Learning Fusion 360 Through Star Wars Lightsaber Props

I’ve always been a Star Wars fan, so I decided to try my hand at creating some lightsaber replicas using Fusion 360 and my 3D printer. These were my first movie prop models, and they turned out to be a really fun project!

Why Lightsabers?

Star Wars lightsabers are iconic and have a nice mix of simple and complex shapes that make them interesting to model. I thought they’d be a good project to try out with Fusion 360 since they combine different modeling techniques.

I decided to tackle three classic designs: Luke Skywalker’s from Return of the Jedi (Hero version), Luke’s from Empire Strikes Back (Ranch version), and Darth Vader’s from A New Hope (Hero version).

Luke’s Return of the Jedi Lightsaber

First up was Luke’s ROTJ lightsaber. This has a relatively straightforward design with mainly cylindrical shapes and some interesting details.

I designed it with components that could be printed separately and assembled without glue. Just a few small screws hold it together. Creating something that could be assembled without glue was an interesting challenge.

The cylindrical shape was pretty straightforward, but getting the threads right for the screws took some experimenting. In the end, I was happy with how it turned out. It feels pretty solid in the hand!

Luke’s Empire Strikes Back Ranch Lightsaber

Next, I moved on to Luke’s ESB Ranch lightsaber. This one has more complex details and some non-cylindrical elements.

The blade guard (the piece that sticks out) was particularly fun to model. It required combining several different shapes to get the right look. I found Fusion 360’s timeline feature really useful here. When I realized I had the proportions slightly off, I could go back and modify earlier features without having to start over.

Darth Vader’s A New Hope Lightsaber

For my third project, I went with Darth Vader’s lightsaber from A New Hope. This was definitely the most complex of the three, with more intricate details and mechanical elements.

The “black bars” on Vader’s lightsaber (the rectangular strips on the control box) were quite detailed. I also spent more time on the internal structure for this model, making sure it would print well and assemble correctly.

The Final Result

These were the first movie props I’ve made. I used them as a way to learn Fusion 360 (3D software I now use to create models to print). They have very basic shapes and they give you ways to learn the essentials like revolve, extrude, holes, etc. Plus they’re super fun to design and print! The ROTJ model doesn’t use any glue so you can just screw those together. There are a lot more models I want to design, so I might add new models from time to time!

I’ve uploaded all three lightsaber models to Thingiverse if you want to print your own: