ScreenMatched ILM Red Leader Xwing Model Miniature | Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)

An original screenmatched 'Red Leader' Xwing Starfighter model miniature created by Industrial Light & Magic for George Lucas' Star Wars: A New Hope. Red Leader played heavily in the film's final battle sequence. The character wore a unique goldcolored helmet and his Xwing fighter was marked with a single red stripe on each wing, signifying his call sign as Red One. When Star Wars was released in May 1977 and became an instant phenomenon, two of the elements frequently cited for the film's success were its design aesthetic, and the quality of the visual effects workboth of which are represented in this historic Xwing fighter model.

The Xwing, like much of Star Wars, was born out of a concept from Lucas himself. He imagined the ship as a dragster with a long body and a pilot on the back, and early concept designer Colin Cantwell was credited for adding the Xshaped wings. Cantwell also built the first physical prototype of the craft. From there, visual effects art director Joe Johnston refined the design into the famous ship known today.

The Xwing fighter model presented here was originally built as the Red Leader (Red One) pyro model, and later in production adapted into a Biggs (Red Three) model by adding additional stripes to the wings and some additional paintwork. Red Leader's pyro shot in the film features an explosion on the back of an engine, but the ship itself remained completely intact (Red Leader then meets his end by crashing into the Death Star surface, in a shot that was an explosion only, with no ship model.) The shot of the Red Leader's engine explosion is documented in behindthescenes footage of the model against bluescreen, which shows this ship model remained intact, unlike other Xwings that were destroyed in full by their pyro explosions. The model was flown on thin wires to achieve the shot. Because the Xwing was intact, it was available to be converted into Red Three for possible additional filming work. Red Three's demise in the film shows a crude lowquality pyro model, and therefore this model only appears in the film as Red Leader, and never as Red Three.
The Xwing fighter model is preserved extremely well and remains in excellent condition. The lightweight rigid foam remains solid, and the original unrestored paintwork is in excellent condition, with only subtle flaking in small areas. One of the laser cannons exhibits slight warpage, and one of the scratchbuilt laser cannon tip assemblies is loose. The pyro Xwing was intended to mount on a Cstand with a hole in the back of the fuselage, or to be hung from wires during filming. There are several small holes in the top of the fuselage related to hanging the model on wires. A custommade aluminum stand that supports the model through the fuselage is included with the piece, as is a wooden transport crate.

Estimate: $500,000 1,000,000



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