ILM’s Russell Paul has been speaking with ABC about the process of re-creating crafts such as X-Wings, Y-Wings, and the Millennium Falcon for the current generation of Star Wars films.
“The traditional model shop did some amazing, amazing work,” Paul said. “And I think we really tried to respect that style of model making, and really tried to tell a story with details on our models as well.”
Like the Ferrari-enhanced Falcon, many spaceships from the original “Star Wars” trilogy were detailed using a variety of off-the-shelf model kits. ILM artists essentially had to reverse-engineer the models to figure out what parts were used, and where they came from. Paul said many of the model kits aren’t sold new anymore, and ILM had to scour sites like eBay to find them. Once they had the kits, artists could scan the plastic pieces and recreate the models in a computer.
“The Y-Wing is actually a Saturn V rocket kit,” Paul explained. ”This is the main fuselage of the rocket kit, but it actually was used directly to make the engines of a Y-Wing.”
If you know where to look, you can also spot pieces of a German World War II-era tank on the bridge of a Star Destroyer.
“I love the Star Destroyer,” Paul said. “It’s just such an iconic design, and being able to take it to the next level and add some of that detail respectfully and really make it as I remember it was a real pleasure.”
For the full interview take the link below.
