Andy Preston’s physical recreation of Colin Cantwell’s ‘Sith Ship’ drawing: ‘It’s mean, sleek, and reeks of Star Wars’
One of Colin Cantwell’s more intriguing Star Wars concept drawings is one that features what’s become known as the “Sith Ship Concept.” It’s likely that it’s a small fighter craft that George Lucas originally called a “star destroyer,” before giving that name to Darth Vader’s monstrous vessel, but to avoid confusion, we’ll keep calling it a “Sith ship.”
Model-maker Andy Preston, who’s based in the UK, has always enjoyed that drawing too. “I love this design,” he says. “It’s mean, sleek, and reeks of Star Wars. I’ve loved that sketch for a long, long time.” He loved it so much that he decided to make a physical model of the ship, which he documented in the video below.
His video is a wonderful how-to guide for anyone who might be interested in building their own physical models, whether they’re based on Colin’s creations or anything else. Andy leaves no detail out as he even goes so far as to apply realistic weathering to the ship, which ties back to Lucas’s idea of a “used universe” when he made the first Star Wars movie.
During the video, he notes that “the top half of the [ship’s] fuselage is very reminiscent of a Star Destroyer, but also, there’s loads of other things in there, you know, like the T-16 Skyhopper, and all that kind of feel is kind of brought into this. I think it’s a lovely, lovely shape. I just like the dynamics of it.”
Watch the full video to see a master craftsman at work:
Andy is one of many model-makers who enjoy recreating Colin’s work, among other well-known science-fiction spacecraft. Jason Eaton is another such artist, and we talked to him earlier this year to get his thoughts on Colin’s Y-Wing concept, which Jason built as a physical model.
In addition, we’ve chatted with Cristofer Adrian, who created 3D models of the various pieces that went into Colin’s second version of the Star Destroyer, as well as ILM alumnus Bill George, whose mash-up of Han Solo’s original pirate ship and the Eagle Lander from Space:1999 showed up in the background of an episode of Skeleton Crew on Disney+.
Finally, we have to also tip our black cowboy hat (one of Colin’s favorite pieces of headwear) to EC Henry, Angelos Karderinis, and Eric Guedes, who have brought Colin’s creations to life as 2D digital images.
Are you someone carrying on Colin’s design legacy, or do you know someone who is? Drop us a line and let us know more! We’d be happy to feature you on this blog.
This craft is incredible. Excellent work. This is true Star Wars. I wonder, did George give Colin any insights to what the Clone Wars or the Old Republic was back in the 1970s?
Hi Michael! Thanks for stopping by the site. This is Brad — I manage the site and am working on a book about Colin’s life. I’m not aware that Lucas addressed either of those things with Colin, especially since the story was still in a very early stage of development (when Luke was an aging general, Han Solo was an alien, etc.), but I will see if Sierra knows.