3D Printed Lightsaber With Internals - Darth Vader

With the force awakens everywhere you look at the moment I felt if was only right I now complete my training and make my own lightsaber.........but this I mean use the 3D printer again

With sucess of my recent 3D printer Mjolnir (thors Hammer) which the finished result was so good I almost did not want to give it away as the gift it was intended to be lol so now Im finally starting to get to grips with my 3d printer and now starting to test different disigns using coloured filiment to see which gives the best results......painting or coloured filiment

Enjoy...

Again I found myself trying to create my own 3D file for this project and in the end turned to the experts on the RPF.

I managed to find a 3D template for the lightsaber and the internals for something different, the idea being when I get a bit more clued up on my 3D designing I will be creating my own lightsaber with exposed internals crystal chamber, But for now this design would help and still make a good fun build

So for now running with the template and once happy with the design and scale you can proceed.....

Now this template came in about 12 parts in total and prior to printing each I made a List of the parts and the 3 colours of filiment Id be using, in this case:

- Silver

- Black

- Red/Orange

Firstly I started with the gray parts to the lightsaber, most of these were the internals and the outer casing

Next after a change of filiment to black I finished off the rest

is then I had all the pieces I needed to get started....

This was actually a bit harder than i expected to a good idea to keep track of all the parts and where they come together. I should say the parts in their different colours really helped here and with the parts printed as high quility as the printer would go hardly any sanding was needed.

If you are going to spray I would say this is the ideal time as all parts are in bits but for this build I wanted to see how it would turn out without any paint and as i said just using the coloured filiments

I started with the outer care and started using strong super glue to stick the "fins to the base of the handle and once the hilt itself was complete I started on the interiour workings (just for show no electrics)

Once happy lined all up and the hilt in 2 pieces as pictured plus the interiour parts assembled you can see it taking shape

Now with your saber looking something like this pic above I glued the interious pieces together and placed them inside the hilt, some minor sanding was required to the the right fit, best to do little at a time as 1 you dont want it to get stuck inside and not come out again and 2 you dont want it to rattle around inside when your revert to a 12yrs old and swing it around................which trust me will happen lol

**caution here** the hilt on my template comes in 2 sections and has a twist clip (hope that makes sence) locking movement, simple to use but i almost sanded it and nearly broke them off

Once the inner workings are installed and the hilt is just awaiting the finishing touch....so proceed to the next stage young jedi.........

Now all you have to do is pop and twist (LIGHTLY!!!) the hilt together and there you have is a complete light saber 3D printed with no spraying what so ever complete with replica internals

Happy to report Im very happy how this turned out but must admit the results without spraying are impressive but next time I would deffo use some paint to really bring this to life

Enjoy and look forward to the comments and votes

Thanks All

May the force be with you