Sculpting a Galaxy: Inside the Star Wars Model Shop Hardcover – November 14, 2006

The Star Wars exhibit recently appeared at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia where I had a chance to see it. Talk about fueling the mystique of an already magical part of my childhood! Although I would recommend seeing this exhibit first hand, this book is the next best thing. No, maybe it is the better of the two, since you can take this home and keep it.The only reason this is not a 5-star review is that, since seeing the exhibit as reawakened my enthusiasm for making plastic model kits (something that has slumbered peacefully since I was in my mid-teens), I have a need for reference material to accurately reproduce these models, and this book only has a tantalizingly small group of extreme close ups of some sections of the filming models. Of course, a 5-star book that would satisfy my needs would be impossibly thick and cost... a lot.This book certainly has a "wow, look at that" factor. It shows you the intimate details that are missed onscreen, and you will come to appreciate on a deeper level the degree of attention spent on these films.

This is an enormous tome, each book is signed and numbered by Lorne Peterson.The Special Edition contains many many more photos - 500 hundred more i believe, a very well specially produced Documentary Diary DVD narrated by Lorne Peterson, multiple solid resin reproduction props as used in the production of Star Wars - A New Hope, and an additional thinner paperback book focusing on the CG elements of the later films.As other reviewers have mentioned, some of the images suffer from low resolution, tho not many. Fans would have been better served with more emphasis placed on the creatures created for the films, the index at the rear of the book with 1/2" x 1/2" images is more comprehensive, tho disappointing at the very small scale. Fortunately the included DVD does a great job of showcasing the creatures and the shenanigans in the studio.Recommended.

As a model maker I love my reference sources, and I bought this book with the aim of producing two FineMolds 1/48 X-wings in a death star diorama. For that end the book was only moderately useful as there are only limited shots of each model. Each models gets roughly 1-2 pages, or perhaps a large fold out spreed for more important items - the Falcon and snowspeeder etc. However as a coffee table book it is excellent. The pictures are large and clear, and furthermore the shots are actually visually interesting, so much so that everyone who visits inevitably thumbs through this book with great interest - star wars fan or not. Also there is a surpising amount of writing in the book and the various anec dotes are well done and worth a read. My summation would be to say that is a visually interesting book particulary for model makers like myself that is useful for stimulating ideas, or as a general coffee table book. However if you want extensive reasearch materials or modelling tips then the internet might still be your best source.

Having read this book I now know that: the Rebel Blockade Runner was initially the design for the Millenium Falcon. And that becuase the Y-Wing fighter model was on an exhibition tour when needed during the filming of 'Jedi' they used a fan-art model instead. The pages of this book are chocker block full of interesting trivia that will deligt us Star Wars fans, though this is first and foremost a picture book. Very detailed photographs of the models and puppets, even several fold-out pages. If I should name anything that I would improve with this book is that it doesn't cover enough. Almost all spaceships are there, and many aliens, but when you skip through to find something on, say, Jabba the Hutt, you realize that's not covered. I guess they had to limit the amount of stuff they could put into this book, and I sorely hope for a volume two.

Missed out when it first got published and then it went out of print, so I paid three times the original cost to get my hands on a very good secondhand copy. I shouldn't have really...because instead of it being an invaluable archive showing how the models were made from concept art to fabrication to painting to finished piece, it only shows the final product. Take the TIE fighter, for example, there's more information given about the making of it in the 'Incredibuilds Tie Fighter' (by Michael Kogge) than in this book. Basically it's an inexhaustive catalogue of finished models used in the Star Wars movies, sort of like showing the public the Mona Lisa and saying "this is how DaVinci paints", or a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat and saying "this is how magic works". You raise your arms exclaiming "But you've shown me nothing about how this is done!" How the models were designed; the effort and time it took to make them; what was used/reused; where each component part was sourced to make them (kit bashing); the technique used for painting the models...you'll get none of that information presented here. It's a coffee table book with pretty pictures and very little else. Their model shop has kept its secrets in an age where physically created models for movies have become extinct and CG dominates. This book is a sorely missed opportunity at showing how the Galaxy was sculpted.

To me this is the companion to the ILM books,Foundation,Digital Realm & Art of Fx.Like the others it is chock full of behind the scenes & stunning photographs of movie Icons , but more specifically the Star Wars films. Having direct access to the Lucas Film archives , each object is photographed & described beautifully.The book is broken up into several designations/Chapters, Craft - fighters/destroyers/cargo/ground effect, etc , enviroments - planets/worlds /buildings etc. Each chapter is highly detailed with double & triple pagePhoto spreads of a featured model.Highly recommended for Star Wars Fans , Film buffs , modellers & those who just like this feild presented by people who love what they do & want to talk about it.Chris D

First of all I want to say that despite what I am about to say, this book is a great source of information when it comes to the miniature work of the Star Wars Saga (as of 2006 publication).I will also say that Lorne Peterson (the legend) is full of great insight and a genuine master who poured his all into this book...It's a shame the editor/publish was drunk at the helm.Other than the myriad of wrong annotations throughout the book (one of the more glaring is within the Millennium Falcon pull out where we get a duplicate of the Star Destroyer annotation.....had a good laugh there!).But this I could forgive...hence the 4 star rating. What confounds me is that some of the book appears to be arranged out of order (jumping from Star Destroyer to other subjects then back to the Star Destroyer like a Billy Connelly stand up act) which can get rather annoying after a while....But the gripe that has me going to Amazon customer service is simple.....the binding is horrible.My copy, unopened until I finally took a long needed holiday, didn't survive five minutes as the ambient temperature (30 degrees centigrade) was enough to melt the binding agent from a fair few of the pages.Would I still recommend this book? Hell yes it's a must for anyone interested in yhe formation of the company that changed special effects film making and it's full of absolutely gorgeous photos, great information from Mr Peterson and above all else it's a great source of reference for model makers such as myself.....Just pray the binding holds up in whatever weather you find yourself in!

Ordered as a belated Christmas present to myself. A certified SW nerd and modeller as a kid (and adulthood), this has been a fascinating addition to reading how ILM did the effects and model work in the films I know and love. Its a heavy book, well put together, but heeding other reviewers, I'm loathe to bend it open too far in case it comes apart. Stunning quality and images, with good write-ups on ships, creatures and destinations.

One of the best Star Wars books ever. Star Wars Chronicles might be bigger (and in some parts better being Original Trilogy goodness) but its price is a lot compared to this one. If you want to know how they developed the cool props, studio scale ships, aliens, robots and droids and the environments for both Original Trilogy and the Prequels this is the book to get. It is huge and comes with numerous detailed photos of the "real" Star Wars, the Star Wars from behind the scenes. A must have book!One of the things I noticed after a while is the fragile binding, so be careful when reading it.

For the dedicated Star Wars fan. Lots of pictures covering most of the machinery but the inclusion of so many things sacrifices the ability to describe each in any significant detail. But for a young chap that isn’t into reading the pictures will hold interest.

Realy good book. I wandered, that there will be blueprints, side views ext. There is no information about these. But there are very good photos of the studio models and enough reach information how they were created. So I am very glad and can absolutely require to everyone.