Dec 1, 2015 | By Kira
Today is December 1st, which means we have officially entered that magical month in which Star Wars: The Force Awakens will officially be released. In honor of this much, much anticipated film, there seem to be new Star Wars maker tributes popping every single day, from this cute 3D printed BB-8 Christmas tree ornament, to an actual life-size 3D printed BB-8 droid. The latest Star Wars superfan project, however, takes mere merchandise to the next level, by converting a standard TIE fighter toy—you know, the boring, non-flying type—into a functional, airborne drone with little more than a quadcopter motor and 3D printed mounts.
The project began with a The Black Series First Order Special Forces TIE Fighter, an action figure vehicle for kids 4+ available from Hasbro for the approximate retail price of $169.99. As-is, the 6-inch-scale TIE fighter toy is pretty cool, and an accurate replica that looks just like the on-screen version, however it is what it is: a non-flying, non-electric, toy. For most imaginative children, that’s just fine and dandy—who hasn’t picked up a toy airplane or race car and run around the house while making motor sounds with our mouths? But for skillful tinkerers like woodpiece, the as-yet unknown Imgur user who originally uploaded the project, a mere toy just wouldn’t do.
The process involved disassembling the stock toy and installing a working 250 quadcopter motor attached to 3D printed mounts. Both the front and back wing panels feature rotors that can be remote controlled by a Flip MWC Flight Controller 1.5 (multiwii flip 1.5), an open-source flight control board.
“Propulsion comes from a 250 quad setup. I 3D printed the motor mounts, and all wiring runs internal to the frame,” explained the creator. “The stock toy was disassembled, and the brackets which mount the radiator panels/wings were dremeled [to] allow for the motor sticks to pass through. I use a regular ½ inch sanding drum for most of the plastic surgery.”
“I didn't need to do any dremeling of the body, just unscrew the cockpit detail piece. The flight controller, a multiwii flip 1.5 from ready2flyquads.com sits at the base of the cockpit. The motor controllers, and the battery rest on top of it. Everything fits inside, with no additional surgery.”
It’s a little more work than your average grab-and-fly drone, but the resulting airborne TIE fighter toy is insanely cool, whether you’re a Star Wars fan or not. As you can see in the video, it flies very smoothly, just like in the movies. And while it is quite loud, that just means it will definitely attract all the attention it deserves.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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Check out this custom made copter from new Star Wars, all 3d printed, free files at thingiverse. https://youtu.be/79Qyur3cBew
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