The closest you’re going to get to flying an actual TIE fighter from Star Wars is to fire up a copy of LucasArts’ X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. If that’s not good enough for you, well, you could always buy a plane ticket to Germany and beg the folks who built this fantastic, full-sized replica to let you sit inside theirs.
The official site for the project has a specifications page, which Google Translate kindly reworked into a language I’m familiar with. The final prop, which was constructed by a crew of eight, measures 5.3 x 4.8 x 4.3m and weighs 1.43 tonnes.
From what I can gather, the project was started in 2011 and completed last month (the Facebook page has a bunch of photos from the “finishing” party).
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The paint job is first rate and from what I can see, the darn thing can pump out smoke to simulate take-off… without really taking off.
If you’d like to watch it getting involved in some role-playing action (and the creators being interviewed), you can watch the clip below. The only problem is it’s in German and there are no subtitles. Sweet!
[Project-X1, via Topless Robot]
Photos: www.project-x1.de