Pt. 25 Display Table

Things are still just a bit slow going at the moment, due to waiting for the final parts to finish my model.


So, with a model such as this, it needs to be properly displayed.  In my very first post, I showed a concept design I did of a table I'd like to make to display the Falcon.



Remember this?

So, I found a tall kitchen table at Ikea that is the perfect width and length to display the Falcon.  This is the table I purchased.   A Lerhamn kitchen table.

Now, while the width and length are perfect for what I want, it's a tad too tall.   So after assembling the top of the table.....

 I then chopped about 2 inches off of each of the legs to shorten the table just a tad.

 Then attached the legs...

I also purchased an additional table top only to use as a lower shelf for my display.  This will hold the instruction magazines used to build the Falcon, as well as a build photo album I'll be putting together, and whatever else I may want to place on there that is related.

 So I notched the 4 corners of the table so it will fit inside the legs.

 Placed metal brackets on the legs to support the table top...

 And there we have it.  the display table.

So I've modified my original concept just a bit.  Because I've been doing a video build diary as well on YouTube, I thought it would be cool if the build videos could be displayed with the Falcon, kind of like a museum piece. So I acquired an in-dash car LCD screen, got a media player and speaker.

In my concept, you'll also notice a gap in the top of the table where it is glowing red.  This will be done with 15' of LED lighting I also purchased.

So to start with, I centered the LCD screen in the table side and outlined where I need to cut into the table so that it can be mounted.  I also decided to mount everything on the long side of the table as opposed to the short side as in my concept.

I then secured the LCD housing to mount the display.

Next was mounting the media player.  I did this with just a large patch of velcro.  The media player is extremely light and held in place by this.

You'll also notice in my concept some buttons.  I purchased a bundle of LED lit buttons on Ebay.  These will turn on the LED table lighting, LCD screen, media player and the model itself once in place.

 So I drilled out evenly spaced holes for the buttons to mount in.

And there we have a working LED button.  I'm doing 3 buttons on each side of the LCD screen.  1- Red, 1- Blue and 1- Green.

So I acquired a piece of gloss black plexiglass for the top of the table.  I want gloss black so that the bottom of the Falcon will have a bit of a reflection in the table so that it can be seen a little easier. The plexi I cut down to size,  about 1/2" shorter on each side than the table top itself.  This is so that when I get a glass case cover, it can slip over the plexi and rest on the table itself.

 I then cut a piece of wood about 4 inches shorter on each side than the plexi....

painted the edges of the wood black....

 marked center of the table....

 drilled mounting holes....

 then glued the wood to the plexi perfectly centered.

And final step is the table LED lighting. I used a 15 ft stip of RGB LED tape and secured it to the bottom side of the plexi right along the edge of the wood that was glued to the plexi.

 PERFECT!

 Then attached the plexi/wood top to the table, attached the power and....


 VOILA.

The finished display table with the partially built Falcon sitting on it for size reference.

It has actually turned out better than I had even planned.  Once the Falcon is completed, I'll then get a custom plexi case cover to go over the model to keep it clean from the elements.  And while the photo shows the table red, which is my intended color, I can pick any color I want, as the LED is RGB and can do any shade.  Blue, green, orange, purple, yellow, red, etc.  There is some extra space around the Falcon, which I intend to use to display some other Star Wars models I'll be working on as well.

So stay tuned.  MUCH MORE TO COME....

Pt. 24 Hull and Mandible Recesses

This is a short coverage of the recessed mechanical parts which you see in the upper hull of the Falcon as well as the mandibles.  In the photo below you can see the areas that I'll be working on.

So for starters, it's attaching the little greeblies to the upper hull recesses.

Then the same for the mandible recesses.  Attaching greeblies.  There are a total of  8 recesses for the mandibles.  4 on the top and 4 on the bottom.

Then it's on to the painting.  Starting off with primer.

Then aribrushing black.

Then a light airbrushing of medium gray.

At this point it's then just a build up of layers of drybrushing with shades of gray, aluminum, chrome and pastels of rust, oil and dirt.

Then the same painting technique is used for the mandible recesses.

And we have a final product of both the upper recesses and the mandible recesses.

So there we have the recesses.  I'm getting very close to the end now.  I've been finishing up the mandibles which will be my next blog post.  Am just waiting on the last 2 packs of parts to complete the outside, and then painting.  Though I do have other bits I'm still working on as well, such as hazard lights on the bottom hull.

So stay tuned.  MUCH MORE TO COME....