Star Wednesday: 3D Printed Weapons

Toy guns have been a staple in the lives of young boys for many generations. As a kid I owned army guns, cap guns, dart guns, Nerf guns, and even a rubber band gun, but I never owned any of Kenner’s official Star Wars guns.

There were three different guns in Kenner’s Star Wars line: Han Solo’s blaster, the Stormtrooper rifle, and later, the Biker Scout pistol. All three guns resembled the versions that appeared in the movies, and made electronic sounds that did not resemble the versions that appeared in the movies.

So while I didn’t have the life-size versions, I did, like every other kid, have the teeny-tiny weapons that came with the original 3 3/4″ Star Wars figures. Because of their small size they had much less detail than the larger versions, but they still resembled the weapons used on screen.

The life-size Stormtrooper rifle you see here (with a 3 3/4″ Stormtrooper for scale) is not the one that was sold by Kenner. It is a custom, 3D printed version of the blaster. If it looks simple and lacking in detail, that’s because it is. It’s essentially a scaled-up version of the tiny blaster that came packaged with the original Stormtrooper. To fit into the hands of those small action figures, the scaled-down weapons were often missing details (like triggers).

Through the “I Grew Up Star Wars” group (WWW | Facebook) I ran into a seller selling these 3D printed weapons. The guns were reasonably priced considering the time (I’m guessing at least a day per gun) and materials required to print them, although later after doing the math I realized in the long run it would be cheaper for me to buy my own 3D printer than to keep purchasing these things.

Did I mention I bought the Han Solo one, too?

I told myself at the beginning of 2017 I wouldn’t buy any more Star Wars collectibles, and for the most part, I haven’t. That being said, there’s something inherently cool about these guns. They’re big, but instantly recognizable as larger versions of the weapons that came with the vintage figures. Plus I had all that empty wall space above the closet door. Who can blame a guy for filling that space?

The best thing about the guns is, should Rebel scum kick down my front door, I’ll be ready for them.