SS ANH escape pod dimensions

Hey all,

this is my first post here and I would like to express my awe to all you talented guys!!!

I have recently purchased the Stannarts Dewback model:
StannArts | Dewback Resin Model Kit
and I would like to make a diorama along with a same scale escape pod.
The Dewback kit is in 1/12th scale and I would like to ask you this:

Is the SS escape pod version that I have seen here in the same scale or not?
From some calculations I've done, for the escape pod to match the 1/12th scale should be around 16" or 41cm.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance,

Chris

Risch33 said:

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Is the SS escape pod version that I have seen here in the same scale or not?

Hi Chris,

Welcome aboard!

I do not have Rolando's kit of the Tantive IV's escape pod, therefore I can not give any info on that.

But please be aware the studio scale pod does NOT resemble the set decoration used in the Tunisian desert shot by any means.

The "life size" prop had a diameter of about 5 ft (~153 cm) - it is more a landing capsule (think Apollo program) than the whole pod.

Good luck,
Falk

Falk said:

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Hi Chris,

Welcome aboard!

I do not have Rolando's kit of the Tantive IV's escape pod, therefore I can not give any info on that.

But please be aware the studio scale pod does NOT resemble the set decoration used in the Tunisian desert shot by any means.

The "life size" prop had a diameter of about 5 ft (~153 cm) - it is more a landing capsule (think Apollo program) than the whole pod.

Good luck,
Falk

Thanks for the reply Falk,

I imagine that the set decoration wouldn't resemble the model pod.
That's not my intention anyway.
I want to re-enact the scene in a 1/12th scale and I would like to make sure that the various kit parts (like the Revell 1/144th Saturn V engines) that were used in the studio scale model are matching or close enough.

If the studio scale model is in different scale, as the popular ss scale 1/24th, I will have come up with another way to get those parts.

Chris

How the hell did the droids get out of there if this wasn't a movie?

Hammer3246 said:

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How the hell did the droids get out of there if this wasn't a movie?

How did they get IN in the first place???

Well, because droids are in movies only, actually.


Chris: I always thought the escape pod (as seen ejected from the corvette) is a multi-stage spaceship of its own, or is at least composed of several combined modules - hence the analogy with the Apollo spacecraft. The lander we see in the desert is the main part and inside the pod.

This way both canonical "models" - the lander on set and the ILM miniature - are not in contradiction to each other.

Works for me

Cheers!
Falk

Falk said:

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How did they get IN in the first place???

Cheers!
Falk

They walked/rolled in.....have you seen Star Wars???

Here's a blueprint of entry-exit spots

Risch33 said:

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Here's a blueprint of entry-exit spots

LOL - classic case of tertiary literature failure (like the BS West End Games and other fools or criminal organizations created).

This is simply not what we see on film. Period.

Cheers,
Falk

PS: Hammer3246: Yes, I have. About 500 times. And you?

Falk said:

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This is simply not what we see on film. Period.

Cheers,
Falk

What we see on film is...
Droids passing a gate - CUT SCENE
Droids watching through window - CUT SCENE
Droids on Tatooine moving away from the pod (that is far away).
Filming began in Tunisia... so they had to put something to look like an escape pod there. That's why it's placed in the background.
The detailed model was built in ILM maybe months later.

I think that this is a decent representation of the interior of the pod.

I'm sure there's a concept drawing somewhere showing Threepio occupying most of the height of the pod.

Colin Droidmilk said:

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I'm sure there's a concept drawing somewhere showing Threepio occupying most of the height of the pod.

There is this drawing from the Incredible Cross-Sections that show exactly what you're saying, but I think that in general ICS had many mistakes in scale proportions.
For example the Slave I Cross-Section was too small in scale with Boba Fett.

If you notice the window in the cross-section version is placed opposite the entrance door but the Studio Scale model has no window there.

The blueprint version places the window on the same level as the equator track making it more sensible for a window to be there.

I like the way R2 is sitting on the seat with a seat belt on.

