The Lighting.

Hi everyone,

Ive realised some of my photos are a bit dark so I apologise. The light in the house is not great for photos it seems.

I built a light box to fit in behind the engine nozzles. I first built the box. I drew the pieces out in Corel and cut them in 3mm clear acrylic. the kit has a box the engine nozzles sit in so I measured the length of the meeting face to the lighting box and was able to hold the engine box up to the screen to get the correct curvature.

Next I cut the pieces out on the laser, curved the front and rear walls with a heat gun and glued them together. The lighting box needed some holes drilled to clear locating holes inside the falcons body. 

I dremeled out the back of the engine box and then fitted the lighting box in place and secured everything with foil tape. This will give some reflection inside the box.

Time to do some wiring. Now as much as I want a super bright engine it needs to be a scale light I suppose and I dont want a flash light shining out the back so to speak. I am building this as a flying model so no landing or red marker lights underneath. 

The Madman lighting kit allows 6 engine LEDs and I used 2 for the headlights and 3 to light the cockpit circuit

The original films show just a white light coming out the back of the falcon but further films and marketing material show a blue band around a white light or all blue. The kit provided all  blue LEDs for the engines. I dedcided to run 4 central white LEDs and 2 blues on the outside to give the engines a blue hue on the ends

Our LEDs fitted into the engine and test

Wiring on the inside. I ran a cable and plug for a transformer that sits inside the docking bay door, I drilled a hole underneath to allow plug access. The glue to fix in place is still drying so the tape is still securing the plug here. I mounted it here as I plan on eventually displaying the model with that side of the ship back into a wall with the cockpit side facing out so to me it seemed sensible.

Engine Test!

and a light altered closeup allowing you to see the 308Bits clear engine nozzles in place

Thanks for looking!

Josh

I built this kit a few years ago. It's a great kit and in my opinion better than the Bandai kit. I posted the build here under my old username Rambo that I can't access again. Here is another place I posted the build and if you have any questions I would be happy to answer.

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=3703

Since you're building this in flight the boarding ramp won't be a problem it's totally inaccurate

Floki

I built this kit a few years ago. It's a great kit and in my opinion better than the Bandai kit. I posted the build here under my old username Rambo that I can't access again. Here is another place I posted the build and if you have any questions I would be happy to answer.

http://www.spamodeler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=3703

Since you're building this in flight the boarding ramp won't be a problem it's totally inaccurate

 

Thanks Floki,

You sure went to some serious work on your falcon! I can see clearly looking at what you changed, how far wrong the boarding ramp was. As a question though, did the 32" model have an opening boarding ramp at all? I was quite sure it had removable landing gear but can not recall a photo of the model with the ramp down. I was just wondering if FM copied it incorrectly or just cut a hole and made a simple ramp.

Your work on the fibre optics is amazing also. Perhaps I am cheating myself but I came up with a round about way to light my cockpit. I wont achieve your standard but I am quite time poor, and while there is no race in building models I find I need to keep momentum going or other responsibilites pop up that take over any spare time, meaning shelving whatever I am working on.

you did a fantastic job.

The Cockpit

If you dont want lighting, I dont think the Fine Molds cockpit is too bad. It is not accurate but neither really was the 32" model. And painted and decaled would look ok. 

Through 308Bits I bought A new nose cone and cockpit console, seats and rear walls.With a lick of paint:

and some lighting. I'm really struggling to photograph this, I just get lots of blur. In person however the effect is very good.

and to achieve this without running lots of fibre optics I glued some white paper to the back and scribbled over it with some crayon of all things. the white papaer diffusers the cockpit lights and the colours filter through the holes in the back wall. I will try for better photos.

Thanks for looking,

Josh

Floki

You are moving along very fast! Great idea for getting different colors for the switches too. I don't think the studio model had a working boarding ramp but I could be wrong. My guess is FM just guessed when they did that.

