Found this little gem of a find at reddit (Here's an upvote for you Sir). A treasure cache of images of the scale models used for the original Starwars series.
I read a while back from one of the internet forums (sadly I don't remember which) that the original prop models were made by kitbashing some other scale model kits a long with some actual fabrication. As a model scale builder that is truly inspirational to hear. And of course the fact that people can actually make a living by leveraging their hobby. Sadly nowadays most effects stuff are done through CGI so that definitely affects the industry.
Am really looking forward to the new Starwars movie that's scheduled to come out in the near future. JJ Abrams did a fine job with the Star Trek reboot so I'm hoping he does that same magic with Star Wars *cough* *cough* *lens flare* *cough* *cough*
