AMT-ERTL Millennium Falcon build from Peru....

Hi guys!... i know, i know,.... "oh my god, another build of that old kit..." yeah :)

I'm new to this forum and the reason why i'm here is this build. I got this kit about 15 years ago and i built it right out from the box, it was a terrible pain in the ass because i discovered almost inmediately that no piece fit with the other, had to use epoxy to hold them together, and when i finished the interiors noticed that there was no room for gunner seats and that seemed so wrong... well i finished the build and painted just with base paint and leave it that way... what i got was this....



Well, now 15 years later, with more skills than before and after watching online many great builds of this same kit i decided to work again on it, so i started a research for reference pics, found out that 5 feet and 32 inches studio models were way different in greeblies (before then i always thought 32 inches model was a totally exact replica of he 5 feet one, i was sooo naive :) ) so, since this kit was in some way based on the 5-footer and the toys i knew since my childhood too, i decided to make it more 5-footer. I'm well aware now about all the inconsistences this kit have and even worse being the cutaway version since not even the original 5-footer would fit with the movie filming sets, i decided to start working, realizing this will be a work that maybe will last months (in an optimistic way :) ), i will detail the best i could the external greeblies and will modify the best i could the internals for more movie accuracy and to make room for gunners seats. I definitely don't go the lightning path, i don't want to mess with that. And about one of the main inconsistencies, the side walls, i'm not sure about shortening them, since that maybe will destroy the interiors, the real problem there is the hull curvature, the tall sidewalls are a consequence of that, so the height of the interiors should be almost ok.

I'm at the middle of the work now, i will show you my progress:











I know sometime in the near future i'll get some photoetched stuff for the vents.
I will update this with my slow progress... (i need to sleep too :) )

I hope i could get my hands on a decal sheet from the bandai perfect grade, i think it would be almost matching with this kit.
 
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A little but significative upadates.... some panel shading modifications, some "decals" added using the first scans from 1/72 PG Bandai, some greeblies added (this may be imperceptible, later I will post "before and after" detailed pics).

Things to do in the near future: panels on the docking rings, cockpit shortening and paneling, complete greeblies inside access/maintenance pits, maybe additional tubes (wire),

Future things to do: add landing gear hoses and greeblies, modifications on the "interior main hold set" for movie accuracy, add gunner bays, maybe 3D print for new quad-lasers, conversion kit for vents and respective photoetched grills, add accurate greeblies to the sidewalls (fiirst I must decide "to short or not to short" the side walls).

I definitely will not light this kit, and still not sure about shortening the side walls since doing that would affect the "interior sets" and would require more mods.

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With a great paint job, the shortcomings of the kit and the "too tall" sidewalls just fade away!

I'd much rather see an out of the box MPC with an excellent paint job over an unpainted or poorly painted Fine Molds or Bandai

I plan on doing the same with my cutaway version. I'm not going to mess with the sidewalls and will only bother adding/replacing some key greeblies, otherwise, I'll just take it as is
 
New update!

I've been working on the docking rings, placing more markings and adding detail on the bottom half (here still needs work and some tube placing on the underside of the mandibles)













Nex thing to do: shorten the cockpit tube and placing panels on the cockpit cone.
 
Finally someone's built a model of the Millennium Falcon. I've always wanted to see someone tackle this project and now I have. Excellent work!
 
Some detail pics to appreciate some greeblies applied and the "decals" I am still applying (so tiny!!). They are not real decals of course, I laser printed the best scan I could get from the Bandai PG kit decal sheet. The paint details are all made with brushes for more "junk" look.

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Still needs more greeblies to add/replace... so much work to do.
 
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Nice weathering!

The old MPC merites it! It was the first Falcon released!

I've my MPC Falcon sitting on the shelf... I've bought it in 1979...
And I've bought too a Cutaway version recently.
I've designed a big bunch of 3D printed upgrades for it, included a complete short sidewalls kit.

I've started designing 3D printed upgrades for my old MPC. Worth it to finish it...
I will try as soon as possible...

Good job!
 
Amidst the sea of Bandai Perfect Grades my old AMT emerges again :lol

The new update is the upgrade of the sides of the "jaws" this little improvement do a lot of visual difference...






 
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Upgrading engine vents.....

before:




Assembling vents:






Voilá!




Now my opinion about this upgrade kit.... it's really a great kit but it lacks just one thing to be perfect, as you can see in the pics, the "greeblied" rings are great in detail, but too small i think, they should be same size as the AMT kit rings and they should be intended to be placed over them, not inside them, because this way the grilles look small, that is the reason why I did not glued the rings in place and I think I will remove them for good. That disappoints me a bit beacuse the rings details are so great.... :(
Apart from that, the vents look awesome and really close to the 5 footer (I just needed to cover the "micro vents" molded on the little taps that goes over each main vent).
 
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