Christmas spirit strong with this Bunbury resident who has erected a half-scale Star Wars icon

The Christmas Spirit is strong with this Bunbury resident.

Bunbury’s John Forbes has transformed his front garden into the forest of Endor this Christmas, erecting a 5m tall AT-ST in his front garden as a holiday feature.

The Christmas display is a half-scale recreation of the Galactic Imperial Army’s All Terrain Scout Transport featured in the final battle in Star Wars Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi.

Having watched all Star Wars films and shows, besides the much-maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, Mr Forbes built the towering structure with his friend to celebrate May the Fourth (international Star Wars Day) after years of idle chatting.

“Me and my mate were talking about building this for about two years until our wives both told us to either shut up or do it,” He said.

“So, we basically took it as a dare.”

The pair spent about 40 hours over the next few weekends constructing the frame from steel based onplans found online ,before covering the frame with corflute and adding the final touches.

With council restrictions, Mr Forbes said he could only have the AT-ST standing for two weeks around May 4, but having it displayed as a Christmas decoration allowed him to put it on show for even longer.

“More time to play with my toys,” he said.

With the AT-ST looming over his Glen Iris neighbourhood, Mr Forbes said the response locally and abroad had been unreal.

“It went viral pretty quick after May the Fourth — it went to The Bell Tower Times and yeah, just kept spiralling,” he said.

“I couldn’t believe it. Even my mates in America were saying they’ve seen it.”

The festive display is not just a feast for the eyes, with Mr Forbes also having his own sleigh full of presents for all the children who come to see his display.

Mr Forbes also has a small sign inviting people to make a donation to cancer research after a close family member was diagnosed.

“It’s really opened our eyes to how close you can come, just like that,” he said.

“We’re not doing this as a cancer drive, but it has become a part of it, if people can donate if they want to, but they don’t have to.”

The AT-ST unfortunately won’t stay standing through the year, going back into storage once the festive season is over, but it will be standing up once more for May 4 next year, which Mr Forbes plans to make even bigger and better.

“We’ve been discussing doing an AT-AT, but that’s going to need proper council approval and have an engineer look over it before we can do it,” he said.

“Apart from that, we are thinking of doing an entire lawn-sized Star Destroyer, which would hopefully come out to be about Lego mini-figure scale.

“But I have to get both past the missus first.”