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The Malibu Darksaber is a screen-accurate replica darksaber from The Mandalorian Disney+ show. It was machined out of 6061 aluminum on a Haas 5-axis CNC mill in four pieces. I served as the project manager and creative lead for the entirety of this project. The final product was the amalgamation of effort from five different companies/persons, and the effort shows in the quality of the final piece. With over 50 units produced and shipped worldwide, the Malibu Darksaber project had great success as well as numerous pleased customers.
When I originally saw Moff Gideon cut out of the TIE fighter in The Mandalorian S1:E8, I knew that I had to make the Darksaber. I contacted a designer and asked if we could use his Darksaber file as a base for our designs. He agreed and said he would help us further the designs as well for machining.
Throughout the entire project, I brought all the different companies and people together to make this Darksaber come to life. I assisted in prototyping what the final product would look like. To prototype the hilt, I learned stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing. Printing the hilt greatly helpmed me make tweaks to the design to achieve the vision I had.
Once I was satisfied with how the saber looked, I brought the designs to a local machine shop that specialized in small batch parts. The machinist worked with me to modify the design for subtractive manufacturing as well as the best way to secure the parts together.
The two-tone look on the final product was achieved by selectively sandblasting the raised grip on the hilt. To keep costs down, I personally sandblasted every one of the 200+ parts so that the finish was ready for the anodizing.
Once I had the manufacturing process complete, I had to find a way to finish the raw aluminum. I contacted a local metal finishing company and worked out the process to finish the product. We settled on the DiamonDyze™ Type III hard anodized coating for a strong finish.
I wanted to offer more than just a metal hilt. So, to give more choices, I worked with a chassis designer and blade maker to make the Darksaber light up and produce sound. Utilizing a market that is already thriving, we used off-the-shelf hobby lightsaber parts to make an accurate lighting and sound package.
Watch the video to see The Saber Trade test the electronics and his blade.
This was a wonderful project to work on. I believe that the Malibu Darksaber is one of the most screen accurate Darksabers on the market. It is by far the strongest hilt available and truly a work of art. Working with so many different people to make something like this come to fruition was such a pleasure and I would do it five times over again if I could.
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