Efx X Wing

Out of curiosity how many "Hero's" do we think were made?

From looking at just photos I count 7 fully built X-Wings on the table.
There are photos that show 4 hero's under construction so I'm guessing they made up Reds 1,2,3 & 5.

The film only shows 3 fully built X-Wings being destroyed, out of those three you can identify two of them as being Red1 & Red2.
Three more partially built X-Wings were destroyed although it's entirely possible it's just one model shot from different angles.

They only seemed to use Red1,2,3 & 5 in all the shots, sometimes duplicating Red5.

I would think that there is a hero out there that looks identical (not including the mount covers) to the pyro although this hero may not have seen screen time. There is a photo showing a Red4 on the table which I haven't noticed in the film unless it was the unidentified X-Wing that got destroyed.

swpropmaker said:

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[FONT=Times New Roman][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The tell tell sign for me of all the "from original molds castings” out there are incorrect. To have an original casting… from original molds you need either a left or right…top or bottom parts…. not the cockpit frameless solid body we have all seen. There were no versions that had the cockpit frame separate so that goes to show “somebody” worked on a hull … hence the deeper scribe lines… shorter nose… frame less cockpit. One of the mounting points is on the nose. It was gone and had to be remade for this latest release. It was made by the Industry pro who loaned it and reworked by one of our own. [/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The copies of true X Wings bodies that are floating around are generational remolds and casts of a rebuilt pyro. Who knows how many generations…based upon the details added, deeper scribe lines, no cockpit frame, inaccurate nose, the casting whatever generation, has had many changes done to it from its original state.[/COLOR][/FONT]

[FONT=Times New Roman][COLOR=white]The wings in the picture don’t look as to have been modified. maybe those who took the left over castings got lucky and the wings survived the explosion (blew away) from the separating hull. Who knows.[/COLOR][/FONT]

They Mystery continues... Gene K? Can you shed some light here?

I think that states it all. Steve's above statements I agree with.

Curious. Did anyone here, stating knowledge, work on the X-wings of ANH? That is who will hold the cards for me. Everything else is just passed down memories. As Steve stated... the mystery continues.

Bottom line... EFX is producing a fine piece that a few thousand fans will enjoy and display with pride. And... Mike Salzo offers a FANTASTIC kit (just as BEAZ stated) for those who wish to modify it to be what they believe accurate.

RKW said:

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Out of curiosity how many "Hero's" do we think were made?

From looking at just photos I count 7 fully built X-Wings on the table.
There are photos that show 4 hero's under construction so I'm guessing they made up Reds 1,2,3 & 5.

The film only shows 3 fully built X-Wings being destroyed, out of those three you can identify two of them as being Red1 & Red2.
Three more partially built X-Wings were destroyed although it's entirely possible it's just one model shot from different angles.

They only seemed to use Red1,2,3 & 5 in all the shots, sometimes duplicating Red5.

I would think that there is a hero out there that looks identical (not including the mount covers) to the pyro although this hero may not have seen screen time. There is a photo showing a Red4 on the table which I haven't noticed in the film unless it was the unidentified X-Wing that got destroyed.

I have seen detailed studio reference to 1,2,3, and 5... definitely HERO birds. I have also seen some pretty challenged photos of 4 and 6, but they look to me like they were Pyros... definitely with right and left halves. I can't state for certain about those two.

"How long ago was this that you giuded the researchers (I'm just curious)?"

10 years ago I IDentified it... just this past year confirmed in the archieve. Sweet

So within a few months the hull was stripped and dipped in rubber?

There are Red 4 hero pics that have as yet not been made public - a strange looking bird to be sure.

RKW said:

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Out of curiosity how many "Hero's" do we think were made?

On a related note...

http://www.therpf.com/f10/original-ilm-studio-scale-x-wings-how-many-archive-please-148/

moffeaton said:

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There are Red 4 hero pics that have as yet not been made public - a strange looking bird to be sure.

Meaning what exactly?

If Red4 is clearly a hero and its wing matches that of the pyro then we know the donor. After looking again at the pic DS posted of the remains of a Red4 wing the topside sure looks the same as a pyro.

