The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon Projects

Jaitea

Master Member
Well,....now that we have had the joy of seeing the future Bandai 1/144 Falcon model & the low of uncertainty that we might ever possess it,.....I thought I'd post some images of what we know so far about the Falcon as we will see her in the future films.

I've gone on about which version of the Falcon ILM have digitised.....(ok,...I'll say it again....the 5 foot studio model),....but apart from the obvious rectangular dish,....there is another notable difference

Although the 5 footer was a huge model & had a crap-load of detail on her,...now that she is digital she has a load more detail in the sidewalls & docking ring doors

I would say that they used the 5 footer to measure up the full scale filming prop, filled the sidewalls & docking rings full of a million pipes & greeblies and then digitised them for the digital element,.....this keeps everything the same

Lets look at what we've seen:

The 1st Teaser,....you can see theres are a lot more going on there than what we're used to,...(I brightened & desaturated parts)
brightened.jpg


Next the Bob Iger cover with the digital element dissolving into wire frame
discov.jpg


You can see the docking door looks a lot busier
Screen%20Shot%202015-09-07%20at%2019.54.04.png


& looks exactly like the Full scale prop:
bobiger-banner.jpg

LifeSizeFalcon.jpg


...now look at the docking ring on the Bandai kit:
Screen%20Shot%202015-09-07%20at%2019.56.13.png


& sidewalls:
Screen%20Shot%202015-09-07%20at%2019.58.03.png


Ahh,...she is a beauty
01.jpg

1979mpcfalconboxlidc32.jpg

02%20b.jpg

615003_424500564268217_1575473247_o.jpg


I am disappointed that things have turned a bit negative at the minute, but I'm sure the Bandai kit will turn up on Amazon or even more expensively on eBay
I am disappointed that Bandai haven't produced a 1/72 kit.....to rival the FM Revell kit coming out in Nov

Talking of the FM 72nd, I've taken the blade to my second untouched kit,.....inspired by Hunk a Junk & Rockvoice's alterations,.....I've cut off the docking walkways,....the mandibles, the jaws.......&........the front landing gear boxes,......my plan is to make a representation of the 5 foot Falcon with the parts of the FM kit,.....using magnets I hopefully can make the Falcon 3 gear or 5 gear, circular dish or rectangular,......& have the sidewalls & docking doors crammed with greeblies

I'll post some images soon

Thanks for looking

John
 
As soon as my kit arrived (shipping will start in october) l will share with you all the specs and details of the kit

Feel free to use the pics to come for what you want

If I get the time to I may provide you 3D scans of some parts
 
Looking at other differences, top of the mandibles the boxes next to the mclaren driver cell is gone replaced with a more subdued detail.
overall more pipe work has been added over existing recognisable details, like the 8 rad details in the jaw, and mandibles , the 8 rad looks like it's still there just covered
looks like a very specific change was requested in how it looks .
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    190.6 KB · Views: 492
Great summary john, those docking rings are very dense in detail alright

She's meaty alright

As soon as my kit arrived (shipping will start in october) l will share with you all the specs and details of the kit
Feel free to use the pics to come for what you want
If I get the time to I may provide you 3D scans of some parts

Sounds good Pinouees,.....3D scans you say,.....hmmm

Looking at other differences, top of the mandibles the boxes next to the mclaren driver cell is gone replaced with a more subdued detail.
overall more pipe work has been added over existing recognisable details, like the 8 rad details in the jaw, and mandibles , the 8 rad looks like it's still there just covered
looks like a very specific change was requested in how it looks .

The boxes beside the McLaren look different on the Bandai kit, but look the same to me on the CG model,....dunno

I put SteveStarKiller's (Stinson) CG render of the Ep 7 Falcon in this montage also,....I know he sees things that others can't make out

Boxes.jpg



Nice thread!

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

Fanks,....post here if you want to


J
 
Last edited:
Talking of the FM 72nd, I've taken the blade to my second untouched kit,.....inspired by Hunk a Junk & Rockvoice's alterations

I'm honored to have inspired you! One thing to keep in mind (out of many) is that as you increase the hull curvature, it throws off the orientation of the cockpit tube. A lot. The nose of the cockpit gets pushed downward. You'll need to trim and shim the cockpit tube hallway section accordingly.

