Our Collective 5-Foot Millennium Falcon Build
- Thread starter Studio Kitbash
- Start date
Thank you!
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
If you cheat the greeblies, the greeblies will cheat you.
Here is the correct Sherman to get for the upper deck engine vents, cut out, then cut in half, to use as underlayment for the side docking rings.
If you were to get the modern Sherman by Tamiya, you would be off in your height by nearly 3mm:
Height on the modern Sherman: 22mm Height on the vintage Sherman: 24.8mm
Width on the modern Sherman: 45mm Width on the vintage Sherman: 46.5mm
Here is the correct Sherman to get for the upper deck engine vents, cut out, then cut in half, to use as underlayment for the side docking rings.
If you were to get the modern Sherman by Tamiya, you would be off in your height by nearly 3mm:
Height on the modern Sherman: 22mm Height on the vintage Sherman: 24.8mm
Width on the modern Sherman: 45mm Width on the vintage Sherman: 46.5mm
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
The artwork on some those old kits particularily the Tamiya ones was phenomenal. I had some of them in the 1970’s and the box art really fired the imagination as a kid.
Thanks for sharing the image and that little bit of nostalgia.
Sir, you are a King of greeblie I.D.
Thanks for sharing the image and that little bit of nostalgia.
Sir, you are a King of greeblie I.D.
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
Original or Current Falcon?
Are you building the Original Falcon prop replica or the Current Falcon prop replica?
Portside rear of the landing gear box area -- here's one of the areas where it's critical to have multiple reference sources.
On the left, the original 1975 prop underside from the Chronicles reference book, with Part #A15 from the Tamiya 1/35 M60 (modified, with a center-edge greeblie added).
On the right, Gorts Parts Map MF 010 - 1.3 with entry 12 listed as the Tamiya 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. M/N part #A21, which is clearly a later shot of the current prop in its current state.
So ILM replaced this piece with the other piece.
Interestingly, though they are not at all similar, they do share roughly the same width:
Me, personally, I'm going Old School, because 1977...
Question: What is the added greeblie on the center edge of the old-school M60 piece? And is it attached to the M60 piece, or just adjacent to it? Looks like it's placed beside/on top of it, to my eye, but I can't tell for sure.
And then...
Just when you think you've figured something out, you realize you're wrong again.
The left side piece, on the Original Falcon prop, is NOT from the Tamiya 1/35 M60, but from the vintage Tamiya 1/48 M60, part #A1, and THAT is what explains the "added greeblie" on center-edge.
Pic coming soon.
3 steps forward, 2 steps back...
Are you building the Original Falcon prop replica or the Current Falcon prop replica?
Portside rear of the landing gear box area -- here's one of the areas where it's critical to have multiple reference sources.
On the left, the original 1975 prop underside from the Chronicles reference book, with Part #A15 from the Tamiya 1/35 M60 (modified, with a center-edge greeblie added).
On the right, Gorts Parts Map MF 010 - 1.3 with entry 12 listed as the Tamiya 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. M/N part #A21, which is clearly a later shot of the current prop in its current state.
So ILM replaced this piece with the other piece.
Interestingly, though they are not at all similar, they do share roughly the same width:
Me, personally, I'm going Old School, because 1977...
Question: What is the added greeblie on the center edge of the old-school M60 piece? And is it attached to the M60 piece, or just adjacent to it? Looks like it's placed beside/on top of it, to my eye, but I can't tell for sure.
And then...
Just when you think you've figured something out, you realize you're wrong again.
The left side piece, on the Original Falcon prop, is NOT from the Tamiya 1/35 M60, but from the vintage Tamiya 1/48 M60, part #A1, and THAT is what explains the "added greeblie" on center-edge.
Pic coming soon.
3 steps forward, 2 steps back...
Last edited:
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
Craig,
You don't think it was ever replaced? But it's not on the picture in Gort's maps, and a piece that wasn't there before is in it's place. What else could explain this discrepancy? Are they "both" there, and I'm just not seeing it? Send pics, if you've got them.
Thanks,
SK
You don't think it was ever replaced? But it's not on the picture in Gort's maps, and a piece that wasn't there before is in it's place. What else could explain this discrepancy? Are they "both" there, and I'm just not seeing it? Send pics, if you've got them.
Thanks,
SK
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
Tsophika is right again: I got the left and right side of the gear box confused. So here are the correct, non-replaced greeblies:
On the left: the Tamiya 1/48 M60 (vintage), Part #A1 (goes on the starboard side of the Falcon gear box)
On the right: the Tamiya 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. M/N, Part #A21 (goes on the port side of the Falcon gear box)
Man, that was really confusing me for the last two hours, because I was reading Gort's Parts Map as the "same side" of the gear box as the Chronicles photo...
Thanks, Craig!
On the left: the Tamiya 1/48 M60 (vintage), Part #A1 (goes on the starboard side of the Falcon gear box)
On the right: the Tamiya 1/35 Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. M/N, Part #A21 (goes on the port side of the Falcon gear box)
Man, that was really confusing me for the last two hours, because I was reading Gort's Parts Map as the "same side" of the gear box as the Chronicles photo...