 

Thanks Floki,

I was happy with the results for lighting and colouring the rear panel, however that does not give me the luxury of a fibre optics lit console which would have been cool. 

To be fair I am a couple of days behind on posting photos so they seem quick. I had some time off work that allowed me to push into the build. Im still in the build process however.

I was interested in your comments of you thought the FM kit better than the Bandai? Did you find the FM kit better quality or just like the model better? Personally I like the look of the 32" falcon better than the 5ft model that Bandai copied as it seems so heavy with bulky greeblies. After lots of looking at reference pictures it is really surprising how different the two models were.

Cheers,

Josh

Floki

I haven't personally built the Bandai kit but I've seen them built at shows and read multiple reviews. They to seem heavier or bulkier. The FM kit to me also seems better engineered. I know the Bandai kit probably goes together easier but everything on the FM get just seems more delicate and refined. Saying that I do believe Bandai other star wars kits are way better than FM most noticably the X-wing and Y-wing kits

 

Thats interesting. My hope was to build an X-wing and Y-wing to go along with this and looked at the Bandai kits but was concerned about scale as I hear there was some issues in the scaling of the models between FM and Bandai. It would be good for some comparison photos of the 2 makes side by side.

Cheers,

Josh

A guy over at the RPF has done a comparison of the kits a few years ago. Don't get me wrong you can still build a nice fighter with the FM kits but will need to add a lot of scratch building to get them to the same level as the Bandai kit out of the box. Also price, unless you already have the FM kits they are going for double the price of the new Bandai. Mostly because of the collector value of them being out of production.

Floki

A guy over at the RPF has done a comparison of the kits a few years ago. Don't get me wrong you can still build a nice fighter with the FM kits but will need to add a lot of scratch building to get them to the same level as the Bandai kit out of the box. Also price, unless you already have the FM kits they are going for double the price of the new Bandai. Mostly because of the collector value of them being out of production.

 

FM or Bandai X-Wing kits seem to be a minefield! Interestingly the Bandai kit is smaller and considered to be closer to 1/79 it seems and 1/74 for the FM. Then some guys are using engines off the FM model on the Bandai model. The FM Y-Wing is bigger than the Bandai version also. Both seem like good kits but there is arguments either way for who makes the better kit. This just confused the issue haha. Seemingly out of interest I was reading on the forum here the FM tie fighter is better to scale at 1/72 than the Bandai release. Over all I am not worried about a few small details between makers being present or not, especially in such a small scale. I just want them to be seemingly correct to the falcon and realistically either kit is probably fine. 

Scaling these things must really be hard for model companies as theyre using different models for measurements that are already, well scale models, and not consistant at a studio level for that matter. There is no prototype X-wing or Millennium Falcon so there is not an accurtae set of measurements.

Update for the Millenium Falcon

Gunwell Turrets.

Not to leave these looking too bland, although closed up you never see them, I painted the inside, picked out some cableing on the rear wall. I ripped off a sheet of side wall decals from google images, printed it out and glued in place. Not present in these photos but a coat of PVA glue brushed on top gives some depth to the print out and holds the edges down and can be matt cleared.

Also without an image it seems the 32" studio model had I'm going to say a shielded area molded behind the gunwell window but is seemingly not present on the 5 ft model or in the gunwell scenes in the films so I have removed this allowing a better view into the gunwell.

Time to get this bird closed up!

Cheers,

Josh

Floki

I haven't personally built the Bandai kit but I've seen them built at shows and read multiple reviews. They to seem heavier or bulkier. The FM kit to me also seems better engineered. I know the Bandai kit probably goes together easier but everything on the FM get just seems more delicate and refined. Saying that I do believe Bandai other star wars kits are way better than FM most noticably the X-wing and Y-wing kits. 

