Death Star Trench Run Table
by BadWolfProps in Workshop > Furniture
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Death Star Trench Run Table
A friend, Jay Babin, at my Makerspace "River City Labs" made a piece of art using a painted motherboard and a 3d printed Millennium Falcon. It inspired me to make the trench run table.
Thanks Jay!!!
Acquire Parts
Collect circuit boards. I found a good source of obsolete server motherboards but any standard sized boards could work. Try to get 15 that are the same size. Parts from other boards can be added to give them more detail later.
Build a Frame
I upcycled old pallet wood and ran it through the planer and table saw to make standard sized boards. You can build your frame from other sources like sheets of mdf if you prefer.
The key to the frame is to build in some strength as the weight of the motherboards will add up fast. The base should be wide enough to secure the sides to but short enough on length that the motherboards overhang the edge. Continue building with this in mind and have the motherboards overhang wherever possible to give it a cleaner finish. Keep it standard at a thickness that will match the trim pieces you want to wrap the table with.
The key to the frame is to build in some strength as the weight of the motherboards will add up fast. The base should be wide enough to secure the sides to but short enough on length that the motherboards overhang the edge. Continue building with this in mind and have the motherboards overhang wherever possible to give it a cleaner finish. Keep it standard at a thickness that will match the trim pieces you want to wrap the table with.
Paint
A flat gray primer is perfect for the Death Star. Remember to spray in a well ventilated area and wear a mask. Spray at least two coats and hit it from every possible angle.
Once the paint dries, add more parts from your collection. I found that heat sinks are a great item to give it the right look.
Glue them on with hot glue or super glue and hit the entire thing with a couple more coats of primer.
Once the paint dries, add more parts from your collection. I found that heat sinks are a great item to give it the right look.
Glue them on with hot glue or super glue and hit the entire thing with a couple more coats of primer.
Build a Frame
I harvested old pallets and processed them into standard boards for my frame but you can use mdf to save time ;)
Build the base wider than the boards so you can add the sides to it. Keep the length shorter than the boards by the thickness of whatever trim pieces you want to add later. Secure the boards to the frame as you build it. Remember to support the top pieces as weight of the boards will add up.
Build the base wider than the boards so you can add the sides to it. Keep the length shorter than the boards by the thickness of whatever trim pieces you want to add later. Secure the boards to the frame as you build it. Remember to support the top pieces as weight of the boards will add up.
Ships!
To match the scale of the motherboards, server boards are quite big, I used Hotwheels xwings, tie fighters, and y wings. The falcon an old Action Fleet vehicle.
Depending on your boards, other variations may be better sized.
The ships that are on top of the glass sit there with no stands needed.
For the ships in the trench, I removed the stands and used standard house wire that I painted, cut to size, and super glued to the bottoms of the ships. I drilled holes in the motherboards and part way into the wood underneath and glued in the wire.
Depending on your boards, other variations may be better sized.
The ships that are on top of the glass sit there with no stands needed.
For the ships in the trench, I removed the stands and used standard house wire that I painted, cut to size, and super glued to the bottoms of the ships. I drilled holes in the motherboards and part way into the wood underneath and glued in the wire.
Glass
You might be able to scavenge a piece of glass from an existing table but I ended up ordering a custom tempered glass piece from Amazon.
Either add glass supports to your table or get creative and use something like the ducted fans in the servers. They have rubber pads on them already and stood taller than the other parts so they were a perfect fit.
Either add glass supports to your table or get creative and use something like the ducted fans in the servers. They have rubber pads on them already and stood taller than the other parts so they were a perfect fit.
Explosion!!!
You can add cool explosions to your table. For mine, I harvested an LED lamp that had a low profile and bright red setting. Use a bit of chicken wire to make the shape, then hot glue cotton stuffing to the outside. Spray paint or preferably airbrush a bit of orange and black to the cotton. Then glue it all to the light.
That's it!
Have fun, get creative, and make your table!
Blow Up a Ship
Want to add some excitement? Get an extra ship and blow it up!
I decided to blow up a tie fighter and started by cutting one of the wings off.
Next, use a drill to make a hole in each section to fit a piece of wire.
Hot glue it in and glue some cotton stuffing to cover the wire.
I had an extra led light laying around so i took off the cover, leaving a black base with the led on top. I set the tie fighter on it so the led was under the cotton.
I decided to blow up a tie fighter and started by cutting one of the wings off.
Next, use a drill to make a hole in each section to fit a piece of wire.
Hot glue it in and glue some cotton stuffing to cover the wire.
I had an extra led light laying around so i took off the cover, leaving a black base with the led on top. I set the tie fighter on it so the led was under the cotton.