Amazing work Alaneye!
Dude - brush on, water-thin styrene cement... Look it up!Alaneye said:
Dana and I worked side by side for quite a while on our birds. And it WAS quite a while ago. Probably about half of his model was completed in my workshop. It was simply amazing watching his evolve, along side mine. I'd be exagerrating if I said mine was 3/4 as good as his.Alaneye said:
Thanks for all the encouragement guys
As far as I know it was never made available and I still don't know why Dana never finished his build. He and PHArchivist were friends at the time, both doing builds and they had a thread going at:
http://www.therpf.com/f11/building-falcon-7548/
Unfortunately the links to PHArchivist's photos have expired.
This thread brings back many memories. I'd forgotten about some of the detail we added, that are showing in this build here.
I honestly do not know Dana's status now, but I do miss him. Just sort of drifted apart. Not on bad terms by any means.
When we stopped work on the kits, Dana was - as mentioned - working on the dish.
As far as my own build, it has sat stagnant and incomplete for more years than I care to count. Main reasons...?
--Dish; was sort of waiting on Dana's, and not real sure where to go (use FM, or MPCs)
--Lighting; was hoping Dana would help, as I'm not an electronics whiz
--Yellowing; I am VERY heavy handed with clear-coat sealing, and the Testor's Flat Clear has yellowed significantly, virtually ruining my model; I BARELY have any heart left in it at all since it looks like an old yellowed newspaper.
Last edited by PHArchivist; Jan 29, 2012 at 9:43 AM.
Excellent work, Alaneye!
PHarchivist, that is one sweet paint job I don't mind the yellowing at all I'll willingly take that anytime and display it proudly. By the way, you mentioned somewhere what the best flat clear spray is that doesn't yellow - Testors is the only one my LHS carries and I bought one just this morning.
Yes, excellent work Alaneye!
PHArchivist, that is one fine Falcon.... ya gotta finish it.
Ah, PHArchivist, glad you dropped in. The photos you posted look fantastic. I can see a little yellow here and there, but not as much as you suggest... does the yellowing look less in the photos than it does to the eye?PHArchivist said:
I'm the same when it comes to the lighting, but an online friend is hopefully going to be able to help me with that.
I read yours and Dana's whole thread and Dana's blog more than once while I was waiting for my Falcon to arrive.... it was a great inspiration and prepared me for some of the things I wanted to address with the model too.
It does seem more yellow in person. Way more...
These pics were shot with my iPhone. Nice and big due to the mp rating, but the overall image quality is not great, and I think the phone camera washes out color ever so slightly.
If you look at the main saucer/circle, at about "11:00" you see the seam between the rear engine deck, and the "pie piece" that takes you up to 12:00.
See the color difference?
I used much less clear on the engine deck, and it appears more the bone color it should.
Or compare the pie piece I just mentioned with its counterpart on the bottom half - less clear and less yellowing down there.
Finally, look at the turret top/disc. Barely any yellowing, especially compared to the right half (in the image; front half of the ship).
Last edited by PHArchivist; Jan 11, 2013 at 10:43 PM.
Good tip on the clear coat. I'll have to remember that.
Anyway, my paint came: Floquil Reefer White and Grime, so I gave it a try through the airbrush to see what it's like and sprayed the access circles on the mandibles before gluing and screwing them in.
Next, a bit of silliness I picked up from one of the build blogs. There are some parts that have been simplified by Fine Molds as compared to the 32" model. The FM part looks like this.
I had glued them on and you can see one of them here.
So using strips of styrene to make a sort of miniature roof brace, I fashioned this and then cut thin slices off to make more complex versions.
I wasn't all that pleased with how they looked and wasn't going to use them, but I had mislayed one of the originals so I persevered, adding some little circles to the ends and the apex. Once primed they looked much better.
And in place on the model I think they look okay.
I've made them a bit longer than they should have been, but then again, so did Fine Molds
Last edited by Alaneye; Feb 6, 2012 at 2:52 AM.
On the clear coat, I used a LOT I think due to my weathering method - mostly pastels.
Since I was using a powder and didn't want it to rub off as I worked, I'd do a bit of a section, add some clear, do some more, add more clear, etcetera all to seal the powder.
Clearly I over did it.
The pastels don't really rub off that easily, and a single light coat of clear is sufficient to seal it up.
Last edited by PHArchivist; Jan 11, 2013 at 10:44 PM.
Alaneye, In my opinion, when seeing the studio scale falcons up close you can see the imperfections including much of it not being symmetrical, and even though you can not see these in the movies you get the same sence of imperfection anyway. Some of the FM falcon builds I have seen are exceptional in that they are clean tidy and perfectly painted, but they lack that sence of imperfection. They still look like a production make kit. No offence to anyone!
