Millennium Falcon Model Build Diary: 2015

OK. Bunch of stuff to post today.

I know it's been a while. Been waiting for more issues to arrive, and have just been busy with life and the holidays.

So, for starters, I'm now up to issue 40. Almost half way through. What I've received recently is....

Parts 33 - 36. This was more frame and hull pieces. Also the thrust vector plates for the back of the Falcon

Here we have the thrust vector plates which line the back of the Falcon.

And we have the stabilisers for the rear as well.

These then attach to the rear with the vector plates.

And we have the complete section of the bottom rear.

Also in this latest pack were more hull plates, one of which is the center portion of the bottom which has little parts to attach. Pretty self explanatory from the next several photos.

And there you have this part.

And issues 37 - 40 have also arrived. In these issues are the ramp assembly, motor, and some more hull plating and a replacement cockpit that's more accurate.

For startes we add some LEDs to the frame to illuminate the interior when the ramp is down.

Here we have a hinge part to attach the ramp to the hull.

Masked the ramp to paint the center strip dark gray.

Then painted the hull part and ramp with Insignia White, which is the color I'll be using for the base coat of the Falcon.

Now painted, I can attach and assemble the ramp. First the hinge.

Then the hydraulics for the ramp. Very small pieces. Especially those pins on the right. Less than a 1/4 of an inch.

The hinge connectors for the ramp.

This will be a functioning, lowering and raising motorized ramp. So the motor is attached (on right) and the hydraulics (left).

Ramp assembly completed.

And now attached to the lower frame. The lower frame is now complete. Next will be to attach all of the hull plating.

I have also been working on more of the interior hold and corridor sections. Just really waiting till I finish to post that portion.

So stay tuned. MUCH MORE TO COME....

So I've been working on the hold wall opposite the game table. The kit wall is very plain. Nothing but the arch corridor and the little engine room corridor to the left. No detail what-so-ever.

Oh, after a little photo research, I also redid the wall behind the navigation console. There's actually a framework around the cutout. So I did the framework with some styrene and placed it over the cutout I had done and changed the greeblys a bit behind it.

And finished, and in place.Not perfect, but it's extremely small.

So back to the wall. There's a 3rd door left off of the model and some more little cutouts for cables and such that has been left out. So I decided to add them of course.

So I put some painters tape on the part and drew out where I was going to cut.

And not primed. I also added with some more styrene, the little framework around the 2 curved cutouts.

As with the first arch, I cut the arch piece out to match more closely the way it is in the movie.

The door to the left of the arch just leads to nothing and black in the model kit. In reality it leads to an engine room where Han and Leia have their first kiss. So what I've done, for now anyway, is I managed to find a shot in the movie where the doorway is visible in the background, and I took a still shot and printed it out in hi-res on a piece of presentation board and placed it behind the door, kinda of adding the illusion of another room back there.

I may actually try to use real model bits and pieces to create and actual room, but this will do for now.

Next up, there's a light on the wall between the arch and doorway. So I cut out a little oval piece from an old Falcon kit that was roughly the right size and shape. I then used my Dremel and hollowed out the inside for an LED light to fit.

Once that was done, I drilled a hole in the wall where the light will go and put an LED bulb through.

Light fixture fits perfectly.

But as you notice in the movie in this photo...

there are 3 black stripes across the light fixture. There's no way I'm going to be able to paint lines that thin and clean. So I got some very thin wire, painted it black, and stretched it around the fixture, which actually works much better, because of the depth.

And there it is on the wall.

Time to add more of the wall detail. You can see in this photo the trim added. And there's also metal framework around the curved portion of the doorway to the right. I was thinking of doing this with more styrene, but opted to try with some wire, which I painted gray.

Then glued in place...

Added the secondary piece....

Then cut little pieces to go between

Now it turns out that not only did the photo etch I purchase come with the floor, but also correctly detailed arch pieces. So, after all the work I did in cutting the arch and making grooves in the back for cables, I decided to use the photo etch because of the accuracy.

So for starters, painting the arch.

I then cut little styrene pieces to go in the arch to support the arch frame, and where I could place wires inside of for cables and hose. You can see the 9 little pieces sticking out from the arch.

Then attached the cushions...

Then added wire and the photo etch arch piece. Cables being visible behind.

I then added more wire on the wall and inside the curved cutouts to the right, trying to make it as accurate as possible to the look in the film.

And here we are with the working light.

I then got some little pieces from my old Falcon model and filed them down, glued them together and attached them to the far right of the wall with a hose for more realism. I also added another little piece to the upper right of the light as some type of breaker or circuit panel along with some wires running to it.

I've also decided it would look much better if the circuit room on the left was real rather than a photo. So I gathered some more pieces from an old Falcon model and used them to create a faux circuit room.

So I began by picking 2 pieces for walls.