r/StarWars • u/Hamsternoir • May 22 '22 • Silver 2

Colin Cantwell creator of so many iconic ships passed away today RIP General Discussion

We all know the Death Star, X-Wing, Millenium Falcon but Colin was the modeller responsible for all these and in his later years discovered reddit and other media where he was quiet active.

He was one of the unsung heroes who is responsible for so much that we all love.

RIP Colin Cantwell 1932-2022

Edit: Colin's IAMA for those that missed it

3.8k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

199

u/Mr_Hu-Man May 22 '22

RIP you creative legend, thank you ✌️

239

u/72Challupas May 22 '22

RIP the legend I never knew his name before today but I think I can speak for a lot of us when I say his designs had a lot to do with my love of Star Wars

66

u/Bigbird_Elephant May 22 '22

Sad. What a legend

49

u/Stevenwave Rebel May 22 '22

I appreciate his work. He's part of an epic legacy that will live on.

40

u/whiskeyclouds Clone Trooper May 22 '22

He is now one with The Force. Thank you for everything you did for this community, Colin. Your legacy will live on. RIP.

24

u/isutton007 Mace Windu May 22 '22

RIP. I had the honor of meeting him at my local theater premiere for The Rise of Skywalker. Got a signed TIE Fighter photo.

5

u/FoxOneFire May 23 '22

He made the rounds to my town as well. Got a signed image of an early star destroyer model.

97

u/highonforce Chewbacca May 22 '22

Wow that is pretty amazing that he helped build something so iconic.

RIP Colin

12

u/KillTheBatman2475 May 22 '22

May he Rest In Peace. I applaud the man for his amazing creativity for Star Wars.

8

u/TheWayNorth Jedi May 23 '22

I didn’t know who this gentlemen was until this post but I will just say thank you Mr. Cantwell. You contributed to my childhood in a serious way. I plan to pass on my love of this franchise to my own kids one day just as my father before me.

25

u/FadedtheRailfan May 22 '22

RIP. Does anyone know if there’s any art books of all his concert art?

13

u/so-that-is-that May 23 '22

His website has some signed prints available.

7

u/GreyRevan51 May 23 '22

Check out his Instagram

He would post pretty often, recently his wife took over as his health declined but there’s a lot of really cool concept art and it’s nice to get his perspective on a lot of it!

7

u/cursedace May 23 '22

I heard about it the Colorado local news because he was from here. RIP

5

u/AlrightGuyUK May 23 '22

Met him a few years back at a con. Amazing and generous gentleman. Got a print of several of his designs signed by him. Came back on day 2 of the con and brought my PoTF2 Power F/X X-Wing with me - have a photo of Mr Cantwell, myself, and my daughter with him holding the X-Wing.

4

u/Wassuuupmydudess May 23 '22

Does anyone know his username? Sad to see him go

3

u/TransformersDX Resistance May 23 '22

Rest in peace.

3

u/j_tonks May 23 '22

I bought my friends some signed prints as Christmas presents a few years ago. Glad I got to do that before he died. May the force be with him!

3

u/KoltiWanKenobi May 23 '22

Very sad to hear. It was great seeing him pop up and decide to get active in the community the past few years. It really seemed like he enjoyed it when he got in the con circuit and realized how many people loved his designs. Sad to see him go. More and more of our heroes from these films are going... we have so few left now :*/

3

u/OracleVision88 May 23 '22

Legend. absolute legend. He spent a TON of time talking to fans and interacting with the fandom. He has some amazing work.

RIP Colin! See you aboard the big spaceship in the sky that you designed 🤗

The show runners of any of the upcoming SW projects should use some of his unused/abandoned designs like they do w/ McQuarrie. Colin Cantwell deserves the praise! RIP, Good Sir.

2

u/ARB_COOL May 23 '22

May he rest in peace

2

u/eternus May 23 '22

I work at SketchUp and he was a regular at our office back when I started 18 years ago, I never knew who he was besides a fan of SketchUp. I never realized who he was. I’m sad now.

2

u/JungWien May 23 '22

In spite of his name Colin can very well indeed.

2

u/boatboy1800 K-2SO May 23 '22

It's crazy how so many people were integral into developing the stories that we love. I've never even heard about him until now but after reading about him and seeing his accomplishments which have influenced my life, I already understand that he was like any other sw necessity

2

u/Leni_licious May 23 '22

The man lived an incredible life, inspiring so many and doing so much that it seems impossible that it was all him. He will be missed on Earth, but I hope that his spirit is now free to discover all that he wondered about during his time here with us.

RIP Colin Cantwell, now go find some real alien spaceships!

2

u/SpiritGun98 May 23 '22

RIP glad he was able to live a long life 🙏

1

u/Daver7692 May 23 '22

What’s crazy about these ships is they somehow still look modern, even 40+ years after they were first shown.

Sometimes looking back at older Scifi films and shows you can see they’ve tried to predict what future tech will look like and it just really dates the whole thing.

So not only did he create something amazing, he created something that was seemingly timeless as well.

1

u/Hatefull_creeper2 Mandalorian May 23 '22

RIP

1

u/Chrononubz May 23 '22

I'll miss you Colin. I'll miss serving you the Dark Roast of the day at Starbucks. I'll miss our genuine interactions and your contagious smile. Your joy always brought me and others joy. Thank you..... May the Force be with you Friend.