AN 'EMPIRE' AT 40: ION CONTROL READY!

In the panoramic control room adjacent to the main weapon that is the Ion Cannon, Rebel technicians prepare to fire on the orbiting Imperial Death Fleet in this great conceptual art by Ralph McQuarrie, for a set that was apparently almost constructed for filming at Elstree but ultimately aborted for time and budget reasons. Instead, the action would be transferred to the main Rebel Command Centre set.

The maquette for the unused Ion Cannon control room set.

A close look at the would-have-been set matching closely with the McQuarrie painting.