Colin Cantwell

Colin Cantwell was a concept artist and additional spacecraft designer for what was later called Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope. He created the prop miniature of a T-16 skyhopper, which Luke Skywalker used to play with in the movie. Cantwell also came up with the "H-shape" of the TIE fighter in an early model.

Work On Star Wars
Cantwell was one of the first people George Lucas brought on board to work on what was then called "The Star Wars." He was introduced to Lucas by Hal Barwood who was working on American Graffiti. Cantwell invited Lucas over to his house and showed him his Steampunk-like, "Superiority Machines", which led Lucas to believe he was right for the project. Lucas had also admired Cantwell's work on 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Lucas gave him a copy of Adventures of the Starkiller, Episode I: The Star Wars, and Cantwell set to work on the project. Lucas tasked Cantwell with designing several vehicles and ships including the X-Wing, Y-Wing, TIE/LN Fighter, Stardestroyer, Imperial Cruiser, Death Star, Landspeeder, Sandcrawler, Millennium Falcon, and T-16 Skyhopper. Cantwell started by sketching several drawings, based on conversations with George. He then took those designs and penciled concept art, which would be shown to studio executives along side Ralph McQuarrie's art. Cantwell created these colored pencil works to lift George's spirit and enthusiasm for the project after being rejected by several studios. He also created several prototype models, based on his sketches, using a process called "Kitbashing." This involved taking pieces from several second-hand model kits, to add detail to a new model. When creating his models and art, Cantwell knew that he had to design ships so that the audience could tell the difference between the ships of the good guys and bad guys. He also came up with the names of X-Wing and Y-Wing.

X-Wing
When designing the X-Wing, Cantwell took inspiration from two sources: a throwing dart and a dragster. The S-foils were invented by Cantwell to look like as if it were a cowboy drawing his guns. The X-Wing, like other Rebel spacecraft, originally had wheels on its landing gear. This was because George Lucas had envisioned hiring the Spanish Air Force, redressing their F-104 fighter jets as Rebel fighters, and film them taxiing and taking off a runway. This idea was scrapped because it was too expensive, and Cantwell quickly replaced the wheels with landing pads.

In his concept art, the engine thrusters had a diamond-shaped appearance, but were changed to a circular shape when the model was made. Also in his concept art, the fighter seated two people instead of one. For the Y-Wing, there where two designs made. One design became the current Y-Wing, and the other was a more triangular design that became the Skyhopper.

Y-Wing/Skyhopper
For the Y-Wing, there where two designs made. One design became the current Y-Wing, and the other was a more triangular design that became the Skyhopper. For the final design of the Y-wing, everything was pretty much the same as Cantwell's original model. The only real changes were with the cockpit, which was redesigned by fellow model maker Joe Johnston.

The Skyhopper was initially going to be used to be used in the final film as the vehicle that Luke Skywalker and C-3PO used to find R2-D2, but was scrapped for budget reasons. The ship did make an appearance as both a background prop, and a toy model that Luke plays with. It also made an appearance in the Special Edition of Star Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi. Its design also formed the basis for the Imperial Shuttles.

TIE/LN Fighter
The TIEs were intentionally designed by Cantwell so that the audience could instantlyrecognize the design and easily tell the difference between the good guys from the bad guys. Lucas gave him a direction that the ship would have solar cells and that would power their Ion engines. When the design was finalized, Cantwell realized he forgot to put a way for the pilot to enter the craft. He then made the suggestion that they be hung from the ceiling, and entered that way.