Yeah yeah I know... you're expecting more build pics.  Well I've been kinda stalled out lately due to a number of factors that are slowly starting to clear up.  1) I had to wait for the DOA paints to come back in stock and FINALLY after about 4 months they have arrived, I feel kinda sorry for Andy Preston... he's been making those paints by hand and I'm sure he didn't expect the demand for them.  SOOOOOOO... if you want them, expect a long waiting line.  2) Waited over a YEAR for the binders to finally come in stock for the US market.  Was so tired of digging thru my boxes to find the mag issue with references.  Seeing as I'm up to issue 64 (and have 68 arriving this week) you can imagine all the magazines that have been laying around.  But now I have 3 binders filled and started on a 4th.  Can't believe we're already more than 3/5ths of the way thru this build!  3) I've been hard at work making new and exciting 3D parts to detail out my build.  I finally got around to making a completely detailed and photo-matched replica of the ESB Port Side Wall.  Came out looking better then I hoped, but I didn't stop there.  I know a few of my friends are making the ANH version of this kit and I decided to go ahead and make that too!  If you'd like to get them for your build here they are:

 

Link: https://www.shapeways.com/product/6VCRMQF7X/esb-port-side-wall-for-deago-falcon-1-of-2?optionId=60005343

You can click the image to see the details of it.  It's got several parts including a separate door, light grill, side room, electrical room light above the door and both rings (outer and cushion).  In order to make it more affordable I split the parts into the ones that can be printed in ABS and the ones that require FXD for printing.  Or you can get the whole thing in FUD/FXD material in one shot.  Read the description for details.

Here's my ANH Port Side Wall as well:

 

Link: https://www.shapeways.com/product/FSAP2FBUB/anh-port-wall-for-deago-falcon-1-of-2?optionId=60029415

I tried to be as accurate as possible to the movie.  Where detail couldn't be found I used my best judgement, but I hope everyone likes it!  Please let me know if they are useful.  I'm also working on a TFA wall with the bunk room and extra lighting.  Should be interesting to say the least!  

I got the one binder that they sent with the second monthly shipment.  Really didn't like the binder at all.  I thought about using some 8-1/2 by 11 side mount page protectors to mount the magazines, but the magazines are about 1/32 inch too big to fit.  The mount tabs I am using do the job and while a bit loose, hold the skinny magazines quite nicely.  Once I get a current printer that will work on my new computer I will print out some sheets to insert in the outer slips so that they will look like the DeAg binders.

Your wall sections are looking good Jim.  I am still waiting to see how all this carpola actually fits together before doing any more interior work.  There is just too much that it should have done to it to guestimate before I have all the needed info.

Awesome! I was worrying you guys had stopped updating here and really want to see how she turns out. 

Heavens Eagle

Your wall sections are looking good Jim.  I am still waiting to see how all this carpola actually fits together before doing any more interior work.  There is just too much that it should have done to it to guestimate before I have all the needed info.

Gamera

Awesome! I was worrying you guys had stopped updating here and really want to see how she turns out.  

Oh no my friend... the work drudges on endlessly.  I keep finding more and more things to fix as I go.  Wanna know what really sucks?  I haven't glued anything together on the interior YET!  And I started back in March of 15... am up to issue 68!  The only thing I've actually got together so far is the bottom hull.  I have a few more parts I wanna make before I start gluing everything together!  But I'm sure in the end it's gonna be LEGEND... wait for it... DARY!!

Well... I know it's been awhile since I posted but here's what I've been working on... My OCD won't let me move on until I fix a bunch of the parts in the DeAgo interior (and there are alot of things that need fixing).  So I'll start off with how all this started.  First things first... I wanted to make a detail on the Port Side wall to give it a little umph... so I made this thingy:

It would work perfectly on the Port Side wall... but then I started noticing things... for example... the door to the maintence room was not only the wrong shape, but the wrong size and not even in the right spot, so I ended up having to redo the entire wall from scratch... here's how it came out:

Notice I used my greeblie I made earlier.  Well now I'm happy and then a friend of mine said he could use the ANH version of that wall... so of course, here I come to the rescue...

Well while I was working on that, I discovered something... there's only 4 support frames on the front in ANH.  So that means I had to redo my whole front support beams, but while I was at it I might as well replace that whole wall... so of course I had to make 2 versions... a ANH and an ESB version... here they are:

 

(Notice there are 2 hoses hanging off the frame itself and only 4 frames in ANH)... here's the ESB version:

Well... around this time, I realized that if I was gonna do two walls I might as well go ahead and do the Starboard wall as well... it's completely messed up... and in a dire need for an upgrade... so I made this:

So needless to say, I've been busy making parts to replace in my Falcon build.  Lemme know what you think!

