Death Star
Although details, such as the superlaser's location, shifted between different concept models during production of "Star Wars", the notion of the Death Star being a large, spherical space station over 100 kilometers in diameter was consistent in all of them. George Lucas gave the original task of designing a "Death Star" to concept artist and spaceship modeler Colin Cantwell, who had collaborated with Stanley Kubrick on the 1968 film "". In a 2016 interview, Cantwell related that "I didn't originally plan for the Death Star to have a trench, but when I was working with the mold, I noticed the two halves had shrunk at the point where they met across the middle." As it "would have taken a week of work just to fill and sand and refill this depression," Cantwell suggested a trench to Lucas to save the labor. Lucas liked the idea, and the Death Star model was created by John Stears. The buzzing sound counting down to the Death Star firing its superlaser comes from the "Flash Gordon" serials. Portraying an incomplete yet powerful space station posed a problem for Industrial Light & Magic's modelmakers for "Return of the Jedi". Only the front side of the 137-centimeter model was completed, and the image was flipped horizontally for the final film. Both Death Stars were depicted by a combination of complete and sectional models and matte paintings.
White Star Line
The keel of the third sister, "Baltic" had been laid down at Harland & Wolff in June 1902, while construction on "Cedric" was still underway. One notable instance in her construction was once her keel was fitted in place, White Star gave orders for her length to be extended by 28 feet. This change in plans required builders to cut her keel in two, move the after end backwards and install the new addition in between. Their reasons for this addition was likely to provide more spaces for passenger accommodations, which combined added up to 2,850 passengers Although "Baltic" was designed with the same layout for Third Class passengers as "Cedric", with a capacity of 2,000, her First and Second Class capacities were significantly greater. First Class was increased to a capacity for 425 passengers, while capacity for Second Class was extended to 450 passengers, almost twice that of "Cedric" and three times that of "Celtic". Simultaneously, the added length also increased her gross tonnage to 23,884, making her now the largest ship in the world. "Baltic" was launched on 12 November 1903, subsequently fitted out and delivered to White Star on 23 June 1904, and sailed on her maiden voyage on 29 June.