An X-Wing Starfighter has landed at a Smithsonian museum facility in Chantilly, Virginia where it's undergoing preparation for eventual display at the National Air and Space Museum. On longterm loan from Industrial Light & Magic, this particular model is a T-70 X-Wing as seen in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. From Smithsonian:
The massive movie prop, which has a wingspan of 37 feet, is being cleaned and checked closely for any damage that may have occurred while in transit from Industrial Light & Magic, the LucasFilm division that created and built the X-Wing Starfighter. The full-size model was shipped in pieces and is being reassembled so it can be hung by rigging from the ceiling at the National Air and Space Museum building in Washington, D.C., in 2022.
"Star Wars is a lived-in universe," [museum space history chair Margaret] Weitekamps says. "This is a battle-scarred X-Wing fighter. We want to distinguish between any scratches that occurred during shipping versus something that was built into the vehicle.
"I was on the floor looking at it and I pointed out a place where it looked like it had what pilot's would call 'hangar rash.' That's where you get scrape marks on the side of aircraft when they are moved around. I pointed it out to the conservator, who had a big smile and said, 'No, that's simulated. It's part of the detail by the artist!'"
image: Jim Preston, NASM
