full scale X-Wing in progress

Rebel

Rebel

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In May 2011 we started with the concept for a interactive Star Wars Exhibition in Berlin for 2013.

One of our main wishes was a X-Wing Full scale flight simulator.

Before we found the brilliant drawing of Oldman* here, we were very disappointed about the rare photo and drawing material of the original full-scale X-Wing.

*http://www.therpf.com/f9/full-scale-x-wing-stage-prop-drawings-160069/

We will ask Oldman about his sources ; )

We found in a Auction catalogue of SW items some letters of the company, that built the original full-scale X-Wing and we got in touch with the director of this not more existing workshop.

Here a picture into his workshop in 1976, the photo came from the Making of Star Wars Book of Mr. Rinzler.

View attachment 123095

He is 81 years old and is living in Germany and was really surprised about our questions and is a great support in our 1:1 project.

Probably someone of the RPF can help us in a few "missing links":

For ESB they built 2 other X-Wings and a Close-ups Cockpit, but were these only Mock-ups?

View attachment 123096

What happened with these "Mock-ups"?

Is there any picture of the dumped full scale X-Wing?

What happened with the full scale Y-Wing?

And in our research, we found this special offer for 2 Full size X-Wing replica made by one of the craftsmen who worked on the original movie - Star Wars a New Hope.

Full Size X-Wing Replica
X-Wing

Any ideas or pictures?

We would be very happy about every picture of the original or replica full scale photo or story for our later presentation in Berlin.

Thanks for now, we will keep you updated.

Thorsten
 
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Sure looks like it; I've been googling pics of WWII towed howitzers and recoilless rifles for the past 40 minutes, but I can find anything with that kind of shield on it...
 
I have always wanted a 1:1 scale X-Wing... can't wait to watch the build. In a couple of years, when I get a house with a back-yard, maybe I can finally build my own! :)
 
The company built props for many films (James Bond – Submarines, 'Sky Bandits' - Vickers FB5 Gunbus,...) for 27 years.


He described me, how they realised the ANH X-Wing:


„First we prepared a schedule of all the materials and parts that we considered we would need in the construction of the X wing.



On receipt of the order from the film company, we acquired photographs of a scaled model and the actual scale model the art department modeller had built, from which we were able to produce our own manufacturing drawings.



View attachment 123637View attachment 123638View attachment 123639View attachment 123640View attachment 123641


Once the drawings where complete we were able to check our material and parts schedule, and correct where necessary. We then issue drawings to our staff which were made up of four teams, all supervised by one of our engineer, who oversaw the project from beginning to end.



We prepared our own manufacturing drawings from the scaled model and photographs.



The working drawings we made have long ago been destroyed. But to give you some idea what we had to work with I attach a few photographs of the scaled model, and for your interest a copy of our quotation (1976 prepared from the scaled model) and the film company order to us, you will notice the time scale we had to work to.



View attachment 123642View attachment 123643


We used to say, you can do a hundred good jobs, but, do one bad job or you are late on delivery and that's the one they will always remember.“

Or they will remember these really good job. ; )
 
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Did you find any information about the ESB X-wing prop? The data you obtained all seems to be for the ANH X-wing stage prop. The 2 X-wings are not the same.

From looking at screen captures of the films this is what I have found:
A New Hope had:
Full scale X-wing stage prop, but the back end was never detailed.
Full scale cockpit set

Empire strikes back had:
Full scale X-wing stage prop, but not the same as the ANH prop
Full scale cockpit set, but not the same as the ANH set
75% scale X-wing, this was used in the scene where Yoda pulls the X-wing out of the swamp ( it was smaller and lighter, easier to make fly)

For Return of the Jedi, I think they reused the ESB props

Regarding source material:
The ESB cockpit set canopy frame does not match the actual X-wing. The upper portion of the frame is horizontal, while of course the actual X-wing design has a sloping upper canopy frame.

I noticed the nose landing gear shown in the workshop photos does not match the nose landing gear shown on film. Could be a million reasons why, just one more thing to reasearch and make a choice.

The little bit of info about the landing gear struts actually working and having wheels in them was a shocker. Sitting here thinking about the landing gear question. I am beginning to think the landing gear was changed before filming began. The nose gear strut shoun in ANH is not the same and I have looked at that set photograph showing the X-wing suspended in the air. I can't find any wheels on the bottom of the landing pads. Having wheels in the landing pads make sense, but there would have to be some clearance between the bottom of the landing pad and the floor. In the screen captures all three landing gear pads seem to sit on the floor.
 
Regarding your questions about the ESB mockups. I suppose you could say the 75% scale X-wing was a mockup, I don't think anyone was ever supposed to be filmed in it. The cockpit set was a mockup, just a bit of the cockpit, fake droid socket ( they just put the droid domes on dunnage), some of the upper S-foil with upper engine cans. Looking at the one photo of it and the film captures I do think that set had modular cockpit panel units. They could install or remove what ever panels would be shown in a needed shot.
 
Are you thinking about shipping/ transportation? It has been in the back of my mind, my philosophy is as follows:

Full scale X-wing modules
Fuselage
Four S-foils W/ engine cans (no engines, no lasers)
Four engines
two main landing gear
four lasers (maybe each one divided into 2 sections)


From my own research the fuselage will not fit into an ISO 40ft container and neither will the S-foils if they are a single piece unit. I can get the fuselage to fit inside a high cube 50ft or 53ft container. And of course the S-foils will need a high cube container.

Awhile back I started playing around and sketching this out, but never finished it. Even with a high cube container the fuselage is difficult to fit inside. I came up with a low profile transport dolly to move the fuselage around and serve as a cradle inside the container. I never did solve how to move the S-foils in and out of the container. They are tricky because the transportation position is angled compared to how they fit in the fuselage.
 
This isn't very helpful, but I thought I'd mention it...

A couple of years ago, I interviewed Steve Gawley about his work on the original Star Tours ride at Disneyland.

Not only did he work on the models for it, he also played Red Leader for the footage on the StarSpeeder's onboard monitor, although his voice was dubbed.

Among his anecdotes, he said that ILM had an original X-wing cockpit shipped over from England for that scene, but when it arrived, it was falling apart.

In the end, they opted to scratch-build one rather than use the original. I believe they scrapped the one from England, but that may have just been an assumption of mine.

Just thought you might appreciate some knowledge about the ultimate fate of an original filming cockpit.

Alex
 
I have a lot of friends who do Rebel pilots and this is my favorite ship. i have for years thought about a full scale replica. The only figure that really sticks in my head for the full scale ships is the wing span was about 40 feet. Knowing it a little longer then it is wide I thought how would you move it around. I thought you could put breaks in to the fuselage so it would be able to come apart and you might get it all in large shipping container. There would for sure need to be a lot of sub assemblies to make this work. I look forward to seeing this project come together. My advice for what it is worth would be to figure what you will be shipping it in before you build . Then you can build the sub assemblies to fit the space.
 
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There is a Full Scale X-Wing built by European Fans which appeared in "For the Love of the Force" which is an unofficial Star Wars convention. Manchester Dec 6th 2015[/h]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYrH2Oj59NA

but apparently, proportion and details leave a lot to be desired.
 
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