Thanks, Craig!
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
Bjorn is right -- it is part #B21, and the Sturmgeschuetz Ausf.G kit and the Panzerkampfwagen III Ausf. M/N both share this same sprue.
Man, to quote the movie Airplane, "I picked the wrong week to stop drinking!"
Man, to quote the movie Airplane, "I picked the wrong week to stop drinking!"
rbeach84
Sr Member
Suffering the ol' "my eyes got crossed from staring at it too long" problem - been there, done that!
;^P
As an aside (AAA), does anyone else feel a pang of regret when 'parting out' a kit in pursuit of "the kitbash"? So many fine examples of the tool makers art...
Cheers and Happy New Year!
R/ Robert
;^P
As an aside (AAA), does anyone else feel a pang of regret when 'parting out' a kit in pursuit of "the kitbash"? So many fine examples of the tool makers art...
Cheers and Happy New Year!
R/ Robert
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
Post-Christmas free time progress... slowly but surely...
Studio Kitbash
Sr Member
So you've got the Chronicles reference book. You've got the Rinzler books. You've got the websites. You've got ALL the known pictures, images, CADs, and museum picture collections. And you've got your own personal super-duper secret stash that you're not supposed to share with anyone else, on pain of losing a corner of your Jedi card...
So you're pretty much set to start building a 5-Footer Falcon.
But...
Do you have My Affair With the Falcon by James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr.?
No? Haven't heard of that one?
Well then!
Just putting it out there, for all your purists, completists, and totalists out there. In case you don't want to miss a trick.
I'm not saying it's super helpful, I'm just saying it exists. And I will say this: it's very interesting, on multiple levels.
It was self-published on Oct. 28, 2019, and I got mine on December 6, 2019.
And James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. puts Internet references and links in his book, one of which is the RPF and a few particular threads.
So this leads me to query: is James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. ON the RPF? Is he known to anyone reading this? Is he reading this? If so, please identify yourself, as the Falcon builder's community has grown, progressed, and now has in their possession many of the things you are struggling to achieve and/or discover in your book.
Anyway, if you've got the coin, and are interested in knowing just how difficult it is to do what you are currently taking for granted, this book will give you a strong sense of historical perspective, as well as many personal details of the author's life, his journey into Star Wars obsession, and just how hard it was to get an accurate blueprint poster made in 1983. Yes, 1983. Yes: he was forty years ahead of most of us.
So even though I don't know him, had never previously heard of him, and have never met him, I am hereby unofficially declaring James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. as the world's first studio scale 5-Foot Falcon builder pioneer, even if he never (to my knowledge) got to build one. He was, I believe, as the documents in this book attest, the first "true fan" of the 5-Footer, and the first to try and figure it out from an engineering and replication point of view. He forged a path many of us never knew he was forging. But he was, in the all-important world of documentation and provenance, at least one of the... FIRST! (Lee Malone, to my knowledge, was the actual first to complete his build, and I have seen his, and it is a thing of true beauty.)
We're socked in with snow here in Chicagoland, and Mahaffey's book makes fine winter reading by the fireplace.
I raise my glass of warm brandy to you, Mr. Mahaffey!
So you're pretty much set to start building a 5-Footer Falcon.
But...
Do you have My Affair With the Falcon by James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr.?
No? Haven't heard of that one?
Well then!
Just putting it out there, for all your purists, completists, and totalists out there. In case you don't want to miss a trick.
I'm not saying it's super helpful, I'm just saying it exists. And I will say this: it's very interesting, on multiple levels.
It was self-published on Oct. 28, 2019, and I got mine on December 6, 2019.
And James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. puts Internet references and links in his book, one of which is the RPF and a few particular threads.
So this leads me to query: is James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. ON the RPF? Is he known to anyone reading this? Is he reading this? If so, please identify yourself, as the Falcon builder's community has grown, progressed, and now has in their possession many of the things you are struggling to achieve and/or discover in your book.
Anyway, if you've got the coin, and are interested in knowing just how difficult it is to do what you are currently taking for granted, this book will give you a strong sense of historical perspective, as well as many personal details of the author's life, his journey into Star Wars obsession, and just how hard it was to get an accurate blueprint poster made in 1983. Yes, 1983. Yes: he was forty years ahead of most of us.
So even though I don't know him, had never previously heard of him, and have never met him, I am hereby unofficially declaring James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. as the world's first studio scale 5-Foot Falcon builder pioneer, even if he never (to my knowledge) got to build one. He was, I believe, as the documents in this book attest, the first "true fan" of the 5-Footer, and the first to try and figure it out from an engineering and replication point of view. He forged a path many of us never knew he was forging. But he was, in the all-important world of documentation and provenance, at least one of the... FIRST! (Lee Malone, to my knowledge, was the actual first to complete his build, and I have seen his, and it is a thing of true beauty.)
We're socked in with snow here in Chicagoland, and Mahaffey's book makes fine winter reading by the fireplace.
I raise my glass of warm brandy to you, Mr. Mahaffey!
