by Chris Griffith

This is a ship designed by the same manufacturer as the YT-1300f, or the Millennium Falcon, as seen in Star Wars. The Corellian Engineering Corporation created more designs for ships than any other manufacturer combined. This design, originally a small freighter, was the predecessor of the competing design of the YT-1300 series, which out sold and ultimately was the demise of the GlassDragon's line, the PB-4200e or PB-4200 series.

The GlassDragon was specially outfitted as a private shuttle of Draymen Goruus, a privateer of Tatooine, who, along with being a great businessman, held special rank with the Hutts. His ship boasted a faster- than-light drive, and special maneuvering thrusters along with upgraded shields and armor.

My goal for this model was to design and build a model that would seamlessly blend into the Star Wars Universe without being noticed as out of place. I have a strict code of ethics that prevents me from “designing” around the parts of another model, or simply “building” a model from a convenient arrangement of parts. My designs are deliberately chosen from a few tiny sketches, drawn, and then built. So, I began with, one of the drawings which I refined into a believable design that I could in fact replicate given my, then, current skill level. Since building this model I have come to note the importance of designing something that can be built using relatively simple techniques. Extra care can be focused on the detail, and not the structure of the model.

The materials used are extensive, but limited to: plywood (as Base), extruded PVC (in the form of salvaged blinds), sheet styrene, any small plastic part (in whole or part, used as detail), aluminum pipettes, Super Glue, expanding foam, and Evercoat Polyester Spot Glazing Putty.

To put the model together I used ¾ inch plywood as a base, ribbed with eighth inch plywood, and then skinned with styrene.

I cut the plywood into the shape of a pan handle, and then began to attach the ribbed shapes that add dimension to the hull of the craft. Between the ribs I shot expanding foam then shaved it down to the height of the ribbing, sanded it all smooth then began to skin using sheet styrene. The hull overlapped the plywood by ½ inch around the sides to provide a place to noodle all the techno-garb that makes up the GlassDragon’s machinery. Some of the components are carved plaster, other parts of it are built by hand and finally there are some found parts that I tooled to fit just for a certain place. The entire model was painted with primer grey. I used dark primer for the undercoat, then light grey primer for the top coat. Sanding back into the dark grey gave weathered look. Dry brushing followed for metallic areas.

The hardest part of the entire model to build was the top insert and the cover doors. Each door is a perfect insert piece to the surrounding hull- a very tenuous bit of cutting. The hull plating took forever to get right, and every piece needed to be sanded and then super glued down very carefully, the slightest misalignment would stick out like a sore thumb. I used several techniques for getting it right: the tape, glue and flip; and the “cut one piece out and tape both down then glue one” method.

Image: Thruster detail

Image: From above

Image: Closeup

Image: Cockpit

Image: From above

Image: Head on

Image: Starboard side

Image: In the mirror

Image: Ramp side

Image: Panel work

Image: Reactor detail

Image: Landing leg