1/6 Yavin Rebel recon tower---WIP

I got the Fleet trooper a little while ago and thought it might be cool to try and make one of the Recon Towers that are briefly seen on Yavin in ANH. Im kind of stuck as of yet...I think I have the stand/ pole thing figured out, probably just use PVC and cut some card for the support arms. Not sure what to use for the railing around the top though thought maybe someone could help me out. The dimensions arent really right either...the bottom piece is too long in relation to the top and the top piece flares out too much. Still a work in progress though.
The tube is PVC spray painted, black strip is a zip tie and the black panel is a part of a light switch.



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Looks great so far! That's a neat idea for displaying the RFT. I'm sure someone will chime in soon for a railing suggestion. I'm coming up blank at the moment. Keep up the good work.

Looks cool. There sure have been some awesome pieces being built lately.

it almost looks like you can use one of those car audio subwoofer frames as the railing. or maybe the frame for a tweeter. It is the first thing it reminded me of when i looked at the pic.
I can guarantee that somebody will come up with a better idea, because i dont know anything about customizing lol

looking good thus far. for the railing you can use a wire hanger, or Hobby Lobby sells this metal tubing that is really easy to bend. You can wrap it around a pipe or a glass or something to make it round. Then solder it together at the joint, then solder on the cross beams.

also, you could cut a real thin cut of pvc pipe and sand it to look like its rounded edges.

Thanks guys!!
All very good suggestions.
Thanks, Darth_IMP and BuddyGus!
Prog- I initially though about soldering some metal pieces together but I have never done that before. Not sure how easy/ hard it is. I also thought about that idea with the PVC pipe too. That might be my backup plan if nothing wlse works.
Devlinboy- I'll have to look into that speaker idea. Would be great if I could find something already "made".

I was hoping I could find different sizes of plastic or wooden rings, that way I could drill holes in each ring and fit the vertical railings into them to attach them. Idk. I think I'll start on the base/ stand and support beems and go from there. Will post some more progress in the next day or so.
Thanks again!

What about plastic bracelets? You could probably find them thin enough and then just connect them with the railings. Looks great so far, Ryan!

railing could be got at an ace hardware or such as..........look for "o" rings. they come in all sizes. they are usually made of a very sturdy rubber at the size you would need. uprights could be made of plastic straws or if you want something a bit more sturdy go with a small diameter metal tube. run a wire up thru the tube and loop around rail & back down the tube. thats just one way i came up with off the top of my head.

Mando, Barryo- Thanks guys! Both great ideas. I didnt really think of bracelets.. I was looking at walmart today at shower curtain rings but they didnt really have the right sizes...I'll have to look for some bracelets. I like the "o" ring idea, Barryo. This might be my best bet because Im sure they come in the sizes I would need. I could probably be able to connect them with a small wooden dowel.
Thanks again for the help. I think Im on the right track now.

Poor guy, he got to stand all day without even room to sit.

Puay said:

Poor guy, he got to stand all day without even room to sit.

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. It is kinda a goofy design, theres not even a door or a ladder? My guess is the thing lowers so he can get in and out? Thats got to be an adventure riding in it and hope for calm winds!

You guys do know that it was made out of a Rubbermaid trash can right?? There's a great shot of it on page 269 in the "Making of Star Wars" book.

Nice job though, cool idea for displaying a lone trooper.

Very cool idea.Looks like you're off on a good start with it.
How tall are you thinking of making it?

ProgMatinee said:

. It is kinda a goofy design, theres not even a door or a ladder? My guess is the thing lowers so he can get in and out? Thats got to be an adventure riding in it and hope for calm winds!

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One can only imagine how he handles buisiness when nature calls

This is kind of like what i mentioned earlier, although a more extreme design. this is a speaker cover.

I would imagine this is one of the more undisireable jobs in the Rebel force. Doesnt seem too much fun to be hiked up in a trash can so many feet in the air... probably quit wobbly!

devlinboy said:

This is kind of like what i mentioned earlier, although a more extreme design. this is a speaker cover.

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Man that is so close. The lines need to be more "straight" though. I'll still keep a lookout for something like that. Thanks for the help man.

DS- The diameter I need is about 3 inches for the bottom ring/ rail and probably about 4-5 inches for the top rail. I think I'll go and look for some bracelets and O rings later today.

I think Im going to make it about 3 ft high. They sell precut PVC and I think that is about the length of it....and it seems to be in scale with how tall one of these might be... puts him just above tree level I would imagine.

Wow its looking good so far and i hope you manage to get the rings

Ok...not too much progress on this thingy. Managed to find some parts for the pole. Think Im going to bypass the original design that has more of "legs" that support the "trash can" and just go with a more streamlined look. I've seen some pics of a recon tower that is similar to the design I have right now so I'll just go with this.
I had a long bolt that I fixed throught the "trash can" bottom and tightened with two nuts, one on the inside and outside which is hid by a small plastic cup which has a hole in the bottom as well and was fed through the bolt with a washer on the end and sits on the metal pipe. Might end up using PVC instead of the metal pipe.
Anyway.... here is where Im at right now...

Looking good.

Wow the tower is looking great.
Maybe you could try to make a staff for the Trooper like in the picture after you've finisched the tower