It's about time you posted some pics of your Shapeways stuff on here Jim.  You can tell that a lot of time was spent doing comparisons to photos.  Why Deag didn't try and get this part a little closer I don't know, but it makes a market for those that DO pay attention to the CORRECT details to create "The Right Stuff".

What I think?. Blimming awesome. Excellent work. I had thought of getting the DeAg Falcon. Seeing the two on here made me glad I didn't because there's no way I could come close to matching your builds. That and where would I put it?. though my good wife may have had a suggestion Keep up the good work. I'll be watching with interest and if you don't mind, using your build for reference when I do my AMT 'Cutaway' version.

All the best.

Greg

Thanks guys... yeah I've been a busy boy! :)  Matter of fact I just finished a new part that I just finished submitting to Shapeways to replace the entire Turret Hallway.  Here's a couple of pics to wet your whistles with:

Needless to say it looks a whole lot better then the one they provide.  Whatcha think?

Mind you... the tube does NOT go up into the gun turrets... because of the bad geometery between the sets and the model, it's impossible.  But that part will make it LOOK like it does from the inside.  It's kinda a faux tunnel! :)

Am really stoked. I got my ESB Port Wall from SW the other day and finally got around to painting it last night. I tell you what... this thing looks AWESOME! And I haven't even put the light or the tubes/wires/cubby hole in it yet. Take a look for yourself!

Well I got my latest shipment of Shapeways parts in the mail yesterday and am pretty pleased with the results!  The Starboard wall although has some nasty print lines in it (hoping to get it reprinted for free) fits the slotted holes on the floor perfectly.  Also the greeblies that glue into the recesses of the wall fit perfectly as well.  I had it printed in White ABS plastic Here's how everything looks on it.




Now, also got my front wall printed and ran into a slight problem.  Althou the tabs fit into the holes perfectly, the detached tube on the back is off  and doesn't quite fit for some reason.  May have to repair that and reupload a new version onto shapeways.  I had it printed in Black ABS plastic and it doesn't look too bad!  I shorted the frames up a bit on both sides to allow room for details on the bunk wall and the Port Side wall.





Here is my Turret Alcove replacement.  Came out looking grate and the fit is perfect.  Gonna be an awesome addition to my kit!  This is printed in White ABS with the Resin Ladder (not pictured):





And finally got my Cockpuit Corridor Wall Replacements... these came out looking AWESOME!  The fit was a little tight but with a little sanding of the front tabs, they slid right into place with no problems!  Here's how they look prepainted!





Now I can really start painting and getting everything together and I feel so stoked about how things are coming together!  Lemme know what you think!

Alright folks... time for a new update.  I've gotten a bunch of my Shapeways parts that I've made printed and delivered and have been painting them up, but my Front Wall Replacement had a couple of small issues (that I've fixed since then) that have cropped up that I figured I would address here.  The biggest being that the tube wall doesn't fit in the the back properly.  Well it's a pretty easy fix.  If any of you have ever had after market parts to detail your model would know, not all of them are perfect and you usually end up having to "fix" them to get them to fit properly.  This is a pretty easy fix.  All you need to do is trim about 1mm off the front edge of the tube itself on both sides with a dremel tool.  Easy right... well here's what it would look like.

Using the dremel, sand down both ends of the tube about an inch (pictured here I did it at an angle).



Test fit as you go to make sure you don't overdo it.




Once you get them trimmed properly it all falls right into place and even the tabs at the top and bottom fit into the slots properly.


Welcome to the wonderful world of after market parts!  Now I've since fixed this issue with the front wall replacement.  So if you were to order it today you wouldn't have this problem, but for those that have ordered it prior to today, it's an easy fix so you don't have to worry about buying a whole new part!  Easy pezy! 

Yep... lots of updates!  I've been been painting my Turrent Tube Replacement and I gotta say... I'm very happy with it.  Here's what it looks like (before I add lights to it!)

And here's a comparision of my part against the supplied stock part.  You can see, mine definitely looks more movie accurate (even if it doesn't connect the turrets together, but then it never would be able to!)

OK all... here's the latest updates to my build.  I decided to go with the Paragrafix corridor photoetch kit.  I like them over the 3D printed hallways.  Why?  All the corridors have these little floor slits that emit light.  Here's a screen cap of the floor lights.

But you have to trim the sides down but leave the spots where the cushion rings fit.  That was a major pain in the tush!  However... after trimming my floor plates... the first thing I wanted to do was get these floors looking at least somewhat accurate.  That meant gluing, alot of cutting, and repainting.  Here's how they came out.

