Blockade Runner Captured

Here I've ignored the funny pitch and yaw angles I mentioned in an earlier post, and just put the Blockade Runner in a reasonable attitude in the Star Destroyer's docking bay. Seen here, the Blockade Runner is scaled to 150m long, which makes the rest of the Star Destroyer seem overly large (though still shorted than a mile). The bay I've dreamed up here, which is shown with closed blast-doors on the studio scale model used in filming, would be more than 3 times the size of Docking Bay 327 seen on the Death Star.

No Hope for the Princess This Time

Well, after all that hoopla getting the Tantive model built just so I could do the photomatch of the tractorbeam scene, I got some funny results.

The impression that you get when you watch the film is that the Tantive is drawn into the Star Destroyer Bay with everything at right angles...

well, it turns out the whole thing was kind of catty-wompus...

 fig. 1 photomatch results

The green lines are the geometry of my models, overlaid on a still from the movie, and with the perspective of the still matched in-program.

looks fairly straight forward, right?

nope.

the Tantive is pitched down 12 degrees from horizontal, and yawed to port about 14.

  fig. 2 elevation view of photomatch results

  fig. 3 plan view of photomatch results

Ultimately I don't think this was supposed to be the case, but is an unintended artifact of the effects composite. The production department didn't perfectly match the appropriate angles when the photographed the ships separately, and instead made it look passable. Still, it's kind of interesting... if you're deeply obsessed that is.

Rebel Blockade Runner

A while back I built a model of the Rebel Blockade Runner, which I'd created from fan-made plans found online. I'd been pretty satisfied with the model for a while, but didn't think about it for a long time afterward.

Earlier this week, I got a wild hair up my ass to see what would happen if I photomatched the scene in ANH where the Star Destroyer draws the Blockade Runner into its bay. I wanted to see what the relative scales would look like, if everything was matched in perspective (rather than through guesswork).

What I discovered, instead, was that my previously built Blockade Runner Model didn't match what was on the screen at all. So I got complete distracted, and rebuilt my Blockade Runner from scratch. This time 100% original work, using Sketchup's Photomatch tool on the studio scale model used in filming ANH. Turned out pretty well, if I do say so.

Here's the geometry of the model overlaid on the photos I used.

Rebel Blockade Runner (Part 3)

Final details coming together now...

Rebel Blockade Runner (Part 2)

And finally, here's a video of a virtual walkthrough of the model rendered above.

Rebel Blockade Runner

These are renders of my model of the Blockade Runner's interior movie sets, built from production blueprints. I've seen a lot of superb replicas of this set, but most seem to miss the subtly different whites of the wall modules and the scuffed up flooring. I still need to add a lot of details to this model, but I have to say it's pretty pleasing so far.

A fun detail about this set: the flat panels (dark there on the columns, and white on the box modules) are a set of vacuuformed panels used through A New Hope, on most Rebel Technology (Never on imperial sets). Another nice subtlety that tied the forces of good together with the use of unconscious details.


Seen here, behind young Lucas on the Blockade Runner Set. 

and in these examples.

background prop 'generator' boxes on Tattooine (replicated below in Sketchup)

 

And again here on the back of a Rebel Troop Transport in Yavin Base.

 

And even a pair on the Full Scale Millennium Falcon (on the side of the mandible, right at the front)