Think about it, an astromech can magnetically roll around the exterior of a starship in battle... but needs a seat belt in somber flight to Tatooine???

I know it just a movie!

You are all wrong. This is how it really looks:

Colin: Yes, Joe Johnston drew several escape pod sketches - but those were connected with the original concept pirate ship (which later became the Falcon) - so it does not apply in my book.

Weezer: It is just a movie... Right - shouldn't we adhere to what we see in the movies then?

Chris: Tunsian live action and ILM miniature shooting had been done at the same time. The pod's ejection sequence was the first ILM actually finished (according to my reference), early 1976. The desert filming was on March 23-24, 1976. And the usual course of events was that the model department built the miniatures first and the stage carpenters used those for reference subsequently.

Risch33 said:

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What we see on film is...
Droids passing a gate - CUT SCENE
Droids watching through window - CUT SCENE
Droids on Tatooine moving away from the pod (that is far away).

Ah, I see. And what about those little details?

Falk said:

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You are all wrong. This is how it really looks:

You're kidding, right!! :-|

Falk said:

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Colin: Yes, Joe Johnston drew several escape pod sketches - but those were connected with the original concept pirate ship (which later became the Falcon) - so it does not apply in my book.

But why would he draw the robots in a pirate ship escape pod? The script never called for that. Seems like a waste of drawing time to me.

Colin Droidmilk said:

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But why would he draw the robots in a pirate ship escape pod? The script never called for that. Seems like a waste of drawing time to me.

I am not aware of such a sketch (with droids in the life boat) - only humans (with helmets though):

Falk said:

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I am not aware of such a sketch (with droids in the life boat) - only humans (with helmets though):

I have seen this blueprint before and I think that it is quite preliminary.
The actual pod was definitely based on this scheme, as far as the shape goes.
The thing is that on the Blockade Runner it is looking to the opposite direction therefore the entrance to the pod should be made otherwise.

If you check the Marincic blueprint the pod in scale with the whole ship should be at least 9.2 feet wide, therefore the pod should be around 19.5 feet long.

Risch33 said:

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...the pod in scale with the whole ship should be at least 9.2 feet wide, around 19.5 feet long.

Yeah - the POD, not the LANDER

Falk said:

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Yeah - the POD, not the LANDER

Right...

This is me thinking out loud.

Assuming that the bearded gent standing outside the pod (in post #2) is 6 feet or so (roughly the common height of a stormtrooper)... and that the pod in the photo is the look you're going for. Could you not take the photo in post #2 and scale it up to your statue's Sandtrooper's size and get a rough idea of how big the pod is?

You only want to build the portion shown above the sand correct? The rest of the pod is irrelevant.

I could be totally wrong and this won't work.

Weezer said:

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This is me thinking out loud.

Assuming that the bearded gent standing outside the pod (in post #2) is 6 feet or so (roughly the common height of a stormtrooper)... and that the pod in the photo is the look you're going for. Could you not take the photo in post #2 and scale it up to your statue's Sandtrooper's size and get a rough idea of how big the pod is?

You only want to build the portion shown above the sand correct? The rest of the pod is irrelevant.

I could be totally wrong and this won't work.

But the photo in post #2 has the wrong pod!!!
The markings, the scale is totally off...
They used something that looked like an escape pod for background and they made an amazingly detailed studio scale pod for the close-ups.
I plan on making a highly detailed pod (with top hatch open showing some interior detail - hopefully!!!)

Something like that:

Actually... This is me acting on my graphic designer instincts. (This isn't to change your mind, just an observation), but looking at the image you made (Dewback and pod). It looks like the pod will take away from the Dewback or they will compete as focal point. Maybe you want the pod to stand out more??? That's your vision.

I'm only suggesting you show less of the pod, so the patrol Dewback is the main focal point. whether you make it look like the set version or the SS model is totally up to you.

My vision is similar to the Sideshow one but more detailed and more correct.
The pod's belly will be partially buried in the sand and haven't decided if the Dewback will be "moving" toward or away from the pod.