I was 13 when I saw Star Wars for the first time in 1977. I immediately fell in love with the movie and was fascinated by the props.
What was different was that everything looked old and used in this movie instead of new and shiny like in most space movies. It made
everything look more realistic.
After I became a Toolmaker I machined my first replica prop. It was Luke Skywalker's lightsabre
from Return of the Jedi. The next prop I made was Han Solo's blaster. I machined the muzzle, grill, and scope mount. The gun is die
cast. Next I machined Qui Gon Jin's sabre for my costume. My biggest challenge was the Stormtrooper blaster. It is made from a real
machine gun that was bought cut to pieces (demillitarized).
Other props are my own custom lightsabre and lightsabres made from
1930's vintage camera flashguns, such as Luke's and Vader's from the original Star Wars movie.
