Well, I actually finished the lightsaber last Tuesday, but I just got around to taking pictures of it yesterday. I built it with the help of one of my friends who has soldering experience. Needless to say, the saber has some flaws due to our inexperience. Still, it's my lightsaber, and I'm very happy with it. :D
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v185/200/7/567141784/n567141784_407724_3642.jpgThat's the whole hilt. I decided to just have one claw 2 attachment because I thought that three claws would be too heavy and Sith-like, and this isn't necessarily supposed to be a Sith saber. However, I think that the single claw gives it a somewhat edgy/sexy look (maybe in my dreams). :P It also keeps the hilt from being too plain, because it doesn't look very special at all without the claw and claw holder.
The emitter is a MHS style 7 blade holder. The hilt is the MHS double threaded hilt style 4, a double ended male threaded connector, and a 4" double female threaded connector (where the rubber grips are). The pommel is a simple screw on pommel style 5. The two screws I used to hold the blade and claw holder in place are 10-32 x 13/32' thumb screws.
Now, onto the mistakes. :(
http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v185/200/7/567141784/n567141784_407717_1499.jpghttp://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v185/200/7/567141784/n567141784_407727_4501.jpgAs you can see from these two pics, we had some, uh, trouble when we were drilling the screw hole for the emitter. We found out after about ten minutes of drilling that we had the electric drill turning the WRONG WAY. :'( After reversing the direction of the spin, the bit cut through the hilt like a hot knife through butter. However, we had already created a deep scar running all the way up to where the hole is. It's kind of hard to see in these pictures, but, believe me, it's there.
Also, I've been having some trouble keeping the momentary switch in place. I suspect this is because I need a switch boot, so the next time I place an order from TCSS, I'll be sure to get one. Right now, though, the switch is crooked and tends to get pushed back into the hilt, so I have to unscrew the bottom half of the hilt and push the battery holder up so the switch will pop back into the hole. A bit annoying, but I can live with it for now. :-\ I've managed to hold the switch in place most of the time by surrounding it with little pieces of Styrofoam and Kleenex. lol
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v185/200/7/567141784/n567141784_407728_4855.jpgI also placed one of the grips on a bit out of place with the others. Gah. >__<
http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v185/200/7/567141784/n567141784_407719_2113.jpgNormal room light w/ flash.
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v185/200/7/567141784/n567141784_407720_2443.jpgComplete darkness w/ flash (kinda pointless).
Normal room light w/o flash.
Complete darkness w/o flash.
Yes, those are my Darth Vader gloves and cat lying there. lol
The blade is a colored by a blue Lux III powered by Energizer e2 Lithiums. They were definitely worth the price. The first time I lit the whole blade up at full power was like the time Luke Skywalker first ignited his father's lightsaber. Flaws and all, this was
my first Luxeon lightsaber. Completely mine! ;D lol Now my friends all want their own. :P
I gave the length of the blade tube a once-over with sandpaper to kind of give it the "frosted" look. This lets the blade keep its brightness without letting the color bleed out everywhere. It also hides any little scratches it might get in combat, not that I've actually dueled with anyone yet. lol However, I went for the thicker dueling tube over the thinner show tube just in case. ;)
The entire saber is pretty heavy- Much more so than my MR Mace. When the blade is screwed into the hilt, it measures roughly 4' (I haven't actually measured the whole thing yet). I've been practicing spins and other swings and flourishes and stuff, and I do tend to bring it with me when I hang out with friends. So, yes, I love it, and I'm very happy I finally got my own Luxeon lightsaber. :)
Oh, one more thing: The name. I know a lot of you like to name your custom sabers, so I've decided on one for mine. It will hereby be known as...
GODZILLA! lol
Yeah, I chose the name Godzilla because the blade's blue color reminded me of the Big G's atomic ray. The rubber grips and ribbed hilt were also reminiscent of Godzilla's skin, scales, fins, etc. And, of course, there's the claw attachment. :P
To be perfectly honest, the blade color is a mistake. I mismarked my TCSS order and picked a blue LED when I intended to get a green one. I was going to name the saber "Gigan" if it had a green blade:
That's Gigan (note the claws). lol
Still, I don't regret getting a blue blade and find my saber to be very Luke/Anakin Skywalker-esque (if unintentionally). Maybe my next custom will be green, but think it's best that I wait a while before investing in another saber. ;) lol
So, questions? Comments?