Props of A New Hope (part 2)

Here are some in-progress renders of the next two props from A New Hope. The DH-17 Blaster used by Rebel Marines aboard the Tantive IV, and trusty (if inaccurate) E-11 Blaster used by Stormtroopers the whole galaxy over.

Both props started out as Sterling Submachineguns, popular during WWII, and had lots of greebles piled on top to make two distinct blasters. One of the unique features of Star Wars was the use of modified real world weaponry, which often fired blanks during filming (to which laser bolts and sound effects were added in post-production) In Pre-Star Wars movies laser weapons were completely static, and actors would pretend (or not) to feel any recoil from them. Props that fired blanks in Star Wars, adding a real kick to the action, gave the film a much more realistic feel. That said, in the opening scenes of A New Hope, only the Stormtroopers had functional blank-firing guns, the Rebel weapons were crude rubber castings.

and here's a collection of all the props I've modeled from A New Hope so far...

Falcon in Flight

What's left...

Once the areas highlighted red are done, that's it for the top of the new Falcon. Then I can sit back and wait for more reference images to emerge, which will no doubt prove I was wrong about everything, and I'll have to start all over again... I do enjoy this, right? Right?... I sure hope so...

Making-of the new dish

It took a long time to finalize the design of the Falcon's new dish, but it was well considered. There were moments, though, that might be a little less remembered by the movie-making history books.

"Almost there..." "Loosen up!!"

So close and yet so far...

I've put a lot of work into the model since December, and it's getting there, but there's always more to do. And I haven't even touched the bottom half of this thing...

also, I realized this blog is called "all things Star Wars" but I've pretty much been on one big Falcon kick for a long long time... will have to wait to get inspired by the next trailer.

Ep VII Falcon in Motion

Took my work-in-progress model and made a quick animation in 3ds Max.

Though it's subtle, the camera motion is actually bit of a geek out. I made a replica of the special camera rig developed for Star Wars by John Dykstra, the Dykstraflex Camera.

Since the days of Star Trek ( the Original Series) spaceship flybys were created by taking a stationary model and moving the camera toward it on a dolly track. The ship would be filmed against a bluescreen, which would be matted out in post production and replaced by a static starfield. The resulting illusion would be that the ship was moving toward a seemingly stationary camera.

Dykstra took this further by introducing a computer controlled rig that could repeat the exact same camera motion over and over, allowing for more effects to be precisely composited together.

The very particular axis of rotation on his camera rig gave the ships Star Wars a distinctive movement, as they seemed to pivot gracefully into and out of frame.

EP VII Millennium Falcon Work in Progress

Adding more details from the photogrammetric studies I did of the trailer screencaps.

Hoth Scanner

bit of a change of pace. Working on some printable parts for Han's Hoth Scanner for a client.

"Good against remotes, that's one thing...

Good against the living... that's something else."

Had to build this guy to hang out in the Falcon's main hold. I've been putting this one off for a long, long time. Once I finally got to building, it went very quickly. I'm here to tell you, "cease the day" and all that...