So what can you tell from the pics, is it or isn't it the donor?

PHArchivist said:

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On a related note...

http://www.therpf.com/f10/original-ilm-studio-scale-x-wings-how-many-archive-please-148/

Six years on and still no wiser

A few observations, in an attempt to get this thread more or less on topic. Sorry for the hijack folks...

It would be really cool to hear from someone at eFx about the source material for the newly mastered X-Wing. I listened to this SDCC interview with Barry and it had some interesting info, just not much detail.

I spent some more time with Mike's new kit this evening and I have to say I'm really impressed by how this version is engineered. The fuselage top and bottom design is very hero. The castings are amazing, and virtually bubble free. Best ever in a garage kit of this size, IMO.

Frankly, I have a Captain Cardboard and a Salzo V2 sitting unbuilt on the shelves because once I got started cleaning up and test fitting each I became disappointed with how much effort it looked like I was going to need to expend to end up with something accurate. With the V3, it's a completely different experience. The more I work on this kit, the more excited I get. This is as good as it gets folks.

On the issue of hero vs. pyro, one thing I'm still trying to figure out is how an exploded pyro fuselage gets pieced back together and ends up being around 14% larger than it was before it exploded, yet still retains all of the panel lines and surface greeblies of the original.

And pulling all of this back to the topic of this thread, mysteries are only mysteries until they're solved. This forum has been all about solving mysteries from its inception, and it's one of the primary reasons why everyone has access to such cool models, whether from Mike and Moe, or eFx.

Perhaps what we need is a separate thread for researching the differences between the hero models and the pyros?

Is it feasible to think that the red 4 hero was "sacrificed" to make pyros? That doesn't make sense to me, but might explain why we don't see it documented much/at all. And with it being labeled "blue 4", it had to be pretty early on in the timeline. Do we see an X-Wing with a yellow canopy in production photos? That'd be the Red (blue) 4 hero.

"Blue 1" was converted to Red 1 pretty early on right? So Red 4 being labeled "Blue 4" seems like it's a photo session from early on in the production.

My theory is that "Blue 1" was the one sent to Elstree along with the unfinished "Red Jammer" for reference in building the full-scale props, then sent back. At some point Red Jammer was finished off, but not converted to yellow markings. The pic I have of them on the table at Elstree is in black and white, so I can't tell if the X is red or blue at that time and place.

Blue 1, went onto become Red 2 though didnt it J? From pics ive seen, the actual Red 1/Leader could possibly have have been the first Hero finished, then sent on to Elstree.

lee

Jason, that's what I've been assuming. Ditto for Red 6.

I can't recall seeing an X-wing with a yellow canopy in prod photos but wasn't someone saying a week or two back that there was one? You would have seen the pics of the one being painted with a red canopy I guess - there was some discussion a few weeks ago about that potentially being Red 6 (the wing stripes are masked up, so it's hard to tell, but I think six gaps can be made out.)

What is Red Jammer, the red-marked Y-wing? When did it get that name? I think I hate it.

Cheers,
Martyn

The red Jammer was probably the first Y built, possibly, probably the most beautiful of Y wings Martyn...least she's my favorite bird, they look so prettier with red markings.
She had many details that differred to the Gold ANH Y wing props, cockpit shape, neck length, and a lot of different donors were used on her, one of the most noticable things, she had the 8rad chassis parts used on the neck sides, reversed!

lee

Nwerke said:

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HALLELUJAH, I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE!!!!

Lee, I love it too, and when/if I ever build mesself a Y she's a gonna be red.

Now cue Jamie with a bunch of dire invective against the red Y...hehe...

Cheers,
MG

PS I just meant I hate this "jammer" name. Some sort of hip-hop thing? ;p

PPS Jason, you are a tease!!! Is that Red 4 hero pic published?

LOL got ya Martyn buddy, ha, yeah the Jammer sure is dope, LIKE totally phat....word LOL!

lee

moffeaton said:

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My theory is that "Blue 1" was the one sent to Elstree along with the unfinished "Red Jammer" for reference in building the full-scale props, then sent back. At some point Red Jammer was finished off, but not converted to yellow markings. The pic I have of them on the table at Elstree is in black and white, so I can't tell if the X is red or blue at that time and place.

