The Flashgun Challenge

[COUNT DOOKU]

To build on the comments above- I interpreted it as 10 hours total dedicated to the build- not so much done all at once MasterChef style. That would be insane.

It would basically require you to not spend days and days designing something and never building... Forcing intentionality, and creating self awareness of "OK, where do I spend most of my time on a specific saber?"

Would it be the best saber ever done? Nope, but it would make for a unique challenge for sure. Opportunity to see where everyone dedicated their time for the build, what waste is cut out, what we have to sacrifice vs focus on, etc.

[bombarta]

Design and parts are in hand, started build log, just need some time that doesn't involve clearing my mums house! Seems like an endless cycle of nonsense dealing with selling after someone dies.

[eastern57]

Bomb, that's painful to hear.  I forget, with all my trivial inconveniences, that a lot more people have it so much worse.  I'm sorry.  All I have to offer is escapism, but it sometimes helps, should you choose to engage.

[SirRawThunderMan]

Ouch. I'm sorry to hear it, Bomb. You've got my sympathies, clearing my dad's house after he passed was a rough thing that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

In other cheerful news, there's a real chance that I may be out of the challenge altogether. There's been some ...issues with my landlord, and there's annoyingly good odds I'll be spending my free time between now and October house hunting

[SirRawThunderMan]

I'm out. Darth Real Life has struck again. I'll complete my entries out of competition later this year or next year, but the dung has hit the fan.

Good luck, everyone, and May the Force be with you!

[jbkuma]

I think some of my best projects are one day/weekend marathons that start with an inspiration, a couple main parts, and a dive into the greeblie bin.

[eastern57]

I'm out. Darth Real Life has struck again. I'll complete my entries out of competition later this year or next year, but the dung has hit the fan.

Good luck, everyone, and May the Force be with you!

Ah bummer, dude.   That sucks... poo-fan is no bueno.  :( :(

[SirRawThunderMan]

Yeah, it's partly my fault, I had months to get started building something but wasted them iterating and reiterating. And when a crisis out of my control struck, I'm paying for it. 

There is a very slim chance that I might still be able to produce something. I've got most if not all the parts I need, but I have doubts that I'm going to have enough building time. It would have to be a flawless build with very little time spent troubleshooting and ideally no problems popping up halfway through, no bumps in the road, etc.

[eastern57]

Hello all! 

We're in the last month and it's not too late to get your entry going, and it's also not too late to enter (if you hurry ).  -But- no dishonor in calling your limits. 

I hope everyone is doing well.  Like, seriously, how is everyone doing?  Not just with your flashgun entry, but in general.  A lot has happened since we started this thread, so it's understandable that we, as a group, have also changed.   

I'm still trucking along, my flashgun entry is also mostly there.  I'm naturally pretty withdrawn, but this year has still been very rough on me.  I've found that having a reason to deliberately make something has helped me stay focused.  So it's yielded more projects and videos... (#swbeerfridgechallenge cheers, Rob).  Making is very meditative for me.

Thanks to Forgetful Jedi Knight for stepping up as our objective 3rd party, he will be along shorty with some more instructions. 

Anyway, Hope to see everyone at the finish line (entrant or spectator, both are cool)!

Josh (e57)

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

OK, here are the details for submitting your contest entry to me:


When you have your saber done, send a maximum of FIVE 'finished' shots and a wiring shot or two (optional, but recommended) to ME. No videos for the contest, to keep members anonymous.

Send your entry to this email address: fjk_tcss@yahoo.com


Title your emails in this:
FX CONTEST - Saber name - YOUR USERNAME


Example:
Superawesomejedi built a saber for the contest. FX  CONTEST - SABER1 - SUPERAWESOMEJEDI


Inside the email, please put your username, real name, saber name all on one line

On the next line(s)
You can add any other info like saber specs, and the pictures you want posted.


Example:
Saber name: Spectra
Specs:
CFV 8.0
LED Engin RGGB
Premium speaker
Momentary switch


<picture1>
<picture2>
<picture3>
<picture4>
<picture5>
<Wiring picture1>
<Wiring picture2 >


I will save and re-host all the pictures myself so that your name stays confidential. Please make sure you rename the photos to distinguish them from each other somehow. The easier it is more me to download and copy/paste, the faster the polls get posted up. The polls will be anonymous, as discussed, so that people don't vote for their favorite member. Also, please don’t go fishing on social media for votes. I caught someone in the TCSS Contest trying that. Just don’t, it’s tacky. 

Also, Please keep your sabers to yourselves as well, DO NOT post build/show off threads until the winner is announced.

