· Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance Logo, Artwork by: Frank V Bonura, Click to Return to Home Page
Ghtroc Class-720 Docking Arm with Escape Pod

About Us

Learn more about the Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance team and website. You can select from the menu or scroll down to read everything. Enjoy!

Mission Statement / History

Mission Statement

To produce exterior views, schematics, and deckplans; for those vessels, and vehicles found in the Original Star Wars® Trilogy, and the Star Wars® Role Playing Game produced by West End Games®.

To accomplish this we seek to research, and find all “Official” known source material of any given subject, including all media forms, obscure references, forgotten material, and references to designs that disagree with current resource material. We then develop a plan that will attempt to include as much of the original sources as possible, discarding any reference or data that has been poorly researched, scaled incorrectly, or that completely disagrees with original sources of any given vessel or vehicle. Lastly we design our subjects at the highest quality and standards as possible.

Our team builds all of our subjects with an eye for artistic realism, and functional practicality. The purpose for this is to facilitate a resource that is both easy to understand, and easy to modify or customize for personal use by the visitors of this site.

History and Motivation

Christmas 1979, my brother Pete and I received a Star Wars® Millennium Falcon toy from Kenner®. I quickly discovered many inaccuracies the biggest being the scale was too small. Only Han and Chewie could fit in the cockpit shoulder-to-shoulder. I knew four people could fit in the cockpit with room to spare in the movie. The Falcon toy had room for only one turret instead of two. I realized the toy was half the size it should have been. I also found the layout of the interior very different from the movie experience. Little did I know on that Christmas week in 1979 (long before the internet we know today), that I was taking the first steps towards analysis and correction which would eventually lead to this website.

In the summer of 1996, I had the opportunity to play the Star Wars® Role Playing Game (RPG) by West End Games® (WEG) for the first time. I immediately fell in love with the game, and the scenarios quickly rekindled my long dormant passion for Star Wars®. However, I quickly discovered the game lacked one very important tool for play, deckplans for light freighters (the space transports most commonly used by players). There wasn't an easy way to determine where anyone or anything was aboard a player's ship. At the time, I grew very weary of the confusion, and searched the internet for deckplans, and discovered I couldn't find any produced by anyone for the “Star Wars Roleplaying Game”.

I would eventually find the "Ship of Riddles" website of Mr. Robert Brown (B^2). I had found a good friend and wise teacher/mentor who helped me to see the world of Star Wars® from a completely new and much better perspective. I based my first deckplans on his theories and designs. Mr. Brown's iconic influences remain relevant and present in our designs to this very day.

I decided our roleplaying party needed deckplans for my character's ship and my friends' vessels too. My first deckplans back in 1997 were very crude, but I kept working to improve them. Mike Marincic started to draw ships and deckplans for Robert Brown. I studied his work and it formed the major influence for the colors and style of my own drawings. At this time, West End Games® produced its own “deckplan” publication “Stock Ships” in December 1997. I considered this book too little and too late and redoubled my efforts to draw ships for my friends.

By 1998 I had formed a rather long mailing list of E-mail addresses of fellow players who enjoyed regular uploads of my deckplans. My friends in 1998 decided in the interest of efficiency and sanity that these deckplans were so helpful, they should not just be uploaded to a mailing list of players but be accessible everywhere and shared with all players of the “Star Wars Roleplaying Game”. The quest for a deckplan server and website began. Several websites have been produced over several servers, by several programmers:

This server has been our home ever since and we hope for many years to come.

In 2005 a forum was created to with the intention of dealing with the overwhelming flow of fan E-mails, to better service the main site with new volunteers, and to communicate the progress and nature of our ideas and projects to the public. For a short time, the forum allowed visitors to watch the step-by-step process of the Deckplans Alliance and gave new opportunities for new artists to display their work for all to enjoy.

The forum was an experiment and like all experiments they do not always work for the best or for the greater good. The administrators, moderators, and members of the forum slowly lost their course, focus, and desire to follow directions of the parent site. The end result of this was a forum that no longer pursued the original mission of this website and no longer served its intended and original purpose. In 2006 the forum and this site parted ways due to unreconcilable differences. A small group of us at this time who wished to return to our original mission of developing official and canon subjects for the “Star Wars Roleplaying Game” departed from the forum to resume our traditional methods of art production right here on the original site. Thanks to support from visitors like you, we are again thriving in that original mission.

