Tector-class in ROTJ - confirmed

[Anguirus]

Now, this is probably the most logical and likely answer

Why, exactly? It doesn't look even remotely right, and if they wanted it to look like the dorsal surface of an ISD, they certainly could have.

We also know that work began on at least one ship-class that was not seen fully (communications tower).

[VT-16]

Well, in retrospect, I certainly couldn't tell the difference (or care, at the time).

But you're right, they were doing new things anyway, so it might have been one of them.

And it couldn't have taken much time to just put another dorsal hull plating model out there, if that's what they wanted?

[Anguirus]

Yeah, esp. since they were already building large-scale sections of the side of the Executor and bridge towers for various close-ups. If that was supposed to be a dorsal surface, then it was a most uncharacteristic and unprofessional job. I mean, you can even see the small docking bay of the ISD at the beginning of the shot, and there's certainly no known Imperial class with a dorsal docking bay.

[PayBack]

Well, in retrospect, I certainly couldn't tell the difference (or care, at the time).

<snip>

Likewise.. well not so much that I couldn't tell but that I wasn't looking. Considering how brief the scene was and the fact the ISD was the backdrop with the real action taking place infront and above it, it was passable. I've lost count of how many times I've seen the movie, and I didn't notice till it was pointed out.

[Mange]

Well, Leland was cranky today. Unfortunately, this is one of the thing that shows IMO that consistency isn't deemed important.

[VT-16]

Hehe, I think questions like that are giving him a hard time. Oh well, at least he was he open and decisive.

I can imagine him going "Oh GOD, now they're starting on the Home One issue!"

[Mange]

Hehe, I think questions like that are giving him a hard time. Oh well, at least he was he open and decisive.

I can imagine him going "Oh GOD, now they're starting on the Home One issue!"

Yeah, I can see that being a tad tedious.

[VT-16]

Here's Hodge's reaction to the news on TFN, note the standard "Saxton conspiracy" hinting:

The Tector-class Star Destroyer has officially been confirmed as the hangarless SD in ROTJ. Leland Chee mentions it here.

So a case-by-case analysis of the evidence ("Tector-class ships? Cool!") won out over strict G-canon (there are no upside-down Star Destroyers seen ahead of the Falcon in the preceding shots)...?

Somehow, I don't have a problem with that!?

For the record, I still suspect SWTC's interpretive logic was flawed here - but I'm pretty sure it was just innocent enthusiasm, and canon is what's in the holocron, regardless of how it got there... this is almost an instance of "McEwok's Claw" in action...



AdmiralWes:

He does realize by the time the Falcon reaches the Tector, it's already passed the frontmost Imperators seen in the previous cockpit scene, right? So there's no contradicting shots?

Of course he doesn't. Why am I even overrestimating the biggest douche in SW fandom?

And of course, he goes on and on with how it's all "Saxton fanon made canon" as usual. I pity those of you who have to cope with him each day.

[Jim Raynor]

Funny how McDumbshit supports the strict use of G-canon visuals when he thinks it supports his side. I pointed out his blatant hypocrisy on TFN. I also posted screenshots showing that you couldn't see shit from the Falcon's cockpit (which shouldn't matter anyway, since the Falcon moved as you pointed out, and SW capital ships can travel hundreds of miles in seconds).

[Mange]

Over at the OS forums, TMcE pointed to an LJ entry he has written about the Tector-class. I haven't had much to do with TMcE, but seriously...?

+http://fleet-junk.livejournal.com/

[VT-16]

He screens his comments? Why am I not surprised. The guy's already a loony bin. Now he's paranoid, as well.

[Jim Raynor]

That essay was nothing but unsupported bitching and nitpicking. Reading that shit was like reading Darkstar's site. Seriously, how much of a loser do you have to be to even bitch about a thing like this? There are no problems or contradictions with Saxton's Tector explanation. McEwok doesn't have any reason to complain other than the fact that he doesn't like Saxton.

However... in the previous FX shot, the Falcon and the Rebel fighters were charging a formation of Star Destroyers sitting ‘the right way up’ in space, the same way up as the attacking Rebels and the Death Star behind them; following on from this, in the background of the shot with the ‘upside-down’ ship, you can see a lot of other spaceships, including the Death Star, the Rebels, and some other Star Destroyers, all still the ‘right’ way up.

I called him on this bullshit at TFN, and the coward didn't respond. Here are screen caps I took of the Falcon's view of the Imperial fleet, before the Tector flyby:

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3

What a great, all-encompassing view. Furthermore, a full 9 seconds pass between the third picture and the Tector flyby. With acceleration measured in thousands of G, a Star Destroyer can move hundreds of miles in that time.

And, as I pointed out before, it's funny how he suddenly resorts to strict analysis of the visuals when he feels like it. Especially when immediately following this, he goes back to his usual "there are some mistakes in the visual FX, therefore they can't be trusted" crap:

So why is this one upside-down?

My hunch (and it is just a hunch) is that the ‘upside-down’ ship was intended to represent the topside bows of a perfectly ordinary Star Destroyer.

So why do this? Two reasons: firstly, on the top of the ship, there’s a large superstructure with flanking gun turrets, which blocks the camera-angle down the axis of the ship that’s used in this shot - if you want to shoot fighters attacking over the bows, it’s hard to do that with the normal model; and secondly, by adapting the existing underside model, it would be possible to use the entire length of the model to represent just the bow area, thereby packing considerably more surface detail into the area the attacking fighters are zooming over.

Of course, this is now different surface detail than what you’d find in this area on either of the two big VFX models of Star Destroyers, but the Star Wars films aren’t consistent in fine detail like this.

Here, McEwok asks the big question:

Why would it be upside down anyway?

I don't know, maybe because the dorsal side of Star Destroyers mount most of the heavy weapons, so this ship was ordered to invert and cover the ventral sides of other ships in the fleet? This simple, logical explanation has been brought up many times before, and I'm willing to bet that McEwok knows this. However, dishonest asshole that he is, he likes to "forget" to mention valid points that he disagrees with, even if they're brought up over and over again.

Throughout this entire essay, McDumbshit fails to bring up a single reason why the ship should be the dorsal side of a regular ISD. He can't point out anything wrong with the Tector explanation. He just says that it's possible that we may be looking at the dorsal side of an ISD, if we throw out visual evidence. What a compelling argument.

[Mange]

It was something of a mess IMO (and a young Scott Bakula in TESB?). I can't understand that he prefers an OOU explanation (which doesn't have any support) rather than accepting that it's not an ISD.

Also, he goes on and on about what could and couldn't be seen from the MF's cockpit, what does it matter? It's clear when comparing the cockpit shot and the shot in which the Tector-class ship appears that the Falcon has passed several ISDs (presumeably those that are in the background in that shot) and that the Tector-class ship was out of sight from the cockpit, possibly obscured by the ISD in the foreground (even if no specific model was constructed except for the lower hull). That's my interpretation.

[VT-16]

if you want to shoot fighters attacking over the bows, it’s hard to do that with the normal model

And yet, the Falcon attacking the Avenger in ESB managed to do this just fine.