Are you planing to do an extensive or radical change of the movement on that shot?
If no then you can sure contact with some people of the rpf.com that actually made the rebel transports and take photos from the real deal and not from a matte.
As for the 3d approach if the shot will not have radical movements and require 3d tracking you can always place a good render and then paint/matte over it with details etc.
Im sure you know all these stuff and i like the way you want to keep it original.
If i have news i will let you know :)
-Angel