MPC Millennium Falcon Upgrade Kit Mk.II, HH

well, the latest incarnation of the 5 footer docking collars from Tony 308 bits/Shapeways are pretty nice. Here they are next to HH collars. Now I'm not here to knock either one. As we all know from watching these movies a zillion times, and image searches, we've seen both styles of the collars. I'm here to state that each of these designs is the best representation so far, of each style of docking collar. other than that it's a matter of personal preference as to which collar you like. I will say that if you're a fan of the 5 footer, which I actually lean toward, you have to appreciate what Tony has done here. I've got plenty of these kits to build and intend to use both depending on the theme of the build. JMO docking collars.JPG

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the Shapeways are on the left, HH to the right
 
gt350pony66 said:
well, the latest incarnation of the 5 footer docking collars from Tony 308 bits/Shapeways are pretty nice. Here they are next to HH collars. Now I'm not here to knock either one. As we all know from watching these movies a zillion times, and image searches, we've seen both styles of the collars. I'm here to state that each of these designs is the best representation so far, of each style of docking collar. other than that it's a matter of personal preference as to which collar you like. I will say that if you're a fan of the 5 footer, which I actually lean toward, you have to appreciate what Tony has done here. I've got plenty of these kits to build and intend to use both depending on the theme of the build. JMOView attachment 737858

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the Shapeways are on the left, HH to the right
Click to expand...


Oh dang....I might have to buy Tony's docking rings, they look super duper
 
Haystack Hair said:
Oh dang....I might have to buy Tony's docking rings, they look super duper
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Hey there Haystack,
hope you didn't think I was saying Tony's were better than yours. I think yours are perfect for that version of the collars. Besides that, you offer a complete set for a smoking great price. If a guy went to buy all the same stuff from Shapeways, they'll spend a lot more money. you've got the killer set. goes without saying that the blue moon (BM) is just about that and just as much money and looks like...well you know what I mean. I'm sure Moon was great for the time, but that time is past.
I wonder though sometimes...how many MPC kits are left out there?
 
ok fellas, so this is my first time cutting out the engine fans and using the inserts from our friend and talented genius Mr. Haystack...since I'm a lighting freak, I decided to go a step further. I had painted the fans with Testors buffing metalizer so I'd get more pop past the PE screens, but just before I was going to glue the bits in, it occurred to me that my normal engine lighting is mounted just below that. So I decided to angle drill some holes in the spaces between the fan blades and then glue a piece of styrene sheet on the bottom first. Not sure how well it will shine through the screens, but here is what it looks like so far...I'm fairly pleased with myself LOL...Yee Haw I love building this bird!falcon engine fans.JPG
 
nearly all weekend with this. dry pastel the panel lines to give them a soot covered edge, the grime and rust trails. Again, first time using these methods. falcon paint1 6-26-17.JPGfalcon paint2 6-26-17.JPG
 
a few more closer shots, still need to do the paint flick with the old tooth brush thing. I have to give a special shout out to Buckey, weren't for seeing what he had done I'd probably kept on doing the same old lame paint jobs. falcon paint4.JPGfalcon paint5.JPGfalcon paint6.JPGfalcon paint7.JPG
 
slow going with this build, keep thinking of things to do to it. In this episode I attempted to replicate this shot of some piping on top of the cockpit tube, I didn't quite get there, but I'm satisfied with what I did...otherwise I think it would have looked a bit "busycockpit tube pipes 2.jpgcockpit tube pipes 1.jpg
 

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screens are on, the residual light from the engine LED's should shine through just fine. The right corridor screen should pick up light from the boarding ramp ceiling lighting. The left one I'll just run a fiber optic to. BTW, Working with Tony 308 Bits of Shapeways, he came up with a new piece for us. the boarding ramp ceiling and side walls for your "landed" versions, which nearly all mine have beenfalcon engine fans 1.JPGfalcon engine fans 2.JPGfalcon engine fans 3.JPG. It looks awesome! it's got the notched areas for the hydraulics, the sloped ceiling panel and the lighting holes. check it out. He also introduced a set of add-on ESB front landing gear bays that comes in a smoother material. Have got them yet, but they're ordered.
 
I had these pieces on the last build, but the cutaway already had so much stuff crammed into it, I decided to hold off for a regular Falcon. gun turret1.JPGgun turret2.JPGhere we go again with the cock-eyed pictures...ugh. Anyway, now I gotta wait for the 308 bits windows of Tony's...so you can see the stuff. The stock pieces are for crap to see through.

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hold it...did I put that together upside down??
 
As far as I know, I'm the first to use these pieces, I'm ashamed to admit I didn't want to run into town for a jar of acrylic white for the airbrush, so I rattled it, and lost way too much of the detail. I'll be redoing all this and using the airbrush. Additionally, I discovered after a very difficult time getting the hydraulics in place, what one should do is this...
take the stock piece that goes at the outboard end of the ramp walls and cut it down to fit the new parts. the new ceiling piece, only tape it in place for now. these two steps should square things up good. glue your wall asm to the hull.
Then, (and ALL this is ONLY after your landing gear is installed) set you ramp, when the glue is dry, remove the ceiling piece to give you access to install your hydraulics nice and straight even. As you can see, I cut the 4 holed parts off the ramp and attached the upper 4 hydraulics to look more like they should. Like I said, I', going to rip all this out and do it again so it'll look a lot better 2nd time around. I'm almost ashamed that I posted the pics above :facepalm
 
nkg said:
Looks good!

Is a movable or fixed ramp?
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the ramp is fixed, it would take a bit more engineering than I care to put into it to have it move. call me lazy...but then I prefer my builds in the "landed" mode. this is my 5th build of this kit, I've got maybe a dozen or so left in the closet. with each subsequent build I do more to them, who knows by the time I get to the last one it might actually fly :lol
thanks for the comp though, but I slopped this ramp, going to re-do and it should appear much better.
 
update for those who are interested...
I've been in contact with Tony 308 Bits, he is currently working on a new set of entry walls that will work with a new set of hull interlocks. I'd been using the ones for the FM which are a tad smaller in scale but for the proper look, it didn't matter because the ramp was fixed. Also, with this group of parts he will offer a set of hydraulics that are all the same length as they should be. So, what he's doing for us is a ramp, hydraulics, entry walls and ceiling and the hull interlocks that ALL fit together and will be as screen correct as possible. For fans of the "landed ramp down" builds, like myself, this is pretty big and very exciting, and will look far more attractive than the cobbled together pics I posted above.
 
Well hey friend, thanks for the comp, that makes me feel better about what I considered a mess. the second run at this will look far better. I was going to wait till Tony had ALL the new parts ready, but to move forward on this build I need to get the ramp squared away. So I made some silicone molds of the hydraulics so I could make some more of the longest ones, and I'll cut the sidewalls better this time. I'll still have the FM interlocks which are already in there and it's too late to replace them. I already had another ramp and another set of the walls. I may copy the walls as well for a practice set incase I jack them up again. Not sure when Tony will have the new stuff ready but he's usually pretty quick about it. I'm still debating on what to use on the hydraulic ram for the exposed metal of the inner rod. regular silver paint was a really bad idea, looks like ****e. I have buffing metalizer but these things are so freaking tiny, masking and buffing would be a delicate process. could always buff with Q-tips I reckon...but it needs to look better than my first attempt for sure.

thanks for chiming in, any thoughts are welcome. :thumbsup

gedmac66 said:
Cobbled together or not mate , #192 still looks pretty sweet . Thanks for sharing .

Cheers Ged
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