On a side note, it's fascinating to me that in all the hoo-haw about "practical effects" and all the holier than Lucas chest-thumping that TFA is being made the 'right way' (i.e. less reliance on CG) that no one seems bothered that the Falcon is CG in the film. I'm certainly not, but then again I'm fine with CG. It's just a tool -- and in many ways a better tool. It just seems to me that under different circumstances certain purists would be whining endlessly about a CG Falcon ruining their childhoods. Text books can be written about the weird psychology of Star Wars fans!
 
I'm honored to have inspired you! One thing to keep in mind (out of many) is that as you increase the hull curvature, it throws off the orientation of the cockpit tube. A lot. The nose of the cockpit gets pushed downward. You'll need to trim and shim the cockpit tube hallway section accordingly.

On a side note, it's fascinating to me that in all the hoo-haw about "practical effects" and all the holier than Lucas chest-thumping that TFA is being made the 'right way' (i.e. less reliance on CG) that no one seems bothered that the Falcon is CG in the film. I'm certainly not, but then again I'm fine with CG. It's just a tool -- and in many ways a better tool. It just seems to me that under different circumstances certain purists would be whining endlessly about a CG Falcon ruining their childhoods. Text books can be written about the weird psychology of Star Wars fans!


I also love what CGI can do. Seeing those CGI viper Mark 2's on Galactica always made me smile.

However, there is one argument against it. I work in Theatre as a technical director. There's an expression I use with designers:

"parameters inspire creativity"

You will never see a more thoughtless design than one where the designer has unlimited resources. They just stop caring about resources. But when you add a parameter such as, "The set needs to fill the stage AND fit into a truck" the designer is forced to be a lot more creative in their product.

The same goes for drafting. Since the invention of CAD, drafting has really gone to crap. It's so disposable that they've become thoughtless.

And that is why in the OT, the x-wings were all made individually but when the SE editions came out, all the CGI x-wings became red leader.
 
"parameters inspire creativity"

True, but not in all cases. I think we can all agree that ILM's development of computer-controlled cameras for the OT, for example, loosened parameters and unleashed a LOT of creativity. Anyway, I don't want to hijack the thread into another debate about the virtues or evils of CG. I just see some hypocrisy from fans when it comes to when and how CG is used in Star Wars, and TFA Falcon is an example of it me thinks.
 
WILD ***** THEORY....

I think JJ and CO. have "resized" the falcon so that it is close to the inner and outer dimensions of the sets and physical and digital models. to that end I "think" the diameter of the digital model is widened quite a bit. I say this for a couple of reasons.

1) to my eye the Ep VII falcon looks like it has 99% of the detailing of the 5 footer... but it looks "flatter" to me like the ESB model... lacking the accentuated curvature of the 5 foot physical model. As has been noted in the thread earlier the sidewalls and docking rings are obviously more greeblied up.

2) The ratio between the outer diameter of the hull and the height of the engine area is "off" compared to either the 5 footer or the ESB falcon. Telling me the stretched the thing to be right diameter but kept the same sidewall height. Go take a look at the falcon in hyperspace in ANH (just before their arrival at Alderaan) you can see the curvature and the sidewalls are not the same as the pics from EP VII that we've seen.

END THEORY
All of this being said in the thread I think that we all need to wait a bit before getting into cutting our plastic to recreate the "new" falcon.


On a side note to Hunk o junk and astroboy - here's what I believe with respect to Special Effects (its a pet peeve of mine). The explosion of CGI technology allowing the director to create any wild thing they wanted onto film lead to a period of what I'll deem "lazy" story telling. The "limitations" of what they could get into a camera forced the director/storyteller to come up with alternative ways to tell their story where technology could not do it. I "think" that the period of lazy storytelling is coming to an end, where directors/storytellers are realizing that just because you can put in an effect doesn't mean you should and focus on the story is the only measure by which a shot could/should be in a film. Film-makers seem to be realizing that Special effects are just a tool - and to not use them as a crutch... thank goodness!

indulge me a moment - here's an example... George wanted to establish Han as a Smuggler, in debt and willing to take risks to get out of it... that lead to the docking bay 94 scene placed into the movie. George realized that he couldn't do Jabba Justice and rethought the story and how to tell it that led to the cantina scene WHERE HAN SHOT FIRST. I'm mainly talking about the dialog... as the Greedo scene was always there but much shortened... it was expanded to include almost all of the dialog from the docking bay scene, so that the audience could get all that info George wanted them to have without the docking bay scene. The resulting scene was far better than either of the original 2 scenes. This is an example of the limitations (parameters) forcing creativity... and a better story.

Jedi Dade
 
I know SteveStarkiller found some differences with the dimensions of the 5 footer, but was pretty happy they were close,...(not sure what the differences were though)

here's a side by side orthographic of the new falcon with Vfxsup64's beautiful photogrammetric copy of the 5' Falcon.

Mine on the left is completely from the photomatches I made, and it's looking seriously consistent with the 5' Falcon. Just a few differences, very cool to see.

attachment.php


differences....for instance the dish is a definite change, the new red panel in the rear port quarter is a definite change, but there are more subtle proportional changes to the body and paneling that are a little harder to catalogue.

falcon%2Bflight.jpg

falcon%2Bflight%2B2.jpg

falcon%2Bflight%2B9.jpg


Cool stuff
J
 
To my eye the sidewalls look a little shorter... even in your pics. its not huge, but "I" see it :). until I get good ref with something to scale with I'm not cutting my models up :) but that's just me. if you feel certain - have at it.

Jedi Dade
 
Can't wait to get my hands on one! Hey, Steve/John, what do you guys think about the toe-in of the 1/144's mandibles? They should be good right? Man I want this kit to be right if Bandai's scaling it up to a 1/72 (or is it the other way 'round and they already have one under wraps to be unveiled on Christmas? :)

crjL9Q4.jpg


GavpDXZ.jpg
 
Right,....heres some photos of my 1/72 FineMolds kit,...I have one....of which I was pretty proud to have fixed the Mandibles & jaw-box,.....that was, as far as I was concerned, the furthest I was going to go in regards to fixing the issues with the kit

I knew it was a bit flat,.....but so was the 32" compared to the 5 footer,.....but then Rockvoice (Marko) over on Keeper of the Force cut way beyond what I'd done to correct the shape closer to the 32" model,.....around then Maruska created tech drawings of the 32" & I was able to print out, to the scale of the FM kit & compare the huge miscalculations of FineMolds

Hasbro released the 29" toy which is truer to Maruskas drawings,....(I still have to get back to that beauty)....fixing the FM to the 32" just didn't excite me

Hope that a 5 foot representation would appear from Bandai for TFA excited me,...but deep down I had a feeling that it would be a 1/144,...but still the hope was there,.....then I saw Hunk a Junk's FineMolds alteration.....

....WOW,....it has the shape that the FM & 32" didn't,....it looked meaty
,

I'm honored to have inspired you! One thing to keep in mind (out of many) is that as you increase the hull curvature, it throws off the orientation of the cockpit tube. A lot. The nose of the cockpit gets pushed downward. You'll need to trim and shim the cockpit tube hallway section accordingly.

I hope I can tie this thing all together again like yours,...thank you matesy for what you've done

So,...Ive cut off the mandibles
The jaws
The docking walkways
the engine vents
the front landing gear bays
cut into the rear landing gear bays to allow the lower hull to curve

IMG_2834.jpg

IMG_2835.jpg

IMG_2836.jpg

IMG_2837.jpg

IMG_2838.jpg

IMG_2839.jpg

IMG_2840.jpg

IMG_2841.jpg


I used the interior of the turret as a spacer:
IMG_2842.jpg


Foamalux:
IMG_2843.jpg

IMG_2844.jpg

IMG_2845.jpg

IMG_2845.jpg


Thanks for looking
John
 
To my eye the sidewalls look a little shorter... even in your pics. its not huge, but "I" see it :). until I get good ref with something to scale with I'm not cutting my models up :) but that's just me. if you feel certain - have at it.

Jedi Dade

Cool,.....WE NEED MORE IMAGES,......sorry

Steve would be the best to let us know,....and if there are differences,....by how much

J
 
Can't wait to get my hands on one! Hey, Steve/John, what do you guys think about the toe-in of the 1/144's mandibles? They should be good right? Man I want this kit to be right if Bandai's scaling it up to a 1/72 (or is it the other way 'round and they already have one under wraps to be unveiled on Christmas? :)

http://i.imgur.com/crjL9Q4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/GavpDXZ.jpg

I think the toe-in is fine,...its there,....the 5 footer is subtle...perhaps by the greeblies on the inside walls,...dunno ....the 32" is more obvious

compare_zpseg81xzg8.jpg

Also look at Steves findings:

attachment.php


J
 
This thread is more than 3 years old.

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

  1. This thread hasn't been active in some time. A new post in this thread might not contribute constructively to this discussion after so long.
If you wish to reply despite these issues, check the box below before replying.
Be aware that malicious compliance may result in more severe penalties.
Back
Top