My Husband Built a Life-Size Darth Vader On A Broken Lamp Stand. It's In My Living Room.



If you follow me on Social media, you already know there is a six and a half foot Darth Vader in my living room. Why? According to my husband who made it and put it there, why not?

Since many reached out to ask exactly how he made a life-size Darth Vader on a broken lamp stand, I've decided to put up the full tutorial. I apologize for the phots not being great quality, but he gets camera shy and huffs and puffs about how he doesn't like when I post him "doing this shit on Tweetergram."

What he doesn't understand is that it's genius and really easy, so it's my duty as a blogger to post this shit on tweetergram!  I present, how to make a lifesize statue of anything using a broken lampstand, a pole, duct tape and a costume. The man is fu*king brilliant.

How it all happened...

A few days ago, the Aussie comes home from work with a box filled with the most random shit; a few poles, two long bamboo sticks, a piece of white material, a plant stand on rolling wheels, twine, black duct tape and other crap at the bottom I didn't bother looking at. After dropping the box on the porch, he went back to his car and pulled out an old lamp post with bendable arms and lights on the end.



Naturally, I ask:

"What junk pile did you fall into?"

"I'm building a life-size fully to-scale Darth Vader."

Fair enough. I walk off.

An hour later, I see him digging in the box. It took me about four minutes to realize what the genius was up to. (Again, I apologize the photos aren't great, but I had to be incognito. I knew this was going to be gold, so I took photos should I need to show a full tutorial. <insert evil laugh>

What he used: You can use anything remotely similar.

1 (ONE) Broken Lampstand or pole on a stand, maybe even a big-ass stick stuck in a sandbag-- preferably the optimal height for your creation. The broken lamp stand he used was perfect, and really only cost $10 brand new.
2 (TWO) Poles cut to the required length of your needed wingspan.
Duct tape
Twine or thin rope
Costume or whatever your creation is dressed in.
Don't forget the shoes!



Next, he stuffed the costume with newspaper to fill it out and added the belt and other accessories.



Then, while I was upstairs putting the little one to bed, he rolled Darth Vader into the living room, and finished the job with shoes and all. OHMIGAWD. It scared the fu*king shit out of me when I turned the corner to find it looming over the room.


In my defense, it's the "Movie regulation," or something like that, Darth Vader costume. So it's to-scale and menacing AF. Which is why, the next morning, it scared the Shit out of my mom... then my sister and everyone else that walks into my house.



Then, they find out the buttons work. Darth Vader can breathe on them, insult them and threaten their life. It's amazing how much people love that shit. 



(Note: To the For Star Wars aficionados,
1. The wrong helmet was on in these photos, the "big one" wasn't on yet.
2. He used a 3-D printer and paint to make the accessories on the belt that did not come with the suit.
3. Yes, hot chicks LOVE geeks. Just Be You. ;)


April is an award-winning writer and blogger. Her work has been published in over ten countries and four languages. From books to newspapers, to print/online magazines and everything in between, you can find her work. For more on April, Visit AprilMcCormick.com