AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: PROBOT PRACTICAL!

Built by the UK's practical effects team at Elstree Studios, based on the original Ralph McQuarrie design, the shadowy Imperial Probe Droid/Probot was an intriguing addition to the location filming of The Empire Strikes Back in Finse, Norway, during March 1979. The prop would be able to turn itself and had some mild articulation, with a special all-seeing iris, though its movements along the Hoth surface were mostly achieved by having it move along a dolly camera track. In the end, very little of the practical 'Probot' footage was used in the film (either deleted or replaced in several shots by a small miniature built by ILM fused with matte plates). The practical model's biggest scene, ultimately, would be its eventual ambush destruction from Han Solo. More on that in another blog entry...

Deleted moment of the Probot destroying a Rebel sentinel outpost, as described in the novel.

Deleted moment of the Probot turning to fire (presumably on Han Solo), from a TESB teaser trailer.

Readied for use in the Elstree Studios car park.

Attaching the head base on location.

The Probot's builders/operators have fun on location in Norway.