Page 73 - Star Wars Insider #188

WORLDWIDE
FIRING ON ALL
CYLINDERS
Metal marvels cook up a Star Wars storm
uch like Darth Vader during
the Death Star trench run,
M you just can’t shake the
impressive nature of metal sculptor
Michael Finney’s cooking grill, with
its design based around that of the
Sith lord’s TIE fi ghter from Star
Wars: A New Hope (1977). The
starship’s appearance clearly made
an impression on the young man,
who was only eight years old when
he first laid eyes on the craft more
than four decades ago. “As an artist,
Star Wars has many fascinating and
interesting shapes that allow me to
be creative,” explains Finney.
Just like Anakin Skywalker,
Finney has experienced rough
periods in his life, but the intrepid
artist has avoided descent to the
dark side by pouring himself into his
metal work. “I needed something to
immerse myself in,” Finney candidly
admits, and the hobby became his
own personal bacta tank, offering
a soothing respite from everyday
problems and an outlet to convey
his love for Star Wars.
To enable his take on Vader’s TIE
to take flight, Finney utilized the
same old-fashioned metal-forming
techniques that he draws upon for
all of his projects. After shaping the
material with tree stumps and an
English wheel, he welds everything
together with Imperial precision. In
the case of the TIE, once kindling is
placed in the cockpit the craft is
fired up and ready to pursue rebel
X-wings or, at the very least, grill up
something to eat. Flame-grilled
nuna, anyone?
The talented artist has also built
another grill, this one based on
fan-favorite astromech R2-D2 (who
was ironically blasted by Vader’s
own laser cannons during the Battle
of Yavin), while his latest sculpture
is inspired by the head of R2’s
protocol droid counterpart, C-3PO.
However, evoking memories of the
golden droid’s decapitation ordeal
on Geonosis, this droid’s cranium
neither cooks nor tells anyone about
the odds.
Bringing smiles to others is an
added bonus for Finney. “I really
enjoy the reactions I get from
people when they see any of my
creations,” proclaims the artist. “It’s
my motivation to keep improving.”
And if anyone ever needed proof of
Finney’s goal to spread happiness,
take a look at his sculpt of Darth
Vader’s helmet (below), adorned
with roses—it says all you need to
know. Finney’s work can be found
on Instagram at @finn_metalart.
STAR WARS INSIDER / 73