I definitely have a picture somewhere, although for the life of me I can't remember where, that clearly shows that the miniature X-wing sent to Elstree was Red 2. The canopy frame was already broken at this time, and is missing in the picture. If the picture that you have shows a complete canopy frame, then either more than one miniature was sent to Elstree (which doesn't make much sense) or the frame got broken at Elstree.

Yeah i think im wrong, i do have that pic, and it does look to be Red 2 at Elstree Ray....im sure i saw a pic of the Red 1 and Jammer together though...hmm im having a fuzzy day lol.

lee

was it red 2? lol - memory is slipping. I'll dig that photo up and post it in the X research thread.

Hey guys,

A big thanks to all of you who attended Comic-Con and came to visit us at our booth. It is always fun to place faces to forum IDs and to chat with so many enthusiasts.

The origins of the eFX X-Wing are not as straight forward as some people are imagining. Firstly, the team who worked on the MR X-Wing are in most part the same people producing the eFX version. However the eFX one was basically started over from scratch.

The body came from a hero casting, not a pyro version. It was scanned into the computer and straightened out, since it exhibited a bend to the left in the nose and in a few other places. Red Five's wings exist in the Lucas archives so they were easily referenced for details, panels and panel lines. Forensic detective work by Moe, Frank and others turned up the kit parts. More detective work using stills and model shots from the archives placed panels, panel lines and the torpedo tubes (which are uniquely different on Red Five). Pictures and former ILMers recollections reveal that the original model had glass in the cockpit (lab slide glass), probably removed because of complications with blue spill.

The cockpit interior is an amalgamation of the full sized set and what we could fit into the differently dimensioned model. You see the cockpit set in the movie and most folks would expect the model to reflect that. It worked for the snowspeeder and the Falcon releases previously, and generated a lot of compliments from customers. The seat in the cockpit is modeled after the one in the full sized set piece. The R2-D2 has been rebuilt from scratch using data gathered directly from R2 by one of the foremost R2-D2 builders enthusiasts. The model also features lights in the cockpit, R2 and engines, and the wings can be posed open or closed.

We really went to a tremendous amount of effort and research, involving a large team of people to produce this piece. It's NOT a casting of a screen used model, it's NOT an Icons, it's not a Captain Cardboard, it's an eFX. It won't please everybody and, frankly, I think that would be an impossible task to even attempt. We hope those of you who buy it will love it.

Barry

Hey Barry,

Thanks for the update, and for graciously stopping by to offer the lowdown on the eFx X-Wing. I'll be right there hitting refresh in my browser when these go on sale online, right along with most of the other geeks around here, I'm sure.

Good luck with the project, and with the new company.

Barry,
Thanks for Chiming in! Its great to get the straight dope from the source

Of all the pictures I saw there was only one that gave me pause - the cockpit hinge... Honestly I'm concerned that it will have an effect on the closed cockpit look of the model... I really do not want a "toyish" hinge seam, on a replica... I'm sure you can relate to that. I'm sure you guys will figure all that kind of stuff out, but I wanted to voice it since after seeing the prototype pics it realyl was the only thing that made me go - Hmmm I wonder how that's going to really look when its done...

If you're going with an either landed or flight look of the ship are you going to also include landing gear If no landed mode then why have the cockpit open at all? It just makes me scratch my head a bit as to why these decisions were made. For the record I'm not complaining - just curious and a nudge anxious that the final result looks as good as it can!

Thanks,
Jedi Dade

Those are legitimate questions Jedi Dade. I've wondered exactly the same thing. Unless there is more to the whole package than meets the eye, I see no reason for the cockpit to open at all. I love the landing gear idea however.

Dave

Barry... yes... thank you! I too will be purchasing one of these great offerings from eFX. You guys have done a WONDERFUL job in taking the Star Wars license further in the right direction!

BTW... I am sorry to have missed Comic Con. I look forward to the time of our eventual meeting.

Congratulations on your fantastic product line! I will indeed be acquiring some items from your company.