Mileena's "Blades of Nishak" Sais - Mortal Kombat

Mileena's “Blades of Nishak” Sais

Over the past few months my daughters and I have really enjoyed dismembering each other in MK11.  We've printed a few props here and there, but we couldn't find anything related to Mileena, who is one of their favorite characters.  These are my daughter Olivia's favorite sais which she uses to stab me in the face with all the time, so I've had lots of opportunities to see them up close ;) 

Stay tuned for more Mortal Kombat props, as we're already in discussions about what to make together next!

Everything designed in Fusion 360

Easy to print!

All files should be printed in the orientation that they've been uploaded, and should print easily.  I printed my blade and guards with 5mm brims, but I don't think they were necessary.

The only files which require supports are “Moto (Center of Sai).stl” and “Tsuka (Grip) - Inside”.  I used paint-on supports for both, and only selected the surfaces (blue) shown below, using organic supports in PrusaSlicer which worked really well.

The blade and sai guards should press fit into place without needing to glue them, though since I printed mine with brims that may have made for a more snug fit in my case and if you print without them you may end up needing to glue them into place.  The gems will require a drop of glue in the current design, but I may re-think those later in an effort to make them completely glue free.

The blade is nearly 300mm long, so I've provided a few options to accommodate smaller print beds.  I have not printed these variations myself, so please let me know if there are any requests for additional variations.  You can also split the original file in PrusaSlicer using the Cut Tool which will give you many more options as well.

Two pommel length options, with two-tone MK logo!

The long pommel option is closer to matching the game, but as I designed these for my daughter, we also made a shorter option which fits her hand better (don't want to drop these during a fatality or anything!!)

Threaded three piece handle construction

I designed the handle with the thought of making a knurled grip that could be printed in TPU in mind.  The longer threaded side of “Tsuka (Grip) - Inside” screws into the “Moto”, then slide “Tsuka (Grip) - Outside” over it, and screw on the pommel.  

On top of this making assembly a breeze, it also offers the flexibility of changing out the “Tsukagashira (Pommel)" should you want to try both sizes.

Tips for printing… the tips

The point on the blade and the guards are very fine… I've gotten my best results by decreasing the temperature for the last 10mm or so by ~10C and for the guards, I print both at the same time, with a ton of distance between them so they have time to cool while the other part is printing.

In PrusaSlicer, you can change the temp by selecting the layer where you wish to reduce the temperature, right-clicking the + icon and clicking “add custom G-code”.  For example, M109 S210 would set the temperature to 210C.

Other slicing recommendations

I printed just about everything at .1mm layer height, with 3 perimeters (the blade being the exception, which had 4 perimeters), printed with 20% Gyroid infill.  I believe I ended up printing the TPU outer grip at .2mm height for no real reason other than that I was in a rush that afternoon ;)  

Filaments used in my print, shown in images

Blade, wings & gems = AMOLEN Silk PLA - Red/Black
Guard, Grip (inside) & Pommel = MIKA3D Silk PLA - Metallic Silver
Grip (outside) = Sainsmart TPU - Black
MK Logo Inlay = Prusament Galaxy Black

Sai Terminology

Let's be honest, I have no idea what I'm talking about with regard to the parts of a sai, so I named them based on this image that I found on good ole Google.  Please let me know if I got anything wrong and I'll adjust accordingly.

Edit History

2024-05-01:  Added support info for “Tsuka (Grip) - Inside”
2024-05-02: More pics!  Replaced “Tsukagashira (Pommel) - Long” with chamfered version to make it a little easier to thread on.