LOGAN — Logan jeweler S.E. Needhams recently created a solid gold Han Solo Lego piece and an entertaining YouTube video — backstory and stop-motion included — to go along with it.
In the charming video, Lego Han and Darth Vader meet at Needhams to discuss a marriage proposal to Princess Leia, Solo’s love and Vader’s daughter. The setup was a trap, however, and Han finds himself encased in a foreign substance, this time in 14K gold instead of carbonite.
Watching the video, made by JerryRigEverything on YouTube, is actually really satisfying. You get to see plaster poured over the Lego into a cylinder and the mold baked in a 2,000-degree Fahrenheit burnout furnace, which the video voiceover said “radiated more heat than both suns on Tatoine.” That amount of heat vaporized the plastic and 14K gold heated to 1,900 degrees was then poured in to fill the Han Solo-shaped cavity.
After cooling, the mold was broken, the plaster removed with a small drill and the golden figure tumbled until shiny. After a little polishing, buffing and a dip in a very Star Wars galaxy-like ultrasonic cleaning bath, Han emerges looking more droid than smuggler.
This video hits a few notes: Star Wars, behind-the-scenes of jewelry making and stop-action goodness. The fact that it was filmed in Utah is just icing on the quirky video cake.
The music for the video was provided by PlayerPiano and the effects done by Ideas for Hollywood.
