1:1 Millennium Falcon Cockpit Replica - Group Build

It has been FAR too long since I had time to stop by and well.... there went an hour and a half of my morning before I knew it! Time well spent! I knew when I saw the empty shop and the quarter scale project that I had missed some serious milestones and wow was I right! Those pics are what it's all about! Fans who put that level of effort into their cosplay getting to sit aboard a cockpit designed and built by fans with just as much (ok after 6 years lets be honest, a whole lot more) effort is just beautiful! Wish I could have been there to see all that! Im loving the quarter scale build too, but I am SO excited for you and for this thread that she's finally off to get skinned! Hard to believe after all this time that the end of the tunnel is quickly approaching! Thanks for sharing so much of this project with us Sofa! This really is inspiration at its finest!

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

Better to add the angled corridor now, rather than wish you had later I say...

Man! To see all of this coming together is as fun as seeing the 1:1 cockpit come to lifecool...as for the angled corridor: you've said too much or not enough; now you'll have to build it!!

Just seen your updates !! (Giggles like a girl)

Oh sofaking you mentioned the angled corridor !! You cannot unmention it now, you have to build it now, you could have a top 1/4 panel that’s removable and see inside with all the lights on, how cool would that be ?

SimplyTim said:

It has been FAR too long since I had time to stop by and well.... there went an hour and a half of my morning before I knew it! Time well spent! I knew when I saw the empty shop and the quarter scale project that I had missed some serious milestones and wow was I right! Those pics are what it's all about! Fans who put that level of effort into their cosplay getting to sit aboard a cockpit designed and built by fans with just as much (ok after 6 years lets be honest, a whole lot more) effort is just beautiful! Wish I could have been there to see all that! Im loving the quarter scale build too, but I am SO excited for you and for this thread that she's finally off to get skinned! Hard to believe after all this time that the end of the tunnel is quickly approaching! Thanks for sharing so much of this project with us Sofa! This really is inspiration at its finest!

Sent from my LGLS775 using Tapatalk

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Hey ST,

Thanks so much! Your continued support and kind words are what inspire me! Thank you!

Seeing and hanging out with the cosplayers, and seeing everything begin to finally tie together has been an absolute thrill! Just wait until we can get pics from the interior looking out the finished front window!

Can you believe its been 6 years? Its been a heck of a ride! But no light at the end of this tunnel. We're going to continue to build, have fun and geek out. If and when we actually finish the full scale MF... then we'll build a X-Wing... a Y-Wing... A-Wing, etc etc etc

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trainman said:

Better to add the angled corridor now, rather than wish you had later I say...

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Hey T,

We all know I'm going to do it. I'm actually going to fabricate both versions - one that matches the full scale build and the other with the extended corridor. Believe it not, the corridor is the easiest part of the entire 1/4 scale project. The pads might prove to be lots of "fun"...

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joberg said:

Man! To see all of this coming together is as fun as seeing the 1:1 cockpit come to lifecool...as for the angled corridor: you've said too much or not enough; now you'll have to build it!!

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Agreed! I'm doing it!

I have had SO MUCH fun building the 1/4 scale. The door frame / housing / section was a real challenge. Next is the main body, corridor and nose. OH BOY... the nose... lol

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Bengrim09 said:

Just seen your updates !! (Giggles like a girl)

Oh sofaking you mentioned the angled corridor !! You cannot unmention it now, you have to build it now, you could have a top 1/4 panel that’s removable and see inside with all the lights on, how cool would that be ?

Click to expand...

LOL! That seems to be the overall feeling - I must build the corridor!

Not sure how I'm going to display the corridor. We have to be able to see inside the corridor. But I DEF want to create the exterior skin showing all the different greeblies, tubing and armor plating. I have an idea on how to get the best of both worlds.

You could instal an acrylic mirror at the end of the hall to give it a dimensional perspective. When you look through the canopy it would seem to keep going. Especially with a back lit floor.

DARKSIDE72 said:

You could instal an acrylic mirror at the end of the hall to give it a dimensional perspective. When you look through the canopy it would seem to keep going. Especially with a back lit floor.

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Hey D,

I'm not exactly sure how or where I'm going to end the corridor but I might simply copy the end of the actual ESB corridor just as it meets the main corridor leading to the hull. There are some great little details I would really enjoy replicating.

Hi Gang...

Time for an update? Sure... This is a 2 Part update. Enjoy

Part I: Getting Things Aligned and Reinforced

Started by creating a test joist for the 1/4 scale door housing




Perfect!


Now let's laser cut some 1/4" MDF joists








Layer upon layer...


This was SO difficult to design because no matter what I did I had to make sure the door would still fit.


Still 28" wide


After a slight error and mod'ing the panel... we now have a complete door housing section


Filler added


I laser cut the entrance trim pieces and panels - dry fit


I sanded and painted the housing




Dry fit the main trim pieces






Adhered into position






When I cut the main trim pieces I also cut the panels all at once. This gave me a perfect alignment tool/guide to use. Lay in place within the trim pieces


Adhere the panels






Remove the guides


Primer




Let's jump to the door... Started with two 1/4" layers of MDF


I added once "face" side to the basic frame (no greeblie details yet - I'm debating whether to add some LEDs to the door)


Back side to remain open for now


I then designed a track system for the door to slide open and close - very simple and basic


From the top of the door


The top piece rests inside the track


The track is then covered with two pieces of MDF on each side


That's the basic door track


Up close


Track adhered into position - looking into the door housing


Slides pretty well


Cockpit side - with door!


There are 6 individual large MDF pieces cut creating 5 different layers to the door housing. I had to increase the depth of the "Pad" and "Door" sections to allow for all the LED strips/wiring, acrylic tubes and the door to slide. I'm hoping the spacing will look ok


Because of the outer radius of the main cockpit body, the door doesn't open all the way


I then moved on to the main body panels


Let's get all these interior sub-panels laser cut and dry fit!


