SW – ANH (5 Foot) - Studio Scale Millennium Falcon Build

[maruska]

Weird -- Fusion 360 says it doesn't support opening local models. No biggie, Inventor Fusion opened it just fine. So now that I've given it a quick orbit view in Inventor, on to the pertinent question: Is there any angle at all from which this model doesn't look dead sexy?

View attachment 435996
Well, besides this one obviously.

Yeah. You have to upload imports to their cloud service. There is a local mode, but it generally works with their 360 service... Takes a bit to get used to.

 

[asalaw]

Without a doubt I'm sure it did but a little later maybe as I recall ILM was working 24/7 to complete the VFX needed to complete the film. I don't know if they worked those hours in pre-production though. However, there would have been some pressure to build the Dykstraflex motion control set up because without it they couldn't start shooting.

Just my uninformed opinion though.

Yeah, there was definitely that, but according to Dykstra, the ILM people just sort of blew them off because they were contemptuous of authority. That was a remnant of the whole 60s zeitgeist, and eventually someone was brought in to run interference for ILM with the studio. Given Dykstra's subsequent success, I assume Dykstra, et al. eventually got better at office politics.

 

[joewhite]

Wow, J, those files rock. Just built a new PC that can handle very large cad files. Its Rhino time for sure! Not that Im building one, just wanna compare to the 32 incher.

Dammit, that blown dome is killer, thanks for the info, JP! Suddenly my 32 inch vac form plug isn't a great idea, gotta have a ILM way made dome.

And sorry for butting in about the 32" Falcon but I find inspiration to continue that build even here!

Joe

 

[asalaw]

Yeah. You have to upload imports to their cloud service. There is a local mode, but it generally works with their 360 service... Takes a bit to get used to.

Ah. Okay. Just add that to the stuff I'm getting used to -- machining, sheet metal, CNC, 3D printing... Good thing I've been a sci/tech/FX nerd all my life, or I'd really be lost right about now.

 

[maruska]

Wow, J, those files rock. Just built a new PC that can handle very large cad files. Its Rhino time for sure! Not that Im building one, just wanna compare to the 32 incher.

Dammit, that blown dome is killer, thanks for the info, JP! Suddenly my 32 inch vac form plug isn't a great idea, gotta have a ILM way made dome.

And sorry for butting in about the 32" Falcon but I find inspiration to continue that build even here!

Joe

No worries. I'm still building a 32" incher myself, but I've shifted strategy to a half scale ANH version rather than a true studio scale ESB Falcon....

 

[asalaw]

Hmmm... there's a member named Brian (BrianM) who has "What the (BLEEP) is an aluminum Falcon?" as his signature, and it's gotten me thinking.

It occurs to me that a fiberglass or carbon fiber dome with an aluminum frame and armature could really cut down on weight while making a very sturdy model. We have a WaterJet at Techshop, so it's a matter of designing the frame in AutoCAD or something and cutting it out of sheet aluminum, then TIG welding that together or going the hardware option, since TIG welding aluminum is an art form in itself that might run you a few bucks to have done...

Then you could create a basic 1/4 pie wedge, mold it, lay up the dome sections in that, then cut the appropriate openings for that section's location on the hull. That would also cost a lot less in silicone than making a complete mold of the dome (though carbon fiber, at least for now, is mondo expensive).

Or, maybe you could frame the dome in 1/8" or even 1/16" birch plywood, then skin it with balsa, and then add a thin layer of fiberglass and epoxy to give it the required rigidity (Steve Neill used this technique to build the masters for his 66" Enterprise). That would help with the weight issue, certainly...

Weight and cost of materials would be a huge factor for any hobby builder, so I'm just kinda thinking out loud here... YMMV, void in Utah, yadda yadda.

 

[Ebeneezer Jones]

I'm CADing the Deagostini model so i can just bolt off, bolt on parts, and also the metal frame.

Could you not scale that metal frame up, and obviously tweak it for the 5ft model, and use that as your base, or is that not an option...?

 

[asalaw]

I'm CADing the Deagostini model so i can just bolt off, bolt on parts, and also the metal frame.