I think that the feel of the SS models is achieved by adding some of your own work, and detailing, which you are doing. So dont worry too much about making the parts perfect. What you doing is working.
Pharchivist, do the pastels darken once clear coat is applied?
Ozzy
On my own Falcon I went with the 50/50 mixture of FS Camo Gray and FS Light Gray shot over a black pre-shade coat as straight camo gray looked too tan to me. Plus, to me at least the ESB Falcon seems to be a darker shade than the ANH one. My flat coat was Model Master clear flat in a spray and keeping the coats light, I didn't seem to have a yellowing problem with it (and she has not yellowed yet). If you wish to airbrush a flat coat on, Microscale Microflat is a very good acrylic flat coat IMHO. As for the pastels, I've found if they are ground with a fine grit sandpaper (at least 320 grit) they are very resistant to rubbing out and typically I flat coat, THEN pastel as when done the weathering streaks seem to handle touching just fine (as long as my hands aren't sweaty that is). There was only one spot I had a slight fingerprint and I fixed that by lightly rubbing the paint with a 1400 grit sanding cloth so it wouldn't harm the base paint.
Here's what I accomplished with the paintjob and weathering on mine:
JMChladek, Have kept a copy of your thread for reference when I finally paint something.
Ozzy
Ozzy, thanks for that. I think you have a point, it's the little imperfections that can make it look 'right'.ozzyguanche said:
Al
JMChladek, I'm at work at the moment so I can't check out your pix right now (photobucket blocked). I'll have a look when I get hom
Al
Last edited by Alaneye; Feb 6, 2012 at 5:43 AM.
Your build and paint job looks great, JMChladek. Thanks for showing it.
Al
Alaneye, great work and attention to detail buddy, really inspiring. Making me feel guilty about not taking my time on my own work!
Quick question, noticed you're a UK boy, where did you pick up the kit and for how much? I seem to only ever find US sellers and the shipping costs would kill me..?
Thanks Darth. I got mine direct from Hobby Link Japan with FedEx delivery and I think it was about £198 including the VAT and the £10 forwarding fee that FedEx charge. If you want one and the price is right for you, it's still instock and is the same price as I paid:
1/72 Millennium Falcon | HobbyLink Japan
Al
Last edited by Alaneye; Feb 12, 2012 at 7:44 AM.
I completed the back topside at the weekend. A lot of parts go into detailing this area, as well as the bit of customizing I did, so it took quite a while. Sorry, but for some reason I didn't take as many photos of the progress this time.
I started with the detailing on the inside of the engine slot. Now I know that the studio model doesn't include there, but I think it looks cool with them on.
This is without them.
And this is with them.
Next I modified the four vents so they look more like the studio model versions. I cut a piece of aluminium tube then trimmed off the outter ring off the part and fitted the part inside the ring.
Here they are glued in position.
I also fashioned these parts as they are missing altogether fromt he kit.
And I replaced the moulded 'spring' with one made from fuse wire.
After quite a few hours work it looked like this.
But I wasn't keen on the fairly bare area below the engine vents, so I looked at the 5 foot model and noticed some sort of sliding flaps. So I made some and added them in.
And a final primed pic to tie it all together.
Here's a link to a higher resolution picture if anyone wants a closer look (might need to click on the actual picture to see the full size image)
http://www.alanianson.com/images/img_0874.jpg
I may add some more details here and there yet, not sure, but that's all for now. I'm still waiting for Rob from Acreations to send the photo etched parts for the cockpit, he should have them soon, then I can look at the cockpit better and decide how I'm going to tackle the lighting.
Last edited by Alaneye; Feb 15, 2012 at 6:24 PM.
I have been watching your build as I work on mine. Great build and an inspiration helping me along,thanks! I got the Acreation set specifically for the cockpit 'grill'. I emulated the full size set with the holes behind it,stretch some sprue for two thin 'pipes' like the Koolshade on the five footer. Funny thing is looking at the 32 incher it appears to have no grill,just the frame,but like you I am picking and choosing the details I like from different versions of the Falcon. This is my second and final build of this guy. Loving what your doing with yours.
Thanks, Fett_ish, nice to know you are working on yours too. I haven't looked too much at the cockpit area yet, that part scares me a bit with the lighting etc. lol
Looking good, I realy like how you are making this your Falcon. Using reference from both studio scale and some of your own impressions.
Keep it up.
Ozzy
Okay, these detail additions are starting to scare me a little bit.
Nice work as usual Alan, and thanks for the good words about my paintjob. Hopefully it can provide some inspiration for yours.
Thanks, Ozzy. Just about everything I've added up to now though is referenced from the 32" or 5' studio models, i don't think I've actually invented anything... yetozzyguanche said:
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