The quality and content of this website are the byproduct of our friends, players, and fellow Game Masters input and help. To all who helped make this site what it is today, we thank you, and to those who desire to assist in the work at hand there is always a need for a willing pair of hands.

Together we can do incredible things and be part of something far greater than ourselves. — Frank V Bonura

This site was created mainly as a campaign gaming resource for Game Masters and Players of the WEG® D6 system, but our work here may also prove useful to users of the D20® system as well, and to provide information to all Star Wars® fans who have an interest in Star Wars® schematics in general. I encourage you to explore and read, but most of all enjoy.

E-mail / Contact Us

Legend and Scales

Legend

The following colors are used throughout the deckplans on this site. These colors are not 100% compatible with all the images in the "Old Ship Gallery". Areas where beings can or cannot stand or walk (under normal gravity conditions) on the deckplans are noted below.

Solid Colors:

Shaded Colors:

Special Symbols:

† Surface can be stood or walked upon.

‡ Surface cannot be stood or walked upon.

Scales

Three standard scales are used on the models detailed on this site. Older ships displayed in the "Old Ship Gallery" may not be compatible with these scales. These scales are detailed below.

Bluescale:"Bluescale": 6 pixels = 1 foot
The smallest reference scale used by the Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance. Smaller scales are used for website buttons only. "Bluescale" is primarily used for deckplans of larger ships. "Bluescale" is six pixels = one foot or one pixel = two inches.
Redscale:"Redscale": 12 pixels = 1 foot
This is our intermediate reference scale allowing for greater detail on smaller projects. "Redscale" is primarily used for deckplans of smaller ships or for schematics of larger fighters. "Redscale" is twelve pixels = one foot or one pixel = one inch. "Redscale" is two times larger than "Bluescale".
Yellowscale:"Yellowscale": 30 pixels = 1 foot
The largest reference scale used by the Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance allowing for maximum detail. "Yellowscale" is reserved for the smallest of fighters, speeders, and powersuits. It is also used for development of projects based on studio models that possess an extreme amount of detail. "Yellowscale" is thirty pixels = one foot or five pixels = two inches. "Yellowscale" is five times larger than "Bluescale".

Frequently Asked Questions

Please consult this section prior to sending E-mails. If the answer to your question is not in the FAQ by all means send us an E-mail. We will try to regularly expand and clarify this section to improve visitor communications.

What software do you use to draw your ships?

Posted Friday, March 30, 2007.

When we first started out we did 95% of our work in Microsoft Paint (MS Paint). That is the simple drawing program that comes with the Windows OS. At the time, the remaining 5% of the work load was done on Paint Shop Pro (versions 3 thru 6). As projects have become more complex we have begun to integrate 3D modeling software into our arsenal with titles like Rhino and SolidWorks. The need for layers has become more important as we produce product lines instead of individual ships so we have moved away from MS Paint and now work almost exclusively with Paint Shop Pro 7. MS Paint has not been completely abandoned. There seems to be a bug in the Windows NT operating systems (Win2K, Win XP, Win Vista) and these operating systems cannot render circles well at all. We still use an old machine running Windows 98SE to render circles we store in large template files so we can import them into our new artwork. We have also begun experimenting with a new product produced by Google called Google SketchUp. This new free program allows novice artists to do 3D modeling and we plan to use it more in future projects.

What happened to Rob Brown's “Ship of Riddles” website?

Posted Thursday, June 29, 2006.

Robert Brown's "Ship of Riddles" website ran from 1996 until it closed down in 2002. Mr. Brown (a.k.a. B^2) was the premiere expert on the study of the Millennium Falcon and many other Star Wars® Topics. His commentaries were not only accurate and informative (often ground breaking) but also blatantly honest.

Many of Mr. Brown's observations exposed conflicts, inconsistencies, and blatant errors in products made by the various Star Wars® license holders. Many of these companies considered Mr. Brown's commentaries as bad reviews and damaging to their products' sales. Instead of doing the wise and honorable thing by improving said products and making them better for the Star Wars® Community, these companies saw fit to bombard Mr. Brown and members of this organization with harassing E-mails and correspondence threatening legal action.

This is the primary reason for Mr. Brown closing down the "Ship of Riddles" website. Rob had also become disenfranchised with the Star Wars® Prequels and their lack of harmony with the original trilogy. In light of the hostile atmosphere and the advent of the prequel era, Mr. Brown has retired from the Star Wars® Community and respectfully asks to be left alone. Questions or comments for Mr. Brown can be sent to us via E-mail and we will answer them to the best of our ability or pass on these E-mails to Mr. Brown on a case by case basis.

Note: We at the Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance believe mistakes cannot be corrected until they are admitted and/or exposed not denied and/or covered up. Only when a mistake is brought out into the open, can that mistake be properly addressed and corrected. We further believe corporate harassment of those who alert the public of product flaws to be the lowest form of censorship, a direct attack on our right to freedom of speech, and a blatant expression of corporate fear and insecurity.

We will continue to report errors and inconsistencies we find in Star Wars® products in spite of any threats made by any Star Wars® license holders. We advise Star Wars® license holders to take heed of its customers comments in order to improve their products for the benefit of all.

Why doesn't the “Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance” recognize the Star Wars® prequels?

Posted Monday, June 5, 2006. Last revised Thursday, September 17, 2006.

  1. There are dozens of lost ships or poorly developed ships from a myriad of Star Wars® media forms, and we strongly believe they should be developed first because they came first and remain abandoned and forgotten.
  2. With the number of ships to be drawn and developed, the total work exceeds the life span of any one person. We are focusing on ships that the site has received literally hundreds of requests for via E-mail. We are not immortal so we are forced to focus where we think we can do the most good.
  3. We believe the prequels contradict many sources of the “Expanded Universe” and the “Original Trilogy”. By our own Alliance rules these contradictory sources (the prequels) have been ruled out as poorly researched, poorly developed, and not in harmony with the original Star Wars® sources.

Note: George Lucas has tried to smooth over and conceal these errors with “Special Editions” and “DVD Editions” of the “Original Trilogy”. The original trilogy and the Expanded Universe came first thus we believe George Lucas should have conformed to what was and not tried to rewrite Star Wars® history regardless if he owns the franchise. In light of the new theatrical releases of the original trilogy that have been released to DVD, we think George Lucas is beginning to realize the damage he did to his franchise and is attempting to make amends.

Why did the "Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance" separate from the "Star Wars® design alliance forum"?

Posted Monday, May 22, 2006. Last revised Thursday, October 5, 2006.

Over the years we have observed an alarming trend in the Star Wars® franchise. Standardization and intercommunication between the various Star Wars® model manufacturers, toy manufacturers, game programmers, artists, authors, and other license holders, are extremely poor. The net result are conflicts in the continuing Star Wars® saga, fluctuations in technical data, a general lack of product consistency, and at times blatant errors that show no sign of research at all. We believe the reason for this is that George Lucas who is the owner of the Star Wars® franchise, has demonstrated little leadership or concern over the efforts of other "official" licensed contributors to the Star Wars® phenomenon.

This problem has been further compounded and magnified by George Lucas's renewed interest in developing the Star Wars® Saga in the mid 90's. Mr. Lucas's has treated the Star Wars® Expanded Universe as a separate entity and not an integral part of his Star Wars® vision. His return to directing/film-making has thus increased conflicts and errors generated by the "Star Wars® Special Editions", "Star Wars® DVD Editions", and the "Star Wars® Prequels".

The Star Wars® Deckplans Alliance has never agreed nor approved of George Lucas's erratic, disinterested style of franchise management that we see as a bad example for the Star Wars® creative community as a whole. We have thus chosen a strong centralized leadership position from which all approved materials must pass. We also have a responsibility to our fans to produce standardized, quality-intensive, and consistent work. To do this, there must be one individual who has the final say for quality control purposes. That authority was being ignored in the forum. We also have observed faster higher-quality work coming from artists who were not working on the forum and it finally made us realize the forum was no longer part of the solution put part of the problem.

We have a job to do and that is building ships and we discovered the forum was slowing down the ship building process. We also realized the philosophy and opinions of the Forum's administration was frequently the opposite of our own. In light of these revelations, our departure from the forum was unfortunately necessary. Without strong leadership, chaos is the result. We choose leadership, standards, consistency, and most of all quality for our fans. We owe you that and much more. We will continue to provide what we promised to do.