My wife collects scented candles. She doesn't actually use them; they just sit in my closet until I purge the house occasionally. I had no expectation of this pattern changing, until recently, when I tried to think of a gift for my friend's 5-year old son.
On learning the boy's recent infatuation with Star Wars toys and noticing that the Death Star is missing from his collection, I looked for a decent scale model of the Death Star--preferably the half-constructed (but "fully operational")
The Return of the Jedi version as shown above--but I was shocked at the lameness of what I found on eBay. The best looking model to be had for < $20 was just a rubber mold for a Death Star ice sphere (for Whiskey on
Rocks Death Star as shown below), and I gave up the search.
A few days later, while reading the
USB Complete, 4th Edition, I had an epiphany: why not melt the candles into the mold--and "kill 2 birds with 1 stone": get rid of my wife's stash of scented candles AND get a Death Star toy? So I ordered the above "ice cube tray" from eBay, and waited a few weeks. I don't understand how our Chinese brothers can make money selling something for like $3 including international shipping; but I wish we could on-shore value manufacturing for something like this back to the US.
Here's the 1st look at the mold on arrival.
The hemi-spheres are keyed, and the detail for the laser cannon firing dimple--the most important part of the model--seems acceptable. Next, I grabbed one of the candles: Christmas Cookie scent--whatever--and melted it in a saucer pan filled with water, to separate the candle from the glass container.
After about 2 minutes, I could grab the wick to pull out the candle from the glass.
Then I cut out the candle into a roughly spherical shape, like so.
I closed up the mold, and small make-shift funnel on the pour hole indicated above.
I put the candle pieces and shavings back into the glass and reheated it in the saucer pan shown above, and then poured the melted wax into the funnel above, until the funnel overflowed.
It's a bit messy, but the wax comes off the surface with a utility knife. To help wax better fill the nooks and crannies, I covered the pour hole, and tap it on the desk VIGOROUSLY while the wax is still in liquid state). After 1 hour, open the mold.
There are few surface blemishes (hence the emphasis on vigorously for you), but a pretty good return for a $3 investment!
But I know are you thinking: "where's the laser cannon--the one that can destroy a planet in 1 shot?"
The laser cannon
I agree: a Death Star without the laser cannon is like fish & chips without the chips. Fortunately, our Chinese manufacturers came through again: 5 mW laser pointer for $2 on eBay (batteries NOT included).
Do NOT shine the 5 mW laser pointer directly into the eye!
It's OD (outside diameter) is about 9/16", but the laser beam's width is only about 1/8". I want to "fire" the laser from within the wax to diffract the laser beam, so I will use 2 different drill bits.
From the other end of the Death Star relative to the dimple, drill a hole wide enough to accommodate the laser pointer, but do NOT drill through (i.e. leave the dimple intact). Now drill a 1/8" hole in the middle of the dimple, to let the laser light escape.
The Master Card moment
Insert the laser pointer into the larger hole, and shine THROUGH the 1/8" hole. $3 for the mold, $2 for the laser pointer, $x for scented candle my wife got as a gift from someone. The Death Star shining in your hand: priceless. The laser beam actually lighting up a screen is extra credit.
If your Death Star looks cooler than this, please share a picture and your method.
