X-Wing Research: Differences Between the Hero and Pyro Models

[TheRealMcFly]

Wow... thank you.:thumbsup

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

Fantastic stuff Gene, thanks. It helps nutcases like me who desire a Rinzler sized book entitled 'Making of the X-wing Fighter' get through life...

 

[moffeaton]

Awesome stuff, simply awesome.

 

[belleauwood]

Funny thing, those charts are based off of "tech" evolved for project management in the Apollo era . . . if you ever see one for something like the LEM, its like 30 feet long and 8 feet wide! And its has a LOT of things like "see sub chart g23". Makes you appreciate "time management" a bit better and just how interlaced so many things are to "success" and hitting a timeline goal when things are crazy complex.

Ryan

 

[MonsieurTox]

Great stuff !

 

[Nwerke]

THANKS, Gene! Incredible.

Colin - pirate ship - YES.

Paul, that's a great map, thanks!

Any pointers to these pics of decaled-up Red Y? Never seen them.

 

[moffeaton]

Even today, the Red Y has decals (faded but there)

There's a whole batch of ANH X-Wings (most likely the first ones painted!!) that have TONS of decals all over them! For example:

 

[Colin Droidmilk]

True, but I was referring to the tiny decals and stripes on the piping. That's the level of detail which they just didn't bother with on the later version with its wonkier rearranged plumbing, and subsequent Ys. Great pictures, though, cheers!

 

[moffeaton]

I assume that stuff got knocked off in transit to and from England, and then when they decided to finish the Starboard nacelle, they repainted/blended.

But yeah, in the "as built by" that went to the UK, you can see a lot more care. Seems to be very stylistically similar to the first wave of Xs painted (with decals)... obviously as time went on, they took less time!

 

[moffeaton]

Compare how it looks today vs how it looked when built, that one underside pipe no longer exists. Sigh.

 

[moffeaton]

Dang, now that I'm looking harder, I can see a lot of the decal work is still there, underneath the dust and haze of time!

 

[TheRealMcFly]

Compare how it looks today vs how it looked when built, that one underside pipe no longer exists. Sigh.

Looks like 2 missing. Damn.:unsure

Thanks Jason... really appreciate these photos... I can spot a few phantom decals in the X photo. Are we looking at Blue 1/Red 2 or does another X have that red decal next to the torpedo tube?

 

[Nwerke]

Thanks from me too, Jason. My fave Y. Could be overspray as well as dust, do you think?

 

[ILMwannabe]

Missed this thread before. What a joy.

. . . Hero wings don't open anywhere near as wide as the wildly splayed open pyros'. On the table shot, this difference is easily seen between the two Red 1s. Easy to see on screen too. Exploding ships have their upper guns far higher than the motion control ships.

Yes, nice to see this thread is back, alive and well! Many thanks to all!

Good point about the wings. Because of gravity, the lower wings on the motorized hero X-Wings (1, 3 and 5 I believe) could theoretically be expected to rest all the way down as far as possible. The upper wings, fighting against gravity, could be expected to sag a little because of backlash on the gears and possible play on the motor. The pryo wings could just be glued on to their max. ext positions based on the mold. But this assumes that the wing pairs were not interconnected (which does not seem to be how they were built), or that the wing pair, if one piece, bent slightly.

If you look at the second X-Wing from the camera in the original ANH scene "lock S-Foils in attack position", you can see both ship's wings "sagging" slightly even before they open up. I'm not sure how to explain that.

 

[SurfingDoc]

I came across this image while roaming the net. I've never seen it before, but then again, that doesn't mean a whole lot. The x-wing in the front, is that Red 4 or Red 12. Opinions?

angelfire.com/droid/astromechs/MakingofSWxwings.jpg (have to add www. and copy and paste)

 

[moffeaton]

It is Red 3. Pyro X, painted like a hero - has that big "D" decal that will be included in my decal sheet!

 

[moffeaton]

Motors climbed a stationary gear affixed to the armature. I based my armature off the real ones, sans motors. They were super kludged together initially, and I was told a RUBBER BAND went between the bent posts to keep tension on the wings (and probably counteract that pesky gravity) - probably accounting for that initial sag you see when the motors "jump into action".... lol. You can see the stationary central gear affixed to the armature directly behind the mounting block, and the gears affixed to the spindles on the motors themselves.

Underside:

 

[SurfingDoc]

It is Red 3. Pyro X, painted like a hero - has that big "D" decal that will be included in my decal sheet!

Ah, I see the decal and the paint chipping on the cockpit matches your picture, but it looked like the cockpit color is yellow (maybe it's just my eyes).

 

[MonsieurTox]

Ah, I see the decal and the paint chipping on the cockpit matches your picture, but it looked like the cockpit color is yellow (maybe it's just my eyes).

No it's not yellow in your pic, but the Red 3 pyro has a darker blue gray canopy than the regular blue gray ones !

 

[ILMwannabe]

It is Red 3. Pyro X, painted like a hero - has that big "D" decal that will be included in my decal sheet!

Please put me on your customer list for that decal sheet! Thanks!