You have until MIDNIGHT EST October 1st  2020 to build a saber for the contest, unless the date changes. Voting will be held shortly thereafter, and the poll will be 2 weeks in length.  After that, either I (or possibly a staff member here) will announce the winner).

That's about it. Have fun with the contest! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with.

I'll be answering questions here, but please keep it on topic. If it’s more of an Administration question, I’m sure Yoda or K-2SO will weigh in.

[SirRawThunderMan]

We're in the last month and it's not too late to get your entry going, and it's also not too late to enter (if you hurry ).  -But- no dishonor in calling your limits. 

I hope everyone is doing well.  Like, seriously, how is everyone doing?  Not just with your flashgun entry, but in general.  A lot has happened since we started this thread, so it's understandable that we, as a group, have also changed.   

I'm still trucking along, my flashgun entry is also mostly there.  I'm naturally pretty withdrawn, but this year has still been very rough on me.  I've found that having a reason to deliberately make something has helped me stay focused.  So it's yielded more projects and videos... (#swbeerfridgechallenge cheers, Rob).  Making is very meditative for me.

I'm trying to keep in the running, as far as possible, but last week's Poo-fan incident has... rather hindered things. In short, in my spare time, I'm a Hackerspace director. Last week, the space's landlord served us our eviction notice. So, my plans for September being a month of evening and weekend builds in the space have been completely sunk. All build time is being spent either letting members into the space to collect their belongings, or organising property viewings, finding storage space for our equipment, packing, cleaning, moving, etc. Which would be tricky under normal conditions, but with Sweet Lady 'Rona doing the rounds, it's a bloody nightmare.

The good news is that I've got most of the parts I need to build an entry, and hopefully I should be able to sneak a few hours build time here and there. The frustrating news is that a lot of the planned "complex" parts of my build are going to have to be sacrificed and replaced by simpler 3D printed replacements, because I just don't have time for anything else. I dunno, maybe it's just me overthinking it, but it kinda feels like I've gone from "scratchbuilding a saber" to "designing, assembling and installing a one-off, custom saber kit." Something about it just doesn't feel the same, somehow, and it's nagging at me a little. 

I'd wish the best of luck to everyone, but at the rate 2020 is going, I don't know if I can spare the luck 

[null]

I hope everyone is doing well.  Like, seriously, how is everyone doing?  Not just with your flashgun entry, but in general.  A lot has happened since we started this thread, so it's understandable that we, as a group, have also changed

In general it has been a very, very strange year... my geographic area hasn’t been as hard-hit by “Sweet Lady ‘Rona” as most areas; so that has been a definite blessing. I work in commercial construction up in Canada and everything was shut down for about 5 months when the whole thing started. Financially it hasn’t been great so we are also looking for a new place; I feel your stress SirRawThunderMan and hope it works out for you. My Wife & I have had plenty of time with our two kids (Boy 5yrs & Girl 3yrs) trying to explain to them exactly what is going on with this crazy world.

What next? I know some of you have experienced local protests, tropical storms/hurricanes, wildfires... And pretty soon for all of us in the northern hemisphere “Winter Is Coming”. Stay safe saber family.

As for the Flashgun Challenge I’m still in it. I’ve got a very simple saber finished up but I wanna “bling“ it up a bit before submitting it.

@ FJK I know way back there was some discussion about being able to submit multiple Sabers per forum member; do you know if can we do multiple entries per member?

- Steve

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

That’s not specifically MY call here. Eastern57 is the brainchild behind this.

My thoughts and views on the question:
Since there would be no “cash on the table” so to speak, only egos would get hurt IF soemeone entered several hilts and one of them won. The flip side is it does increase your odds of “winning”, and if there aren’t that many entrants, that may not be such a great thing. I’m torn on this one. I don’t really remember many multiple K3GR1 entrants into that contest ages ago. And the K3GRx contests would be the “closest” thing to this IMPO. I guess I’d need to see how many people were entering overall. The more that entered, the more likely I’d be to “allow” it, and the converse is also true, the less people who enter, the less likely it would be that I’d allow multiple entries.

I’ll let E57 chime in, and I’ll likewise see if Yoda or K-2SO has any opinions on this.

[eastern57]

Multiples are very welcome.  The intent of the challenge is to showcase people's fondness for flashguns and their creativity in execution.  The more entries, the better the show.

In the K3GR1 contest, Jango had a couple entries.  He even kept going after the contest was over.

[Forgetful Jedi Knight]

OK. Multiple entries appear to be fine then.

Re: Jango: Once finances improve, I may still take one off his hands and either upgrade  that one, or mine to existing day standards.