Star Wars Box Project - Potential Projects

At this point in the Creative Media Skills, it had not been made clear to us that the definition of a ‘prop' was defined as a movable object that can be handled and interacted with by a character.

 Thus, in my mind a prop includes anything that was made and not part of the set which being Star Wars what came to mind first where the obvious:

• Space Craft Models
• Other Vehicle or Transport Models such as Speeder Bikes
• Droids or Robots
• Weapons like Lightsabres and Blasters
• Mystical Artifacts
• Gadgets

When I researched and started watching the first 7 movies, I had a real struggle to find box sized and shaped items.

Most potential props were more pipe shaped like lightsabres and weapons which clearly were not at all box shaped.

There was very little if anything box shaped other that some goggles and a very plain scanner held by Han Solo on Hoth in
'The Empire Strikes Back'

Research below was getting more focused as I started to look at starting the project, looking at suitable space craft.

It was only when I started to see the force awakens 3 movies and then the various TV shows and subsequent one-off movies that I started to see gadgets and more solid shaped block speeder bikes that I started to see forms that could work.

Potential Projects - Space Craft

I started looking into making a spacecraft or vehicle model that could be opened up to show the inside and could be used for green screen shooting for space sequences.

Fighter class spacecraft were ruled out as streamlined, slim and fiddly so not box shaped.

Large capital shops would be too detailed and need to be build very large to show the detail with complex features like optic fibre lighting as seen at the Star Wars Museum.

Small armed freighters seemed to be the right medium such as the Millenium Falcon, the Ghost or Marauder Attack Shuttle from the animated Star Wars shows and also from movies and shows other than Star Wars films such as the Serenity from “Firefly” series craft or Jupiter 2 from “Lost In Space”. These which fitted similar roles as a crew family home that involved adventures and have a good storage hold that the box could fit.

These generally have a more convex solid strong shape which should be easier to build and less prone to breakage. The shape also would be suitable for the box which could form the ship’s hold surrounded by cabins and corridors, with outer panelling which could be kit bashed to show the technology, mechanicals as well has having features such as weapons, sensors and engines that fit the Star Wars vibe.

The construction idea would be to build something like a white card model around the pine box in MDF, then kit base with components from model kits and War Hammer sets.
   

I looked itno this for the first week when we were supposed to stat the project in class asfter research, this was abandoned when looking at the potential model size with scales likes 1:50 or 25 that I could get model characters for.

Potential Projects - Space Craft - Ghost Class

The spacecraft form that seemed the best to work with as inspiration and as a base for a spacecraft was to be the “Ghost” from the Animated series Star Wars Rebels.

This would have a ship’s hold, which could be the box. The form was a solid hexagonal gem shape form which would be more practical and easier to build.

The internal structure of the cabins could be built like a white card model. The outer skin could be MDF panels. These could be removable to see inside.

The cockpit and gun turrets or viewing domes could be made from plastic bottles or acrylic domes from Models 4D.

Outer panelling could be done with very thin plastic sheeting to indicate metal panelling.

Outer engine and tech parts could then be kit bashed onto the outside.

This was abandoned after a week as seemed to be looking to be way too big if scaled around the box to 1:50 or 1:25 size.

Star Wars Box Project - Potential Projects - Speeder Bikes

The next idea was a miniature model of one of the later speeder bike designs from later Star Was shows such as Andor and Force Awakens. These were far more box shaped than the original bikes from "Return of the Jedi", in particular Ray’s bike from the Force Awakens. Being much smaller this would allow for more detail and larger detail in kit bashing.

The Dyson motors that I purchased could be attached as jet engines.

The blue speeder bike below, imperial CP-H and Rays redbike seem to be the best be as the main section is a similar shape and form to the box we started with.

These came across much simpler to make, would feature plenty of kit bashing, showing the internal tech and mechanics very Star Wars, but then was told that I could not make miniature vehicle models as they were not classed as props and not interacted with.

This should have been explained from the start so 2 weeks would not have been wasted.

I was told the prop would need to be more interactive so started looking at droids.