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[Vicks]

Greetings Mercs (and visitors),

I've been doing a huge amount of research on great weapons to thwart those pesky Jedi, and Force Pike has made it to the top of my list.

In case some of you are unfamiliar, Force Pikes were primarily used by the Emperor's Imperial Guard. They have a vibro blade on the end that is able to slash and stab, and a stunning capability. They sit around 50 inches and look almost like retro-fitted lightsabers without, of course, the light itself. I imagine the combat style is similar to that of a spear, sometimes a rapier, but lite information exists on this (which leaves PLENTY of room for some sick action photos).



In light of this, I started feverishly ordering strange things from Amazon and Ebay. Here is the list so far:
1) Single ski pole, yes Ebay has them. Hilarious
2) A sea of bilge-pump related tubing, for hand grips
3) Tiny faucet handle
4) Plumbing copper/ PVC links
5) A mess of paint tools

So far, I have removed the handle from the Ski Pole (heat gun and pliers), painted the ski pole and marked it accordingly for where the hand grips will go, and began fitting pieces together for the 'hilt' to avoid mistakes.

Pictures or it didn't happen, wish me luck:


s-l1600 by Vixerman (Vicks), on Flickr
Ski pole upon purchase. It was in great shape, just a bit dirty. After a solid rubdown with alcohol it was in good enough shape to paint. See more below about the painting process.

plumbing kit by Vixerman (Vicks), on Flickr
Bilge pump kit found on amazon. Came with some extra pieces. More than enough to cut hand grips, try new things, and make mistakes. May even try to incorporate the nozzle somehow.. We'll see about that...

20170415_191211 by Vixerman (Vicks), on Flickr
Ski pole handle after removing. Used a heat gun and blasted it on high, then used a good pair of pliers to break the seal down the middle of the mold and pull off. Small amounts of adhesive were left behind that I don't care about (see below).

20170415_190335 by Vixerman (Vicks), on Flickr
Painted pole (used a series of different spray paints and sealant to give a Cortosis-weave feel. Note: I did not care about the paint gripping strangely around the adhesive area as hand grips will go over that entire area. Overall, it has a great look and feel. I'm very excited to begin putting the hilt together around it.

[Vicks]

Hey again, shiny new updates.

Popped over to home depot and picked up a series of steel pipe fasteners, cap, etc. (3/4 inch), and they fit PERFECTLY. I haven't even used glue, etc, and was able to fit everything on there well. Gave me the opportunity to figure out what's next.

Force pike by Vixerman (Vicks), Force pike shaft put together.

Force pike by Vixerman (Vicks), This is the entire shaft as-is. Painted the bottom so it has a snazzy silver look.

Overall, I am very pleased and will be done much sooner than scheduled. The cap is fantastic, however, need to bondo the rim (says CHINA and 3/4 on the handle) and add some extra flare like buttons, etc. Also, looks like the handles are a bit long, going to shrink them up. The color between the piping and the shaft doesn't quite line up perfectly, so I am going to paint the ridges/grooves on the piping and dirty up the shaft. Also need to add the patented 'black ring' at the bottom which I am  assuming is the vibro actuator.

Once I sort the above out, I'll just be doing minor 'pimping out' until the next Con!

[Echo Darklighter]

Looking good so far, vod.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

[Vicks]

Looking good so far, vod.  Can't wait to see the finished product.

Hey thanks! I am waiting for a better butt to come via ebay (boat lights are hard to come by in the US, apparently), but will have some aesthetic updates tomorrow. Been doing a lot of dirtying, painting, sanding, etc. the last few days.

[Vicks]

Made a lot of progress last night,

Did a layer of black acrylic to the grips so they have a more rigid feel to them. Also got out the silver and gave the metal parts a good shine.

I've decided in light of everything else looking amazing that I am not satisfied with the cap, so I've ordered a few replacements on amazon.

All of that being said, it is looking pretty awesome so far:

Force pike continued by Vicks Mandalorian
Hilt area looks good so far, but I feel like there is a bit too much silver up there. replacement knobs coming on Thursday I hope!

Force pike continued by Vicks Mandalorian
Everything so far. I also ordered some standard silver craft metal to fill in the microscopic hole between the last link and the base of the pike itself.

Once I get those new parts added, I'll be doing some weathering, etc. and most likely calling this project complete!

[Vicks]

Well, I am about 95% finished with the Force Pike.

To be brief, i glued/ screwed everything together, replaced the cap with something more 'fitting' (pun intended), did a ton of weathering, and added a few layers of gloss to finish everything/ prevent paint chipping.