Could you not scale that metal frame up, and obviously tweak it for the 5ft model, and use that as your base, or is that not an option...?

View attachment 436222

I was talking about the 5' model. For the 32" version, weight of materials would be far less critical because you're using so much less. At that scale I might vacuum form the domes in acrylic or Lexan, or cast them in fiberglass and epoxy, and go with a laser cut frame of 1/8" birch plywood, with maybe an aluminum tube armature for pipe stand inserts.

Of course, till I've done more than just study methods (by actually building a model myself, for instance), I could just be blowing smoke out of my Sarlacc.

 

[Ebeneezer Jones]

I was talking about the 5ft model also.

I was merely asking if you could put it on a metal frame like the Deagostini. Not the same but similar.

 

[vectorzero]

Thank you very much guys. This is phenomenal work. I very much appreciate you putting it out into the public domain.

 

[bwayne64]

Been fooling around with an armature design for this beasty. Didn't want to hijack this great thread so I put it in a new one. Thanks to andre and maruska again for all the great info. It has me all fired up for the Falcon again, Cheers,

Joe

http://www.therpf.com/f10/five-foot-falcon-armature-233712/#post3559171

 

[maruska]

Per a few requests, I've uploaded a vector PDF to the grabCAD archive. It's un-dimensioned and Andre's drawings are the primary reference; this is just supplemental. It can also be opened in Illustrator for those looking to edit and hack around with it.

A jpeg preview below...



Cheers,
J.

 

[Junk Pilot]

I have a question for the 5ft'er gurus regarding the cockpit if I may.

From all the drawings I've seen the bottom of the cockpit tube sits level with the edge of the lower hull curvature but as can be seen in the attached photo it sits lower than the edge of the dome with the tube blending into the dome (and is the same for the 32in version as well). I was always under the impression the cockpit tube is angled down just slightly like the docking ring extensions because, using the drawings as a basis for the cockpit once the armour plating goes on the dome the cockpit will be sitting higher than where it does on the actual model.

Am I incorrect to assume the cockpit angles down to create this blending into the hull?

 

[maruska]

Yes and sort of.

The tube does angle downward. It slopes at about 1.5 degrees-ish.

The crescent cutouts though happen mainly when the armor is applied. Things get real funky then. There is also a generous thumb's radius of bondo smeared in there, methinks.

 

[asalaw]

Yes and sort of.

The tube does angle downward. It slopes at about 1.5 degrees-ish.

The crescent cutouts though happen mainly when the armor is applied. Things get real funky then. There is also a generous thumb's radius of bondo smeared in there, methinks.

It definitely looks coarsely sanded.

 

[maruska]

It definitely looks coarsely sanded.

Yeah. And when you look at how the piece of styrene armor wraps and warps from the back to the belly, you can tell this was a "so what'll we do here, boss?" kind of moment...

 

[asalaw]

...... (sorry, double post)

 

[asalaw]

Yeah. And when you look at how the piece of styrene armor wraps and warps from the back to the belly, you can tell this was a "so what'll we do here, boss?" kind of moment...

You mean the piece of armor wrapped around the aft wall of the cockpit? Yeah, I hadn't really caught that before, but boy, something sure went wrong there! Not the sort of thing the camera's ever going to see while the model's moving, though. Plus I wonder if that separation at the cockpit "elbow" isn't just age.

And I hadn't looked at it full size before, but now I see the sanding is clever weathering! I wonder if they built up particular colors in layers, in preparation for sanding parts of it away?

 

[adinelt]

Have a quick question about the mandibles on the blueprints. I was using them to see how my CG Falcon was shaping up. From the top view, it appears that the circles on the port side are closer to the front of the mandibles than the starboard side. Is this how it really was? Just want to make my CG model as screen accurate as I can.

Thanks in advance...
Al

 

[maruska]

Have a quick question about the mandibles on the blueprints. I was using them to see how my CG Falcon was shaping up. From the top view, it appears that the circles on the port side are closer to the front of the mandibles than the starboard side. Is this how it really was? Just want to make my CG model as screen accurate as I can.

Thanks in advance...
Al

Yup! It's such a dominant asymmetry, we left it in.