Watch: Someone Built a Full-Size 'Star Wars' AT-ST Replica in Their Back Yard
And millions of voices suddenly cried out in nostalgia.
Somewhere in what appears to be Australia, there is a man who has a full-size AT-ST replica standing in his backyard. It has two moving turrets, a two-seater cockpit crammed with instruments, joysticks, and Star Wars memorabilia, and makes laser blaster sounds with the push of a button. And it had been sitting there, in relative internet obscurity, for at least 8 months, when YouTuber Mr Kernish stumbled across the Imperial relic during a work call at a customer’s house.
Mr Kernish zoomed in with his phone and took some blurry photos of the walker from far away, but didn’t want to get close, fearing he’d seem creepy (or possibly get shot on sight). But the post went viral, and two months later, Mr Kernish returned to get to the bottom of the AT-ST mechanic next door. In a second Imgur post, Mr Kernish got up-close photos of the walker and talked to the creator, who didn’t want to give his name — Mr Kernish decided to call him Kuat, after the shipbuilding world in the Star Wars universe where many of the Imperial war machines were built. Kuat’s replica is made of metal, plastic, and wood, using all the info he could find on the internet to make as life-like a model as possible.
Check out a video of the outside of the walker here:
It’s got moving blasters, solar powered fans, and a high-tech cockpit lit by neon lights and filled with gadgets and memorabilia. Kuat even had a custom ID plate made for the inside of the vehicle, which lists it as the same Tempest Scout 2 that Chewbacca steals in Return of the Jedi.
Talk about attention to detail.
The interior, as a whole, is incredible, and makes the treehouse that my dad and I built look like one of those cup-and-string ball games compared to a Nintendo DS. Mr Kernish got a full tour, even and got video from inside the cabin.
I contacted to Mr Kernish to ask him for more information about the playhouse of every child’s dreams (although those children may grow up to be Stormtroopers?), but he hasn’t gotten back to me. In the interior video, it seems like he has an Australian accent, so we can probably put this down as just another wonder of the Australian outback.
