What was it like to build the Millennium Falcon?
December 2, 2023 8:56 AM Subscribe
"Voice of a Star Wars Fan" is a fan video perhaps like no other. Better to know as little about it as possible before watching, but if you love old school model making, ILM, and the original Star Wars films, this SLYT video will surely be worthy of your time.
Finished watching it? Now check this out. (via Daring Fireball)
Finished watching it? Now check this out. (via Daring Fireball)
Also, my dad had a Craftsman toolbox identical to the one visible around 13:20 in the video.
posted by tclark at 9:39 AM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by tclark at 9:39 AM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
I had a moving company in the 1980s. One of my customers was LucasFilm. On one occasion Mr. Lucas was attending a big electronics show in Las Vegas, and I drove several of the models there in a van. One of the models was the Millennium Falcon, which is about a meter across. Another was one of several R2D2 robots.
When Mr. Lucas displayed some of his bigger props at the Marin County Fair, we delivered the Death Star and the Land Speeder, complete with manikin as a rider.
Since I got to inspect the Death Star up close, I could see that it included a lot of parts from plastic battleship models. There is even a tiny lifeboat on the outside, and a tiny figure waving out a porthole.
The Death Star is not a sphere, it is a hemisphere, since only one side appeared on camera.
We got to goof around in the prop warehouse, where we posed with Jabba the Hut, wore Darth Vader's real helmet, and played with the scimitar that figured prominently in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
One day our "handler" gave me $50 and told me to take the crew to lunch. The reason was that Michael Jackson was touring the prop collection, and "the help" needed to be elsewhere.
posted by Repack Rider at 9:48 AM on December 2, 2023 [34 favorites]
When Mr. Lucas displayed some of his bigger props at the Marin County Fair, we delivered the Death Star and the Land Speeder, complete with manikin as a rider.
Since I got to inspect the Death Star up close, I could see that it included a lot of parts from plastic battleship models. There is even a tiny lifeboat on the outside, and a tiny figure waving out a porthole.
The Death Star is not a sphere, it is a hemisphere, since only one side appeared on camera.
We got to goof around in the prop warehouse, where we posed with Jabba the Hut, wore Darth Vader's real helmet, and played with the scimitar that figured prominently in a scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark.
One day our "handler" gave me $50 and told me to take the crew to lunch. The reason was that Michael Jackson was touring the prop collection, and "the help" needed to be elsewhere.
posted by Repack Rider at 9:48 AM on December 2, 2023 [34 favorites]
My word. This is incredible. Thank you for sharing this! And if anyone else had the same reaction I did, no worries, I have alerted the Crafsman.
posted by ulotrichous at 11:05 AM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by ulotrichous at 11:05 AM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
Pretty amazing. Note 1: The futuristic plane in the prominent photo on the wall behind him is the Ho 229, a German (Nazi) jet powered flying wing whose prototype was under construction when it was captured by American troops during WWII. Note 2: As a kid who built countless plastic model kits in the 70s and 80s, I can't stress what a revelation it was building my first Japanese-made plastic model kit. The detail was crisper and more accurate than USA-made kits, parts were engineered better and fit better, the parts were often molded in different colors, the decals were amazing, and the directions were printed in color and were themselves tiny works of art. The Macross plastic kits from the 80s even transformed from space planes to giant robots! They even included a tiny, almost non-functional tube of plastic cement as if to say, "You can't accuse us of not thinking of everything."
posted by jabah at 11:48 AM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by jabah at 11:48 AM on December 2, 2023 [1 favorite]
The Ho 229 was the inspiration for a scene in another famous Lucasfilm movie.
posted by credulous at 12:29 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by credulous at 12:29 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
Since I got to inspect the Death Star up close, I could see that it included a lot of parts from plastic battleship models. There is even a tiny lifeboat on the outside, and a tiny figure waving out a porthole.
It just tears me apart that, in the modern era of CG everything, kitbashing and greebling are lost arts in Hollywood.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:44 PM on December 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
It just tears me apart that, in the modern era of CG everything, kitbashing and greebling are lost arts in Hollywood.
