CT Weldor-troopers?

Apparently they exist in the films.



A weldor is the person who welds, welder is the machine. Looks like this trooper is using arc welding, a favorite in the GFFA. Hopefully that is a auto-darkening helmet.

 

Guess I should have pointed out these shots were used in the foreground construction in ROTJ when Vader's shuttle is approaching the DS2 hanger.

 

Or perhaps just "welders". Maybe the Engineering Corps of the Imperial Navy found that stormtrooper armour worked quite well for it's welders as well.

 

Death Star Repairmen!

 

I must have been blind (probably some symptoms of my hibernation sickness).

Either you buried the concept of the "Spacetrooper" from ANH with that image or the second Death Star has an outer atmosphere, because I ain't seein no life-support backpack!

Here is a close-up of the original ANH "Spacetrooper"



Maybe it's just a jetpack, but no life-support backpack (although the "breathing" nozzle seems to disagree).

 

I just think they didn't worry too much about details and just wanted a welding effect to convey construction activity. Welding arcs are very bright and easily wash out details, they are as bright as the sun. The helmets require auto darkening lens so the weldor isn't blinded.

 

Yet, you provided a closeup view of what's onscreen, and the 'Weldor Trooper' stands in a similar area as these 'Spacetroopers' but doesn't seem to wear any kind of EVA gear.

 

The construction area could be protected from space via a force field and atmospherized.

 

...by that enigmatic "magnetic field" mentioned twice in ANH.

If we had an artificial Death Star atmosphere we'd no longer have to listen to "there's no sound in space" lamentations and we wouldn't be limited to rationalize Biggs "eject" suggestion to Porkins only to his malfunctioning converter (according to the original screenplay) but possibly to have Porkins himself to be ejected...

 

This is the answer,


they just didn't care.


In the original ROTJ storyboards, there were going to be giant probe droids working in the foreground, and this idea was reused in Star Tours 2 where they are constructing DS1. I guess filming stormtroopers welding against a bluescreen was cheaper. In fact, models of welding droids were built by ILM but not used likely due to budget concerns. http://www.propstore.com/mobile/pro...he-jedi/death-star-welding-robot-miniature-02

 

^ That's a really cool find, thanks for sharing.

IMHO, the use of actual personnel welding manually perfectly fit with Jerjerrod's complain "I need more man", suggesting little or sufficient use of droids but a considerable lack of manpower.

 

Besides the weldor trooper lacking EVA gear like in ANH. The other strange thing in general is why such an advanced society like SW still uses ARC welding instead of plasma welding, laser welding, or other advanced forms of welding. Then there is Han and Chewie using torch goggles instead of proper ARC helmets, and the goggles do not appear to be auto darkening which even Harbor Freight sells these days. Also having a atmosphere in the construction zones would not be a great idea. In real life welding, the welds when still molten must be protected from the atmosphere to prevent contamination which can ruin the weld. In ARC welding, the consumable electrode is coated in flux which evaporates to form a crude shielding gas to protect the weld. However, this leaves a coating of slag and flux on top of the weld that must be cleaned off. The vacuum of space would be ideal for welding as there is no air to contaminate the welds, no need for flux or shielding gasses. In real life, some exotic alloys have to be welded in vacuum chambers flooded with Argon gas.