My first build (deago ESB SS Falcon!)

Finally got this part assembled, only took 3 tries to get it where I wanted! This is as close as I could get to the original part assembly, it's heavily cut and sanded from 5 different kit parts. The things I like the most about this over the deago supplied part is that the arms actually angle up away from the hull towards the ends and look more aggressive than the really flat parallel ones from deago. Also I love the fins there is a lot going on with them that the deago just completely ignored.

Now that that I have these 8 masters I'll get them cleaned up and make a new mold from them so I can pull 8 at a time.




View attachment 759889View attachment 759890
What happened to you Ktaylor? This is awesome! Where are you at with your build?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I got really sick at the end of the 2017, and dizzy so I wasn't able to build for a few months, everything cleared up and I actually just started back about a week ago! Finally got around to getting enough castings that turned out to get these back flaps done and started re-re paneling all the top plating because I used .02" instead of what appears to be .03" on the actual model, it makes a surprising difference in depth of the plating when looking at it. About half way done with that so should pick back up soon!

IMG_2187.jpgIMG_2185.jpgIMG_2188.jpg
 

Attachments

  • IMG_2190.jpg
    IMG_2190.jpg
    657.9 KB · Views: 284
I have had a couple people asking about how the re-plating work is being done. I got lucky in this project because there was a 1:1 scale blueprint of the top plating to use in Photoshop to get tracings pulled for patterns to print. I was able to make any corrections to plating detail and layout by checking all the ref ( lol there were a few) it's still not 100% but its much closer now that the DeAgo casting was.

Also you can lay paper straight on the model and do a light transfer rub with a pencil for the pattern, I did this for some areas and will be doing it for the bottom and cockpit tunnel for sure...

First was sanding off the OG plating, removing the panels from the armature and sanding them on a flay sanding block mounted into a vice (move the model over the sanding block, not the block over the model, the model will press flat against the block and just rub the model piece back and forth) made this pretty easy, it comes right off.
IMG_2071.jpg

Then Print all the corrected patterns, trim and make sure they fit and line up correctly ( this took a couple tries to get printer to get the correct scale...)
IMG_2072.jpg

I used hobby glue sticks to adhere the paper to my sheet styrene, the paper pulls right off and almost all the glue sticks to the paper and not the styrene so that is nice)
IMG_2073.jpg

I just use a straight edge to cut the straight lines and free hand the curves, which I clean up with some 320 sandpaper on a plastic bowl, the plastic bowl can be bent while you sand to match the radius, this worked out surprisingly well to quickly clean them up, then for the other end of the plate, put the paper on the inside of the bowl and repeat!
IMG_2076.jpg

I FINALLY found a place that could make me a 3/16" hole punch ( was pricey but totally worth it!) its hard to see here but I have a slightly thicker pieces of styrene taped inside of it to act as a backstop so I can make each notch the same depth. I tried to add some slight variation in some of them so they don't look too "perfect and machined" the prop has some of this going on for sure! adds to the overall look I feel...
IMG_2077.jpg IMG_2078.jpg

Thats it! Take the paper off and glue that sucker on, rinse and repeat, a few million times....
IMG_2080.jpg
 
Last edited:
Here are some pics of the new .03" plating, gotta do ALL the little warts again though ... I was able to fix a couple issues with the plating that weren't as accurate as I would have liked the first time around, so overall a lot of work, but worth it!
In the wide shot the plating on the front and back Port side is all new, the SB side is still the old .02" styrene

IMG_2117.jpg IMG_2120.jpg
 
Last edited:
Can I buy castings of the flap actuators?

Normally yes, but this mold is REALLY difficult to get good pulls from, I might redo a cleaner mold for these later, like 2 pieces the flap and the Arms separate, but this one takes way too many pulls to get a set of 13 (much less 26) I think I went through about 50 to get ones that didn't break or have air bubbles...

There has been a lot of interest so check back in a few weeks, I might move forwards with making new molds, just really busy this month.
 
hey Kris,

these 2 pics aren't working ;_; can you please repost them?

thanks!
olli


Here are some pics of the new .03" plating, gotta do ALL the little warts again though ... I was able to fix a couple issues with the plating that weren't as accurate as I would have liked the first time around, so overall a lot of work, but worth it!
In the wide shot the plating on the front and back Port side is all new, the SB side is still the old .02" styrene
View attachment 797615 View attachment 797616
 
Finally found some time to get back to work on this beast! Rebuilt the cockpit tunnel, whoo hoo been looking forward to this area for a while now. Feels good to have it finally done. I only had to rebuild it 2 times to get everything to line up, correct, ish! I think I'm gonna get some 3" acrylic tubing and just build the forward part from scratch, sanding panels of curved surfaces blows....Still have a couple little pieces to ID that are on that center strip...and have another 8Rad on order for the piping on the back that has broken from the original model. Fun stuff, feels good to be back at it! Hopefully I can stay at it and finish this build up this year!!!

IMG_4233.jpgIMG_4248.jpgIMG_4249.jpgIMG_4250.jpg
 
I've been watching people scratch build SS models for 18+ years and I'm still amazed at the work involved.
 
That is looking amazing! Great job on the tunnel and yes I can only imagine what sanding that round tunnel was like, YIKES!
 
I'm making reallllly thin castings of the pattern I made for the engine vents and working it around the cockpit tunnel, peice by piece. I'm even more convinced now that this is how the oringal pattern was made and used, it all seems to line up really well and look reallllllly close ot the original pattern that was used, it's even in similar sized chunks since it comes from a pattern made only large enough to fit the engine vents. So I assume they made it for that first as I did, then realized they could use it on these other places on the model. Really happy with this!

Untitled-1.jpg
 

Your message may be considered spam for the following reasons:

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