Cracker's 1/144 Finemolds Millennium Falcon Asteroid Field Diorama (3D)

[SofaKing01]

Those asteroids are beautiful! Love the detail!

 

[crackerjazz]

Thanks, SofaKing01!

After pits and craters - ready for polyfilla. This turned out to be a bit more distinguished-looking
asteroid. It seems like they're starting to take on personalities of their own.

 

[Chaank]

I've ripped on MF builds I think a couple of times on here just because there are so many but the truth is I've looked at every single on (being a closet fan) but this is something else! :love

 

[crackerjazz]

Thanks, Chaank! Glad you lke it.

Coated with Polyfilla, let dry, sanded a little, then gave it a healthy vacuuming.

Coated with various shades of gray and some white detailing.

Floating in space. I find that the texture of the polyfilla coat is influenced a lot by the amount of
water you mix in as well as the amount of sanding you do afterwards to bring out the proper
"in-scale" look. You definitely shouldn't sand too much. Better to control the water mix.

 

[crackerjazz]

Did a couple more asteroids.

Got rid of the old static base. Making a better one this time - a swivelling one so it's easily
viewable all around.

X marks the spot.

Swivel test. I've scrubbed the base paint off the Falcon (going for JMChladek's concoction) and
dismantled the cockpit and lighting. Replacing the engine LED array with fewer but brighter LEDs
and with the proper resistors this time.

Swivel plate is doing a good job.

Started mounting the new asteroids with wire. Will repaint that asteroid underneath that's
left over from my earlier attempts.

 

[jessec]

Looks awesome so far!!
Very nice ...work mate...

 

[crackerjazz]

Thanks, Jessec!

Wrestled with the spokes.

Skewering the asteroids.

Ready to paint the Falcon again (ulp!).

 

[tek2graphics]

SUPER NICE!! It would be cool if those asteroids would move around the ship.... kinda like those rotating solar systems?... >
Something like this: Build A Model Solar System - YouTube
Or this: Kinetic Solar System Desk Toy.AVI - YouTube

 

[crackerjazz]

tek2graphics, thanks! That would have been awesome. It crossed my mind, in fact, but the complexity would be beyond me.

 

[LMFAOSchwarz]

Cracker, I love the way you add surrounding "landscape" details. It just adds so much interest and context to the models!

Of course, that's on top of already being amazed at your use of guitar string, off all things, to detail your Falcon! :confused

 

[sqbiedoo]

SWEET CJ! TWO THUMPS way up my friend!

 

[crackerjazz]

Hey, Bob, thanks - if only I can paint the models better than the rocks Sqbiedoo, thanks - your comments motivate me a lot.

 

[Avanaut]

Ooh, this looks spectacular! A very good and fun idea.

 

[Chrisisall]

Lookin' good!!

 

[Waffen Bucks]

This is too cool for school. Awesome idea and so many great tips. The plastic bottle strip is great. I have a Slave 1 to complete and was thinking of placing some lights in the engine areas. The bottle idea would give it that "fuzzy" look. Brillant!!!!!! Looking forward to seeing the finished Falcon in all it's glory.

 

[crackerjazz]

Hey Avanaut, Chrisisall thanks. Funny, I've been debating through the holidays if I should get back to this. This morning I decided to pick up some more paint for the weathering colors I need. I need to muster up enough courage to start it. I botched it the first time but luckily it was easy to strip. I'll need to redo the lighting first, though, as the array I put in there wasn't such a good idea. (Maybe 10 of them in there pointing towards the back all in parallel without even a resistor). Got the smaller, stronger LEDs this time. Fewer to save power. I'll just need to re-wire then really start the painting process. Thanks, Waffen Bucks - glad you like it. The bottle to substitute for milkglass - yes that was fun. If you can't find such bottles I learned another method from LMFAOShwarz - that of sanding a piece of transparent plastic (from toy packaging and such) which will also make a good milkglass substitute.

 

[hikarub]

Went through the whole thread. Am totally amazed how cool this is! Good job so far on this diorama, I know when finished it's gonna look absolutely fantastic!!

 

[crackerjazz]

Hi hikarub thanks! It's nice to know someone is watching from halfway around the world.

 

[crackerjazz]

Painting in progress.

 

[crackerjazz]

I'm getting back to the Falcon! After scrubbing the paint off clean, I lost many of the tiny details I worked so hard at a long time ago. I just had to do it though, as the gray was playing tricks on my eyes. Sometimes it looked good but sometimes it looked too dark. And at other times it looked too brownish. So I resprayed some black into the recesses and put on a layer of JMChladek's camo gray-light gray mix this time. It looks great to me and it's pretty consistent under varied lighting conditions. Starting to do the weathering now. Weathering this flying junkpile is really scary stuff for me.