Saber Forum

After looking around this forum for some inspiration for my upcoming, first lightsaber EVER!!!! (http://www.dramabutton.com) I found this category and I was amazed by the look of the "weathered" effect on the hilts but so far I have only seen it applied to "Dark" hilts. How does one go about making a "light" hilt look weathered? Many may ask why I ask this now but I am so sold on that "weathered" look that it may influence my purchase to a great extent if it cannot be applied to "Light" hilts.

I'd suggest dry brushing but using a a black or dark grey paint instead

Yeah, I agree. You might wanna test first. Also spray your saber with a clear coat after painting, or it will all rub off.

I've seen where people sand the hilt with a mixture of rough and fine sand paper, then you spray paint it, and wipe away the excess. All that remains is the paint in the scratches. Then use a matte finish clear coat to lock in the color so it won't rub out. I recently did this to my SI.

This all sound harder than I thought and what the "dry brushing tutorial" explained. Ohwell, I like a challenge. :)

Thanks for the answers guys! (Points for everyone!)

It's actually really simple.

You take some sandpaper (about 60 to 100), and rough up the hilt.  This will leave scratches and scuffs in the aluminum.  Basically, scratch it up any way you want.

Then, take some black paint, and apply it to the saber.  Doesn't have to be spray paint.  In fact, I'd advise against spray.

Wipe it off lightly with a paper towel.  There should still be paint in the scratches.  Let the saber dry.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the hilt is weathered to desired roughness.

Seal the hilt with a clear coat.

Enjoy.

I keep hearing "clear coat". Im sorry, I don't know what that is. Unless you mean I take one of my coats and put it over the saber but that would leave it paint stains all over it. :P

Clear coat is an actual separate spray can you buy that is transparent to te eyes but provides a protective layer to lock in the other paint beneath it. It is HIGHLY recommended if you want the paint to last more than a few weeks. Hope that helps! :)

Aah, now it makes sense, thanks for explaining. :)

It sounds easier said than done, money is a big issue here it seems; time to start working and saving up money!

a can of black krylon is 5$ a can of krylon clear coat is 5$

not that expensive at all

Thats pretty cheap, nice! Is black really the way to make "Metal Light gray" aliminium look weathered? : /

You don't really need to use black paint, you could use almost any paint color depending on the effect you're going for. I want to try one in an army green to give it a natural feel like it was used in conflicts on a planet like Felucia or another heavily foliated planet. You could also go with a gunmetal grey for a less intense weathering.

That sounds pretty sweet!

Well,  I was thinking battle weathered as a start! What color would you recommend with that? :)

I would say go with a black or grey for that charred or roughly used look, focus more on the areas where contact would be more prevalent like where your hands rest or where it spins in your hand.

I think black would make it look like its plastic underneath! Grey seems like the best option currently but we'll see once I'll get it. c:

Thanks for all the responses once again! It really helped ^^

Once it gets wiped it looks like really defined scratches and battle scars, not at all plastic like.  And not a problem at all, glad to help!

Here's an example of what it might look like.  This is using the same method I told you about.

http://imgur.com/a/yXcjI/embed#0 (http://imgur.com/a/yXcjI/embed#0)

god i love that hilt, hard to belive its just a regular old standard issue

Ah, then I'll give it a try then in October. ;)



That has to be the most awesome saber I've ever seen!! Has black paint been used on that one?

Yes this has been painted with black paint. This is what mine looks like minus the doohickeys.

Lol I was ust about to link my SI for an example but it looks like someone beat me to it! But yep that was weather all with black paint. To be more specific, I took a dremel and sandpaper to scratch and rough off the blue anodizing, then mixed black paint with a little water to thin it out and then brushed it and wiped it off. Just use a little at a time until you get the effect your looking for. Then DEFINITELY put a layer of clearcoat on it or it will rub off in about a day.

Also some of the doohickys on it before were switched to some smaller doohickys so its not so spiky. :)

That was me.  I absolutely love that hilt.  So much so that I made one in similar fashion.  It's not quite done yet, but I'm getting there.

WOOT Standard Issue FOR TEH WINZOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

This saber hilt is amazing. I am definitly going to try my hand at weathering a hilt in the future. Great Job.

 You could do a Caustic soda aging, as shown here on my Starkiller, (it pits the metal, holds paint or aluma black well withour clear coating)
(http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z433/DarthAlice88/starproject27pg.jpg)
I made a whole tutorial thread  here awhile back:
http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=5739.msg74431#msg74431 (http://www.saberforum.com/index.php?topic=5739.msg74431#msg74431)
It's a bit more involved than sandpaper, but if you really want an aged look , there is nothing like speeding up natures process of metal decomposition ;D