WOW... everything still aligns!




Adhering into place






As difficult as it was to design and align everything... it's been a total blast!


WOW... that looks familiar


Note how gravity is ALREADY pulling parts off center




Side view




Panels are not aligning - turns out one of the main joists (going left to right) was cut too short


To make matters worse... the bay door was open and a rain storm came through creating a HUGE gust of wind and flipped the cockpit off the table... CRASH!!!


UGH


OK... Shake it off, hunker down and get it fixed!




It seemed to good to be true... Things can't always go smoothly!






It was at that moment I thought "OK... time to bolt these parts together... tabs aren't enough". I designed a hole guide - note the smaller holes


Laid into place


Drilled the holes


Temp screwed in the bolts




I then designed and laser cut a floor piece for the door frame housing / section. Note the LONG opening in the panel for the door to feed through and mount to the slider


Since this is Part I... I did do a few other things. The nav chairs!


Knocked and sanded the raised lettering and details off the PVC parts


Ejection tube


Tubes


The head piece saw some major work!


I designed and laser cut these 1/16th plexi parts


Used a heat gun to bend and mold to fit




This one shifted during drying


I had so much fun doing these










Still lots of work to do on those little stray cut lines


Tube is now adhered in place


The silver back plate will be the LAST piece to be adhered into position




As many of you know, fellow RPFer Izzy and I are working VERY closely together on both the 1/4 scale and a new 1/6th scale version of the cockpit! I did a practice "run" of the nav chair




Chair base


Hi Lil Buddy!




Finally... I started this little project


Sure looks familiar


Hey now... we have the beginnings of a 1/4 scale console!






If you notice, there aren't a lot of tabs. I'm trying to make the exterior side of the console as smooth as possible


The armrest panel will see MAJOR changes in Part II




This area of the console NEEDED tabs in order to make all these flat areas fit together




Front panel added


Broke out the belt sander and had some fun with these edges




And this is where we are...


Part II Coming!

Sneak Peak... 1/4 scale cockpit panels primed. I swear it feels like I'm looking into the full scale cockpit!


More to follow so stay tuned!

Your 1/4 scale cockpit is such a beautiful piece of engineering. Nothing short of genius. It's amazing and mind-boggling and I can't wait to see more updates! Incredible work! :love

Hello there,

If we knew what would happen with just a little console in your bedroom.and now you're still making another one!! Huh?

So funny to look at where you are now 400+ pages later... and yes the 1/4 scale looks like the big one!! Excited for the part 2!!!

Cheers!!

Eric

:eek Jaw dropping! Brilliant as always.

And how many years did it take you to get to this point in 1:1 scale...? Maybe you went about this all bass-ackwards. Design model first THEN... Lol, just ribbing ya.

I can just imagine why the Hot Toys version was gonna be 3K!


Sent from my Starfleet-issue communicator

Wow, indeed...looks like a 1:1 scale. Beautiful job Sofa; then again: you're a Pro when it comes to building the MF cockpit.
(btw, did you receive my PM?)

Hi Gang,

Quick Sneak Peak #2!



Stay Tuned for Part II!

1:4 scale. 1:1 enjoyment.

I'm tuned, I'M TUNED!

Rymo said:

Your 1/4 scale cockpit is such a beautiful piece of engineering. Nothing short of genius. It's amazing and mind-boggling and I can't wait to see more updates! Incredible work! :love

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Hi R,

Thanks so much! The build has been a total blast. Glad you're enjoying it as much as I am. I can't get over how fast its going by compared to the full scale.

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Daboudzi said:

Hello there,

If we knew what would happen with just a little console in your bedroom.and now you're still making another one!! Huh?

So funny to look at where you are now 400+ pages later... and yes the 1/4 scale looks like the big one!! Excited for the part 2!!!

Cheers!!

Eric

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Hey E,

Thanks! Can you believe it? As you said, all this started with just the console. Now 400+ pages later we have a full scale cockpit, a quad laser some nav chairs and now a 1:4 scale AND 1:6 scale cockpit in the works. Doesn't look like I'll be stopping anytime soon!

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Katuna said:

:eek Jaw dropping! Brilliant as always.

And how many years did it take you to get to this point in 1:1 scale...? Maybe you went about this all bass-ackwards. Design model first THEN... Lol, just ribbing ya.

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Thanks so much, K!

LOL!!! I've been thinking about that exact thing. It took 6+ years to get where I am with the 1:1 scale and just a few weeks with the 1:4 scale. I think you're right. Start small, then work my way up to the full scale version. And that give me an idea!!!!

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zsherman said:

I can just imagine why the Hot Toys version was gonna be 3K!

Sent from my Starfleet-issue communicator

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After all the design work and "redo's" I've had to do... I think 3-5K is a fair price. But I dont think Hot Toys is making the cockpit available for sale?

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joberg said:

Wow, indeed...looks like a 1:1 scale. Beautiful job Sofa; then again: you're a Pro when it comes to building the MF cockpit.
(btw, did you receive my PM?)

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As always, thank you for the kind words, J! You've always been a HUGE supporter!

Check your mail - I sent you a follow up PM a few days ago

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Lt Washburn said:

1:4 scale. 1:1 enjoyment.

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LOL! So long as you guys are having fun... So am I!

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Katuna said:

I'm tuned, I'M TUNED!

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Tonight! Part II

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What u do for a living sofa king
If u don't mind me asking what do u do for a living

Markas1976 said:

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If u don't mind me asking what do u do for a living

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Hey M,

Graphic artist.

Would that help with prop making etc would u say