S.S. Death Star?

[Lear60man]

An inch is to much. When you get the half spheres from the blower they will actually have a little extra that is not round. This needs to be trimmed off to get two perfectly round half spheres. I think I took a half inch off the edges to get the proper oblong shape. The trench is also .5 inches. The trench is a little on the big side and will get trimmed down later. The thing to consider using this type of construction method is the keeping it from sagging on itself. Kudos to Seven for the blueprint....where were you 2 years ago what did you come up with as the diameter of the super laser?

 

[mr.predicta]

found some surface detail shots

 

[Kuhn Global]

GREAT STUFF seven and mr. predicta!! cool:thumbsup

Thank you for posting them!

One thing that we are currently looking for is a shot of the top. What does it look like? Anyone have that?

 

[seven]

An inch is to much...

I did a side by comparison of the two options, weather 1/2" was cut off the bottom of each or 1" was cut off. I added a full circle in dash to show its oblong shape (if that makes sense). In my opinion, a 1/2" is too little, as when put together (with a 1/2" trench), it is too close to being a full circle and does not create that oblong shape. What do you guys think?
(yes, the drawing is to scale)

 

[mr.predicta]

here are a few more

 

[Jedi Dade]

Honestly the 1/2 " removed looks closer to me. the "oblongness" of the DS was not really that apparent unless you study it like we do. To casual observation it shold look like a sphere but to careful observation look just a tad off. IMO the 1/2" removed fits that description better.

I think I said it before but my theory is that they purchased domes with a "lip" on then because they are cheaper, and that the only reason its not a sphere is it lost a "little" hieght when the chopped off those ridges. So the difference in height would be "around" double the thickness of the original hemisphere(top ridge plus bottom ridge). If the thickness was 3/8 (a common thickness) then the about removed would be 3/4" ... if it was 1/4 (also a common thickness) it would be 1/2"

Just a couple of thoughts for your analysis...
Jedi Dade

 

[mverta]

Guys -

Sorry for butting in, but I happen to have tools set up for analysis of a Vader thing, so I ran a quick photogrammetric analysis on one of your DS shots. If I had just a couple more uncropped photos, I can definitively pinpoint the dimensions you're looking for. Shots which are slightly farther back and take in more of the scene are more useful than closeups.

Even with the single photo, though, it's already well on its way. Here is the initial wireframe over reference photo:

And here is what the computer believes the scene looked like in real life:

The height of the glass case is unknown, but the rest of the geometry, placement of the placards and stands appear correct, spatially and scale-wise, suggesting a close match. This analysis, because it takes into account camera focal length and distortion, can yield extremely reliable results when given enough correlative data, thus the need for more pictures. If there is any known data on the camera, such as make and model and/or (ideally) focal length, that can pretty much guarantee accurate results.


_Mike

 

[Lear60man]

This is the current state. Mverta nice computer pics. I still need the diameter of the super laser and mesurements of where it goes.

 

[mverta]

Well, if you get me a couple more of your own uncropped WIP shots (plus any camera info you have), and I get a couple more shots of the original, I can correlate the two, and tell you exactly how big and where the superlaser goes.

_Mike

 

[Lear60man]

MV, im out of the country. Ill be back in LA late tomorrow. BTW the above shots are not mine. Im seeing them for the first time as well.
Christian

 

[seven]

I'll double check my pictures to see if I have one that is further back (uncropped).

Moes1 is probably the best one to ask about the Radar dish since he built the one that is currently on the DS model.

Thanks for your help mverta, that computer program is pretty shweet :love

 

[mverta]

Okay, let's talk about what we see here:

After getting an accurate camera solution and building the Death Star from the museum photos, I checked it against the original in ANH. This image is my virtual Death Star superimposed onto a frame from ANH.

What I noticed right away was that the hemispheres are warped - the white strip on the lower left hand side of the bottom hemisphere is where my model deviates from the original. But notice the right side of that lower hemisphere is dead on, as is 99.5% of the top hemisphere, which is also warped slightly.

My trench and trench depth lined right up, as well. A couple of things I noticed: 1) The hemispheres are different, they're not mirrors of one another. 2) The superlaser cut-out isn't circular, it's juuuuuust slightly oblong in the vertical. 3) The hemispheres were cut, and then built up with a slight straight edge just above the trench - it's demarcated by the white "band" around the equator.

This virtual Death Star lines up this closely in every shot in ANH, meaning it's about as close as it's going to get without knowing how to warp the hemispheres' profiles. This is therefore slightly idealized. I don't have any idea of absolute scale.

Here's the same Death Star against a different shot in ANH... same deviations:

_Mike

 

[seven]

Great Scott! The DS being slightly warped wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, especially it is said to have been dropped. Great work! Much appreciated. :love

Any guesstimates on it's dimensions assuming the width is/was 3'?

 

[mverta]

Yes, if 3' wide (I assume you don't mean radius or diameter) is a known, then I can draw up some plans.

_Mike

 

[seven]

Sweet, looking forward to seeing what you come up with

 

[Lear60man]

Mike,
Great computer pic jobs. A coupe of observations,
1. In regards to the Super Laser dish. Its not original and was made by a board member. ( I say that for the folks who didnt read the entire thread) But I am sure its 'eye accurate'. The point is, I am not sure how it is attached. It could be slightly off center to the right giving it the gap to the left on your model.
2. The hemispheres are large and heavy. It doesn't take much to get them to flex and become un round. I am sure if you re-adjusted the model on the stand it will be off round in another area.

I will be the first to admit that there is a bit of intimidation making the first few cuts on a couple of $300 pieces of acrylic. Then the whole thing shifts every time you touch it. I took a week of measuring, remeasuring taping out lines etc before the first cut was made. Its kind of like getting a hair cut....you can take more off but cant glue it back on.

I then had 2 circles slightly smaller than 3' cut to fit inside the lips. They provide support and eliminated 95% of the flexing. I know the original had a metal structure inside of it but didnt feel like dragging out the welder to build a structure that would add weight. 3 years later it appears to be holding its shape.

 

[stonky]

Fantastic exploration, Mike.

 

[GKvfx]

Here's an odd, but related question - what did ILM use for the Deathstar when they worked on STAR TOURS for Disneyland?

I was there just this weekend, and as I'm being rocked around by this thing, I wondered - what model did they shoot? By this time (1986-ish), wasn't the original in Gus's hands?

Just another hmmmmm....

Gene

 

[Treadwell]

It was a painting (possibly modified from ROTJ).

 

[PHArchivist]

what did ILM use for the Deathstar when they worked on STAR TOURS for Disneyland?

I was there just this weekend, and as I'm being rocked around by this thing, I wondered - what model did they shoot? By this time (1986-ish), wasn't the original in Gus's hands?

I've often wondered this too...

Pure speculation here, but I've wondered if perhaps they may have used some cut footage from ANH...?