IPFS News Link • Techno Gadgets
Home-made Death Star works kind of like the real thing
• GizmagWell, it's now December and a lot of people are getting excited about a special day that's coming up … that's right, we're talking about Dec. 17th, the opening day of Star Wars - The Force Awakens. In honor of the event, German laser-tinkererPatrick Priebe has created a "working" model of the original Death Star. It may not be able to destroy planets, but it can certainly melt metal.
Priebe started with an inflatable rubber beach ball, which he coated in successive layers of fiberglass. Once that outer shell had cured, he cut a hole in it and inserted a cluster of LEDs. When powered up, these cause the sphere to glow from within.
He then glued a series of aluminum panels to the outside, which he painted grey. The illuminated gaps between those panels simulate the trenches on the surface of the "actual" Death Star.