Star Wars Prop
Mobile Control System
Central Power Core Tower 9
Central Tech Power Tower Core
George Lucas from the biggening wanted open box, hood and panel technology.
For vehicles, space craft and technology to appear real, to see it working, much like the window on many PC desktops with all the lighting, to see the customisation and power ups, the tech and mechanics, to see and feel how it all works. He also wanted things to look dirty and worn, well used, and broken flaky, unreliable and needing jury fixed add-ons.
Also, the big difference between the rebels, the regular struggling outer rib dwellers and the imperials it that the imperials tended to have fairly new, clean, but very mass manufactured, corporate, drab grey equipment and vehicles.
No personality or individuality.
The rebels and others very much had to make do with what they could get, swapping parts, patching up, colours, customising faded, flaked paint and scratches, dents, rust and burn marks etc. Wiring can be messy.
George wanted the worlds to be dirty, dusty and being able to see the machinery with the technology and mechanics openly seen so it looked real and we could see how it worked.
The tower was to be the central core, the power unit, the processing unit looking like it did something.
As mentioned,
When the project was inspired by the NS-9 Star Path unit seen in the first episode of the Star Wars Andor prequel to the film Rogue One show. See the Cube insertable control component on the brown material in the first photos below
Central Tech Power Tower Core
In the sketch development I thought it would be better to have a pair of these boxes that were hinged to close, thus the character could pull it open much like a laptop.
This then evolved to a 3 parts system. A box unfolding to a box tower with two wings of controls either side with some sort of ariel communications tower on top or behind/
This was then to evolve so the wings when the system was folded clasped around the tower coming together with a latching system like magnets.
This encourages interaction and action
This way, the characters hands could manipulate, control the wings, with the tower containing all the future technology, mechanics, power core inside, to indicated something happening that was empowered. This would be much like a lit up, liquid cooled desktop computer
Reinforcing the Tower Adding Hinges and Handles
With the tower simulated generators inside, the tower was reinforced and painted inside.
L-shape brackets were added to the outside. Metal tubes were added on the inside as internal cross bars.
These were initially glued but when they kept getting pulled out I screwed them into place.
Outer brackets that had been placed in slots had filler covered to hide them. The kit bash parts also hid the brackets.
All this alteration and rebuilding meant the inside had to be covered in covered in filler and sanded repeatedly to smooth it out using the Finn Multimaster multi tool to allow for a metallic painted finish.
Part of the roughness is what led this to being a Tatooine rebels’ system, rather than a nice neat new imperial technology. My power file and multi tool were well used here but even they had limits.
Hinges were added to connect the wings, though with hindsight and multiple breakages these should have been slow suppressed hinges. That way when the system opens and closes gently the towers would not be broken off by the impact.
Upgrades from Aug 2024
Enhancing the Interior of the Tower
The inside was looking plain and dull so I added a lot more kit bashing to the middle to make it look more technical
I also assed a little colour to the out in red and blue to look more real. I most likely will glue on some LEDs as well. It would be nice to get them working mor not sure how. Now all space is occupied.
There had been the intention to ass some air hosing to the insides , this was abandoned as too big and difficulties fitting them in place
Upgrades from Aug 2024
Rapairing Detached Parts
part. The other issue is there have been very letter surface area on parts to glue, mostly just thin internal structure ribs maybe a mm or less on the inside of panels and far between them.
This means little hold.
I thought that ideally, I need a fastening method such as screws and rivets but also need the screws not to show up on the outside and not to damage internal components and lighting ribbon etc.
One solution was the stuff the parts with foam making them more soldi and also have a more flexible Bond that can stretch a little and absorb shock
One method was the stiff the parts with glued in parts of Plastazote or camping mat foam.
Another was to squirting in insulating foam which then goes hard. Then machine off the access
This seems to be the better option.
