'STAR WARS' FAN HOPES TO SELL MODEL OF JABBA'S SAIL BARGE.

Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO

Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- When Osvaldo Hernandez was in his teen years, he was a "Star Wars" fanatic.

"I devoted almost every paycheck I had to collecting," said the Lancaster man, now 38. "I was just a ridiculous young teenager practically in heat with the 'Star Wars' idea."

Now the father of three boys is devoted to his family, but his passion for things "Star Wars" has not diminished.

Hernandez has designed and created a 36-inch scale model of the Sail Barge, the ship belonging to the villainous slug-like Jabba the Hutt.

He hopes to have it in stores by May 25, the 30th anniversary of the release of the first "Star Wars" movie.

"I like building huge models, models of science fiction, models that have never been built," said Hernandez, who emigrated from Cuba to the United States in 1979. "I found (the ship) extremely interesting and decided to do the challenge and build it."

Hernandez is working with a South Carolina company called Advent Product Development to market the model as a collectible. Right now, Advent is helping Hernandez find a manufacturer.

"I'm not a 'Star Wars' fan," said Advent media director Donna Hardiman. "I ran between generations I guess, but I also know I have a son in his 40s, and he loves 'Star Wars.' Anything he sees about 'Star Wars' he buys," she said. "There is a market for just about anything."

Work on the Sail Barge started about two years ago, when Hernandez designed and constructed a 6 1/2-foot-long model of the vessel, which resembles an upside-down Spanish galleon.

A former student in art and architecture, he drew up the blueprints and schematics and built it in a room set aside for his drafting and hobbies.

"When everybody saw it they were mesmerized. I took it from pictures and made it into reality," said Hernandez, who worked in real estate and financing and now is self-employed selling houses that he has remodeled.

Hernandez, who has 20 years of "Star Wars" collecting behind him, did not see the first "Star Wars" movie, released in 1977, because his parents didn't allow him to.

He saw "The Empire Strikes Back" in 1982 at Grauman's Chinese Theater -- the 10 o'clock showing -- and remembers the line snaking all the way down the block.

"At that age, I was infatuated with the actual story, the whole story behind it where you have a good guy trying to fight evil, and the evil part was his father," Hernandez said. "The whole story, the way George Lucas created that story was interesting to me."

He finally viewed the 1977 "Star Wars" 10 years after its release. Credit card in hand, he went to the Glendale Galleria and bought the complete trilogy.

The Sail Barge appears in "Return of the Jedi," the third film in the original trilogy. Jabba the Hutt uses the antigravity craft to take Luke Skywalker and Han Solo to "the Great Pit of Carkoon," a hole in the ground with its own digestive system, where they are to be cast in and slowly consumed. They are rescued by Princess Leia and the "droids," and the Sail Barge is blown up.

Hernandez claims his model would be the first of its kind.

A smaller model came out in the 1990s; called a "micromachine," it measured 8 inches and lacked the intricate detail of Hernandez's model, he said.

LEGO has a kit for the Sail Barge that measures 18 inches and is designed for 8- to 12-year-olds.

Hernandez's model has a removable panel that reveals a detailed interior with the platform on which Jabba would sit, a bar with stools, and tables with booth seating.

A panel can be lowered on the starboard side of the vessel to form a landing area, a sort of mobile garage in which smaller vessels can be carried or from which they can be launched.

"It's bringing something to the people who have been waiting 20 to 30 years to see something different," Hernandez said.

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) Osvaldo Hernandez of Lancaster holds a 36-inch model of the "Star Wars" Sail Barge he built at his home. The self-proclaimed "Star Wars" fanatic spent two years developing the model.

(2) Osvaldo Hernandez of Lancaster sits by the 36-inch model of the "Star Wars" Sail Barge he built from scratch at his home.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer