New BMF coming

Hello fellow Falconers. Well, I finally got around to the part that I have been dreading. Removing those awful blocks of plastic from under the ship. It went pretty well. Just a little blood, and only one broken blade. The heating trick works really well. I also removed the plastic in the cockpit area in preparation for installation of Tony's Long Cabin Cone and cockpit interior. That went even better. I used Xuron rail nippers and hand pruners (yes for pruning vegetation) and they work well for getting big chucks of material off before the finer work starts with the Xacto blade. Thanks to those who passed on their findings that a Dremel is not the best method for removing plastic on this thing. I was going to try that. Thanks for sparing me the trouble!

I just ordered the Madman Lighting "Fast Tramp Freighter" lighting kit. I had hoped to use the lighting harness from an older Hasbro BMF, but decided to go with a new kit with better lighting. I also will be ordering Randy Coopers PE set with the grills and engine detail that was posted above. The only thing I am waiting for is the Jaw Box details that Tony is working on. That will complete the "must fix" items for me. I will be displaying her inflight, hanging from the ceiling with a couple of X-Wings flying in formation. I can't wait to start on the painting and weathering! That is going to be a blast!

-Woody

mythshaker said:

There are lots of 3d CAD programs from Sketchup to Blender to AutoCAD (computer aided design) and Solidworks and everything in-between. They need to be able to export a .STL file as a minimum. Some CAM (computer aided machining) programs, like Cura, can import .OBJ files, which are much more common, as that is more used for things like, oh, movie CGI. These applications take the 3d CAD drawing and turn it into G-Code which is what 3d printers talk.

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Thanks for all the info, just what I needed

for those of you making the armored panels out of styrene that are just stickers on this mfer, how to you cut the small notches in the styrene?

MoJo Rising said:

So, here we have a mystery that I feel only the experts at the RPF can solve. Notice the photo. On the left is the cockpit noes from our beloved Hasbro BMF. On the right is a Shapeway part that is supposedly designed for the 1/48 studio scale falcon model that is now out of print.
As you can see the size differential is substantial. What we have here is a competing truth. How can the studio scale model be 1/48 scale at 32 inches long and the Hasbro model be of a slightly smaller scale at 28 inches long and yet the Hasbro nosecone is significantly larger?
Eeither this Shapeways provider needs a lesson in using a ruler or the cockpit on the Hasbro falcon is way out of scale. Any thoughts?
here's a link to the allegedly 1/48 scale nose cone.

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Trying to apply scale to either the 5-Footer or 32” opens a can of worms as neither where built to scale. Scale in of itself is a reference to 1:1, or Full Scale. So we need to look at the Full Scale Falcon to determine scale for the models. Unfortunately, the Full Scale Falcon was under scaled to fit on set in regards to its overall length and size. Except the Cockpit. I believe this should be our frame of reference when determining scale of Falcon, and not the length.The length of the Falcon isn’t a good reference point as this ignores the height of the models and weather a real person could fit in the ship. In addition, the two models (5-Footer & 32”) are not exact scaled copies of each other so their shapes, and lengths vary, making one ship longer than the other. Same goes for the MPC or any other MFalcon model.

Here is how I broke it down:
5-Footer - Outside Diameter of the Cockpit is 5.625”
32” - Outside Diameter of the Cockpit is 3”

The 5-Footer would have to be scaled down by 0.5286344 to match the 3” O.D. cockpit of the 32”, making the 32” 1/1.891667th the size of the 5 footer, not a perfect half scale (rounding scales is not your friend as this could make you off my inches or even a foot).

If the 5-Footer was 1:24 scale (to match the SS X-Wings), that would put the O.D. of the Full Scale Falcon at 11’-3”. If the 32” was a perfect scale of the 5-Footer, its scale would be 1:45.4 scale (not 1/48). If it was 1:48 scale, the O.D. would be 2.8125”. This would make Hasbro MF 1:51.4 scale.

However, the Full Scale Cockpit is closer to 8’-7” (not 11’-3”) O.D. This then would put the 5-Footer at 1:17.91179744 (Or 1:18) scale, making the 32” at 1:34.3 scale.

If the Full Scale Cockpit O.D. is around 8’-7”, the 5-Footer = 1:18 scale, the 32" = 1:34.3 scale, the O.D. of the cockpit at 1:48 scale would be 2.156”. That’s the logic behind the scale of the MF Nose Cone on Shapeways. This would put the Hasbro MF at around 1:39.419… scale. Which would be why the Hasbro Cockpit is larger in your comparison.

Ignoring all the above, if the Hasbro was 1:48 scale, the Full Scale cockpit O.D. would be 10'-6". Which is still too large.

JPCOdessa70 said:

Hi Guys,

Hoping you guys are having a great day!

I went to the local hardware store today and bought me some PVC vacuum pipes with dimensions close to scale to see if it would work.


testing the parts dimensionally, I believe it would work...The 90 Sweep elbows has a inner diameter of 2 inches while the big adapter in 4 1/4 inch.