Now, notice the step to the cockpit corridor... this really can't be avoided due to the pit on the bottom of the hull, but this PE kit comes with a nice little plate to put there to light up that section.  It also comes with the "hidden floor comparatments" but I'm not gonna use them at all... I just glued them into place.  Why?  Well... in order to actually do them would mean that I would have to scratch build a little compartment under each floor section, cut out the hole in the floor and then figure out a way to still light up the floor slits an avoid the compartments.  Besides, I don't think they will be seen once everything is together, but those floor slits will be, so they are my priority.

Ok... so I got a plan.  Now that my floors are all painted and grunged properly, I need to think about how I'm going to put the lights under them.  The first task is to paint the areas under the floors white.  Why white?  I could paint them silver but they wouldn't quite look right and would generate alot of hot spots.  White on the otherhand would disperse the light more evenly with less hot spots and would be more visually appealing.  So I masked off my corridor tubes and started painting.

With that done I had to see just how good the light gets dispersed.  So I tossed a couple of white LEDs on the floor, put the floors over them and VIOLA... I think we've got a winner here.

Of course I won't be using just regular LEDs here... I'm waiting for my LED strips to come in.  So... while I wait for them, I decided it's time to paint these cushion rings to match the rest of my interior.  Of course I'm talking about using the Buffing Metalizer Gun Metal... love this stuff.  Spray it on, wait for it to dry, buff it to a shine and it looks like metal... used it on the floors too with a little bit of weathering powders to dirty them up a bit if you were wondering!

Well that's it for now troopers... more to come... I assure you! :)

Well weekend is over and even thou I didn't get the panels on, I did complete the top frame!  Yes it's all held together with screws but boy is it solid!  That's issues 48 thru 72 on my work bench... yeah it's pretty messy! There's still quite a bit of parts painting and assembling I have to do yet.  First I ended up getting the SW 3D Printed Nav Computer.  I'll be putting fibers in it soon! Next I did some work on my seating area... still have more work to do on it (painted areas, fiber optics) but mainly wanted to make sure my seats looked realistic enough.  I used Flat Tan with some Mud pastels to make them look "well used".  Also going to be putting some fibers in my Dajarikk table and up in my upper bunk.  Am going to remove the light above the seats to use my Light Pipe.  Last pic they are just mocked up, not glued together yet.  Starting to look good.  Will work on the lighting and see what I can come up with for these.

Oh wow, that's one heck of a frame there! And love the floor lights, that's gonna look amazing with everything together and up and running. 

Gamera

Oh wow, that's one heck of a frame there! And love the floor lights, that's gonna look amazing with everything together and up and running. 

I know right?  The framing alone is beautiful!  Thanks bro!

Ok... new update!  I got a few parts from Shapeways and one of them was the electrical room where Han and Leia kissed (otherwise known by my friend and guy who designed it the Kissing Booth).  He did a really good job on it.  Only thing missing were the various wires and pipes that lined the wall randomly.  But I can understand that those are really difficult to print.  So, getting out my trusty epoxy putty, I made some wires and pipes as close to the movie as I could possibly get and added them to the part.  Now I'm not fretting over the paint job because this area won't really be seen very well.  I basically started with a base of Buffing Gun Metal (to tie the color to the rest of my interior) and then did some dry brushing of light gray, dark gray, silver and light tan weathered with pastel mud.  The only lights in this section are on the panel on the wall (still need to add the fibers to it) and the overhead light.  But the effect came out looking pretty phenominal.  I'll let you judge for yourself. (NOTE: The light by the doorway is lit up and ready to go! :))

Wall seen in the movie (before painting the wires):

After painting the piping/wires:

Unseen wall:

Room Assembled:

Mocked up in place (Here's how it will look when it's in place):

Needless to say, it's coming together nicely!  In the immortal words of George Peppard "I love it when a plan comes together!"

And so the painting has begun!  I split the painting into two parts.  The back half I started painting the panels.  The front half I started experimenting with some weathering.  I tried several different methods and if I wasn't happy with the way it came out I would wipe it off and start again.  I finally settled on a Water Color wash of sorts.

Basically just black water color thinned down to water consistency.  Brushed over the surface and allowed to dry for a short time (enough to let it seep into all the nooks and crannies) then wipe it off with a paper towel.  I used Tamiya Weathering Pastels to makes the oils streaks along the bottom.  I think the effect came out looking pretty good.  What do you think?

