) asked if I had built any models of droids in the past and if I would consider doing so in future if not. Well I had made DroyD, who you may recall and I had dabbled with Dalek models, so I thought why not use this saber as a base to make some Astromech ball droids. This was the result…
Using two lower body shells it was quick and simple to fuse them together and drop a head shaped part on top then voila! A fully functioning BB-8 (well sorta – it’s a close representation of him). He is recognisable but I’ve just realised that I need to add a few more “Greeblie” style details to his head and maybe a few more panel lines to the body spheres. When I built the Tsuba I wasn’t too concerned about fine details as it was going to be too small to add every nook and cranny or lights and buttons etc. When I resized up to form this droid I noticed, so an upgrade may be planned for next year.
In the pictures above you can see the panel lines I did add but the central band that runs around his shell (the white section) could be made to have more visible detail. The real BB-8 models have asymmetric panel so that viewers could see which way he was actually rolling. He basically had an orange panel on all “sides” of him whereas mine just has two large areas on the “polar caps” leaving a white gap.
That just about wraps up this BB-8 post but can you believe WAY back in December 2015 this little droid appeared on the cover of TIME magazine? The magazine had a special double cover edition featuring BB-8 on one cover and R2-D2 on the other. That’s TEN years ago, where has the time gone? Anyhoo , speaking of time it has beaten me again, but at least this time I wasn’t interrupted by Rocke…..
TWANG!
FT: NOT AGAIN!!! ROCKETTTT! RR: Hey it wasn’t me this time….honest! BB-8 was speeding and tried rolling under that X-Wing and forgot to duck! FT: Forgot to duck? Seriously? RR: Yeah…it was hilarious, do you have a security camera in this hangar cos we could upload the video to GalaxyTube…it’d go viral all over the universe! FT: I’ll give you uploading videos…did you do this? Be honest… RR: No! I swear…. besides I’ve been dodging that Tin Dog you set to follow me! FT: UGH! OK I believe you…just.
And with that I really have run out of time. Thank you so much for joining me to check this out. I really hope you call back in future as I still have FOUR more participants in this series to show you all. Plus I have a few random bits and pieces as well as my usual end of year review. So thank you for your time and all the comments, likes and subscriptions you pass onto me and this site, They have kept me going through some tough times recently…Till next time….
Hello Everybody and welcome to what is day FIVE of ths Droid Invasion I am going through. So far I have introduced Sgt. Maj. Zero from Terrahawks, my friend DroyD which I built based on Jedi Fallen Order’s BD-1 character. Then the nasty BB-9E First Order Astromech and finally Bumblebot, a cross between a Transformer and an Astromech. I have also been hassled by a certain raccoon named Rocket who has caused havoc so today I asked my friends from Doctor Who to visit and keep their sensors on Rocket and keep him in line….Today I welcome back K-9 and my personal companion K-4!
This is the original character from Doctor Who named K-9, who was an assistant on a medical research space station when we met him first back in 1977. He was in the episode of Doctor Who titled “The Invisible Enemy” where this droid’s massive knowledge and computing skills helped find a cure for a deadly viral infection. K-9 was also a companion to his creator, Professor Marius, who built the dog as a replacement for his real dog – you see due to weight limits and quarantines etc it was impossible to bring his real dog onto the space station. It was a good job he built our canine hero as K-9 enabled the Doctor to be shrunken and injected into a sufferer to find a cure…and save the Doctor himself as he was infected. Well back in May of 2024, I had recently started re-watching Dr Who as it’s getting harder to access new Star Wars content for me and I built a TARDIS. After succeeding to model the time machine to a level I was pleased with I realised I needed a K-9 too so this was what I built….
As I always do I kinda went over the top and really tried to nail this model down perfect. I know how beloved K-9 is and knew fans seeing this would be angry if I messed up. If I recall correctly this was the result of 3-4 weeks of work. I modelled his complex shaped ears, the muzzle and head were a nightmare to model – then I had to work out how to mimic his visor lens. But I did have a little fun adding a “tongue” that hangs out of his mouth. This was an actual feature seen in the show as K-9 had a printer in his head to print out copies of data and computational results.
It definitely took me a while to work out how to model those ears! The shape curves both horizontally AND vertically…and then I had to create the mesh! The ear stems were just as complex, consisting of three separate parts – but again the effort was worth it. And the head wasn’t just a case for K-9’s massive brain it was also….
BIZSHOOO! BIZSHOOO! BIZSHOOO!
“TYETH! WHAT THE HECK…A DOG WITH A BLASTER?”
FT: Oh yes sorry Rocket…er meet K-9, I don’t think you’ve met him yet! RR: Met him? He nearly fried me! Is my fur singed? FT: No Rocket you’re not hit, those were just er, warning shots. K-9 is helping Sgt Maj Zero with security. RR: Helping with security? I thought I was security? FT: You’ve caused more chaos than a Dalek does, shooting BB-9E and Bumblebot….K-9 will just keep an eye on you so we don’t have any more “accidents” OK? RR: Keep an eye….ON ME! Oh nice! FT: You’ll be ok I just wanted you to dial it back a bit with the way you respond to “alerts”.
Yes! K-9 is fully capable of defending himself and his Master with the high powered laser weapon situated in his nose! It is coupled to his visor shield and computer so he can hit targets many humanoids can’t even see… K-9: Affirmative Master Tyeth, plus I can be assigned to protect any person, place or object you wish. FT: Yes K-9 thank you. And thank you for including that system into K-4! RR: K….FOUR? Who’s that? No….Don’t tell me, YOU own a dog now too? FT: Yes I have K-4 who is nearly identical to K-9 but with some modifications…. RR: Modifications? I don’t like where this is going…..
FT: Calm down Rocket…K-4 is perfectly safe, we programmed him to consider you a friend and not a target! But as you can see the modification is a storage space to carry my lightsaber or a spare. You never know when an extra saber will come in handy. So calm down OK? I’ll set up my shooting gallery so you can have a go at shooting a video game – just don’t use your BOOM Blaster alright?
OK I think I’ve managed to calm Rocket down. I’m beginning to question my sanity in inviting him, but he is a fan favourite and is loyal soooo. Oh and yes, that is my actual lightsaber that I own. I call it the Bal’Demnian Blade and if you follow this link there is a post about it: https://ftsabersite.wordpress.com/2018/12/22/happy-holidays-from-ftsabersite/
And speaking of loyal it is unbelievable and very humbling that my views have reached 15,000 and still rising. Thank you so much to all that have called in and had a look at what I do. Also all the Comms we have exchanged are much appreciated and help inspire me to keep creating and posting. Whether a view(s), comment, like or subscription you leave for me it all helps. So I hope you will return to see the conclusion of this series of Droid posts and the stuff I am working on inbetween. Till next time…..
FTSabersite 
