Star Wars X-Wing Fighter (POTF 1995) Laser Cannon Replacement

thingiverse

When I was a young boy, my dad gave me an incredible gift - a Power of the Force X-Wing Fighter for my collection of 3.75" Star Wars Action Figures on Christmas morning. This awesome toy needed to be assembled with precision, its injection-molded laser cannons carefully press-fitted onto the strike foils. I was absolutely thrilled with this amazing toy, but over time, and after moving seven times between different states as I grew up, the four laser cannons disappeared mysteriously. Twenty-five years have passed since then, and now I have a son of my own who is becoming increasingly obsessed with Star Wars. Like his father before him, he inherited all of his dad's old Star Wars Toys - missing pieces, broken, and in disrepair. Yet, despite their condition, he plays with them every single day. This Christmas, he asked me to fix all his old Star Wars toys...the ones I had carelessly broken and didn't take care of as a kid. It broke my heart. So, I decided to replace every single one of his old Star Wars toys with new, vintage ones still in their original boxes for him to enjoy on Christmas morning (sorry - spoiler alert - Santa isn't real). However, I encountered a small problem: the laser cannons are extremely difficult to find and can be quite expensive as a set of four. I knew they'd just get lost again if I didn't take action. I turned to 3D printing for help! I paid someone in Canada to send me one laser cannon that they had available online. As an engineer, I 3D scanned it, uploaded the scan into Fusion 360, grabbed a pair of Mitutoyo Calipers, and created a CAD model of it by comparing the new one I created with the 3D scanned version to ensure I was getting it just right - with a few minor tweaks since it doesn't need to be injection molded. I'm currently in the process of 3D printing a set using SLA so I can 'fix' the X-Wing Fighter my son inherited. If/when he loses the laser cannons or if they break, I'll make him a new one, ensuring that the X-Wing will always be at 100%. I haven't tested it yet, but I'll do so before Christmas and make any necessary tweaks to get it working perfectly.