I'm part-way through building the Bandai 1/72 Falcon and I'm liking it so far.  Almost every piece of external plumbing/conduits are all individual pieces and its all snapping together really well.  The only thing I don't like about it is that unless you buy the "super deluxe" version of the kit, it doesn't have the lighting kit, and the decals are the press-on type rather than the water-slide decals in the "super deluxe".  Picked up a cool lighting kit from Falcon Mods though, so that takes care of the lighting problem.

Josh, your Falcon is lookiing great!  I like the crayon idea.  Ended up using colored Sharpies on the back panel in my cockpit.  Now I just have to figure out how to get good pictures of it with the room lights turned off.  

Eaglecash867

 

 

Floki

I haven't personally built the Bandai kit but I've seen them built at shows and read multiple reviews. They to seem heavier or bulkier. The FM kit to me also seems better engineered. I know the Bandai kit probably goes together easier but everything on the FM get just seems more delicate and refined. Saying that I do believe Bandai other star wars kits are way better than FM most noticably the X-wing and Y-wing kits. 

 

 

I'm part-way through building the Bandai 1/72 Falcon and I'm liking it so far.  Almost every piece of external plumbing/conduits are all individual pieces and its all snapping together really well.  The only thing I don't like about it is that unless you buy the "super deluxe" version of the kit, it doesn't have the lighting kit, and the decals are the press-on type rather than the water-slide decals in the "super deluxe".  Picked up a cool lighting kit from Falcon Mods though, so that takes care of the lighting problem.

Josh, your Falcon is lookiing great!  I like the crayon idea.  Ended up using colored Sharpies on the back panel in my cockpit.  Now I just have to figure out how to get good pictures of it with the room lights turned off.  

 

Thanks for the kind words.

Im glad the coloured paper trick worked for someone else as well. We can start a trend for future modellers I am sure. 

The bandai kit sounds very much like the fine molds with every minor piece molded separately to be attached. No press fit on the FM model though, MEK all the way. 

I didnt know there were different levels of the Bandai kit. As for decals though as masking and paint is a daily excersize for me I will be painting everything. I think it will be quicker than applying so many decals. 

I look foward to seeing pictures of your falcon!

Cheers,

Josh

I was skeptical about the whole press-fit thing, but it actually works really well on this particular model.  One thing I really like about the press-fit concept is that I don't have to worry about carefully scraping paint away from mating surfaces.  If anything, the paint makes them fit just a little bit tighter so the joint is stronger.  That's interesting that you're using MEK as your cement.  I use it to thin my decanted Tamiya primer to give it extra etching ability on the plastic.

Heh...I didn't know about the different versions either, until I got mine and found myself wondering why there was no lighting kit in the box and no mention of it in the instructions.

This is what I have so far on mine.  Had to shelf the project for a while, but I'll probably pick back up on it after my Su-25M1 and Spitfire MkXVIe are done.

Eaglecash867

I was skeptical about the whole press-fit thing, but it actually works really well on this particular model.  One thing I really like about the press-fit concept is that I don't have to worry about carefully scraping paint away from mating surfaces.  If anything, the paint makes them fit just a little bit tighter so the joint is stronger.  That's interesting that you're using MEK as your cement.  I use it to thin my decanted Tamiya primer to give it extra etching ability on the plastic.

Heh...I didn't know about the different versions either, until I got mine and found myself wondering why there was no lighting kit in the box and no mention of it in the instructions.

This is what I have so far on mine.  Had to shelf the project for a while, but I'll probably pick back up on it after my Su-25M1 and Spitfire MkXVIe are done.

A great start to your falcon. Apart from whatever they were thinking with Han Solo's arms, the Bandai figures are pretty good. The FM ones are terrible. My Han Solo is ok now...not great, and I have shaved him down pretty seriously with a razor blade to get him to a reasonable size. Also the note the cockpit and tube seem wider on the Bandai/ 5ft model giving it a little more of an oval shape.

