On the bottom of the Milllenium Falcon,just behind the forward landing gear,you will find the ****** end of a German Panther tank.No kidding.I model armor almost exclusively and the stowage boxes and exhaust pipes are unmistakable.Check it out for yourself.
If you look at the top-rear of the millenium falcon you will find more familiar parts as well. I’ll see if I can post some pics shortly.
Most of the studio models of that era were covered with stock kit parts. They would build the model and then apply the kit parts to the surface. An awesome idea for the studio modeler but it makes it rough for those scratchbuilding in a smaller scale.
Most armor modelers immediately recognize this as a Panther rear deck:
Everyone else only sees part of the MF rear deck:
That is awesome!Ya got any more?
they used a ton of Tamiya models in the studio
The studio model of the TIE Fighter used parts of a Sherman Tank wheel unit on the “cockpit bubble”, near the rear. The Fine Molds 1/72 TIE Fighter includes this part, replicated perfectly.
Wow. That’s amazing.
I just looked into my fine mold’s tie interceptor but could not find anything armor like.
I think it’s part a19 or some such on the “pod” sprue. Look for something similar to this, sans the road wheels…and the tracks of coourse:
Here’s another one off the top of my head: the rear end of the AT-AT uses several hatch parts from a T-34, and the upper hull from a SDKFZ 221 German armored car (or one very similar to it).
Im sure theres alot of things you could find on the death star also.
This is ridiculously fascinating!I’m gonna go over every SW model with a fine tooth comb.
On other forums I’ve read people refer to having lists of kits that ILM bashed when making studio models. Where do they get these?
Fascinating! Never noticed that before.
Looks like there’s at least 2 Panther engine decks there.
I’ve also read that there’s most of the transmission from a Porsche kit (no idea which type
of Porsche, or what scale) incorporated into one of the side panels on the Falcon!
Looking at that large pic of the MF’s upper hull, I’m sure I can see some other bits
from tanks and military vehicles… that rectangular grille to the right of one of the large
round exhausts definitely looks like the engine cover from a post-war tank/AFV of some kind (not sure which one).
You’re right FrostyMugg. I thought it was omited in the interceptor but there it is. And that AT-AT part does have a T-34 driver hatch
I never would have noticed that before this post! On the At-At part it has the early T-34 commenders hatch to.
have a look at Boba Fets Ship Slave 1
its got 2 cm flak guns all over it
the back of the Jawas sandcrawler is the exhausts from a harrier jump jet
the guns on the AT AT are from a panther and puma
the little jedi training ball has panther cupolas all over it
the backs of the clowd car pods have engine covers from a porche car kit
Pretty cool, something I’ve never noticed in all my watchings of the Star Wars movies.
Pretty soon Tamiya and others will be demanding licensing and royalties for using their kit parts!
Dave
Dave, that’s not so farfetched unfortunately.
that would be a great idea
it would give G Lucas a taste of his own medican