What scale is the 5 foot Millennium Falcon?
- Thread starter zeus1138
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BiggusDoggus
New Member
That kinda depends on how long you think a full sized Falcon would be, and how long you think the 5' falcon is.
Depending on source you can get a length for the full sized Falcon as anything between 80ft and 152ft
many people seem to agree that Robert Brown's calculations as documented on his Ship of Riddles site are about right - certainly that's what the Full Scale Falcon guys are working to. That would give an overall length of 114ft or 34.74m
as for the 5' Falcon, Star Wars Chronicles lists the model made for ANH as 173cm (or 68 inches and change). <- way more than 5' btw, but that's not the measurement that everyone who tries a 5' necessarily uses.
Extrapolating from these two figures, a 5' (ish) Falcon is about 1:20 (ish) but I've seen it given as 1:24, and it's pretty easy to generate as large as 1:17 with other combinations of figures.
To be honest you may as well be asking how long is a piece of string? Nobody knows for certain, not least because the full scale Falcon (more than one set in each movie) was a) not actually to scale and b) not fully built, and it's difficult if not impossible to get close enough to the 5' model that attends the shows to get exact measurements. A brief search of these very forums will turn up a number of build plans with minor differences (that may well become major if/when you actually come to do anything with them) It's usual to start with the known parts used for greeblies, and size the ship from there, but even then it's difficult to agree exactly.
Depending on source you can get a length for the full sized Falcon as anything between 80ft and 152ft
many people seem to agree that Robert Brown's calculations as documented on his Ship of Riddles site are about right - certainly that's what the Full Scale Falcon guys are working to. That would give an overall length of 114ft or 34.74m
as for the 5' Falcon, Star Wars Chronicles lists the model made for ANH as 173cm (or 68 inches and change). <- way more than 5' btw, but that's not the measurement that everyone who tries a 5' necessarily uses.
Extrapolating from these two figures, a 5' (ish) Falcon is about 1:20 (ish) but I've seen it given as 1:24, and it's pretty easy to generate as large as 1:17 with other combinations of figures.
To be honest you may as well be asking how long is a piece of string? Nobody knows for certain, not least because the full scale Falcon (more than one set in each movie) was a) not actually to scale and b) not fully built, and it's difficult if not impossible to get close enough to the 5' model that attends the shows to get exact measurements. A brief search of these very forums will turn up a number of build plans with minor differences (that may well become major if/when you actually come to do anything with them) It's usual to start with the known parts used for greeblies, and size the ship from there, but even then it's difficult to agree exactly.
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So far the Robert Brown numbers are most accepted and agreed upon numbers for the size of the original 1:1 scale ship. So here's how you calculate the scale. If the length of the ship is 114' long, and you want to find out the scale of the 5' model you divide 114 by 5 and get a result of 22.8 or roughly 1/23 scale. Now that's a rough estimate based on the assumption that the 5 footer is actually 5 feet long. According to the number above it was 68 inches long which means 5.67 feet So using that number up divide 114 by 5.67 and you get 20.11 or 1/20 scale. Scale basically means if you were take the scaled down version, and place 20 of them end to end you would equal the length of the full scale version. Scale numbers are usually rounded to the nearest whole number. Because it's easier to say 1/20th scale then to say 1/20.11th scale. But basically it all depends on the numbers you are looking at. And as you can see... the difference of only 8 inches is the difference between 1/23rd and 1/20th scale.
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rbeach84
Sr Member
Since there was no "real" MillFalcon, it is somewhat nonsensical to discuss scale. In essence, the "5 footer" WAS the real MF and hence was 1:1 scale. Scaling a model in such situations boils down to 'how big does it look?' Robert Brown & others have attempted to walk the analysis tightrope and make a reasonable correlation between the interior and exterior sets with typically a bias towards the interior sets in order to come up with some working dimensions. For you as the modeler, it is a judgement call & if their work is acceptable, then go with it. For me personally, I am calling the Hasbro Hero 28" 'toy model' at 1:48 scale - close enough to make it fit with the rest of my 1:48 scale collection!
