a while back I realized that the Falcon was basically just a flying saucer with some serious stylistic modifications. Like the Enterprise before it, the ship transcends a basic Forbidden Planet style craft in some ingenious ways, but it got me thinking. What if Star Wars wasn't Lucas's interpretation of old TV action serials like Flash Gordon, but was instead a direct adaption of a hypothetical 1950s show featuring a farmboy, a space cowboy, and a old samurai flying through the cosmos in a "hamburger and olive" flying saucer?
well, I've answered part of the question of what that might look like with this little model.
The cockpit is from a B-29 Bomber, which is rumored to be the inspiration for the actuall Millennium Falcon's cockpit. The distinctive mandible style is based on a pair of vintage Vernier Calipers. I have a theory that the mandibles on the real Falcon were inspired by a more modern version of Vernier Calipers, and that the designers chose that intentionally, based on George Lucas in interviews saying that he imagined the falcon as being able to grab cargo.
I've had the same thoughts about a more 50s-style version of Star Wars – as if it were made 20 years earlier. I wondered what it would look like as a movie.
ReplyDeleteSo, if I ever get around to making it, I'll definitely consult you.
Very cool!!!!!
ReplyDeleteStunning. And, to see it in the light of being a freight moving, "grabbing" machine/ vehicle. The B-29 cockpit, just gets the imagination moving. Thank you for such wonderful work and inspiration.
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