The cross section will also fit as to scale....Lets see....a lot of cutting and testing to do ..



Here is also my attempt to scratch build the landing gears...I just can't wait for Tony's resin kit no long.....Mr. Tony..please save me....

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Mike Salzo told us that the resin kit will be available by mid February, so it's closer...

Just wait a little bit more guy!!! Don't mess too much with the landing gear!!!

Until then, you can play with the corridors, but for sure one of these days, I will resize and design some corridors for the Hasbro too!!!

:cool

Thanks Tony,

Glad to hear the resin will come out sooner!

The landing gear is definitely a pain to scratch build hahaha now I know...better wait for the resin kit LOL!

Landing gear. Uhmmm,.. Try E-BAY you can get a Legacy version all 7 anywhere from 85.00 to 120.00.

YES they are a little ROBUST as they are scaled to the 32' I think they look better as they always looked to delicate for the wear and tear a medium freight hauler would encounter.

But thats just me.

I for one won't be interested in the landing gear (apologies Tony) as I would rather do the Falcon in flight

JPCOdessa70 said:

Thanks Tony,

Glad to hear the resin will come out sooner!

The landing gear is definitely a pain to scratch build hahaha now I know...better wait for the resin kit LOL!

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I was going to give away the landing gear from my BMF conversion but I think I'll be keeping them for myself just in case I need them. People selling BMF parts are asking outrageous prices for them, case in point being the landing gear. It would be so much cheaper just to buy a BMF at a garage/yard sale and pick it for the parts needed the sell off what remains.

retiredadguy said:

Landing gear. Uhmmm,.. Try E-BAY you can get a Legacy version all 7 anywhere from 85.00 to 120.00.

YES they are a little ROBUST as they are scaled to the 32' I think they look better as they always looked to delicate for the wear and tear a medium freight hauler would encounter.

But thats just me.

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Wow..$120 for just the landing gear...I better be patient and wait for the resin kit.!

JPCOdessa70 said:

Wow..$120 for just the landing gear...I better be patient and wait for the resin kit.!

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You see, you see!!!

Wait...

Resin landing gear will be less than $120 and will have brass cast into it, and be sized exactly to this.

Update on my part is that i am waiting on the 2nd round of parts from SW, should be here early Feb. Molding everything i have here in the mean time . Once molds are done we will be rolling.

mike

Looking forward to the resin cast sets and getting started on this beast.

Hey Guys,

Just picked my 2nd BMF from Walmart and also ordered Randy Cooper's set as seen here :

https://www.facebook.com/randy.coop...10152964219120238.1073741932.755125237&type=1

Still need to order from Shapeways for the cockpit and the canopy

Opinions please. Should I mold the sidewalls of my gutted Legscy falcon or should I trim them to size then mold?

SVTStingRay said:

for those of you making the armored panels out of styrene that are just stickers on this mfer, how to you cut the small notches in the styrene?

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I'm thinking pretty much the same as the notches on the existing hull plates - cut into it with an xacto, then file them clean. It sounds like there's no nipper anyone has found with jaws small enough to fit unfortunately. What size (thickness) styrene are you using?

Amish Trooper. Are you keeping the legacy falcon? I suggest you mold it first then use and cut the molded ones. Also you could sell the legacy sidewalls in ebay to get extra cash...

JPCOdessa70 said:

Are you keeping the legacy falcon? I suggest you mold it first then use and cut the molded ones. Then sell the legacy sidewalls in ebay to get extra cash...

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Yeah, I was thinking the same thing - more because that way if you screw up the trimming and fitting you can always go back to the originals.

.020 thick. my worry is the notches are really small

Timmythekid said:

I'm thinking pretty much the same as the notches on the existing hull plates - cut into it with an xacto, then file them clean. It sounds like there's no nipper anyone has found with jaws small enough to fit unfortunately. What size (thickness) styrene are you using?

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spacebob said:

Here's the job I did earlier in the thread

View attachment 417449 View attachment 417450
Wish I had got rid of the detail on the back now though.

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Hey, SB, backtracking just a bit - what did you do here? It looks like the base is made from the stock radar support with the middle carved away, but at the same time it looks like the upright 'A' frames are actually closer to the edges of the circle than the stock piece..but then they don't look like they've been cut and glued...but it definitely looks wider spaced than the original...but....then.....but....but...now my brain hurts.


SVTStingRay
I haven't started them or printed the template yet - smaller than the hull notches? Hmmm...dremel maybe?

Thanks for the input fellas. The donor was pretty beat up hence the good deal I got. I'll make a deal with someone here if they are willing to mold them and give me a few sets or as needed and I'm not talking no more than 3 I'd gladly give that person the originals from the legacy and they can do what they want with them. Personally I was going to mold and sell budget sets for those who can't afford the great sets being offered already but I just don't have the time.

All about helping eachother out..