To build the nacelle tie-down subassembly:
Start with these four pieces, and then modify as follows.
Then glue that little sucker, or half of it, with the raised ridge on the inside, into the bottom of the Kettenkrad pieces, like so:
Start here with your Kettenkrad tie-down greeblie, and sand/plane it until its practically one-plane surface at top/rear section...
Then do the following, repeating but modifying the steps shown earlier on how to perfect your 3-piece nacelle-tie-down clip subassembly.
Cut the Bandai 1/24 wheel struts roughly as follows, NOT cutting the bottom edge flush with the strut piece, in order to accommodate the angle of the "mount" on the pantyhose nacelle.
Note the angle, leaning inward on top, outward on bottom...
The basic idea is to angle these out at bottom as much will be allowed and angle them together at the top as much as possible, and THEN make the top cross-cut to create the upper plane of the nurnie on top of which you'll glue the two little "nubs" of the cut-offs from the center of the wheel piece.
You're cutting off a ridiculously small tip-top piece from here, on both struts, and saving those tiny pieces to glue on top.
You're angling them together at top to produce this effect:
For this result, once it's all put together and you like the angle:
Here's a close-up
And here's a comparison shot with the previous version I made:
On this, you can see that the one on the left (earlier version) has "flat walls" while on the right (corrected version), has the "angled version" that DaveG pointed out is on the original. If you "work it" even more, which I may yet still do, you can get an even more severe angle from top to bottom, and you can get a better flat plane surface on the Kettenkrad piece, which is something I only discovered after it was too late on this one.
So while this newer, corrected version still isn't a "completely perfect" replica of the nacelle tie-downs, it's edging towards pretty dang close, and more importantly, it manifests the key characteristics of the original subassembly without using a fourth "mystery greeblie," which I believe actually solves the mystery, which is that there is no fourth missing/mystery greeblie - there is just a very specific construction technique you must follow. I may be wrong, but as of this date, I really do think this is how ILM did it, technique-wise, when first mastering these. There are some other versions on the Millennium Falcon where the whole "mystery greeblie" section seems very thin and "single-surface", which I would argue is the result of simply taking this structure and thinning it down with a rotary tool on both sides.
I would love your comments, critiques, eagle-eyes, and nitpicks. I'd like to actually "nail this" so feel free to be liberal with your constructive criticism. If you need further shots, or measurements, or whatever, let me know.
Start with these four pieces, and then modify as follows.
Then glue that little sucker, or half of it, with the raised ridge on the inside, into the bottom of the Kettenkrad pieces, like so:
Start here with your Kettenkrad tie-down greeblie, and sand/plane it until its practically one-plane surface at top/rear section...
Then do the following, repeating but modifying the steps shown earlier on how to perfect your 3-piece nacelle-tie-down clip subassembly.
Cut the Bandai 1/24 wheel struts roughly as follows, NOT cutting the bottom edge flush with the strut piece, in order to accommodate the angle of the "mount" on the pantyhose nacelle.
Note the angle, leaning inward on top, outward on bottom...
The basic idea is to angle these out at bottom as much will be allowed and angle them together at the top as much as possible, and THEN make the top cross-cut to create the upper plane of the nurnie on top of which you'll glue the two little "nubs" of the cut-offs from the center of the wheel piece.
You're cutting off a ridiculously small tip-top piece from here, on both struts, and saving those tiny pieces to glue on top.
You're angling them together at top to produce this effect:
For this result, once it's all put together and you like the angle:
Here's a close-up
And here's a comparison shot with the previous version I made:
On this, you can see that the one on the left (earlier version) has "flat walls" while on the right (corrected version), has the "angled version" that DaveG pointed out is on the original. If you "work it" even more, which I may yet still do, you can get an even more severe angle from top to bottom, and you can get a better flat plane surface on the Kettenkrad piece, which is something I only discovered after it was too late on this one.
So while this newer, corrected version still isn't a "completely perfect" replica of the nacelle tie-downs, it's edging towards pretty dang close, and more importantly, it manifests the key characteristics of the original subassembly without using a fourth "mystery greeblie," which I believe actually solves the mystery, which is that there is no fourth missing/mystery greeblie - there is just a very specific construction technique you must follow. I may be wrong, but as of this date, I really do think this is how ILM did it, technique-wise, when first mastering these. There are some other versions on the Millennium Falcon where the whole "mystery greeblie" section seems very thin and "single-surface", which I would argue is the result of simply taking this structure and thinning it down with a rotary tool on both sides.
I would love your comments, critiques, eagle-eyes, and nitpicks. I'd like to actually "nail this" so feel free to be liberal with your constructive criticism. If you need further shots, or measurements, or whatever, let me know.