MEK, it was suggested to me by a forum member some time ago when I was enquiring about glues just to use PVC pipe primer, $5.00 for a good size bottle.This was also backed up by a friend who did chemical engineering and said modelling glues are predominantly MEK with a few other chemicals added in. It works wonders, I dip a brush and apply it to both contact surfaces, it softens the styrene and together they go. Parts hold strong, no issues. Also if you need to make a filler you can melt sprue in a jar of the stuff into a paste and fill holes etc to be sanded down and it welds into the exisiting styrene. I used this technique on the Airfix B17G converted to B17F Memphis Belle that I completed to fill some rather major changes.

Also I use PVA for certain things, clear canopys, just now on this thing my PE engine grilles as it gives working time and holds well. Can be brushed where you want it and has some body unlike CA glues which I tend to find can be brittle at times and come apart.

Body Together and Painting Begins:

The body is screwed together. I read a few concerns of the FM Falcon being a bit skinny throught the middle and this has been rectified through various builders by packing the center of the falcon with some washers, so I did the same to fatten her up a little, the screws pull the outer edges down into place. Then the fitting of all the completed side wall panels. I primed the engine grille in grey and masked it off to stop from painting the engine nozzles ( we will address this area later). I also used a soldering iron on the blaster holes? on the LH side. just enough to sink the plastic in but not push through. and I dremeled the two scrapes underneath.

Masked and ready for primer:

Next I fitted the cockpit tube and cockpit taped in place, there is nothing inside the cockpit at this point but I want everything together for colour accuracy. Then I applied Tamiya aerosol light grey primer.

Next I darkened up some XF-53 Neutral grey with black and thinned 1:1 and gave a good panel shading.

I would like to add here since reintroducing myself to this hobby about 2 years ago I have mostly used acrylics as they were easy to get a hold of. As was suggested colours by Fine Molds I used the Tamiya enamels and my goodness were they awesome. None of the nonsense clogging airbrushes, easy clean up, just thin and spray beautifully. Adhesion is fantastic also. Im so impressed.

Now, the big intimidating part of this entire build for me was colour. There is seemingly no end of differing opinions on colour and I was scared I wouldn't be able to produce something good enough. FM instructions for the base grey are 10 parts XF-2 White to 1 part XF-57 buff to 1 part XF-66 light grey. Here in Brisbane modelling paints are hard to find in their full variety with different stock in different stores. After visiting 1 hobby shop and 2 toy stores I got my colours but could only get X-2 white.

I dumped 3 bottles of x-2 white into a paint tin and a few drops of XF-57 and XF-66. didnt look to bad on the stick. I dotted the paint on the paint tin lid and let it flash off. seemed a touch white so added a touch more 57 and 66 and dotted again next to my last dot. This was better but I felt it needed to be warmer so I added one more drop of 57 and redotted. This time I was happy I achieved a colour that looked like what I felt it should be. I find this technique of sneaking up on a colour helps at times. I thinned this at 50%. 

Colour on:

I gave the blaster holes a hit with some black, then some overthinned darkened grey and added a bit of buff to yellow the edge. I gave a light lick over the fans and the engine panel also as a precursor to the future weathering. In that last shot you can see the PE grills under the falcon got the same darkening treatment.

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Josh

Josh & Eagle: Those look amazing guys!!! 

Thanks Gamera!

Josh, I'll have to give MEK a try some day as a cement...I definitely always have plenty of it on hand.  Your Falcon is coming together really quickly and nicely!  I ended up using decanted Tamiya AS-20 Insignia White as my base color.

Heh...I agree about Han Solo's arms.  I guess the Falcon has a really good 3-axis autopilot.  

Wow, Josh, your work on the Falcon is very good.  I have the same kit in my stash - I frequently consider it to be the King of my Stash given how much I've seen them going for on eBay.  I have a set of clear pieces for the engine, as I also intend to light her up as you have.  

