Sean's Revised Energy Sword

[Damien]

nice, did you think about using 300 grit sandpaper and frosting it that way? accident s happen with spraypaint :eek

 

[Sean Bradley]

Yes, I thought about it, but decided against it. When you sand it like that it opens up all the pores in the plastic, which makes it pick up dirt like a sponge. Also frosting like that wasn't as opaque as I wanted to obscure the EL wire inside, and diffuse the light more.

I did tests before i came to this conclusion about frosting.. The sanded/sprayed/sandblasted frosting just didn't glow as much when backlit. It's all about trapping the light inside the plexi.

The best thing about spraypaint is that if it is applied lightly enough on a sanded surface it resists scratching very well. And if you do gouge it or something, you can always sand it back down and reapply.

 

[Damien]

have you ever thought of fosforecent spray, it would be awsome

 

[Sean Bradley]

Phosphor comes in a spray?

IDK about that.... then you'd need blacklights. Or a gas charged vessel with cathodes...

or do you mean fluorescent spray? It has that.

Is there something lacking in the glowing? It looks pretty good to me. It emits a good bit of light...

 

[Damien]

no it is awesome and yes i meant florecent spray.

 

[GDan]

awesome man, looks amazing!!!

 

[arbiter]

thats to bad

 

[MC Chris]

I think its awesome work Sean, i just wish that the ends of the sword would be a little more sharp instead of round-ish. *You might have notice that yourself but you did what you did for safety reasons.

 

[Sean Bradley]

you did what you did for safety reasons

Exactamundo.

Just try getting into a convention or store event with a 3ft. long sharpened weapon.... besides I didn't want anyone hurting themselves.... or each other.

 

[MC Chris]

cool, so where did you get the plexi glass and who did you cut the little groves in the plexi glass?

 

[Sean Bradley]

Lowes, and with a dremel.

 

[MaShEdPOTaToEs]

u should put two long metal rods on each side of the sword and connect them to something that gives off alot of electricity so when u hit some1 wid it they would get shocked :dee:



i have no idea how that would work

 

[MaShEdPOTaToEs]

how did u get it 2 light up with the ripples of light going through?

 

[Sigma LS]

Sean, I know a guy who makes neon signs and I was thinking about seeing how that route might work instead of the EL wire. Would the power contraints work within the handle and would the heat generated be too much to handle?

But if that doesn't work I'll probably just get one from you.


MaShEdPOTaToEs- edit button dude

 

[Sean Bradley]

Fitting all the electronics in the sword handle is the biggest constraint of making it functional.... there's not much room there to work with.

Neon transformers are bulky and generate lethal amperages so I do see a safety issue there. If the tubes broke, you could potentially get a good show from the transformer ... that is if you could even fit a Neon transformer into the handle.

Cold Cathode tubes are a little more realistic, but I still dont see the power inverter fitting into the handle.

The EL wire is really the best solution, the inverters are tiny, and runn off of batteries for a long time. And really I have to say again, that there nothing wrong with the effect. So many people have made suggestions, but if it isn't broke... why fix it? It looks great, and the pulsing is amazing in person. It emits a pretty strong light, and even has a little audible 'hum' to it when you turn it on.

MaShEdPOTaToEs - Shocking sword? Others have suggested this to me, and theres just no way to fit more electronics into the handle... and I genuinely think it's a bad idea.... It's a prop, not a weapon. When you start manufacturing actual weapons, you'd better have a good legal team ready... you're likely to end up in court in a hurry. :wowie:

 

[The Ragin Pagan]

This may have been asked already, but what kind of batteries, if at all, do you use?

 

[Sean Bradley]

If I remember correctly it runs on one 12v remote control battery, and two 3.3v watch batteries. There are two parallel EL power inverters running to create the Off/On constsant/On Pulsing functions.

Runs for around 6 hours on those power sources.

 

[SPARTAN430]

Hey all, does anyone out there have any close up shots of the Energy Sword handle??? I'm in the process of redesigning the handle of my light-up energy sword prop right now as we speak. If you haven't seen it buried in the old forums, heres the pics: http://www.aphotohost.com/pf.php?fid=445

Unfortunately I don't have a capture card to get nice close up shots in-game of the details on the handle. I left my sculpt of it very generalized, so I could re-define it at a later date. I can't work very effectively from my TV screen, so some print quality screenshots would be really helpful! All the pics I have are of the entire sword.. all of which don't really allow me to zoom in for a better view.

If someone out there with the equipment to do so could get me some sweet close ups of just the handle from different angles, I'd be forever in your debt... and would gladly swing you a deal on the new model when it's finished. ;-)

I'm needing views from least 3-4 angles; top, side, front, back, 3/4, ect. I want to get shots of the fine details; the texture and proportions of the handle the whole way around as accurate as possible, so I never have to re-design it again... unless Bungie totally changes it for H3. :duh:

Please post links or images in this thread, and I'll put up some pics of the handle sculpt as it gets finished and leak some info on how it's done for everybody.

BTW; I'm redocumenting my entire process so I'll have plenty of resources to write up a nice tutorial for everybody here in due time.

Thanks,

-Sean

It would be neat if you made the sound effects from the Halo Plasma Sword sound off when you turned on the lights.. That would be sweet!

 

[Sigma LS]

And really I have to say again, that there nothing wrong with the effect. So many people have made suggestions, but if it isn't broke... why fix it? It looks great, and the pulsing is amazing in person.

No complaints from me Sean. I think your sword is way better than anything I could do. I was just trying to see if it might might work b/c I had a deal worked out with the guy, he makes me 4 hand blown gas charged sets of tubes and the electronics and I give him a completed prop.

Thanks for the help though. I thought using regular neon might be a bit sketchy... :eyepatch:

 

[Sean Bradley]

The sound effects would have to come from somewhere else... theres not enough room in the handle to add any more electronics.