Tony's Lightsaber Gallery
During the course of this campaign, I've modelled a few lightsabers. I thought it would be fun to post some renderings of them just for fun. There is a link to an animated .GIF of a spin around of some of the models. Some of them are pretty large (1 MB).
Meqli's lightsaber:
Although primarily an ornamental weapon, Meqli built this saber while she was still travelling with the group who seemed to always get themseleves into trouble of the Krath and Hutt kind. This saber now more often is the key to opening politcal doors as she works to use her talents for healing in the more traditional Camassi way of diplomacy and advice.
This was the first of the lightsabers I modeled from pictures on www.thelightsaber.com Though I don't know the designer, The relatively simple forms attracted me to try to rapidly model this saber. This is also one of the first good results I've gotten with reflectance maps for the chome effect.
Darian's lightsaber:
During the course of our adventures, several lightsabers have come into our posession. Captain Darian Thomsyk, a veteran of the Sith War, still thinks of these as trophies of battle, and wants to keep his share of them for his collection. As the Jedi tend to destroy the sabers of Sith who have been captured or killed, Darian often is frustrated by our continually taking away what would be his most impressive trophies.
As a compromise, I've built him this lightsaber for him to keep. As it's smaller than a normal lightsaber, it won't encumber him if he wants to use it in the course of his work. It fits into a belt holster so as not to dangle in his way as other sabers do. Though the blade is also slightly shorter than normal, I don't think that will hold him back in a situation desperate enough that he actually has to use a lightsaber in combat...
Also, I've built into the hilt a datacard. The spherical section is removable, and fits into a standard data slot. Part of the datacard is a read-only section describing the circumstances surrounding his acquiring this lightsaber, as proof to any other Jedi that this is indeed his to have.
Another lightsaber I modeled from pictures on www.thelightsaber.com, this one appealed to me for the concept of Darian's lightsaber. Some of the metal forms drove me nuts for awhile, but the overall simple design still allowed me to finish it in one day.
Selenni's lightsaber:
This mastefully crafted weapon is both a gift and a challenge for Selenni - the Mandalorian Force adept. Taking up a lightsaber is a large step towards joining the Jedi, and is symbolic of the better understanding she and Lawler have of each other.
When Lawler constructed this, it was an unnaturally skillful process, and this resulting saber was beyond his usual talent at constructing them. As part of the construction process, and as a way of encouraging Selenni towards nonlethal options, Lawler built an impressive stun rod into the back end of the lightsaber. By choosing which way to spin the handle, Selenni will have a very flexible weapon at her disposal. This will serve Selenni well until she may decide to further her Jedi studies and construct her own lightsaber.
I gave Jason a choice of many of the lightsabers on www.thelightsaber.com for this game concept (see Selenni's lightsaber choice). Of course, with my luck, he chose the one with a lot of curves. This was much harder than the previous two, but the results look pretty good. Compared to the original, this model is almost too shiny, and it will be a challenge to try to match the "used" look and feel of the original photographs. It works for our game concept of a +3 mastercrafted lightsaber from Lawler rolling a natural 20 on his craft saber check. I needed a +10, I got effectively +30, it's a really nice item...
Lawler's new lightsaber:
Balanced for throwing, Lawler's new lightsaber is masterfully crafted to allow him to take advantage of the benefits of ranged attacks on enemies further away from him than would normally be possible. This lightsaber is also capable of employing multiple crystals to allow for different effects in the lightsaber's operation.
While modelling this saber, I took the "balanced" idea to heart and created a symmetrical base handle design. I continued the green and tan theme from Lawler's uniform onto his lightsaber. I also employed the three red teardrop shapes onto the saber igniter and the hilt of the handle. A small feature that goes almost unnoticed is that the belt attachment nub of the saber retracts into the handle to avoid catching on anything if it were being thrown.
The scratchings are just that, scribbles converted into a bump map on the object. My original plan was to make them an intricate set of markings, but for now, the scribbles seem to work pretty well. The blade color is supposed to be a sickly greenish yellow. Lawler broke two crystals in the process of making this saber, finally suceeding with the last crystal the Dantooine conclave had available - the least desirable color.
Lawler Saber animated spin-around (620 KB)
Xieran's new lightsaber:
A true swordsmans saber, Xieran's new lightsaber is meant primarily for duelling. The handle features a number of pieces not commonly found on saber handles, including a finger guard and a tether that attaches to the wearer's wrist. Xieran is a member of the Halsian line, and as such is not able to move objects through the Force. He decided that, in case he were to have his saber knocked from his hand, he should have a tether to recover it quickly. The hand guard is strong enough to use as a bashing weapon should the need arise. The saber, since it is tethered to Xieran's wrist, would be worn on the right side and drawn like a blaster, rather than worn on the opposite side like most lightsabers.
The shape and several features of this saber were designed by the person playing Xieran - Johnathan Timmerman. Working from a black and white rough sketch, I built this prototype model of the saber. I opted for a red, black, and chrome color scheme. The lower handle, with a leather grip, may need a different color and texture, but this is the preliminary setup. The belt attachment nub, used on all the sabers, is more visible here than on Lawler's saber.
Some of the curves for the smooth, organic section of the saber are pretty rough, but I chose not to refine them too much, as the design may be changed significantly soon.
Xieran's saber animated spin-around (700 KB)
Lawler's old lightsaber:
This lightsaber was given to Lawler by his instructor, Master Eelmo. Very low on frills, this lightsaber is durable in combat, and easy to care for. It is easy to repair, and has multiple connection settings, so that the learning Jedi will not lose it. Though this was not Lawler's choice of sabers, he seems to have accepted many aspects of it, since his new saber is similar to it in color, and belt connection style. He has opted to leave the more basic hand-grip style behind and use a smaller grip style.
When it comes down to it, this lightsaber is my Mag-Lite model with some odds and ends stuck onto it. The black rubber grips on it are taken directly from some Episode IV lightsabers - Vader's and Luke's first one, I believe. The ignition switch is the Mag-Lite on/off switch with a slight modification. This size of Mag-Lite is, I believe, a wonderful size and heft model of what I think a saber would feel like, so I spent some time spinning it in my hands, and figuring out where I would place my hands to wield it two-handed. I incorporated this into all three designs so far.
The ignition switches I put on "Lawler's new" and "Xieran's" sabers was taken from a model of Obi-Wan Kenobi's saber from Episode II. The belt connector clip was taken from pictures from a website of a company that makes replica lightsaber props. It's basically the belt connector commonly used to attach pagers and cell-phones to a belt clip. That worked for Lucasarts, it should work well for me.
