On the contrary, the model was completely finished!
Researching the original "Pirate Ship" Millennium Falcon
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On the contrary, the model was completely finished!
Jaitea
Master Member
Yes, Colin Cantwell built 2 Blockade Runner concept models (we will call the Princess's ship the Blockade Runner, the name 'Tantive IV' came into being later after Star Wars (ANH) was released), it was after Ralph McQuarrie created a concept painting using Cantwell's design that George decided to change it from the Blockade Runner to the Pirate Ship
J
J
Lt Washburn
Sr Member
No, I meant that they never got to building a different ship to be the Blockade Runner before they decided to take the built model of the pirate ship and turn it into the BR. And so the only other ship built for these two ships was the new falcon model.
Jaitea
Master Member
Yep....an evolving design for the BR, then a decision change by Lucas using the design for the Pirate Ship,....then the production of the studio model gets underway,.....an expensive model using a third of the model making budget,.....then they become aware of the Space:1999 Eagle & Lucas decides on an entirely different craft be conceived for the Pirate Ship,.....so then we have a fully made model for use as the Blockade Runner,....just a few adjustments needed as the cone cockpit was already in manufacture for the full size set for the Pirate Ship.
I like the way that site finishes off the article,....the Space:1999 Eagle forced the change of the Pirate Ship & the name Millennium Falcon is born,
1999 - Millennium,....Eagle - Falcon
J
I like the way that site finishes off the article,....the Space:1999 Eagle forced the change of the Pirate Ship & the name Millennium Falcon is born,
1999 - Millennium,....Eagle - Falcon
J
Britcinescribe
Well-Known Member
I don’t seem to ever remember a quote of anybody asking Lucas where the name for the ship came from. But, you’re right. This new design literally went…one better.
I wonder what Princess Leia's ship was going to look like before they upgraded it to the Blockade Runner- those story boars above gives you a glimpse of a ship which reminds me of the Discovery from 2001- especially the engines...
ACt
Actually IIRC from some sketches of the interior the ship was mostly one long corridor with a cockpit at one end- very little interior room, It did have some added width where the Escape Pods were but it was more of a pirate ship instead of a freighter.
Britcinescribe
Well-Known Member
The new Taschen Star Wars archives book has a shot of the model under construction, showing the central landing gear I’ve not seen before.
Britcinescribe
Well-Known Member
Aha! Very cool. My copy hasn't arrived yet.
That's a really interesting shot. It does seem to show something that I've suspected from other existing shots - that the reverse cone (behind the cockpit) doesn't seem to have the underside raised ridge that the top side does.
That's a really interesting shot. It does seem to show something that I've suspected from other existing shots - that the reverse cone (behind the cockpit) doesn't seem to have the underside raised ridge that the top side does.
Hi John!
Many thanks for the mention!
Can I use these shots of the converted FFG Blockade Runner? Or can you give me the author contact?
Many thanks!
And Happy New Year!
We've captured a freighter entering the remains of the Alderaan system. Its markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley.
Many months of fiddly work has resulted in this, Han Solo's original Pirate Ship! This is what his ship was supposed to look like before the saucer-shaped Millennium Falcon was designed.
I should probably fit and glue the model together properly, and paint it properly. But here it is loosely assembled, for those interested! It's just the Bandai 1:1000 Blockade Runner kit, with my replacement radar dish, cockpit neck, cockpit cone, and old-skool "five foot Falcon" cockpit interior. Note that it's not the final print. This is a test print, and the scribe lines on the reverse cockpit cone (the neck) were subsequently revised to more closely approximate the source photos.
Thanks to JoeCS for his help in figuring out some of the weirder internal geometry of the cockpit backwall!
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