Actual Depth of Docking Bay 327

There's a little known forced perspective feature of the Deathstar Docking Bay in A New Hope. Right below the main port there are stripes and chevrons similar to the ones on the deck beneath the Falcon in overhead shots.

They've been tapered so that they appear to converge on the same vanishing point as the rest of the bay, when viewed from a certain angle

Now, the overhead shot in the movie shows that airlock kinda right behind the ship. This matte paint has a lot of other weird issues, but the airlock is pretty much where it sits on the soundstage.

here's an orthgraphic view of the docking bay as it appears on the soundstage (note the distorted stripes on the left hand)

but if you extend the forced perspective chevrons out so that they match the size and spacing of the markings under the Falcon...

that's a much deeper bay...

and should look something like...

Millennium Falcon in Docking Bay 327

The model nears completion!

Ralph McQuarrie Millennium Falcon

More work on the Millennium Falcon

Lots of small things falling into place, bringing me closer and closer to completion. Here are some renders of the little stuff I've been adding, and a video walk-through of the whole model.

Re-addressed and textured the boarding ramp so it's more accurate:

Finished off the access pit in the back starboard quarter:

Textured the blast mark on the starboard docking-ring from a movie screencap, rebuilt the forward quarter access pit from a photomatched screencap ("she may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts"), and finally added the junk under the cockpit access tube.

And a new video stitching the exterior and interior models:

Millennium Falcon: what might have been

The original designs of the Millennium Falcon was basically what we now know as the Rebel Blockade Runner, but with the current Falcon's cockpit for a nose. This version was slated to be Han Solo's ship for quite some time. The filming model was fully built, and blueprints exist for full scale shooting sets. But the flying saucer with mandibles we now know and love took its place. Below are some renders of what might have been, if that original version had made it into the final cut of the film.

A Bet Between Stormtroopers

It's an obscure point, but there's been some argument over there years about Lando's rescue of Luke from underneath Cloud City on Bespin. An exterior shot of the Falcon does show Lando coming up from the circular hatch pictured above, but the scale is off. Though the Millennium Falcon is no stranger to mismatched scale (such as the interior not fitting the exterior), so in the end, it's just a bit of movie magic.

Millennium Falcon Engine Deck

The back quarter of the Falcon has more detail than I can shake a stick at. But I'm gonna try to shake that stick anyways. I've been avoiding building the details in the engine for just about 2 years now. But I'm finally, finally putting in some good hours back there.

Also, while you're working on a model like this, it's really easy to lose sense of the scale of things. So I've included a Stormtrooper, just hanging out there gawking at the details. It's amazing to me what he does to put things in perspective.

all the images are cropped to hide the fact that at the moment the rest of the engine deck is bare of details. In the near-ish future, I have to go from blank slate, to something resembling this:

yikes.

worth it though, I hope. 

Millennium Falcon and Deathstar Docking Bay (Part 8)

the Millennium Falcon Exterior in the Deathstar Docking Bay

Uploaded a video flyby of the exterior model of the Falcon. All the details you see on the Falcon are composited from the full scale movie set built for ANH, and the 5' Studio Scale Falcon used for effects shots. The movie set itself was only partially constructed, and lots of details are completely omitted from the top side, to save on budget.

In case you're wondering, the words "DRIVE SAFELY" and that long serial number really are on the back of the studio scale model of the Falcon. A fun little in-joke by the art department.

Millennium Falcon Exterior and Death Star Docking Bay (part 7)

Millennium Falcon Exterior and Death Star Docking Bay (part 6)

This weekend I got to the plating on the mandibles, and started to fill up the maintenance access pits. These new details are referenced from the 5' studio model that was used for effects shots of the exterior. The actual full scale Falcon in A New Hope has nothing at all in the pits or on top of the mandibles, because shooting angles didn't demand detailing in those areas.

I did some virtual kitbashing in one of the pits, as well. I noticed that one part was an entire famous real-life spacecraft, so I found a low res model of it and scaled it down to fit. Saved me a lot of time, and made me feel part of a great tradition.

Virtually all sci-fi spacecraft models from this era of film-making where made by scratch building a basic body out of various materials, and then gluing miniature model parts to that. Anything from model tanks, trucks, trains, aircraft, and space industry miniatures were used. After a base coat was applied to everything, the models magically transformed into seemingly practical spacecraft.

Bonus points if you can spot the kitbashed part (best viewed in the third render).

I also got some work done on the jawbox (the last render) which so far is all referenced from the full scale set of the Falcon.

TK-421, Why Aren't You At Your Post!?

Millennium Falcon Exterior and Death Star Docking Bay (part 5)

Added some stormtroopers dowloaded from the sketchup warehouse...

Millennium Falcon Exterior and Death Star Docking Bay (part 4)