The Force Is Strong With These 5 Star Wars 3D Printer Projects – BGR

“Star Wars” is a franchise that needs no introduction. After all, it is, without hyperbole, one of the most profitable media franchises of all time, with more shows and films still in the pipeline. Naturally, the popularity of “Star Wars” has led to several decades of comprehensive merchandising, but even “Star Wars” can’t accommodate everything a fan could ever want. If you want more “Star Wars” in your life, all you need is a 3D printer to make your own toys, decorations, and unofficial memorabilia.

As long as you don’t incur Disney’s wrath by trying to sell any of it, you can use a 3D printer to realize your wildest “Star Wars” dreams, from creating your own lightsaber to covering your shelves in Imperial Walkers. Half the fun of owning a 3D printer is designing your own projects, but if you’re just getting started in your Force training, you can find all kinds of neat ideas on 3D printing enthusiast websites like Printables and Thingiverse.

Originally appearing in “The Empire Strikes Back,” the All-Terrain Armored Transport, better known as the AT-AT Walker, is one of the most iconic Empire vehicles in the “Star Wars” canon. Since it’s such a distinctive vehicle, an AT-AT toy makes a great decoration for your desk or shelf. If you’re going to make one from scratch, though, you might as well give it a bouncy little personality.

Printables user TheCraftyMaker designed a surprisingly accurate-looking 3D-printed AT-AT Walker, looming tall on a table or desk. However, it’s not just a statue; this project is a “Springie” — a bobble toy that incorporates a coil shape into its printing process. The coil is specifically located within the “hump” of the AT-AT, so when you poke it, the entire upper body shimmies and shakes around. It’s stately and intimidating when standing still, but it becomes cute and funny when you give it a nudge, which also makes it a great work-time fidget toy. It’s made of seven composite parts, including the standalone spring, so you just have to print them all out and snap-fit them together.

Everyone knows and loves R2-D2, the astromech droid that appeared in the very first “Star Wars” film, “A New Hope.” Despite a relatively simple, almost trash-can-like design, the droid has become one of the most recognizable images in the entire franchise, to the point that R2’s mere silhouette could be easily identified by someone even passingly familiar with “Star Wars.” There are all kinds of nifty, practical purposes you could put that distinctive shape toward, so how about a home for your plants?

Printables user CalebTimoteo designed a cute and simple R2-D2 planter for displaying and caring for small house plants. The planter features molded accouterments depicting R2-D2’s various panels and cameras, and it comes in two variations: one of R2’s head by itself, and one of the droid’s head and most of its upper body. If you want to display larger plants, the model is very easy to scale up in size without becoming overcomplicated. CalebTimoteo notes that this print would also make a great desk decoration for storing pens and pencils, and you can also paint it in film-accurate colors for a fun personal project.

Many aspects of “Star Wars” have circulated throughout modern culture through simple cultural osmosis, whether it be word of mouth or references in other media. Arguably, one of the most enduring, widely-circulating elements of the entire “Star Wars” film canon is the Death Star, the moon-sized space station deployed by the Empire in “A New Hope” with an enormous, planet-busting laser. The Death Star has lent its likeness to all manner of memorabilia over the years, but here’s something you may not have considered: a birdhouse.

As part of a 3D-printed birdhouse design contest, Thingiverse user Plainoldave concocted a Death Star birdhouse, perfect for, as they jokingly put it, housing “millennium falcons.” The print consists of two separate hemispheres, which need to be printed separately and glued together. Afterward, just attach a 5 mm ring bolt to the top of the build, and you can hang it up outdoors, allowing birds to enter via the laser port. The base version is 100 mm in diameter, but you can size it up if you want to house larger critters. There’s also an optional cover shaped like the laser emitter you can use as a rain cover, as well as a small model laser blast. The blast doesn’t serve any practical purpose, it just looks cool.

As we mentioned, part of what has given “Star Wars” its unstoppable, decades-spanning staying power is its endless merchandising potential, from apparel to toys to breakfast cereals. Over the years, there have been several “Star Wars” board games, with one in particular, Galactic Battle, being heavily reminiscent of Hasbro’s Battleship. There’s also an actual “Star Wars” Battleship game based on the newer films, though it costs $80 on Amazon. In lieu of that, why not make your own “Star Wars”-themed Battleship set?

Printables user DARK cooked up a little 3D-printed, two-part board game they like to call “BattleFleet.” It’s obvious from a glance that it’s just Battleship with a “Star Wars” theme, but what makes it cool is the game pieces. The pieces are appropriately themed to the Empire and Rebels, with the former featuring a Star Destroyer, TIE Fighter, and more, and the latter featuring ships like the Millennium Falcon and an X-Wing, the design of which has an interesting origin. DARK specifically made this game as a gift for a pair of 7-year-olds, so they designed it to take some punishment, using a sturdy, parametric toolbox with locking latches as a base. Since both the pegs and pieces are 3D-printed, if you ever lose any of them, you can just make more.

The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi Knights and Sith Order, and the hallmark of “Star Wars” as a whole. Part of the character arc for Luke Skywalker in the original film trilogy (who almost had a different, darker name) was creating a lightsaber of his own after losing his father’s hand-me-down lightsaber, with the resulting green-bladed weapon remaining a popular choice for “Star Wars” memorabilia enthusiasts. You can 3D print a simple replica of this weapon if you don’t mind painting it yourself, but if you really want to get something screen-accurate, there’s a more advanced project available.

Printables user UnimatrixRed went the extra mile to create a truly comprehensive 3D-printed replica of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber, as seen in “Return of the Jedi.” This elaborate project consists of 28 composite pieces, which do need to be printed with various different filaments and nozzles to ensure accurate size and color. It’s not a project for beginners, but the end result speaks for itself: Not only is the hilt remarkably accurate to the film, but the control box on the side even slides open to reveal the weapon’s internal circuitry. Just remember, this is only a prop; it doesn’t come with a blade, and even if it did, you shouldn’t swing it at anyone.