A contained plasma blade used by Jedi, Sith, and other Force-sensitives throughout the galaxy. These elegant weapons get their color and power from kyber crystals. Some of which come from this site’s namesake, the icy planet Ilum.
Wow, it has been a long time since I’ve published anything here. For a while there, the commissions were rolling in so fast, I simply couldn’t keep up. I also put videos ahead of written pieces and, well, I was kind of lazy as well. It isn’t easy running two websites and it’s even more … Read more
Lately, it seems as though each day brings a new announcement from Saberforge. I literally just published an article covering additions to the ASP line and now, Saberforge apparently has several new Apprentice level hilts on the way, along with some very, very weird blade options. Let’s start with the hilts because, to me, they’re the … Read more
Over the weekend, Saberforge owner, Phil Isherwood posted some very interesting photos on Facebook depicting upcoming additions to the company’s Adaptive Saber Parts (ASP) line. These coming parts add such things as curved hilt bodies and crystal chambers to ASP. They also bring additional canon and non-canon designs, like elements from Plo Koon’s lightsaber, bits … Read more
Recently, a customer in North Carolina reached out to me asking if I could convert his 2003 Master Replicas Darth Vader lightsaber to in-hilt LED with a Nano Biscotte soundboard. For those of you who follow my work, Vader conversions shouldn’t be anything new. I’ve done several and the builds are quickly becoming second nature … Read more
Over the weekend, I saw something that I found really cool. No, it wasn’t another The Last Jedi poster, nor was it Neopixel-related (I really like pixel-based sabers, if you couldn’t tell). Rather, it was a post by One Replicas on Instagram announcing a new line of saber hilts. These hilts, called the SuperStunt series, … Read more
Last week, Scott over at Naigon’s Electronic Creations (NEC) announced some serious changes to his popular Spark 2 and Spark Color 2 soundboards for illuminated sabers. In addition to these improvements, he also revealed a new Neopixel-style blade, called the Intelliblade. Intended to bring the NEC lineup to parity with Plecter Labs’ most recent releases, … Read more
Late last week, a crew of affiliates working with Plecter Labs finally revealed the new “Plecterpixel” blade connectors that are intended to simplify Neopixel saber builds. This exciting development should help to bring Neopixel sabers into the mainstream, but the engineering behind the connectors is every bit as interesting as their potential. So, how do … Read more
Though I’ve always considered myself a fan of dark side lightsabers and characters, I’ve been on a major Jedi saber tear lately. For whatever reason, almost all of my recent commissions have come from folks looking for basic light side builds with few frills and green, blue, or similar blades. I loved doing the sabers … Read more
The custom sabers just keep coming here at Arms of Ilum. Today’s entry has a bit of an interesting backstory. A few weeks ago, I was working on a custom Hasbro Black Series Darth Vader conversion for a friend when LED Supply messed up my order not just once, but twice. I had originally ordered … Read more
Before I get into this rundown, It’s worth mentioning that this saber is very, very similar to the Republic Defender that I recently completed. I’ll note the differences where applicable, but readers should also check out that build for a different take on a very similar concept. Because the customer in this case wanted a … Read more