Fine Molds 1/72 Millennium Falcon

Alaneye said:

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Thanks, Mancini, I've been over there and what you are doing looks really great. Everyone is taking off the pipes and adding brass ones, but I am really trying to resist the urge to follow suit. Tell me you are doing it, but it doesn't really make that much difference

Haha, I'd love to tell you that it looks the same, but that would be just me lying

Fett_Ish said:

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That cockpit is a pain, and you did a great job on it. I ended up using the original center console as the brass one was too high for Han to correctly lean forward and reach the light speed levers. I also sanded down the front piece to more closely resemble the full size set. I also raised the back seats a bit so 3po and Leia are a bit more visible. Why do I post this? Because after I saw you made 3po stand I realized that mine was too hidden and you couldn't really see his lit eyes but from one specific angle, so I had to rip it all apart and adjust. I was cursing you for not having done yours sooner. Yes I am blaming you for my oversight. Seems acceptable......

I accept it with sadistic pleasure and you can take comfort in knowing that am considering lighting 3PO's eyes and that Chewie's seat has become unglued lol

mancini said:

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Haha, I'd love to tell you that it looks the same, but that would be just me lying

Damn it!

Okay, my engine fans arrived... nicely cast and nicely detailed. So now I'm considering how to fit them. I take it you cut out the existing shallow innard, then add a deeper cylinder and base? What are you guys using to make the deeper tube?

same here ... it fit nicely

I'm in the same boat. I just sanded them down until the flash just fell off and put them in. I didn't bother trying to do a deeper tube. I thnk the AMT version of that kit actually gives you a deeper tube resin casting

That's great then, I love the way Mancini's looks, so that'll do.

Well, that was pretty painless not glued down yet.

Alaneye said:

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Well, that was pretty painless not glued down yet.

Looks great! Can't wait to start on my own... sometime next year.

With a lick of primer.



These 3rd party parts really do add a nice level of detail. I'm really glad I got them now.

One thing for Mancini and others who have fitted them, the little slots in the grills aren't wide enough to fit over the two little pips on the rim, what are you doing about that?

Al

That really does looks the ticket, love the fans also

J

Alaneye said:

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With a lick of primer.

One thing for Mancini and others who have fitted them, the little slots in the grills aren't wide enough to fit over the two little pips on the rim, what are you doing about that?

Al

I've noticed that also and read somewhere that people tend to make the slots larger but haven't really thought about it yet ...

BTW, how did you fit the seats in the PE cockpit? It seems that the front seats hardly fit on the floor and the back seats are just too low ...

Mancini, if I remember rightly, the front seats seemed like they were too big, but they do fit albeit with the console fitting very snuggly around them. For the rear seats, even though I sat them in the lower part, the seats themselves must be higher, because Leia is still on the same level as Han.

I finished the jawbox inards, adding more bits and pieces.



It seems to look a bit rubbish, then you hit it with the primer, and then it looks okay.



Fitting the pieces in the model, I'm pleased with it, it has that multi layered impression that I get from the studio model.

Looks great! Figured I could tell ya how I lit 3PO, but don't tell, it's a secret! First drilled out his eyes with the smallest bit I had. That was too big so I filled with putty and used needles to put smaller holes. Then I hollowed out the back of his head drilled a hole in his seat and the cockpit wall behind it. I took a piece of plastic tubing and filed it out so the wall was pretty thin then glued this to the hole in the back of 3POs head hole and painted it black. I then glued the seat in lining up the holes I had made then glued 3PO in glueing the head tube to the hole in the seat. On the back side of the cockpit wall over the hole I white glued a small incandescent bulb. I painted the bulb white and then black so the light would not affect the rest of the light. Finally I filled his eyes with a bit of Krystal clear. Yes it was a pain but it looks great, I think anyway.

Fett_Ish said:

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Looks great! Figured I could tell ya how I lit 3PO, but don't tell, it's a secret! First drilled out his eyes with the smallest bit I had. That was too big so I filled with putty and used needles to put smaller holes. Then I hollowed out the back of his head drilled a hole in his seat and the cockpit wall behind it. I took a piece of plastic tubing and filed it out so the wall was pretty thin then glued this to the hole in the back of 3POs head hole and painted it black. I then glued the seat in lining up the holes I had made then glued 3PO in glueing the head tube to the hole in the seat. On the back side of the cockpit wall over the hole I white glued a small incandescent bulb. I painted the bulb white and then black so the light would not affect the rest of the light. Finally I filled his eyes with a bit of Krystal clear. Yes it was a pain but it looks great, I think anyway.

hmm ... i figured I'd just drill two holes through the back of his head and a hole through the chair and use .25mm or .5mm fibres connected to a yellow LED.

mancini said:

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hmm ... i figured I'd just drill two holes through the back of his head and a hole through the chair and use .25mm or .5mm fibres connected to a yellow LED.

Too easy. Actually I didn't want to pay for FO since all I needed was two very tiny pieces. It sound like a lot of work but really wasn't. Also an unexpected benefit was that the white glue I added to the eyes dried with little imperfections that when lit mimic the grills in his eyes. It works because its so small. Also I should mention I used the photo etch that goes around the gun wells to make the lightspeed levers.

Still not sure if I'll light 3PO's eyes... sometimes I feel like not bothering with the lighting at all. I had another look at the engine part of your Falcon Fett_Ish and realised you changed that central part to match the 5 footer. Nicely done. I also noticed the 8 pipes you added, four on each side, that are only featured on the 5 foot model.... I like them, so I've added them to mine

Alaneye said:

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Still not sure if I'll light 3PO's eyes... sometimes I feel like not bothering with the lighting at all. I had another look at the engine part of your Falcon Fett_Ish and realised you changed that central part to match the 5 footer. Nicely done. I also noticed the 8 pipes you added, four on each side, that are only featured on the 5 foot model.... I like them, so I've added them to mine

Thanks Alaneye. If you take a look at the pics before prime you can see a bit better some of the stuff I did to the rear deck. On the five footer that center control flap is actually connected to that greeblies area so I canabalized some landing gear along with bits and bobs from other kits I had lying around. The bit under the flap control rods is made from the landing gear from a Jedi Starfighter. I wanted to ad the diagonal control bits between flaps but realized too late that the four vertical flaps are positioned differently and won't allow for that detail to be added properly. Next time. After I retire. Those grills are looking good, be sure to beat them up!

This kit is my unicorn Holy Grail... I would love to get one of these to fix up and make perfect. Yo uare doing an awesome job on this so far... I'll be watching!

I'm brand new to this forum, I decided to register after seeing this build progress. It's awesome work AlanEye, I'm 44 and getting back into modelmaking now that I have the time.

One question, where did you get those fans, do you have a link ?

Thanks

SJN

Any new updates Al?