Building The Death Star - PRODUCTION

[PHArchivist]

Here's where I am up the upper dome...

[omg]http://www.therpf.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=21952&d=1267500030[/img]

 

[Shadowknight]

This thread is just amazing.

 

[MonsieurTox]

Im so jealous Rob !!!

That's stunning, in a very short time it will be almost impossible to tell if that's a replica or the original...

 

[swgeek]

Damn Rob!! that looks incredible. :eek

 

[SpyderDan]

Wow, the pace really did pick up. The "tape" looks even better on the top! :thumbsup

 

[PHArchivist]

Anybody notice a problem in these two shots of the original...?

 

[Treadwell]

ya sure the top one isn't a matte painting?

 

[ave4uevoli]

both shots are of the original? Is that pattern different? The pics are a little large - but it seems like the pattern on the upper right hand side of the pic is missing from one - and the pattern is just different..

oo - does that mean that one of them isn't the original? Did lucas pull the ol' bait and switch and keep the original for himself in a secret vault ..... right next to where he keeps all the little people who played the ewoks...

:lol... okay - had too much coffee....

 

[PHArchivist]

both shots are of the original?

ya sure the top one isn't a matte painting?

Oh they're both the same all right. Guaranteed. Albeit, taken 33 years apart.

Is that pattern different?

--it seems like the pattern on the upper right hand side of the pic is missing from one

Now you're getting somewhere...

 

[PHArchivist]

In the larger images, look closely at the circled areas here. You'll see the pattern is the same for the light (base-coat) lines.

A hint - look at the file names for my images...

 

[MonsieurTox]

Looks like all the penciled lines faded out ?

I didnt know there were lights on the edge of the laser dish !

 

[laszlo]

There was lots more silver tape on it and has peeled of since?

 

[PHArchivist]

Looks like all the penciled lines faded out ?

Exactly, Julien...

I can confirm without doubt that the area just to the left of the dish HAD lines that were as complicated (if not more so) than on the lower dome, AND that today these lines are over 95% gone, (100% apparently, in some areas).

Only the most faint traces still exist in that area.

And the lines in the "Wilson Hair" are - from what the camera sees - gone entirely.

So here is my dilema...

The upper dome today shows little evidence of lines, and at casul glance, and without critical thought/analysis, appears to not have had any.

But that one area suggests otherwise. So was the ENTIRE upper dome just as lined as the lower?

Seems easy enough to answer, right? Just look at photos from 1977. Or screen caps...

If anybody here can tell me by doing so, I'd be grateful.

But...

When you boil it all down, and collate ALL the photos from production, you'd quickly realize there is LITTLE to NO photos with resolution anywhere near high enough to make a solid conclusion.

I think once Gus has the model back, and if it could be examined in direct, or near-direct sunlight, THEN maybe some traces of the old lines may become faintly visible.

But I don't see that happening anytime soon...

So...

What to do...?

 

[PHArchivist]

Also, if I just do the one area - left of the dish with lines, but no where else, it may look odd.

About the only way I can make any assessment is by looking at the diffuse wide shots (like screen-caps), and assess if the upper is as dark as the lower, or if the overall general appearance is the the same.

If so, that would suggest as many lines up top, since today, the top looks notably lighter.

 

[PHArchivist]

I didnt know there were lights on the edge of the laser dish !

Yes! Well, sort of...

The lights are on the acual dome, but taken right up to the very edge of the dish.

Part of why light-proofing the edge of the dish was so difficult - I couldn't paint the inside of it!.

 

[Jedifyfe]

Damn it Rob, this thing is just getting better and better! Honestly bro, I am really happy with how you turned it around from being an "almost" close enough replica to a damn near prefect replica!

I can't wait to get down there again and put a few hours into "opening some windows"!

Well done!

 

[PHArchivist]

This shot suggests the right side was equally well lined.

I have enough information on the left side to conclude that it was just about all as lined as the lower dome.

EDIT: AH ****! I fell into my own trap - this IS the left side; reversed image!

 

[MonsieurTox]

I think it would look odd to not have the upper dome as busy as the lower ! When you look at this area, close to the dish, of the upper dome as it is now, it's too "simple", empty. I think the DS was outdoor for a long time, hit by the sunlight, that would explain the missing lines.

On the other hand, as you said, this would be a tough task to get it as close as it was in 77, since there is not enough ref material to nail the line pattern.

 

[PHArchivist]

Here is a sample of how faint the lines are to the left of the dish, and these are the STRONGEST traces left... And how it looked back then.

 

[MonsieurTox]

Yeah no doubt, there were lines here... You're right the best way would have to get Gus taking pics under good lighthing of all the areas required then adding more contrast with photoshop to see them a bit better ?