I’m not sure there’s anyone out there that’s more excited about Star Wars: Episode 7 than me and while I’m not much of a Cosplayer, that certainly didn’t stop me from wanting to build my own Lightsaber Hilt. In fact I ended up building two of them because of how easy it was. But unlike a lot of hilts I’ve seen, I really wanted mine to have a certain personality beyond just the shape. One day, I was working with a piece of vinyl on the production floor at Lettering on the Cheap when I got the idea: what if I applied custom vinyl decals on lightsaber?
What really got me excited about this project wasn’t just the idea of applying vinyl however. It goes a little deeper than that. Vinyl comes in a variety of glossy levels, textures, colors- heck I could print out my own logos or graphics if I wanted. It was like as if suddenly the Force opened itself up to me and I felt my body surging with the power of the… Anyways, applying vinyl to your lightsaber hilt was really easy and the options it provided me were endless. From banding across the saber to intricate shapes parallel to the hilt I only scratched the surface. Using a Carbon Fiber or Gold Leaf texture I could have achieved a much more technical or rustic look respectively. What about a polished wood? Done. Brushed metal? Done.
Lightsaber Hilts: No Detail Left Behind
But adding vinyl to your hilt isn’t all about the big details, and there’s a lot of opportunity to fill in the creative gaps with smaller decals. While I didn’t do it here, it would have been great to apply thin parallel lines running just inside the beam projector. Or using a transparent vinyl I could have added some carbon scorching to the beam projector for a bit of ‘used grit’. Seeing the success of these lightsabers has only increased my desire to build another and I would love to hear your suggestions as to how we should go about it.
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You might be asking at this point, ‘awesome, where can I make my own?’ well, for the decals you can check out Lettering on the Cheap and for the lightsaber hilts, check out The Custom Saber Shop. They have some seriously awesome custom parts for building your own lightsaber just the way you’d like it. Best yet, the parts are made out of sleek reflective metal and handle comfortably in your hand.
Have any questions or want to make a suggestion? We’re all ears, leave it in the comments below!
