Julius von Brunk/Lego Ideas

Regardless of where you land on the "Who shot first?" question, the fact that Han Solo wound up killing Greedo in the Mos Eisley Cantina is a testament to the fact that Solo was pretty damn good with a blaster. The smuggler always had his trusty blaster at his side, and you can too with this full-size Lego replica from Lego master Julius von Brunk.

To build the electronic DL-44 blaster, von Brunk used the Lego Digital Designer program and more than 400 Lego pieces, including a functional trigger that sets off the blaster's lights and sounds. The electronic light and sound functions are made possible thanks to an Arduino Uno board, and the finished product is sure to ward off bounty hunters and Hutts alike.

Should you be brave enough to build one of these for yourself, von Brunk has posted an in-depth tutorial. However, he did indicate that this is a fairly challenging project, so be sure you know what you're getting into.

For the rest of us, von Brunk has also launched a Lego Ideas project in the hopes of convincing Lego to consider making this project an official Lego kit. If the project gets 10,000 signatures by this time next year, the Lego DL-44 Blaster project will be sent on to designers and business folks at Lego for further review to determine how feasible it'd be to mass-produce the kit. If you'd like to see the DL-44 blaster become an official product, head over to the Lego Ideas page and pledge your support.

Because hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a blaster at your side, kid.

(Via Hackaday)