In the back of my mind I've long thought this would be my sign-off for Star Wars modeling - I have all the FM 1/72 kits in my stash, having built only the Jedi Starfighter to date, as well as a Revell Republic Cruiser, which I anticipate being the next Star Wars kit I build.  But not before I secure a lighting kit or devise a lighting plan for it.  But the Falcon, with all those parts and the lightnig for it, just seems so overwhelming.

Gamera

Josh & Eagle: Those look amazing guys!!! 

 

Aggieman

Wow, Josh, your work on the Falcon is very good.  I have the same kit in my stash - I frequently consider it to be the King of my Stash given how much I've seen them going for on eBay.  I have a set of clear pieces for the engine, as I also intend to light her up as you have.  

In the back of my mind I've long thought this would be my sign-off for Star Wars modeling - I have all the FM 1/72 kits in my stash, having built only the Jedi Starfighter to date, as well as a Revell Republic Cruiser, which I anticipate being the next Star Wars kit I build.  But not before I secure a lighting kit or devise a lighting plan for it.  But the Falcon, with all those parts and the lightnig for it, just seems so overwhelming.

 

Thank's guys!

Aggieman, I know what you mean about seemingly overwhelming. The lighting is simple if you keep it simple. It took me a bit to get my head around wiring the madman circuit board though. if you're doing landing lights and fibre optics like Floki did then it is definitely going to be a massive undertaking. 

I attached all the greeblies to the body before I posted anything and it took me well over a week on and off. You get a good sense of either reward or relief at the end of it though haha.

Painting Continues:

I have said I am a few days, actually a week behind posting. It took me a solid 3 hours to prime and base the falcon. These next pictures are done over a few days, masking one evening and painting the next.

I painted some solid black behind the fan blades so there would be some depth with the grilles going on. Fans good and grimey if not on the gloss side from the enamel. what you see in the end will get flat cleared anyway.

Next I did the final interior fit to the cockpit and glued it in place, masked out the red top and bottom and painted it in Mr Hobby Aqueous H-33 Russet as per FM directions.

Sorry I got slack taking a photo with the red applied

Next I masked and painted the Dark grey in XF-53 Neutral grey, again as per FM directions. I read someones comments that once painted people tend to have the Falcon looking like a pizza with colours standing out everwhere, I see their point. That's ok though, we can fix that....

To note, I blew some dark grey/black mix into the 4 access holes up the front. While this is ok, after looking over studio pictures the haze around the surface is not accurate so I will be fading that back out.

From here I masked and painted the light grey panels then going back to the original colour, at high pressure hazed overspray over all the picked out coloured panels to tone them down, this was done atleast in some areas of the studio model and as you cant paint faded paint from a tin, gives a faded appearance I suppose. Takes away that pizza look!

I went a bit far hazing over the light grey panels on the cockpit tube. I will go back and redo these. I also masked a few lines top to bottom and shaded the edge in very dark grey, noticeably on the side of the cockpit in the last photo. Time to filter and weather her!

Cheers,

Josh

Floki

She's starting to look like the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy! As for lighting it's not very hard just time consuming. Running dozens of LEDs and hundreds of fiber optics is kind of enjoyable and after you get it all done and turn it on, then it's worth the effort.

 

Thanks Floki!

The weathering, and the Finish.

I was impressed watching fichtenfoo's videos on Youtube of weathering the falcon (If you have not seen them and are doing a falcon they're definitely worth a watch). I bought all the 502 Abteilung oil paints but had not realised when I asked the girl at our local art supply for odourless turpenoid she gave me tupentine and when I started the filtering process I began to wash the paint off. Oh dear. A rub and a quick respray of the effected area was undertaken.

I also found an issue with shading down a tape edge as was achieved on the studio model.. there is too much overspray and it darkens the panels too much. The FM falcon is about half the size of the studio model so trying to recreate the same effects make them twice the size they should be on a half sized model.... if I am making sense. I toned down the shading with some colour.