For "practical" reasons, I assume the approximately 5-foot long ANH MillFalcon to be 1:24 scale - aka 'dollhouse scale' - simply because you can park a 1:24 Corvette by the ramp! ;^P
Regards, Robert
For "practical" reasons, I assume the approximately 5-foot long ANH MillFalcon to be 1:24 scale - aka 'dollhouse scale' - simply because you can park a 1:24 Corvette by the ramp! ;^P
Regards, Robert
I guess it all depends on your level of OCD. If you want to be a stickler, you'd use a 1/20th scale for the 5 footer... but personally I think anywhere between 1/20th and 1/24th scale wouldn't be very noticable.
RogueTrooper
Well-Known Member
They did build a full scale MF for ANH, where are the measurements for that?
Actually that Falcon that was "full scale" wasn't... in ANH it was only a side façade. You can tell in the tattoonie hanger because the radar dish is missing. They did build a "full scale" complete for ESB but both of those were only 3/4 the size of what a full scale should have been.
Actually that Falcon that was "full scale" wasn't... in ANH it was only a side façade. You can tell in the tattoonie hanger because the radar dish is missing. They did build a "full scale" complete for ESB but both of those were only 3/4 the size of what a full scale should have been. On a happy note... a full 1:1 scale 114 foot Falcon has been built by J.J. for Disney World. Complete with the full interior and completely accurate to the films. It will be put on display for tours when the new Star Wars area in Disney World is completed. Can't wait to see it!
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Actually that Falcon that was "full scale" wasn't... in ANH it was only a side façade. You can tell in the tattoonie hanger because the radar dish is missing. They did build a "full scale" complete for ESB but both of those were only 3/4 the size of what a full scale should have been. On a happy note... a full 1:1 scale 114 foot Falcon has been built by J.J. for Disney World. Complete with the full interior and completely accurate to the films. It will be put on display for tours when the new Star Wars area in Disney World is completed. Can't wait to see it!<br>
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RogueTrooper
Well-Known Member
The Falcon has about 3 different sizes:
The 5ft model was the first thing ever built. It has 1:24 model seats inside. The ILM crew built all the ships that were dogfighting in ANH to that same 1:24 scale in case it proved useful. This points to a monstrously big 136ft full size ship.
The soundstage sets were extrapolated off the 5ft model. They were never even ballpark close to fitting each other or the ILM models. The interior sets suggest a 114ft Falcon. The cockpit got 18" deeper (front to back) for ESB & ROTJ to give the actors more room inside.
The 1:1 exterior shells (just the right side for ANH, and the whole ship for ESB) were radically undersized to fit on the soundstages. They were only 82ft long. You can visibly see the cockpit is too small (compared to the interior scenes) when they are walking around underneath it.
The closest thing to an official size, as of 2015, is the 114ft interior size. For Ep#7 they have built the 1:1 scale exterior shell that big for the first time.
The 5ft model was the first thing ever built. It has 1:24 model seats inside. The ILM crew built all the ships that were dogfighting in ANH to that same 1:24 scale in case it proved useful. This points to a monstrously big 136ft full size ship.
The soundstage sets were extrapolated off the 5ft model. They were never even ballpark close to fitting each other or the ILM models. The interior sets suggest a 114ft Falcon. The cockpit got 18" deeper (front to back) for ESB & ROTJ to give the actors more room inside.
The 1:1 exterior shells (just the right side for ANH, and the whole ship for ESB) were radically undersized to fit on the soundstages. They were only 82ft long. You can visibly see the cockpit is too small (compared to the interior scenes) when they are walking around underneath it.
The closest thing to an official size, as of 2015, is the 114ft interior size. For Ep#7 they have built the 1:1 scale exterior shell that big for the first time.
Darth Humorous
Well-Known Member
If you are interested in a scale to a “real life” sized Falcon AND want to be real nit-pickky about it (i.e., a rivet counter), below is my take on the scale.
So far, my own work reveals Bob Brown’s estimate of 114 feet for a “real life” Falcon to be most excellent. Could it be different? Sure, but that is what I will go with.
Furthermore, I had determined many years ago that the base, un-greeblied falcon length to be 64 inches. My estimates for the engine flap greebly and the “headlight housing” greebly as applied to the engine deck and mandible tips, respectively, gives a total length of 64.539625 inches.