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:44 PM on December 2, 2023 [4 favorites]
There's nothing in the world my kid wants to do more than be this type of props artist. She kit bashes gundam kits to make Samus and uses whatever's around the house to make her own light sabre hilts and cosplay details. I sent this to her the moment I saw it. awesome.
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:53 PM on December 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by OHenryPacey at 12:53 PM on December 2, 2023 [5 favorites]
My go-to search in any library system I managed was "star trek", and that's how I stumbled across this excellent MMath thesis: The aesthetics of science fiction spaceship design, Kate Kinnear (University of Waterloo)
posted by avocet at 1:45 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by avocet at 1:45 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
The Ho 229 was also prominent in the 1991 Lucasfilm Games' Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe.
posted by ovvl at 1:51 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by ovvl at 1:51 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
That moment at 14:15 where he realizes he's got one the greebles he's been looking for forever, and his hands start shaking.
posted by mhoye at 2:41 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 2:41 PM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]
So, just so I'm understanding this correctly: this fellow re-created at 1:1 scale the workshop where the original Star Wars models were made, stocking its shelves with all of the actual (now vintage) plastic model kits from which parts of were re-purposed to detail the models, and (not satisfied with that) also located all of various tools and knickknacks that had been scattered around the workshop at different times. And all of this was based just on photos--he didn't interview any of the principals to ask them questions?
Color me stunned.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 3:49 PM on December 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
Color me stunned.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 3:49 PM on December 2, 2023 [3 favorites]
"ILM" is short for Industrial Light & Magic, in case you were wondering.
posted by WalkingAround at 3:52 PM on December 2, 2023
posted by WalkingAround at 3:52 PM on December 2, 2023
So, just so I'm understanding this correctly: this fellow re-created at 1:1 scale the workshop where the original Star Wars models were made,Even better, if you look at the Twitter link (Here's a Nitter replacement link if you don't want to give Twitter clicks) he made a giant 5:1 model of himself to fit in the 1:1 model!
(I'm kidding of course, but the smaller model of the shop is just as impressive.)
posted by ckoerner at 5:05 PM on December 2, 2023
this fellow re-created at 1:1 scale the workshop where the original Star Wars models were made
If you look closely, I think most of the workshop is actually a (meticulously researched and detailed!) CG model - although the desk he sits at is real, as are (most of!) the things he interacts with.
It's very well done but, for example, the depth of field and perspective in this shot is a bit off, and if you look at how his left hand moves behind the model towards the box in this shot (and the compositing as the box is moved out from behind the model) it's pretty obvious, I think.
posted by Luddite at 1:09 PM on December 3, 2023
If you look closely, I think most of the workshop is actually a (meticulously researched and detailed!) CG model - although the desk he sits at is real, as are (most of!) the things he interacts with.
It's very well done but, for example, the depth of field and perspective in this shot is a bit off, and if you look at how his left hand moves behind the model towards the box in this shot (and the compositing as the box is moved out from behind the model) it's pretty obvious, I think.
posted by Luddite at 1:09 PM on December 3, 2023
Luddite, the explanation for the things that feel "off" is in the comment above yours.
posted by tigrrrlily at 1:25 PM on December 3, 2023
posted by tigrrrlily at 1:25 PM on December 3, 2023
Doh. In my defence, nitter didn't load any images the first time I followed the link!
posted by Luddite at 3:09 PM on December 3, 2023
posted by Luddite at 3:09 PM on December 3, 2023
So he modeled the studio where the modelers made a model out of models. And in it he shows his efforts to model that model from other models.
Was the ILM studio a model? Were Morgan Plus 8 cars made out of spaceship kits? Am I real?
posted by CaseyB at 6:31 PM on December 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
Was the ILM studio a model? Were Morgan Plus 8 cars made out of spaceship kits? Am I real?
posted by CaseyB at 6:31 PM on December 4, 2023 [1 favorite]
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posted by tclark at 9:37 AM on December 2, 2023 [2 favorites]