Forres sci-fi fan Mark Donald adds six more features to his Star Wars garden ahead of summer opening for charity
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AN alternative universe in the centre of Forres keeps expanding.
Father-of- two Mark Donald has added another six features to his Star Wars-themed garden at 10 Castle Street - and he cannot wait to show them off when it is opened to the public next summer to raise funds for Macmillan Cancer Care.
He said: “I’ve got three new characters finished - two smaller life-size ones and another I handmade - and another I bought online which I sourced various things for. I also bought two Star Wars costumes for my daughters which they’ll wear here on open days.”
The kitchen porter has spent the last six years creating the space devoted to the franchise he loves. It features numerous spacecraft, model characters and props, most of which he has built himself.
The new additions are three robots and a major character.
He explained: “One is the probe droid from ‘The Phantom Menace’ that Darth Maul sends to find Obi Wan Kenobi on planet Tattoine. I made it entirely from scraps so it cost me nothing. Another droid called RJ, I also made from scraps. The other probe droid I made is called id10 from the Star Wars computer games and is similar to one in ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ movie. It’s 3D printed but also cost me nothing to make as I already had the plastic rolls I used for it.”
Mark’s Darth Maul is a full size character for display made up of parts purchased from England, the USA and China.
He added: “My youngest daughter Caitlyn (11) got the Princess Leia costume featured in the original Star Wars, ‘A New Hope’. She looks like Leia - I love it! My daughter Nicole (14) got a replica Ahsoka Tano Jedi costume from ‘The Clone Wars’.”
Mark hopes to open his garden with even more additions on Star Wars Day (May 4).
He finished: “I’ll be adding another lifesize character for then - it will be the best yet!”
