Close-up photos of old Star Wars models

[Weaver]

Over 100 close-up photos of old Star Wars effects models: https://imgur.com/gallery/ikGmU

[kerick]

Cool thanks for linking that.

[zenrat]

Wow.

Good to see.
Some are awesome (Death Star 2), some are surprisingly crude and some could do with a bit more PSR.
Some recognisable parts in odd places.

[scooter]

If there's one thing I've always preferred about the Skywalker saga is the level of realism that physical models brought to the first trilogy that couldn't be duplicated in either follow ons.  Particularly in the way light and shadow play across the surfaces.  No amount of computing power can replace that.


And this from a guy who renders

[Weaver]

Anyone spotted HMS Ark Royal yet? 

[zenrat]

Hull or deck?

[Weaver]

Hull or deck?

Hull.

[zenrat]

I think so.  I won't say any more so others can enjoy looking.
I recognised what it was, just not which ship (not being up to date with my reading on the recognition and identification of Royal Naval capital ships from below).

[Weaver]

I think so.  I won't say any more so others can enjoy looking.
I recognised what it was, just not which ship (not being up to date with my reading on the recognition and identification of Royal Naval capital ships from below).

I wouldn't have identified it either, but for the fact that Ark Royal had a particularly distinctive feature of it's hull.

[Nick]

They had a model of the Millennium Falcon in 1/72 at the London Show last year. Chris and I were spotting all the different tank parts (Airfix Stug and Cromwell) and varied aircraft and ship pieces. Very well done.

[PR19_Kit]

How do they know it was 1/72? 

[Weaver]

How do they know it was 1/72? 

Well they know what size the 'real' one is supposed to be so they divide by 72...

Mind you, finding out what size the 'real' version of any sci-fi ship is can be fraught with uncertainty since sources frequently differ and internal sets often don't match up to external models.

[PR19_Kit]

Mind you, finding out what size the 'real' version of any sci-fi ship is can be fraught with uncertainty since sources frequently differ and internal sets often don't match up to external models.

Exactly..............

[Weaver]

Mind you, finding out what size the 'real' version of any sci-fi ship is can be fraught with uncertainty since sources frequently differ and internal sets often don't match up to external models.

Exactly..............

In the case of the Millenium Falcon, a full-size exterior/interior set was built at Pinewood and it's dimensions are known, so that's kinda definitive whatever you can or can't extract from special effects shots of models. The problems come when the original data is lost or unavailable and you end up comparing secondary sources and trying to do analysis by scaling from known features, or even from actors whose height is known. The classic example is the three highly-detailed and painstaking analyses of the Space 1999 Eagle which all came out with wildly different basic dimensions.

it's rather easier these days since the ships are designed in CAD/CAM systems which produce dimensions anyway whether the production designers care or not. Understanding movie studios now often provide original CAD/CAM files to model companies, at least the ones with licences...