[Mellony]

Hey everyone, I'm trying to devise a way to build, well, a Death Star prop about 5 feet in diameter or so.

I've been doing some small scale tests with paper mache and such, but my core problem is how to create the armature/framework upon which it will be built?

My only condition is that I have to retain the ability to access the inside in order to have it backlit. I'm planning on drilling pinholes through surface to light from behind, ala Star Wars.

I've contemplated chicken wire on the outer surface, but I keep coming back to my core problem--how to concoct a sphere and/or curved ribs around a core frame. And what that frame looks like. I keep running into basic overengineering issues here.

Any ideas, suggestions are greatly welcomed! Thanks!

Get a 60 inch beach ball. Can get one on Amazon for around $20ish. Paper mache using paper mache clay. There's a really good recipe on YouTube. This is the process I'm trying to make a lifesize Pokémon ball for my 3 year old. It's new to me too.