Tie-fighter Desk Lamp

Last week i was browsing around and i saw this star wars desk lamp.. it was a tie fighter desk lamp.. looks cool with the light coming from the cockpit.. the only thing that supprise me was the price.. USD100 on ebay..

So i decided to make my own.. since i already had the tie-fighter from my star wars book nook.. i just need to convert it into a lamp.. I was going to use my mic stand arm as the body and im going to make a heavy semi sphere deathstar dome as the base.. and im going to LED lights as the light source that is being shine through the cockpit window..

Difficulty level:

1. 3D printing - Easy
2. Assembly - Easy 
3. Wiring - Easy
4. Painting - Easy

So let's get started..

I'm going to make a series collections of the star wars desk lamp with other ships or fighter.. vote for your favorite here..

https://www.buymeacoffee.com/fay3dlab/which-star-wars-fighter-ship-make-desk-lamp-next

Here's the supplies needed.. you can buy them from my affiliate links here..

1. 360° Rotating Long Arm Phone Tablet Holder - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_mNDleQw
2. LED lamp puck - https://shrsl.com/4g18i
3. M3 screws - 20mm, 10mm & 12mm
4. M3 brass threaded insert
5. brass rod - 8mm diameter x 8cm long
6. bag of weights - bag of nuts
7. spray paints
8. marker pen
9. soldering iron - brass insert

and of course a 3d printer.. im currently using Bambulab P1p 3d printer..

The whole project was modelled using Tinkercad.. since i already had modelled the tie-interceptor for my star wars book nook.. i just converted the it into a tie-fighter and added the nessecary holes for the brass rod and the the LED puck.. the 2 part cockpit will be held together by the wings with 2x 12mm screws on each side..

I modelled the base as a semi dome deathstar to hold the extending arm hollow so the base could insert heavy object to keep it from tilting when the arm is extended.. the wires will also go though the base with the switch being the deathstar cannon..

Printing all the parts is fairly easy.. some parts needed supports and other dont.. just check the STL files provided.. i've also provided multicolor printing files if anyone is using a multicolor printer.. I used the bambu studio slicer for my projects now since im using the p1p printer..

Since i dont have a multicolor printer i opt to paint the whole project manually using color spray cans and marker pens.. i think it looks better since i can aged the tie-fighter and the deathstar dome to look more realistic.. i also spray the LED puck wires black so it matches the extending arm..

The STL files can be found here on makerworld.com

first of we need to prep the 3d print files.. we need to heat insert the brass thread insert into the base as well as the cockpit.. there should be 5 brass insert holes on the base and 4 on the cockpit on each side..

Now we're ready to assemble the base..

1. run the usb end of the LED puck into the dome until you can fit the LED switch into the center of the deathstar cannon..
2. now the tricky part.. when inserting the cover with the button for the cannon.. hold the button with your finger so it wont move until you close the lid of the cannon.. if not the button is going to move around under the lid and it wont align with the LED switch..
3. test the switch button and make sure it makes contact with the LED switch..
4. once that is done.. you can run the usb wire through the base of the dome ..
5. insert your weight into the base and close the 2 half of the deathstar base..
6. make sure the wire is pulled straight as it will go through the channel provided on both half of the base..
7. now you can screw the base together and close the wire channel on the bottom..

Now we need to prep the extending arm.. we need to drill a hole on the base of the arm to be screwed onto the deathstar base together.. so it wont come off when you try to pull the arm up..

1. insert the arm into the base hole on the top..
2. it should go all the way in..
3. now use a sharp rod that is smalller than the M3 screw.. i used a small filer and jam it into the side hole for the screw on the top of the deathstar base.. it should leave a scratch mark on the extending arm..
4. now all you have to do is center the marking and drill a hole in the arm base.. you can drill both side.. but you'll only need one on the front of the extending arm.. make sure you drill 3mm hole.. so that the screw should fit into the hole..
5. now insert the arm base to the dome and used a 20mm M3 screw to lock the arm in place inside the deathstar..

1. run the wire though the extending arm and using the clip to keep the wires in place..
2. on the top of the extending arm.. remove the ball joint provided and replace it with a brass rod with 80mm long.. i use brass rod cause its cheap and easy to cut.. you can use steel rod or steel shaft rod if you'd like..
3. insert the back cockpit into the rod glue them together.. make sure the cockpit is facing forward and center with the extending arm.. you can adjust the rotation later with the knob on the side of the extending arm..
4. now inser the LED puck into the back cockpit and close the front cockpit.. dont forget to insert the 2 pegs on the cockpit..
5. now you can screw the 2 wings together with 12mm M3 screws..

and you are done..

i think painting the desk lamp is better than 3d printing it in multicolor.. the silver spray looks more awesome.. the whole project took me about a week including printing and painting.. since i already had the extending arm.. i couldnt make the arm rotate 360 since the LED wire was too short and i didnt know how to make the mechanism for it..

so if you want to turn the desk lamp you'll have to turn the whole base too..

The deathstar base is around 20cm in diameter and 12cm in height.. the whole desk lamp without extending the arm is about 50cm height and the tie-fighter wings are 15cm x 15cm and 16cm width.. the whole desk lamp is huge cause of the deathstar base.. it wouldnt have look smaller if the base wasnt a dome.. but i kinda like the deathstar look..

I hope you'll have fun 3d printing the desk lamp..

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