Bandai 1/144 Millennium Falcon decal questions plus build progress...

[rbeach84]

Very nice! Also, I detected a bit of joy in your posts... excellent restart into the hobby, sir!
I caught the 'wash not screen accurate', however I recall discussion about the ILM teams using washes applied with large paint brushes (such as used for painting walls...) Black undercoats also are apparently de rigueur.
So other thoughts occurred to me as I followed along. One was how colors can be applies using an almost dry brushing technique, building up density slowly.
Also, using a coat of 'Pledge Multi Floor Finish' - aka 'Future' - as a gloss coat works well and can be applied with a brush. I have even used it as a setting agent under the decals though I usually also test it with a spare decal to ensure compatibility. Make sure to let it dry under a dust free cover because it can take a little while to dry which is great for leveling but not so great for airborne dust 'settling'... It is a great barrier for weathering, too.

Regards, Robert

 

[JNordgren42]

Very nice! Also, I detected a bit of joy in your posts... excellent restart into the hobby, sir!
I caught the 'wash not screen accurate', however I recall discussion about the ILM teams using washes applied with large paint brushes (such as used for painting walls...) Black undercoats also are apparently de rigueur.
So other thoughts occurred to me as I followed along. One was how colors can be applies using an almost dry brushing technique, building up density slowly.
Also, using a coat of 'Pledge Multi Floor Finish' - aka 'Future' - as a gloss coat works well and can be applied with a brush. I have even used it as a setting agent under the decals though I usually also test it with a spare decal to ensure compatibility. Make sure to let it dry under a dust free cover because it can take a little while to dry which is great for leveling but not so great for airborne dust 'settling'... It is a great barrier for weathering, too.

Regards, Robert

Thanks! I definitely had fun. The last little bit I need for my airbrush is supposed to come tomorrow, so it will be good to get it hooked up and start practicing with that. I've used Future in the past on canopies, haven't ever tried it on the model itself, maybe I'll give it a go. I also dry brushed the base color (or a close facsimile) over the whole model after I finished the initial wash. It really evened things out and knocked back the saturation on the decals. Now I just need to figure out what to build next. The Bandai Slave 1 is high on the list, but I've also been eying a Hasegawa VF-1S Valkryie from Macross. Decisions, decisions...

 

[SteelDragon]

I've never bought a 1/144 scale model before, but after seeing the detail in these models, and how kick awesome they can look, I might just have had my hand forced. Lol

 

[JNordgren42]

I've never bought a 1/144 scale model before, but after seeing the detail in these models, and how kick awesome they can look, I might just have had my hand forced. Lol

It's a good size for the Falcon, it puts it in the general display footprint of most 1/72 aircraft, which works for me since my shelf space is at a premium. And the Bandai kit has insane detail for its size, even if there are a couple of minor things they got wrong. I used to prefer 1/48 when I was doing aircraft back in the day, but I just don't have room for that any more. That being said, if I ever have the chance to get the 1/72 PG Falcon, I'll jump at it and find a way to make the room.

 

[Chrisisall]

Awesome job on this sir! I salute you!

 

[SteveH]

Hi All,
I'm new to the forum and I just got back into modeling after a long hiatus when my son got me the Bandai TLJ Clear Vehicle set. I had a lot of fun putting those tiny kits together and decided I wanted something a little bigger so I picked up the 1/144 Bandai RoS Falcon. I'm impressed with the quality of the kit (not surprising since I built a lot of Bandai Gunpla back in the day) and despite some small to medium inaccuracies (what is going on with the cockpit corridor top greeblies?), it's by far the best SW kit I've ever built. That being said since I've been out of modeling so long, I no longer have my airbrush or any of my old supplies and I am trying to decide on my strategy for painting. So far I have primed it with Tamiya white fine surface primer and I was impressed with how well a rattle can laid down. I'm torn about just using Tamiya Insignia White spray cans and the kit decals and then hand weathering, or jumping back in full tilt and buying a new airbrush and painting all the panels. Does anyone have opinions on how well the decals lay down and finish out? I'd love to see any finished pics of the model using the decals as well.

Also here are some progress pics of the cockpit and gun bay. Not strictly accurate colors, but I'm just building this for fun and it will not be lit. And I had to put Han in the cockpit, even though it's not correct for the RoS version, it just doesn't seem like the Falcon without him and Chewie at the helm.


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Decals are fine if used with micro set micro sol also found using watercolor pencils for streaks far better than paiint

 

[JNordgren42]

Decals are fine if used with micro set micro sol also found using watercolor pencils for streaks far better than paiint

Gorgeous work! Is that the PG Falcon? I will eventually splurge for one, but I want to build my skills back up first. I think my learning curve is going pretty well, I just finished a 1/72 X-Wing with all the panels airbrushed and I'm extremely happy with how it came out. And it seems like I used a gallon of of Micro Set and Micro Sol on the Falcon.

 

[SteveH]

Thank you , it was the bandai 72 scale pg , have you tried using oils yet for weathering , this is the 144 scale bandai mf using oils and water pencils , main colour using

insignia white acrylic spray can

 

[Hagoth]

Fantastic looking job here, on both of these. Using water color pencils is an intriguing weathering technique tip. I will have to try it out.