The weathering method I used was more of a char/ grease as I am angling my kit to join the Force Hunters Brigade. The hilt and tip areas are noticeably darker as the majority of lightsaber contact would come into those areas. My reasoning is that when fighting a Jedi, a non force user would probably want to get in and get out fast. None of that 'honor stuff' for me, thanks.

Long story short, the burn marks came out great and the overall 'dirt and grime' fits into my kit well.

Pics or it didn't happen:

Vicks' Mandalorian Force Pike by Vicks Mandalorian, Finished product, top down view

Vicks' Mandalorian Force Pike by Vicks Mandalorian, Weathering from a distance

Vicks' Mandalorian Force Pike by Vicks Mandalorian, Weathering up close

Vicks' Mandalorian Force Pike by Vicks Mandalorian, 'transition pic' to show pike to handle look

Vicks' Mandalorian Force Pike by Vicks Mandalorian, Close up of stock in my hand

Now that it is more or less finished, I am going to add some red buttons for funzies and begin working on the sheath. I ordered a ton of leather supplies and am planning on doing something similar to Guts' sword sheath on the Anime series Berserk. To make it work for the pike, I will have a basket for the tip (roughly 7 inches long, 3in wide) and a single snap at the hilt that I can reach over my shoulder. It will look super swag at an angle under my cape and leave me unencumbered.

Here is a photo of the sheath I am going for:


Should be done with the sheath on Monday...

[Vicks]

Now that I am finished with the pike, I've sewed together a leather sheath. It consists of the leather scraps themselves, a large pistol magazine holder inside, and a metal pipe ring to make sure it doesn't go anywhere. Everything was painstakingly sewed together by hand.. a daunting task...

20170521_133210 by Vicks Mandalorian

20170523_011235 by Vicks Mandalorian

20170523_015217 by Vicks Mandalorian

Now that I have that together, it is time to sew the sheath to a large leather strap, then sew said strap to a bandoleer/ suspender and find some sort of fastener. Almost there! 

[Vicks]

This work in progress is complete.

2017-05-26_09-11-25 by Vicks Mandalorian

Made a pretty robust belt system to hold the sheath that is fully adjustable/ fits on my armor extremely well. Tested it out a bunch of times and it works great too.

[Torolf Goran]

The pike looks awesome! Nice work on the sheath.

[Evad]

Good on you vod, for making this yourself.  I certainly didn't want to trust myself for a scratch build of the thing.  I have ordered mine from a prop maker in Florida who makes the various kinds you see in the movies, and they are screen accurate.  I also thought about doing a sling type holster over my back, but after a while I figured that it would be far too unwieldy to pull out and put back in as needed.

So, here's what I did.  My force pike will come in two pieces, and I'm looking into getting a bayonet coupling that will allow me to quickly unlock and lock the two halves together when I want to bring it out to use.  Otherwise I'll store each half on my kit which I believe will allow better mobility and easier access.  I am looking forward to seeing how you do yours.  Maybe we can compare notes and help each other out.  Glad to see another vod going after a Force Pike. 

[Vicks]

Good on you vod, for making this yourself.  I certainly didn't want to trust myself for a scratch build of the thing.  I have ordered mine from a prop maker in Florida who makes the various kinds you see in the movies, and they are screen accurate.  I also thought about doing a sling type holster over my back, but after a while I figured that it would be far too unwieldy to pull out and put back in as needed.

So, here's what I did.  My force pike will come in two pieces, and I'm looking into getting a bayonet coupling that will allow me to quickly unlock and lock the two halves together when I want to bring it out to use.  Otherwise I'll store each half on my kit which I believe will allow better mobility and easier access.  I am looking forward to seeing how you do yours.  Maybe we can compare notes and help each other out.  Glad to see another vod going after a Force Pike.

That sounds fun,

I looked at using two pieces as well, but decided on something to draw and put away on the go instead for a few, very subjective reasons.

Working with a ski pole made the pike super light because it is carbon fiber, but also meant that splitting could really mess with the structural integrity, so I opted out. Then i thought about not using any means to fit it on my kit, then almost immediately after scrapped that idea as I like to touch things at cons. That and finding creative ways to make things fit on my kit is kind of 'my thing' right now. In fact, I am in the middle of making a holster for a hand bowcaster I put together.. wish me luck, you can see the WIP link here: http://mandalorianmercs.org/forum/index.php?topic=135138.msg1749686#msg1749686!

Finally, and probably my favorite reason, when I have the pike unsheathed, the sheath itself looks like a demon tail 

[JiriadAlor Marek]

I love the way you made the sheath.. i've been trying to figure out how to carry my electro-vibroblade on my back.. and your concept just gave me a marvelous idea.. Great work here Vod!