Building The ANH 5'Millennium Falcon

[eagle1]

Work continues on the replica build. I finally got around to finishing more or less the cockpit tunnel fit to the hull. This is one of those areas on the Falcon that is complex in replicating to match the actual miniature, there's alot going on here to take in. I studied this area for ages & really pleased how it sits on the hull & sidewall & the major plate that sort of overhangs the underneath.
To make life easier to plate the cockpit, I am vacforming over a curved form to achieve already curved plates, much easier than trying to bend & glue 1mm styrene!. More to come.

 

[joberg]

Beautiful work!! Eager to see your next update

 

[Bjorn]

Looking great Stu! It must have taken some serious planning to set up your cockpit tube.
Just wondering if you had to do any special reinforcement at the mitre joint on the cockpit tube inside, or is it simply a glued butt joint on the tube wall?

And I know its a bit personal but, is the diameter of your tube still 5.75" or did you end up with 6"? confused...
I realise that you had started with 5.5", but I saw that you had mentioned at the start of Sean's falcon thread that 5.75" per Andre's and Josh's initial plans had been debunked?

Cheers,
Bjorn

 

[eagle1]

Thank you kindly.
The tube is 6"!. This is now a confirmed measure & cancels out any previous work I had done to come to this conclusion. The 6" tube is the only size that works with all the surrounding areas & subassemblies. The donor parts work perfectly as well, so I guess there was a little room for movement, but the 6" I cannot fault & is in sync with my final blueprint & subsequent build.

The inside joint of the two tubes is reinforced with a baking soda weld. This is simply a joint where cyanoacrylate glue is applied along the joint & baking soda sprinkled over the still wet glue & the chemical reaction fuses immediately to almost a rock hard weld!. The weld is extremely strong & can be drilled through, sanded, whatever!.

 

[Bjorn]

Excellent! so good to know regarding the tube dimensions. Thank you!

Ha! very familiar with the baking soda/cyno trick. Makes perfect sense. I remember fusing old school balsa model planes back together with it and having to be somewhat careful as it gets super hot as it goes off.

In fact, that reminds me, it was also a secret ingredient in my glue joints for my high school balsa bridge building competition. Good call.

 

[joberg]

Beautiful work so far...eager to see your next update!

 

[hartmann]

wahoo amazing work

 

[OlivierC]

Wow, I have never seen a 5 feet version of the model in person. This photo with your hand holding the cockpit tube really makes me realize how huge it is

 

[eagle1]

Work on the cockpit continues. Most of the kit parts are on the tunnel longer detail strip, a few can only be added after plating is done. Partial kit parts on the cockpit itself with quite a few yet to add to top & bottom.
Plating being done & here I didn't fancy bending & glueing & trying to precisely place 1mm styrene over the tube...so I vacformed 1.5mm styrene over a 6" form to have pre- formed styrene. I simply could just mark out & cut the panels from these pulls, much easier & happy I did this.
Will finally fix the cockpit in place this weekend & finish the detailing.

 

[eagle1]

Hi all!.
Finally attached the cockpit to the hull & wasn't as nerve wracking as I thought it would be. Went down perfectly & no filler needed, a testament to the blueprint fold-out cutting guide for the assembly to construct.
Now plating the sides of the tunnel & cockpit & surrounding areas, plus adding more donor kit parts as I go along!.

 

[joberg]

Looking crazy good already

 

[bwayne64]

Man, that is a thing of beauty ! I may have missed it, but what did you use for the 6 inch cockpit tube ? Only thing I can find that big is PVC drain pipe, lol.
Cheers,
Joe

 

[eagle1]

I used Plastruct 6" ABS tube.

 

[Vacformedhero]

stunning work

 

[bwayne64]

I used Plastruct 6" ABS tube.

Thanks, I didn't know they made it that big. Cheers,
Joe

 

[eagle1]

Topside cockpit plating complete with most kit parts applied. So glad I went with pre-formed curved styrene...much much easier!.

 

[joberg]

Lovely

 

[Laspector]

How can you stand to be in the room with this much coolness? I wouldn't be able to take it.

 

[chazzychaz]

Beautiful. What's your go to glue for getting kit parts and sheet laminating?

 

[eagle1]

I know what you mean. When I walk back into the room to continue working on it, most times I think wow...this is too cool!