“Horizons” an Obi-Wan Kenobi inspired prop model

Hello There, hi everybody. That intro should hint that I am returning to the Star Wars universe and the the new Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” for this week’s offering. I have been struggling for new inspiration in relation to lightsabers I’d like to model so I thought I would scour the universe for something just a little different to make. And there was an object which a lot of people made a fuss about because they saw it in the trailer for the new show. That object was a pair of “Macros” or as we would call them a pair of electronic binoculars! Kenobi is seen using a pair to watch a certain character in the show, but he wasn’t the first person to use a set in Star Wars history. You may recall that Luke Skywalker also had a pair of binoculars that he used twice in his search for Artoo Detoo who had escaped into the desert of Tatooine on his “mission” . Using the binoculars led to a famous scene in the movie when a Tusken Raider attacked Luke while he was looking through the Macros….famous clip where the creature screeches and raises his rifle above his head.

“Tuskens travel in pairs….I see one of them…but….”

These Macrobinoculars seem a little bit large and cumbersome but Obi-Wan had a pair of Jedi issue binoculars which were much more sleek and compact…and it was the Jedi model that I used for inspiration. I made mine similar but not exact…I’ll let you “scope them out” and see what you think….Gallery One….

These are my “For Tyeth Field View Macrobinoculars” which are based on the Jedi model of binoculars. They are small, compact and curve to the shape of your face so the optics are perfectly placed. The control knobs on the upper surface are conveniently positioned to be operated by your fingertips as you hold the binoculars, you just have to stretch a finger and the control rests beneath it. One control increases/decreases the range and the second knob controls the focus. Pressing down on the knobs can also activate low light/night-vision modes along with a function to detect sensor arrays. I mention I made my binoculars similar well, they were actually more similar than I thought…lets play spot the difference….

Not bad huh? You will notice that I added the shield to cover the Objective Lenses which I didn’t have in the first batch of pictures. The shield looks a bit like this…

You can see the curved plate on the front of the binoculars and the hex screws holding it in place. I was in the process of putting it in position so a few screws are missing (it is hard work trying to tighten and loosen them so I can adjust the shield!). Anyhoo joking aside, I didn’t want this to be just a loose copy of the binoculars – I wanted a little extra detail in my model and the “double vision” of the two Kenobi images above gave me the idea to make these look like they were functional. So I tinkered with the model and added a few things inside….wanna take a look?

I added two images onto a pair of panels which I placed inside the model so when you move the 3D model around and peek through the eyepieces you can actually see the “real world” that the binoculars are focused on! To achieve this I edited the environment image texture that I use for the background and made two copies of the area I wanted to “zoom in on” and used these two images as the textures for the picture you see inside.

To finish this post off I have a few little bits of trivia… I said that Luke used his binoculars twice, well he actually used them three times but one scene was cut from the movie. The scene showed a conversation between Luke and his friend Biggs Darklighter at Tosche Station, where they talked about getting off Tatooine and Luke uses the Macros to look to the stars where he see’s Princess Leia’s ship being pursued by Darth Vader in the Imperial Star Destroyer from the opening shot of the movie. The second bit of trivia regards a Sound Bite. When the Tusken Raider attacks Luke in the wastelands the Raider shrieks as he raises and lowers it’s rifle above it’s head….well that shriek could be the sound of a donkey! In fact the donkey that can be seen in Laurel and Hardy’s movie “Way Out West”. The donkey is used by the comedy duo to haul themselves up onto a balcony of their hotel but of course they fail and fall to the ground and the donkey brays as if laughing. I think that sound clip was used to create the Tusken screech.

And that I’m afraid brings me to the end of this post. I hope you enjoyed expanding your horizons with something different! I enjoyed making an object other than a lightsaber. I have another set of Macrobinoculars seen in Empire Strikes Back to show you in a future post along with more sabers including some inspired by an 80’s classic movie from Australia! I hope you will call back to check those out but for now I’d like to thank you for supporting me and my site today. Whether you are a regular viewer or a newcomer you’re very much appreciated. Till next time….keep your eyes open!

“Horizons – Macrobinoculars” are a For Tyeth Editions design inspired by the movie props seen in Star Wars and the Disney+ TV show “Obi-Wan Kenobi”. The design was created by For Tyeth and the 3D model and renders are ©Copyright of For Tyeth/FTSabersite 2016-2022. Star Wars and “Obi-Wan Kenobi”along with all names, images and related material, are Trademarks/©Copyright of Disney/Lucasfilm ltd.