# Death Star designer dies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937 "2022-05-23T14:04:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/1 "2022-05-23T14:04:32Z")
Darth devastated. > **[Colin Cantwell, designer of 'Star Wars' Death Star, dies aged 90](https://www.cnn.com/style/article/colin-cantwell-star-wars-dead-intl-scli/index.html)** > > Colin Cantwell, the visual effects artist behind many of the iconic spacecraft in the original "Star Wars" movie, has died at the age of 90. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/2 "2022-05-23T14:14:01Z")
Epitaph: “Never forget to shield your thermal exhaust ports.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/3 "2022-05-23T14:42:17Z")
I have a bad feeling about this. ☹ RIP. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/4 "2022-05-23T14:56:35Z")
It’s a ball with a dent. How hard was that to make? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/5 "2022-05-23T15:00:09Z")
It was impressive enough that AT&T copied it as their logo 5 years later (in 1982). [![](https://1000logos.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ATT-Logo-1983-500x281.jpg) ](https://1000logos.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/ATT-Logo-1983-500x281.jpg) (I mean, probably not really, but still, that looks a lot of like the Death Star to me.) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/6 "2022-05-23T15:02:21Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > 🙂 That would have been your design? Probably superior from a psy-ops point of view. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/7 "2022-05-23T15:09:33Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > It’s a ball with a dent. How hard was that to make? Apparently easier than making a ball without a dent. When Cantwell was building the model the two halves shrunk, resulting in the trench. [The Death Start Trench Was a Conceptual Accident](https://www.inverse.com/article/21628-death-star-trench-accident-star-wars) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/8 "2022-05-23T15:12:05Z")
Was it an X-Wing strike? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/9 "2022-05-23T15:24:38Z")
Little known origin of the dent. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/q-XKggk6AXA/maxresdefault.jpg "Big bang Death star cake") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-XKggk6AXA) ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/10 "2022-05-23T16:03:18Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > It was impressive enough that AT&T copied it as their logo 5 years later (in 1982). > > (I mean, probably not really, but still, that looks a lot of like the Death Star to me.) Oh, I don’t know; AT&T is a lot like the Galactic Empire of _Star Wars_ in many ways; officious and bureaucratic, making grandiose plans that do not come to fruition, incapable of maintaining a reliable network and providing poor service to outlying systems, led by a guy with a shiny domed head, soon to break up into a bunch of fragmentary little fiefdoms with much infighting and mercenary pursuits. If George Lucas were just writing _Star Wars_ today, he would doubtless be looking at AT&T as a source of material to ‘pay homage’ to. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/11 "2022-05-23T16:04:13Z")
The funny thing is, he started out designing a moon. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/12 "2022-05-23T16:07:02Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Apparently easier than making a ball without a dent. When Cantwell was building the model the two halves shrunk, resulting in the trench. > > [The Death Start Trench Was a Conceptual Accident](https://www.inverse.com/article/21628-death-star-trench-accident-star-wars) I thought the trench with the exhaust port was not on the equator. The animation that’s shown during the briefing doesn’t show it on the equator, and the scale is completely wrong. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/13 "2022-05-23T16:12:26Z")
Wait. Are we sure this guy isn’t actually Kylo Ren? [![](https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/54/41/33/76/6ced/4dee/b175/78a053aafa33/latestcb20151112165712.jpeg?w=710&h=474&fit=max&auto=format%2Ccompress) ](https://imgix.bustle.com/inverse/54/41/33/76/6ced/4dee/b175/78a053aafa33/latestcb20151112165712.jpeg?w=710&h=474&fit=max&auto=format%2Ccompress) ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/14 "2022-05-23T16:21:22Z")
It’s always reminded me of the Panasonic “[ball radio](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vintage_Panasonic_White_Panapet_70_Ball%27n_Chain_Radio,_Model_R-70,_4-3-8_Inches_in_Diameter,_Made_in_Japan_(9791953376).jpg)” from the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/15 "2022-05-23T16:27:32Z")
that’s no moon ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/16 "2022-05-23T16:28:38Z")
“You realize we just killed thousands of people?” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/17 "2022-05-23T16:31:22Z")
> **[You Were Wrong About the Death Star's Exhaust Port Location in 'Star Wars'](https://www.inverse.com/article/26866-death-star-exhaust-port-trench-location-wron)** ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/18 "2022-05-23T16:34:23Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > It’s always reminded me of the Panasonic “[ball radio](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vintage_Panasonic_White_Panapet_70_Ball%27n_Chain_Radio,_Model_R-70,_4-3-8_Inches_in_Diameter,_Made_in_Japan_(9791953376).jpg)” from the 1970s. The giveaway was the only song played was _Benson Arizona_ ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/19 "2022-05-23T16:54:46Z")
I’m staggered that anyone ever thought the exhaust port was on the equator. It’s blatantly obvious in the movie that it isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937/20 "2022-05-23T16:57:18Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > “You realize we just killed thousands of people?” “It’s only a model!” Stranger [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-star-designer-dies/964937.md?page=2)