To be clear, the engine flap greebly I refer to is from the M8 Munitions Carrier and 8" Howitzer kit and the “headlight housing” greebly I refer to is from the Ferrari 312B kit.
From the 114 foot “full size” length I choose to be correct, and my estimate of 64.539625 inches for the “5-footer” length, I calculate a scale of 1/21.1962805795664.
Since I do not have access to the actual greeblies in question, there is undoubtedly some error in my final length, and therefore scale, but I’d wager this error is not very much at all.
It could be that ILM was going for a total model length of 64.5 inches, and IF they succeeded in achieving this total length, some or all of the following cases may apply to my total estimate:
• my “front-to-back” length estimate of the plow part used for the engine flap greebly is off a little.
• my placement estimate of the “front-to-back” of the plow part used for the engine flap greebly is off a little.
• my “front-to-back” length estimate of the “headlight housing” greebly is off a little.
Keep in mind, however, that it is unlikely for those greeblies to measure out to an exact 1/2 inch when added to a 64 inch long base Falcon model.
Mark
So far, my own work reveals Bob Brown’s estimate of 114 feet for a “real life” Falcon to be most excellent. Could it be different? Sure, but that is what I will go with.
Furthermore, I had determined many years ago that the base, un-greeblied falcon length to be 64 inches. My estimates for the engine flap greebly and the “headlight housing” greebly as applied to the engine deck and mandible tips, respectively, gives a total length of 64.539625 inches.
To be clear, the engine flap greebly I refer to is from the M8 Munitions Carrier and 8" Howitzer kit and the “headlight housing” greebly I refer to is from the Ferrari 312B kit.
From the 114 foot “full size” length I choose to be correct, and my estimate of 64.539625 inches for the “5-footer” length, I calculate a scale of 1/21.1962805795664.
Since I do not have access to the actual greeblies in question, there is undoubtedly some error in my final length, and therefore scale, but I’d wager this error is not very much at all.
It could be that ILM was going for a total model length of 64.5 inches, and IF they succeeded in achieving this total length, some or all of the following cases may apply to my total estimate:
• my “front-to-back” length estimate of the plow part used for the engine flap greebly is off a little.
• my placement estimate of the “front-to-back” of the plow part used for the engine flap greebly is off a little.
• my “front-to-back” length estimate of the “headlight housing” greebly is off a little.
Keep in mind, however, that it is unlikely for those greeblies to measure out to an exact 1/2 inch when added to a 64 inch long base Falcon model.
Mark
Vacformedhero
Sr Member
Thanks fr this guys, I am scratch building key components for the hasbro which I am building as ANH , my conversions were getting screwed up as I was getting distracted by the scale of the parts used .....this has cleared it up. See sketch of 1/5 rotary engine , I have been using all references gathered here and in various books, while it's ok to work things out by eye in porportion to another feature it's great when a measurement confirms a position . You can see my reference gathered in my profile photo gallery BTW seeing the actual size of this piece drawn out gives a real appreciation of the size of the original
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How do you find this gallery? Sorry for my ignorance...
Vacformedhero
Sr Member
Album in my profile http://www.therpf.com/album.php?albumid=5233, I gathered together all the reference shots on this site and batched them together by features on the falcon, I will do one later for paint scheme
136' is good. Why would that be 'monstrous'? No truly full-size mockup has been built, but why build a 136' mockup when you can easily skimp and nobody will even notice til years later. We're all familiar with the problems of the sets not fitting within the mockup shells. Most of that if not all of it goes away at 136'.
ILM used 1/24 for many of the Star Wars ship models - the fighters, the final 5'-ish Falcon, I've never done the numbers but I wouldn't be surprised if the Pirate Ship was 1/24 too, originally. These were treated *by the OT productions* as the definitive research materials.
Works for me.
ILM used 1/24 for many of the Star Wars ship models - the fighters, the final 5'-ish Falcon, I've never done the numbers but I wouldn't be surprised if the Pirate Ship was 1/24 too, originally. These were treated *by the OT productions* as the definitive research materials.
Works for me.