Back to the filtering. I used the same process I planned to use with the oil paints, but in water based acrylics. I dampened the surface and dabbed on ochre and pushed it around using Fichtenfoo's method. then I did a streaking effect in black. It didnt feel quite right so I gave it a good damp scourer that reduced the streaking. I had to find another method, weathering powder. Using the 502 Abteilung black weathering powder found in the Railroad pigments set. I weathered around the engines and then ran tape edges again and with a very small brush, brushed the pigment powder onto the tape edge, removed the tape and ran my finger through it to streak it. This looked better. I did my best to copy the basic streak locations found on the studio model. I held it all down with some hairspray. lastly were the yellow panels. A mix of very thin ochre and white masked off and brushed over the top of the streaking, showing the weathering to come through. The yellow panels are very pale on the studio model, I barely noticed them at first. I ran out of Tamiya flat clear so I need to pick up some more and give her a final coat. This is me up to date as of today. I have been weathering this thing all week. Paint and weathering owes me about 20 hours.  

Now she may not be 100% accurate to the studio model but my aim was to have a strong representation, something I can look at and think Yes, that's her. I hope she is good enough for you guys.

Sorry the brown table cloth and less that white lighting is giving off a brownish hue.

Ladies and Gentleman, My Millennium Falcon:

The studio model had glass or perspex in the place of the engine grille so there was not really reference to this area. I opted to soot the area around the engines out as in reality, all that energy would cause heat and burn everything so I am happy with that artistic decision. The overspray was allowed to travel in over the clear engine nozzles without issue.

Thanks everyone for looking.

Cheers,

Josh

Wow!  Amazing work, Josh!  I hope mine comes out looking that good.  I'd never be able to match your speed though.  NICE!  

NOPE !

     After seeing yours, I ain't building mine ! There's no way I would get the finish that good. Actually I am going in a different direction. Ships being built are NEVER the same color as when finished. So my build will be the Falcon under a heavy Dockyard sequence. Different colors everywhere even some airlocks attached where sections need Atmosphere!

     That way I don't have to worry about figures. Besides has anyone ever seen a Corellian?

Eaglecash867

Wow!  Amazing work, Josh!  I hope mine comes out looking that good.  I'd never be able to match your speed though.  NICE!  

 

Thank you. Im sure you will manage a fantastic falcon! As for speed,  I was about a week behind as I said from the beginning in posting so the painting has taken 2 weeks in all. The assembley was almost complete before I started posting. I was motivated and had some holidays from work so I spent every spare second on this.... there is still about 40 hours total I think.

Tanker-Builder

NOPE !

     After seeing yours, I ain't building mine ! There's no way I would get the finish that good. Actually I am going in a different direction. Ships being built are NEVER the same color as when finished. So my build will be the Falcon under a heavy Dockyard sequence. Different colors everywhere even some airlocks attached where sections need Atmosphere!

     That way I don't have to worry about figures. Besides has anyone ever seen a Corellian?

 

Very nice work on your Falcon!  Still the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

That is some super work! Can't wait to see what you do with the rebel fighters.

Wow, really nice build. I also have the Bandai kit, was never able to get finemolds for a decent price. Looking forward to starting on mine here soon. on a side note, saw that there were some questions on the bandai and fm x- and y-wing, few years ago i built both versions of the y-wing and posted it here. It currently is on page nine, not the best post but it may give you some additional info.

Aggieman

Very nice work on your Falcon!  Still the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

 

Thanks bud!

Keyserj

That is some super work! Can't wait to see what you do with the rebel fighters.

 

Thank you. Yes hopefully I can make a decent job of them. I will order them in the next couple of weeks. Seems adding lighting is difficult but we can achieve it!

NucMedTech

Wow, really nice build. I also have the Bandai kit, was never able to get finemolds for a decent price. Looking forward to starting on mine here soon. on a side note, saw that there were some questions on the bandai and fm x- and y-wing, few years ago i built both versions of the y-wing and posted it here. It currently is on page nine, not the best post but it may give you some additional info.