Upcycling a TV to HUGE Super Star Destroyer

What do you do with an old flatscreen TV that's beyond repair? Turn it into a Super Star Destroyer, of course!

Here's how I designed an abstract version of Darth Vader's mega baddie star ship from the original Star Wars Trilogy, made almost entirely out of parts of an 8 year-old TV that went over to the dark side. It's a massive project, that ended up as a 140cm (55") long model that looks great as a massive art piece for my wall.

This is one half of my Star Wars Wall Art project - the other half is an enormous Millennium Falcon model made out of random junk!

Supplies

Plywood, TV casing and circuitboards, LED strips, and other scrap materials.

Step 1: Start With a Rough 3D Model

While I made this project entirely by hand, I still started by visualising it in 3D using Sketchup. I took reference from images found online of the Lego Super Star Destroyer and other renderings.

Flat, Top-down views ("plan views") work well as a basis to generate 3D models from images as you can import these into Sketchup as a flat plane, scale up to your desired size, and build up the model from there.

I also built up a quick model of the landing where these models will hang, so that I could get a feel of the scale of the pieces. The Super Star Destroyer and Millennium Falcon models will hang on opposite walls, forming a Light Side-Dark Side axis.

The last image shows how I then 'cut apart' the 3D model into smaller pieces, and fit them like a jigsaw into the piece of leftover plywood that I had available. All the pieces fit into a sheet of 970x730mm plywood. (~38"x29") The beauty of doing this in Sketchup is that if you need to scale the overall model slightly to fit your material size, you can do that instantly.

Step 2: Making the Plywood Armature

Once I knew I could get all the pieces I needed out of the plywood sheet, I made cardboard templates for the various pieces based on the Sketchup model. The easy way would be to just plot these out on a large format printer, but since I was on lockdown at home I drew it all up with rulers and T-squares the old fashioned way.

I then traced the cardboard templates onto the plywood sheet, and cut all the pieces out with a jigsaw.

The two halves of the upper frame were attached in a shallow 'V' formation with the help of triangular ribs cut out of the scrap plywood. It's all nailed and screwed together. I didn't care much about how the back looked since this was going to be hung on a wall, but I did make sure there were no sharp nail or screw points sticking out.

Step 3: Disassembling the TV

The old TV I had was a 60" flatscreen, with a plastic frame and plastic back casing. Something had blown after 8 years and it wasn't possible to fix it. The plastic casing is perfect for creating a spaceship, what with all the vents, grilles and buttons!

So I disassembled it with just a couple of screwdrivers, keeping all the circuit boards and wires for the inside of the Star Destroyer. As you can see I had a little help from a mini assistant. The main LED panel itself went to my local electronic recycling facility.

Step 4: Cutting the TV Casing Panels

The TV casing makes a perfect smooth shell to the Star Destroyer, all straight lines, regular vent holes and sleek edges. It has a wrap-around lip on all 4 sides, which is perfect for creating a nice finished edge to the Star Destroyer. I used the cardboard templates and played around with the best way to cut the pieces out of the TV casing, so that all the edges of the finished Star Destroyer have a nice rounded-over edge.

Once I'd traced all the pieces with a white pencil, I then cut the pieces out. I tried using an electric jigsaw, but it actually melted the plastic too much! So most of the pieces were cut with a plain old box cutter/razor blade, with a little assist from the jigsaw in complicated corners. The edges were sanded smooth with 160 grit sandpaper.

Step 5: Assembling the TV Casing Pieces

The pieces fit perfectly onto the plywood upper frame of the Star Destroyer, attached with construction adhesive (Max Bond) and screws. The original input selection buttons for the TV still feature near the tip of the Star Destroyer, which I thought was a nice touch.

Step 6: Collaging the Circuit Boards

The inside of the Star Destroyer is usually this densely pixellated built-up structure - part mechanical marvel, part city. Instead of trying to make an accurate re-creation of this, I just chose to use the circuit boards from the TV to make an abstraction of this part.

The circuit boards look great for the part, with their array of components in neat rows. But they were a little too flat. So I collaged on more of the wire arrays and flexible electrical conduit to give it more depth and interest. Everything was glued to a plywood base with construction glue and hot glue.

If you'd like to try this yourself, think in terms of creating a hierarchy - there has to be a main visual element to carry the eye, which in this case was the electrical conduits. Then the rest of the circuit boards form the background. I tried to fill up any empty/flat patches with tiny bits of hardware from the TV casing, to give it depth and texture.

Remember this is going to be spray painted a single colour, so the detail has to be 3D.

Step 7: Spray Paint Everything

I spray painted the circuit board collage grey and silver, then decided it was too light. So I re-sprayed it black followed by a dusting of silver spray paint. When working with two colours, it helps to spray the lighter colour from one side, to get a 3D effect. The black emphasises the shadows, while the light coat of silver picks up the highlights.

The main starship frame was painted matte black in honour of the dark side and Darth Vader's helmet. However, I am tempted to go back and repaint it with Rust-o-leum dark grey hammered metal spray paint for texture, so that it looks more like galvanised metal rather than black plastic.

Any thoughts?

Step 8: Add LED Strips

I added some RGB LED strips on the under side so that it lights up the circuit board collage as well as the wall behind this piece. They're not yet glued on properly in the photograph. I had just taped them in place to test the effect.

I ordered LED strips with a Bluetooth controller, so that I can program them with an app to turn on and off to a preset colour and program. Once programmed, they won't need to be connected to a phone to run the timed program.

So now every night this Star Destroyer can glow at bedtime.

Step 9: Wall Mount the Artwork!

I used a French Cleat to mount this to the wall. Just cut a plank of wood at a 45degree angle lengthwise, using a circular saw, and attach one side to the wall and the other side to the artwork as shown.

Sometimes a French Cleat isn't so appropriate as it leaves a gap between the object and the wall. But in this case the offset is perfect as it gives a floating effect, and allows the LEDs to create a glow all round the Star Destroyer!

Step 10: Enjoy!

And there it is! A one-of-a-kind artwork that immortalises our first long-serving TV into a cool sculpture for hopefully many more years of enjoyment.

If you liked it, please vote for me in the Fandom contest!