by Tim Mullins

This is my version of a Corellian Engineering Corporation Class-16 Escape Pod. It is a medium size 6 to 8 being capacity pod. It has longer life support capabilities than the 3 being pod from “A New Hope”. Extra sensors, larger engines and communications / beacon equipment give it a much longer range as well.

The basic shape of the model is an old technical pen holder. The top part that contains the sensors is half of a set of headphones. The bottom is from my scrap box, not sure what it is. The main engine thruster is made from 2 wheel halves from a large scale Formula 1 car. A reel from a VHS tape, a toy car display stand, and parts from meds dispensers complete the basic shape.

As I was gathering the basic shapes I did research on the movie pod. I realized I was using similar methods to build my pod as the ILM crew had to build theirs. Thus, I looked to the original sketch book concept drawing for inspiration on details. The main hatch has the circular detail from the sketch book. The detail above the hatch is also from the sketch book.

Most of the other detail are based on both the studio pod and the sketch book. The greeblies come from similar kits as used by ILM. Lots of the details are scratched out of sheet styrene. Some of the greeblies include tank treads, carburetors, tank wheels and suspension, rotor blade parts, 35 mm slide mounts, guitar strings and disposable camera parts.

The reaction control thrusters were turned on a friend's lathe to my specs. The larger ones on top are acrylic. The smaller ones on the bottom are aluminum.

I designed the paint scheme beforehand to save time when it came time for the actual painting. The two main symbols are custom decals based on symbols in some concept paintings. Weathering and aging was achieved with pastels, washes and toner dusting. The chipped paint method is something I came up with myself. It involves multiple layers of paint and masking techniques. I'll share with everyone in a how to article later.

The model is about 7 1/4 inches long and 4 3/4 inches in diameter. The biggest scrathbuild for me so far. This one was a bit frustrating at times but a lot of fun too.

Image: Rear view

Image: Side view

Image: Top/front