Working on lower docking arms...
Man, that's some tricky geometry!
Man, that's some tricky geometry!
Our Collective 5-Foot Millennium Falcon Build
- Thread starter Studio Kitbash
- Start date
Found one of these after eight years of searching...
Only six more to go!
Only six more to go!
JCoffman,
Can you "zoom out" on this picture by 20% - it's very helpful, but I want to see a bit more of it. And I haven't given up searching, even if I end up scratch-building this piece just to move on.
Thanks!
These are the best I have of that area.
agreed
TS,
Great job on docking ring tubes.
Elevation of your beautiful bottom, main landing gear, platform is critical. The top blends in with the base of the turret at the disc top. Also, the placement of the rear Centurion structure & its “wings” are determined by the slope of the disc edge and location of the leading flap edge curve space behind it and the sloped sides of the platform deck.
This may sound confusing. Bottom line: Lay out all these large greeblies and flap ring temporarily. For me this was an important step as you adjust the plane of your platform. I actually had machined bolts & nuts at all four corners to adjust elevation properly.
Great job on docking ring tubes.
Elevation of your beautiful bottom, main landing gear, platform is critical. The top blends in with the base of the turret at the disc top. Also, the placement of the rear Centurion structure & its “wings” are determined by the slope of the disc edge and location of the leading flap edge curve space behind it and the sloped sides of the platform deck.
This may sound confusing. Bottom line: Lay out all these large greeblies and flap ring temporarily. For me this was an important step as you adjust the plane of your platform. I actually had machined bolts & nuts at all four corners to adjust elevation properly.
It's so interesting that the original builders put together the main falcon "form" then just tested greeblies and either cut to fit, or said "too big, nope, dang this one is too small, aaah!! This fits just right - where's that little bottle of Eastman glue??" And everyone else is slaving and fretting over sub-millimeter dimensions trying to recreate what was just literally bashed together- so brilliant!!!
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I think so. It looks like they needed something just to fill the gap. Probably pieces of styrene.
joberg
Legendary Member
All of the above; after the main design was done, then it's "simply" a game of finding the "right" greeblies to put on that form and using a sense of "real world look" as to which part fits in with other parts (creating a story). Sure, lots of cutting, fitting, etc...to achieve that look, but that's the fun of building Sci-Fi models from scratch
Third time's the charm? The lower rear starboard mandible pit is giving me serious neck cramps...
On the left: too small OD of the mandible pit ring. In the middle: too severe a 'cut' for the Airfix and Kettenkrad greeblie (and a wildly wrong guess for one greeblie underneath/beside the Kettenkrad piece). On the right: getting closer, but too many placement and geometry errors to retroactively fix.
Er, well, scratch that: let's try a fourth time...
But that Tamiya 1/35 Sherman track link isn't wide enough, is it? Not according to the reference pictures.
So this one is better, but still not "sure" that it's as wide and overhanging as the one they used on the original.
So the FIFTH time is charming, even if it's not "the charm" - I'm calling it close enough until some one of you points me to the specific Kit No. of the vintage Tamiya kit, which I (thought I) own all of, but still can't seem to find this bugger.
Still half a dozen greeblies to add in here, but this was the progress so far.
My advice: place ALL greeblies in all relations BEFORE gluing anything down. Mandible pits are easily the most tedious, time-consuming, and expense-producing parts of an "all-original" build if you screw it up.
Fun stuff along the way:
THIS is the Airfix 1/24 Hawker Harrier Cockpit tub greeblie that goes inside this mandible pit!!!
But MODIFIED - you cut the arms off, and then...
And then it's just this tiny little one-third of the armrest that gets used on top of the Kettenkrad block.
How stupid is this? I spent an hour looking through the Harrier kit for this tiny little piece, that's how stupid (I was).
I meant to say, "How awesome is that!" I spent an hour looking for it, then e-mailed John Coffman, and two days later knew what I was looking for.
Thanks JCoffman! Now you know why I've called this "our collective" build, because there is not the smallest ice cube's chance in a hot place of me ever figuring all this out on my own. So I appreciate all of your collective insights and wisdom. So seriously: thanks guys. It really is fun after you stop spitting nails. No, really...
On the left: too small OD of the mandible pit ring. In the middle: too severe a 'cut' for the Airfix and Kettenkrad greeblie (and a wildly wrong guess for one greeblie underneath/beside the Kettenkrad piece). On the right: getting closer, but too many placement and geometry errors to retroactively fix.
Er, well, scratch that: let's try a fourth time...
But that Tamiya 1/35 Sherman track link isn't wide enough, is it? Not according to the reference pictures.
So this one is better, but still not "sure" that it's as wide and overhanging as the one they used on the original.
So the FIFTH time is charming, even if it's not "the charm" - I'm calling it close enough until some one of you points me to the specific Kit No. of the vintage Tamiya kit, which I (thought I) own all of, but still can't seem to find this bugger.
Still half a dozen greeblies to add in here, but this was the progress so far.
My advice: place ALL greeblies in all relations BEFORE gluing anything down. Mandible pits are easily the most tedious, time-consuming, and expense-producing parts of an "all-original" build if you screw it up.
Fun stuff along the way:
THIS is the Airfix 1/24 Hawker Harrier Cockpit tub greeblie that goes inside this mandible pit!!!
But MODIFIED - you cut the arms off, and then...
And then it's just this tiny little one-third of the armrest that gets used on top of the Kettenkrad block.
How stupid is this? I spent an hour looking through the Harrier kit for this tiny little piece, that's how stupid (I was).
I meant to say, "How awesome is that!" I spent an hour looking for it, then e-mailed John Coffman, and two days later knew what I was looking for.
Thanks JCoffman! Now you know why I've called this "our collective" build, because there is not the smallest ice cube's chance in a hot place of me ever figuring all this out on my own. So I appreciate all of your collective insights and wisdom. So seriously: thanks guys. It really is fun after you stop spitting nails. No, really...
Thanks for the discussion and the sequence of photos. Clearly the maintenance pits demand “tolerance” in all three dimensions. I compromised at times by cutting (relieving) side walls to squeeze in kit parts. Getting things perfect is relative to one’s satisfaction. Prototypical approach works when you reach your limit on rework. A well done job is what counts.
Hard to believe the ILM modelers went to such pains. Far beyond what was needed for the camera shot. Falcon is an awesome subject because of this and only he who builds it really understands this icon.
Hard to believe the ILM modelers went to such pains. Far beyond what was needed for the camera shot. Falcon is an awesome subject because of this and only he who builds it really understands this icon.
Looks great!
Shamon to the Rescue with the Right Shaman!
Thanks! Putting it on my saved searches now... though my notes tell me I already own this kit, so will have to double, er, triple-check...
You might also want to double check the Scammel part as well... the Bandai kit gets that wrong. There's a discussion in my build thread here;
www.therpf.com
I can't tell from your photos, but something to double check.
Looking good though!
4' (AKA 5 foot) Falcon build
I'm guessing Paul Huston's hair, given the length. Well, I know I won't be pulling any hair out of my head to replicate that... :lol:
www.therpf.com
I can't tell from your photos, but something to double check.
Looking good though!
