U-wing Fighter From Scrap Hardware

The company I work for prides itself on responsibly recycling our products. In this instance, I recycled scrap into ART. Here's my Star Wars U-wing fighter made from retired hardware.

SCRAP: two computer control unit (CCU) covers, four light guide cable ends, 2 screws, 2 cable connector pins, packing foam (white and black).

OTHER SUPPLIES: white paint, tape, glue, and 1 coat hanger. Whenever this instruction references 'wire peg' it's a piece of the coat-hanger wire. The paint needs to be good for metal.

TOOLS: Jig saw, wire cutter, drill, hot glue gun, screw driver, file/sand paper, ruler, scissors, sharpie. Vice grip and hammer are also needed, to flatten the CCU.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT: gloves, goggles, mask (we're cutting metal)

The wings, base plate, and cockpit were cut from the CCU covers. Therefore, the first thing to do is bend the CCU back into a flat piece of metal, so you can draw on it and cut it. Depending on the thickness of the metal, this will take some effort. Use the vice grip and a hammer.

Wear gloves and safety goggles!

Using foam for the base wasn't strong enough to support the wings. A metal plate sandwiched between the foam is needed.

1. Cut a metal plate: 6.5" long, tapering from 4.5" to 3.5". The sides of the metal plate provide a 1/4" overlap on which the wings will rest. This gives the wings stability.
2. Drill screw holes into the wide end of the base plate, about 1/2" from the end and 1/4" from the side. The holes needed to fit a screw tightly, to keep the wings moveable but otherwise securely in place.
3. Drill wire peg holes at the smaller end. Wire will help keep the parts together and also prevent the wings from slicing too far into the sandwiched base.
4. Cut two pieces of 1" foam, as illustrated. (The cutting board shows 1" squares.) They should be just a bit longer than the metal plate.
5. For the top foam piece, inlay a rectangular piece of black foam for accent at the wide end and cut partially into the other end of the foam for the cockpit. The bottom foam piece (not shown) is plain.
6. The computer connector pins will push horizontally into the front of the bottom foam as gun turrets.
7. The two, 1¾" pegs and the two screws are needed for assembly.

Cutting the wings from the CCU cover took effort. Make sure to file and sand the sharp edges.

1. Cut two 14.5" wings, as shown.
2. File and sand the sharp edges.
3. Drill screw hole 1/2" from the start of each wing. These attach to the metal plate, between the two layers of foam on the base. The holes needed to fit a screw tightly, to keep the wings moveable but otherwise securely in place.
4. The wings are painted white with blue tape added for accents.

This was the hardest part. The design took a few tries, but cutting the thick CCU cover took real effort. The pattern is shown using 1/4" graph paper.

1. Copy of the pattern, cut it out, and then trace it onto the CCU cover.
2. for more visual interest, I aligned one of the divots of the CCU cover with the back of the pattern.
3. Carefully cut the cockpit from the CCU.
4. File and sand the sharp edges.
5. Bend the metal into the rectangular cockpit.
6. Paint it white.
7. Use tape as follows:
8. clear tape to make the front windshield.
9. white tape to fill the corners (a cockpit needs to be airtight in space).
10. black tape to make the appearance of side windows. Yep, this ride has tinted windows.

This was the easy part. In fact, the cable ends were the inspiration for the entire project, they screamed "starfighter engines!"

1. Cut the ends from the cords and paint them white. The cables ends for the original build already had blue accents, so that was preserved. (Cables in the 'Supply' picture are a newer model and have green accents.)
2. The engines are heavy and won't stay attached to the foam base with just hot glue. Therefore, I drilled two, 1/2" deep holes into each engine and inserted a 1" piece of wire into each hole. The wire pegs are glued into the engines.
3. When we attach the engines, the wire pegs pierce the foam. Hot glue along those pegs and against the engines keeps everything in place.

1. Hot glue the bottom foam base to the metal plate.
2. Screw the wings onto the base plate and bottom foam.
3. Push the two 1¾" wire pins through the metal plate into the bottom foam.
4. Add a strip of blue tape from the cockpit to the under side of the top foam.
5. Insert the cockpit into the foam base by slicing into the foam with an exacto knife, at the same angle as the cockpit, and pushing the metal cockpit into the foam. Glue it in place where needed.
6. Place the top foam onto the base plate and the wire pegs. Glue it down once the alignment is good.
7. Glue only inside the purple rectangle shown in the first image - inside the lines between the screws and the pegs. Remember, the wings are going to fold slightly into the space between the base and the top foam.
8. Insert the cable connector pins into the front, lower foam, as gun turrets.
9. Attach the engines by stabbing the wire pins on the engines into the foam and generously gluing them in place.