My first step into a larger world - a Deagostini 32" Falcon build diary...

RookOmega

New Member
Kicking off my build log for the Falcon -

I will be trying to highlight things I am doing to may Falcon, and hopefully pass on some good info.

I am up to month 13, (which is shipping as I type this)

My initial plan is as follows:

Build the framework first, then apply the hull paints after they are initially primed. (lower, top, sides)

Paint the hull pieces with gray primer and black paint (car enamel) - to allow light blocking and to get that studio look with the damage marks during weathering.

Paint the hull with Tamiya AS-20 white - and follow up with panel paint from DOA paints. (rattle can for the overall hull will make it easier for me)

Using a combination of oils, weathering kits, and other tricks I picked up with the airbush - try to get it to the studio look.

Remake the damage marks - to make it look better than what comes with the kit. (will be using the shadow box technique for the holes punched through the hull - plus careful use of the soldering iron to make the blaster marks look more "real")

Correcting TP-1 and TP-3 to correct notches and plates.

Using a new cockpit from Shapeways - TonyRR makes a great replacement set.

Fiber optics throughout. Will be making a custom arduino board to simulate the blinking lights from the movies - both for the cockpit and tech station in the hold area.
At this point - I may make my own control board for the entire project and not use the one supplied from Deagostini)

Using the hold and corridor parts from paragrafix (along with LED lighting for the corridor/hold as required)

Making full landing lights available (it appears only 4 large ones are coming in the kit)

Making a custom cabinet/table to display the Falcon landed, perhaps modeling the landing bay 94, or landing bay 327, or maybe Hoth - not sure at this point.
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I am still on the fence about the working ramp - not sure if I will keep that - the ones I have seen built look like a "toy"


So - to begin with - I screwed together the bottom framework -

IMG_4894.JPG

No real surprises (helps that others have forged ahead to this point - so great references!)

The only things that stick out - make sure you get the stiffener rods seated correctly in the slot of the center ring before tightening the screws , if you don't you can deform the parts.

Don't tighten the screws till they are all in place. The 4 hole connectors are prone to lift out and screw up the other holes/screws if you tighten to much.

Only had to use the tapping tool, which they provided, once. (screw hold on the center ring (issue 26)

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Was pleased on how well the parts fit - especially if you consider they are months apart from each other.
 
I was on the fence at first because what DeAgostini and Steve D advertised was a 100% studio miniature replica.

I'm also a subscriber, though, and I think the proof that this isn't a studio miniature replica is in the magazine/instruction manual that comes with every issue, and also in the parts. In the US we get four issues every month. The magazine is nothing but page after page of the Falcon as a spaceship. And the parts have turned out to be toy-like approximations of the real thing. Every so often there's a "Behind the Scenes" article that might have one tiny picture of the actual 32-inch studio miniature. But that's it!

The bottom line is that this thing isn't a replica of a studio miniature, it's a model of a spaceship. There is a very clear distinction made between miniature replicas and spaceship models in the "What this forum is all about thread".

I think if we use the "Report Post" function for the first messages of these threads and very nicely ask the mods to move them to the General Modeling forum, they might listen to us this time.
 
I've been a member for 8 years, I joined when registration was only open occasionally. So I'm not a newbie nor am I totally clueless. Partially clueless? MaybeI think we forget that our hobby is dying to a large extent and we should encourage the new recruits, not scare them off.

Your entry point in this particular conversation was to claim that cast resin X-Wing model kits shouldn't be considered studio-scale, when in fact each one of the X-Wing miniatures constructed for Star Wars was built, in whole or in part depending on whether it was a hero model or a pyrotechnic one, from cast resin parts.

For people who frequent this forum, this is not new information. Why would you come here to inject your opinion on a subject about which you are so obviously completely ignorant? Why should the rest of us ever care about anything you have to say here, now or in the future?
 
Any updates since the original post?

Are you located in the Uk? If so there is a company called 'plastics direct' that sell Perspex and polycarbonate for good prices. I'm gonna use it for my display case. Just a heads up.
 
Hello Edspaged2 - no - I am in the US, I plan on using tempered glass for the table - since it will be used as one = thanks for the info though!



So - after all the kerfuffle - I decided that I will only post unique things that I will do with my build - and after the fact pictures when I hit a milestone, that way, I can keep it lean and mean.


My first task was to figure out a way to replicate the holes on the topside, since the holes on the kit part are horrible!


So - onto what ILM has:

View attachment 969_SWO_1864.jpg dtssyst 27_zpswq6clmgo.jpg~original.jpg

The holes have depth, they have a "pushed" in valley look and the plate appears to be "thinner" than the edge plates.

The holes are open - there is no bottom to them.

I thought perhaps they used a soldering iron to push in the skin, but in my experiments, it melts the plastic to much, and I didn't get the same pushed in valley effect.

So - hot air gun time.

When going through my reference pictures I found here and on the net, I came across the following two:

This shows the area where the holes will be, ILM made a hole in the structure of the falcon - triangle shaped, by the hole that will be used for the dish, and it is not using the black plastic they used for the rest of the Falcon skin:

holes for holes on falcon.JPG

this picture shows that hole is now covered by a piece of white plastic:
Falcon ESB 32-inch Construction.jpg

Then I realized they must of used different sizes of plastic to simulate the damage, since closeup pictures of the holes show thinner than the edge plates - and with the hole underneath, it would allow the depth, so with this thinking, I experimented.


My first attempts pushing in a soldering iron ended poorly. The plastic melted, instead of oozing down to make the valleys.

IMG_5025.JPG

So I moved on using a small hot air gun I have, and found that it heated to much plastic at once, so the valleys were way to big. I used a sharp pencil as the pusher, since I can control the depth better, but made gigantic valleys:

IMG_5054.JPGIMG_5055.JPG
I could of pulled out my hot air device I have for removing solder, since it has a smaller tip, I thought there had to be an easier way.



So, back to the drawing table, I used a scrap of wood, put in some drilled holes, made a slight rounded edge to them with a file, tape on some plastic, and went to town again, using the hot air gun:
IMG_5021.JPGIMG_5031.JPG

Success!

By varying the distance and how much I push in, I can make the holes similar to what is on the ILM Falcon.

I put the plastic on my simulated hull hole:

IMG_5042.JPG

Nice :)


Quickie black marker to simulate paint, and using sharp cutters to make the bottom of the holes more ragged, even used a small file to rough it up:

IMG_5043.JPGIMG_5047.JPG IMG_5048.JPG

So, now I can map the exact ILM hole pattern in wood, and by using this technique, can make my holes look like ILM's.
 
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