death star

[Hand Solo]

^ I don't know if that story is true, but I DO know that From Star Wars to Indiana Jones - The Best of the Lucasfilm Archives states that the DSII miniature is 137 cm.

Using basic math and metric conversions, this works out to a diameter of about 4 feet, 6 inches.

There you have it.

 

[Hand Solo]

The original Death Star has me confused. Some shots show the station looking quite oblate and others show it perfectly round.

There's going to be a bit of research to be done on that. I'm tending to think that the Anamorphic wide aspect ratio of the SuperPanavision camera might have something to do with this, but I'm not sure.

That image with Muren lighting the DSI looks very distorted...moreso than the screencaps.

 

[Kuhn Global]

The Pictures in the "Star Wars Chronicles" Book clearly show it being a perfect sphere. I agree That the oblong look it is just a wide-screen effect and not true for the model. According to the book,.. it was a sphere.

Scott and talked yesterday about the possibilty of some of the center being cut out of the two halves in order to create the oblong effect, but then the photo clarified it.

 

[Treadwell]

Gus Lopez, owner of the model, confirmed to me that it is oblate.

Click that link to his site quoted in a post above to read the story of how the model ended up in his hands.

 

[Kuhn Global]

<div class='quotetop'>(Treadwell @ Jul 2 2006, 12:41 PM) [snapback]1272604[/snapback]</div>

Gus Lopez, owner of the model, confirmed to me that it is oblate.

Click that link to his site quoted in a post above to read the story of how the model ended up in his hands.
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Interesting...will do.

 

[Hand Solo]

<div class='quotetop'>(Treadwell @ Jul 2 2006, 12:41 PM) [snapback]1272604[/snapback]</div>

Gus Lopez, owner of the model, confirmed to me that it is oblate.

Click that link to his site quoted in a post above to read the story of how the model ended up in his hands.
[/b]

I was the one who put that link up...and his photos show it as oblate. It looks oblate in the film. So I guess when the time comes to build it, I shall build it oblate, by god. :cry

 

[PHArchivist]

Question is how to do it...?

Triming back so that the two halves are -- say -- 98% of a hemisphere wouldn't necessarily make it WIDER at the equator would it?

Interestingly, at McDonalds in the play area, they had a 3 or 4 foot plastic sphere that the kids crawl into. Though a solid colored plastic, it was definitely oblate...

 

[Hand Solo]

If you trim the height of each hemisphere, they'd be wider at the equator than their combined height.

Learman said he had to do it until it 'looked right'. I'd sure like to see photos of that.

If you trimmed too much, then you'd have a 'football' shaped Death Star and although funny in the extreme...would be a costly mistake.

 

[Kuhn Global]

Hmmmm.. seems I heard that somewhere before....

 

[PHArchivist]

<div class='quotetop'>(Hand Solo @ Jul 3 2006, 04:47 AM) [snapback]1272896[/snapback]</div>

If you trim the height of each hemisphere, they'd be wider at the equator than their combined height.

Learman said he had to do it until it 'looked right'. I'd sure like to see photos of that.

If you trimmed too much, then you'd have a 'football' shaped Death Star and although funny in the extreme...would be a costly mistake.
[/b]

Ah -- that's right (mental gymnastics working properly now).

Though trimming would not make it wider than it was to begin with, it would lessen the height, hence making the width wider than the height. Got it.

 

[PHArchivist]

An observation...

On more than one occasion I've seen spheres created from very large clear acrylic hempispheres where the sphere almost goes flat at the equatoer because the hemisphere extends too far. Almost to the point where there is a pinched in "beltline" at the equator. I suppose this may be common to the manufacturing process of acrylic hemispheres (?)... Maybe the two parts the ILM guys got in '76 were this way, and they didn't like it and cut the hemispheres back...?

 

[Treadwell]

I wonder if they first made a much bigger trench in the middle, and then decided that didn't look right. Thus when reducing the size of the trench, the already-cut near-hemis are drawn closer together than they'd be if they were part of a proper sphere.

 

[Kuhn Global]

LOL... with all the talent online today... fan based and film based,.. I think it funny that we can't go directly to the source to ask questions.

Anyone have connections to or know Bill George?

I must admit reading what you guys come up with is almost magical. I wish I had your talents. The DSII will be a huge project.

 

[Treadwell]

Well, Bill wasn't around for the ANH DS but hey, maybe he heard stories.

 

[Kuhn Global]

LOL.... I'm sorry... I keep going back to the DSII. My bad.

Who did work on the ANH DS?

 

[Hand Solo]

<div class='quotetop'>(Kuhn Global @ Jul 6 2006, 10:52 AM) [snapback]1275283[/snapback]</div>

LOL.... I'm sorry... I keep going back to the DSII. My bad.

Who did work on the ANH DS?
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My guess would be McCune, Gawley, or Peterson or all three. Just a guess.

 

[PHArchivist]

...and McQuarrie.

 

[Hand Solo]

<div class='quotetop'>(PHArchivist @ Jul 6 2006, 06:51 PM) [snapback]1275594[/snapback]</div>

...and McQuarrie.
[/b]

Right. For the surface detail/city sprawl blocks.

 

[PHArchivist]

Found an image that suggests the "beltline" (the smooth area above and below the equator) may have been an additioanl strip of plastic added around the circumference.

Look at the edge under the (unfortunate) visual artifact from the scan.

 

[Kuhn Global]

Good reference.