John Eaves Tie Fighter and X-Wing Production Model history

[joez2391]

Hey everyone,

I was scrolling through the Heritage Auctions: Planet Hollywood auction and saw that they have some tie fighter and x wing models made by John Eaves. The wording is a little vague, i was just curious if anyone knew the lineage of these castings. It says cast off of screen used parts, but im guessing these were either cast from production castings or molds? Thanks in advance for the help!

https://entertainment.ha.com/itm/movie-tv-memorabilia/props/star-wars-episode-iv-a-new-hope-tcf-1977-tie-fighter-display-model/a/7356-89006.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515

 

[swgeek]

The TIE looks like it's from Icons

 

[moffeaton]

John worked with/for McCune, those are almost certainly from the McCune molds, which were made from pyro assets post ILM's trip up North in '78. Those molds/castings are the source for Icons, Captain Cardboard, and many other pyro X castings that have been trading hands for the past 25+ years here. John and Randy Cooper among others had, over the years, filled in missing pieces, and fixed parts as best they could.

That would most likely make these second generation castings. Brothers, if you will, to the builds that Pat McClung made in the McCune display cases in the 80s.

 

[PHArchivist]

If indeed displayed at a Planet Hollywood store - dubious as it may be* - that adds a layer of notoriety to these models heritage.


*Dubious in that PH quite likely notated the models as "original" (quite likely - I'm not stating so definitively).