News over the Smithsonian’s exhibit broke last week on May 4, which Star Wars fans know as “May the Fourth Be With You” day. That’s not something we’re trying to fix,’” Weitekamp said. “That kind of detail is a wonderful thing to get to see up close and then, you make a note of, ‘OK, we’ll make sure we leave that alone. It had been in a few close call calls while flown by Resistance commander Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac).

Was that “hangar rash?” on the side, she wondered.īut then, Weitekamp learned quickly it was part of the original paint job since the X-wing wasn’t meant to look pristine in the movie. Seeing the X-wing up close for the first time this month, Weitekamp noticed all the little details, like one spot that looked a little beat-up.

“After any long trip, you would want to get cleaned up,” Weitekamp said. The wings were off, and the pieces laid out in a Virginia complex for the Smithsonian crew to start cleaning it before it gets reassembled and publicly displayed next year at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. The movie’s production company, Lucasfilm, shipped the X-wing, taken apart in about a half-dozen large pieces.

X wing top view