Marty Gordon
NRVsports@mainstreetnewspapers.com
A new Christiansburg business has opened its doors with a glimpse from a far-away galaxy.
Heritage Arts tattoo parlor is now at 302 Radford St., and its storefront has caught plenty of attention. Owner Mark Delano has built a full-sized Stars War Tie fighter that sits in a parking spot at the front of the store.
“Hundreds of people have stopped to ask about it or to take their picture,” Delano said this past week. “I wanted something unusual, and this is.”
The TIE fighter or Twin Ion Engine fighter is a series of fictional starfighters featured in the Star Wars universe. TIE fighters are depicted as fast, agile, yet fragile starfighters used by the Galactic Empire, First Order, and the Sith Eternal. TIE fighters and other TIE craft appear in Star Wars films, television shows, and throughout the Star Wars expanded universe.
It’s first appearance was in Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1976 novelization). TIE fighters have two wings fitted with solar panels that power a twin ion engine (TIE) system.
The Twin Ion Engine fighter is the iconic starfighter of the Galactic Empire in the Star Wars universe and is known for its distinctive hexagonal wings. Features a spherical cockpit flanked by large solar array wings that housed the twin engines.
Delano assembled the entire sculpture on his own, learning to weld and build the fighter over the past nine months. It resembles the movie prop right down to the cockpit that a person can fit into.
“I had seen others and just decided to find the items to make it,” he said, turning to all the way from Tennessee.
He hopes to place the TIE-fighter in local parades and at special events. “If people will pay for it to be at their event, then the monies will go to children’s charities.”
But he also hopes it will bring in business at his new location.
Tattoo popularity has surged from counter-culture markers to mainstream, with prevalence nearly doubling in the U.S. from 2012 to 2023. Reports say all of this was driven by Millennials and Gen-Z embracing the idea of “self-expression,” fueled by celebrity influence, improved safety and acceptance in the workplaces with trends in design from tribal to watercolor, constantly evolving.
All of this includes a shift from rebellion to personal art, a part that Delano excels in. Again, it was his love of art that led him to the profession.
Tattooing, according to latest reports, has transformed into a million-dollar business.
Delano has been at it for over 25 years, having started in his home state of Connecticut.
“I was not a good student in math or other areas, but I enjoyed art and was good at it,” he said.
He joined the U.S. Army out of high school, painting murals of barrack walls while serving. After his discharge, he met another former service member who had opened a tattoo parlor. They learned of his artistic side and invited Delano to stop by and try the new craft. From there, he had stops in North Carolina and Hawaii.
After his parents moved to the New River Valley, he decided the area needed another tattoo parlor. From his travels, Delano has fallen in love with the art and the way of doing it.
The walls of the shop are decorated with his and the work of other local artists.
Heritage Arts is also now the home shop of the area’s only world class annual tattoo convention, held every October in the Berglund Center Heritage Arts Tattoo Convention. This year, the convention will be October 23-25.
The world class Heritage Arts Tattoo Convention was voted the best tattoo convention of 2025 by Joe Capobianco on the “Not for Nothin” podcast.
For more information on the local tattoo artist checkout www.tattoos.com.
