USS Cygnus

The **U.S.S. Cygnus** (also known as a "**Death Ship**" to B.O.B.) is an exploration vessel.

## Background

Like the U.S.S. Palomino its mission was to discover inhabitable life in outer space under the command of Hans Reinhardt. The ship and crew were recalled to return to Earth - however Reinhardt ignored the orders and the crew turned their trust to Frank McCrae. They tried to commit mutiny but were captured by the ship's robots and were turned into robots themselves.

For the last twenty years, the Cygnus was never heard from again and found its way to a black hole where she was finally discovered by the U.S.S. Palomino.

It turns out in the last twenty years, Reinhardt had modified his ship with an anti-gravitational field to keep the Cygnus at bay. He planned to fly her through the black hole but suffered severe damage when the Palomino and asteroids collided with her. She was torn apart as she went through the black hole.

The Cygnus also had laser weapons which were used to destroy the Palomino incorrectedly piloted by Harry Booth preventing it from crashing into the Cygnus.

## Notes on the filming miniature

There were two full models of the Cygnus built at a little over twelve feet long, with other sectional models built to a much larger scale for certain close up shots. The twelve foot miniatures weighed 170 pounds each and were constructed primarily of brass and completely made from scratch, with EMA tubes and domes used for detailing. Under this brass exoskeleton were sections of translucent plastic built in sections which housed about a hundred and fifty automotive light bulbs. The two models cost $100,000 and took a crew of 12 to 15 people approximately a year to build. One of the two models were completely destroyed filming the story's ending sequences. The other model went to the Museum of Modern Art in New York for a time after filming.

According to an ex-Disney employee, the surviving model was later stored in a crate in the 'Boneyard', where old props and such are stored on the Disney lot. But at one fateful day, it was smashed to pieces by a poorly-driven forklift which accidentally backed into the crate. Pieces of the model were taken by various folks as souvenirs. One telling of the story states the crate containing the filming model had been subjected to a lot of rain.

## Replicas

### Commercial kits

MPC produced a simplified kit version, described as being 1/4225 scale.

### Fan made

There are a number of fan made replicas in exsistance.

* One at 1/350 scale by Nwerke
* One at 1/700 scale by PrimativeDave.
* Deacon of the RPF Forum started to build a Cygnus using cardboard and painter's tape--she is about 10 feet long by 1 foot wide in the middle body, length is total.

There are also a number of CAD versions.

## Gallery

### Concept Art

Concept art of the command towerConcept art of the Cygnus entering the black hole
## Sources

1. ↑ http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/U.S.S.\_Cygnus
2. ↑ http://www.byyourcommand.net/cylongallery/index.php?cat=184
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 http://www.starshipmodeler.com/other/js\_cyg.htm
4. ↑ http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/m/online/1343983.aspx
5. ↑ http://www.byyourcommand.net/cylongallery/index.php?cat=185
6. ↑ http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=118814