Cantwell’s Prototypes

Designer Colin Cantwell was hired in 1975 or so to come up with some early designs of Star Wars' ships. He produced a kitbashed model craft of a linear Falcon, which served as early inspiration for the vehicle design.

Interestingly, the model has a circular roundel on the side, which is a graphical device never seen anywhere else in Star Wars. But the original film features the line “(the captured Falcon’s) markings match those of a ship that blasted its way out of Mos Eisley.”

This line always seemed odd, since of course the Falcon in the final film has no markings on it whatsoever, unless you count mismatched painted panels as markings. Maybe that's what this roundel was supposed to be?

There are also multiple escape pods, some missing, which again matches the description in the original script.