Category Archives: Star Wars DIY

AT-ATrinket – A Star Wars Trinket Box

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Via Instructables.com:

This project was born out of admiration for the Star Wars universe, and vehicles created for the movies. Imperial walkers are amazing machines, and the AT-AT the main example of this class of vehicles. The idea was to take advantage of the same design to create a trinket box produced in 3mm MDF, which once assembled has dimensions of 19.7in x 15.75in x 5.9in.

The piece was drawn on the basis of the drawings available in wookieepedia (detail here), which have been simplified to suit the material and the expected functionality to the piece. One of the goals was to prevent creating something very static, so it was decided that the legs could have their adjusted position, allowing put the AT-AT in different positions, from 12 existing joints.

To build it, you will need:

MDF 3mm;
one router / laser cnc (this model was produced using a router and a bit 1.5mm) ;
8 3×9 mm screws (diameter equivalent to 1/8) and nuts ;
12 screws 3×12 mm and nuts;
glue (cyanoacrylate or specific to wood) ;
acrylic paint, if you are inspired to paint.

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R2-D2 Helmet

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Via Instructables.com:

Hi everybody! I am Density and I am 14 years old. I am a big fan of instructables and Star Wars so this time I will show you how to make a R2-D2 bicycle and skateboard helmet. You can change the colour of the paint to make the helmet look like R2-M5 or R2-D5. I suggest you read through the instructable before you begin so you can see what to do and get a better understanding. I hope the instructions are simple and easy to understand. Enjoy and have fun.

These are the materials you will need to make the R2-D2 helmet:
– Bicycle or skateboard helmet
– Blue spray paint
– White spray paint
– Silver or light gray spray paint
– Masking tape
– Sandpaper or file
– Cloth
– Black permanent marker

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R2D2 Heels

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Via Instructables.com:

These ARE the droids you’re looking for!
Forget protocol, droid, and mash up everyone’s favorite astromech with mid-heels and create the greatest footwear the Empire has ever seen. These R2D2 shoes are the hottest thing this side of Tatooine and they’re cooler than Hoth.

The wide heel of these shoes was removed and replaced with a steel bolt to provide strength and support, but at a fraction of the size. An R2D2 toy covers the heel bolt, and the toes have been decorated with lenses, blue accents, and a blinking red LED to let everyone know just how this droid rolls.

This project follows mostly the same process as Dinosaur Heels, but with a few more additions to take it to the next level. Whether you’re dashing to Tosche Station for power converters or just going to the store, these R2D2 heels are sure to give you geek cred faster than you can shut down all the trash compactors on the detention level.

Here’s what I used to make mine
tools:
MIG welder
soldering iron
propane torch
rotary tool
elecric drill
rubber cement
foam glue
2-part epoxy (extra strength – not “quick setting”)
white spray paint
materials:
1x button cell battery holder
1x 3V coin cell battery (mine was CR20163)
2x identical R2D2 toy action figures (about $8 each)
white shoes in desired size (mine were free)
1x SPST (or SPDT) switch
2x 5mm red blinky LEDs
2x 5mm LED holders
2x mini flashlights – lenses only ($1 each)
1/4″ – 20 threaded rod
2x 1/4″ – 20 hex nuts
2-3mm blue foam sheets ($1 each)
sunglasses (mine were $1)
thin-gauge wire
heat-shrink tubing

Ready to save the galaxy in style? beep boop beep!

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X-Wing Fighter Soapbox Derby Car

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Via Instructables.com:

I wanted to design a car that people would like and made me feel heroic. So I decided I would model it after one of the most important vehicles of our nation’s history: the T-65 X-wing fighter.I scoured the web to print pictures and blueprints of X-wing Fighters. Thankfully, there is an entire nerd community dedicated to fantasizing about what makes Star Wars ships tick. So I got pics of models, blue prints, and all kinds of drawings. These would give me a reference for this year’s car.I started out using my 2010 car which was also my father’s 2008 car.. I stripped it down to the studs, took a photo, and printed the photo out. Using tracing paper over the photo I fleshed out what the new car design would look like. The first thing I noticed is that it was going to be longer and wider than the frame I was using. I anticipated that the width could pose a problem with transporting it in my truck. So I came up with the idea of making the car modular and assembling it on-site before the race.I had my heart set on a few key design features that I knew would make the car really badass: 1) I wanted a R2 droid that spun and made sounds 2) I wanted the wings to open and close. Very early on I abandoned the open/closing wing idea. I just couldn’t make it happen in the budget and time that I had. But I was pretty sure I could easily get the droid to spin and talk.The first thing I did was frame-out the additional length to the front and rear of the car. I also had to re-shape the entire front of the car from the driver’s seat forward. I re-did this twice until I got the shape I was looking for. The rear of the car was basically a hollow box where the wings mounted and the droid sat. I needed to have access to the inside of the box so I could attach and remove the wings.

R2-D69: The spinning droid was constructed of Styrofoam and painted to look like R2-D2. I used one of my daughter’s old toys to create the motion. The toy had a gear on it that spun when a button was pushed. I cut the toy in half (it was too big) and mounted the toy to the underside of the body and glued the droid head onto the gear. To control the spinning I used an old NES controller. I re-routed the toy’s switch through the NES controller so when the A or B buttons were pushed the droid would spin for about 15 seconds. For audio, I downloaded some R2-D2 sound effects from a website and used Pinnacle movie studio software to string them all together into a 50 second babbling droid Mp3. I loaded this onto an iPod and connected it to a small portable speaker system that I hid inside the body of the car. This way, each time I started down the hill, I could push the NES controller button and the iPod play button to commence the droid freak-out.The wings were another tricky part. I made two sets of brackets that would hold the wings in the correct X shape and could be mounted to the sides of the car. Some drainage piping was used for the “engine” things.

Another interesting feature of the car was the nose cone. One of the rules of NASBRA is that the car needs to have a sturdy eye-hook on the front. I did not want to ruin the cool look of the nose of an X-wing so I created a nose cone that lifted up to reveal a hidden hook. The nose was made of wood and cardboard and was mounted using a small metal cabinet hinge.

There were a lot of details in the X-wing car and almost all were done on the cheap. The entire car cost under about $75. There were 7 pieces to the car that were assembled at the race site: 4 turrets, 2 wings, and one car body. During the first heat I broke
one of the car’s brakepads. I must have pulled the brake lever too hard against the wheel which caused one of the wooden pads t
o break. Upon post mortem inspection of the car the next day I also noticed that the axle saddle was also cracked. I assume this occurred at the same time as the break pad damage. Pulling the brake lever too hard must have shoved the wheel (and axle) back too hard which spilt the axle saddle. Also, during my second heat (the first loser’s bracket round) I collided and became entangled with another car that was shaped like a camera. Dramatically, I still managed to win that heat and move on to the next round.

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