Now, on the back half, I decided to do the "hairspray" method for the panels.  I masked each panel off and began by painting each with a coat of hairspray.  The kind I used doesn't matter, its just the bargian bin pump bottle, not the aerosol.  Reason why is that you can unscrew the pump top off and pour the hairspray into your airbrush and use it like paint.  I let it dry completely overnight then started painting each panel the proper color.  I'm using the DOA Falcon Acrylic Paints... great paint set!

Now I let the panels dry completely overnight.  When the paints had cured, I went over each one with a water wet Q-tip and wiped it over each panel.  I let that set for a few moments and then I took a toothpick and gently scratched the edges of the paint off.  Some places were a bit more "weathered" then I liked, so I just touched them up with the same paint and started over.  You can't use a paint brush with this method.  You should only use a airbrush.  Using a paintbrush will cause the hairspray to soften and will gum up the paint and look horrible then you have to start over from scratch (trust me, I KNOW! LOL).  In any event, here's what the panels look like when done!

To be continued...

I got all the panels painted... still need to do some more weathering, but it's coming together nicely.  Here's all the panels painted now.  Also did the water color wash... Now that the main bottom hull is painted I can now finally begin to put the greeblies on.  Now she's starting to look like the Falcon should! :) Also notice, I cut the areas between the engine vanes to separate them and give them a more natural feel.  Will sure be glad to finally get this part finally done so I can set it to the side and work on the top! :)  What do you all think?

Looking excellent...

The different shades on the panels and wear to them looks fantastic! Love how she's coming out.  

Thanks guys... she's really starting to come together nicely!

Just like many of you, I have been watching other's build this same model kit with awe and amazement.  I've watched how some people tackle a particular problem with detail or inaccuracy and think to myself why didn't I think of that.  I've seen some fantastical elaborate ways of solving problems that come out looking extremely incredible... but I think to myself why go thru all that trouble.  Well, here's my solution to a problem with the blaster holes on the top hull behind the radar dish. I don't know why, but it seems as if the scan of those "bullet holes" came out as indentions.  Almost as if they are some kind of computer artifact that the computer couldn't quite interpret and just said fudge it and made them all even.  Now, I've seen some builders actually cut these holes out completely, use a soldering iron to melt the plastic, burn the plastic... heck... I've even seen some people replace the entire panel itself with their own scratch built part.  The problem they all run into is the metal framework behind them.  You could cut the framework or try to work around it.  Me... my solution doesn't damage the plastic panel or the framework at all.  All it takes is a little Epoxy Putty (also known as Apoxie Sculpt, Aves, Magic Sculpt, or any 2 part Epoxy Clay Compound that you mix equal parts together and it hardens by itself)! Here's the panel I'm talking about... Now notice how nice and symmetrical these blaster holes are?  Even thou all the "holes" are in the proper place and position... they don't look anything like they should on the actual prop here (image of the actual prop on display at Star Wars Identities in France photographed by Jean-Marc Deschamps & Olivier Cabourdin)... So here's my method... take a small ball of putty and place it into the hole.   Squish it down until it fills the entire hole... then wet your finger and make a depression or dimple in the putty.  Smooth it out so that all the edges are even with the top edges of the hole and then take a hobby knife or whatever else that you use for fine detail work and stab it in the middle of the putty.  Slowly and gently move it back and forth to create a hole in the middle wiping away the putty from the black inside the hole.   You can work it back and forth to create a realistic hole but not too big.  Remember the hole is only in the center of the depression.  Use the pushed aside putty gathered around the hole you made to create the torn flaps.  Notice that there are 2 completely filled holes here just like on the original prop.  Repeat the same process for each hole and set it aside for the putty to cure and harden.  Paint to taste!   Viola... you've just created realistic blaster holes without cutting, marring, maiming, melting, defiling or otherwise destroying the plastic whatsoever (however you can berate the plastic and call it names to your hearts content because it doesn't know any better, just make sure to kiss and make up afterward!) and you never have to worry about the framing behind it! :)  When it's dry and all painted up you'll see a world of difference!  Hope this little tip helps!  Lemme know what you think!

Well I had a 4 day weekend thanks to the holidays and spent them hand painting and assembling my droids I made for Shapeways.  First up was my 1:48 R2.  I was very pleased that everything fit together so nice an snug.  Didn't even have to use any glue on him at all.  He comes with 3 legs and I can position him with either 3 or 2 legs.  I will probably not even include him in my diorama at all, but I love this little guy.  

 

 

Told ya he was tiny, can fit him on a dime, almost so tiny that it's hard to get him to be in focus with my phone camera.  But once I put him inside the cargo lounge, he just shined.

 

 

Really just puts things into perspective doesn't it?  Well... of course I can't have R2 without his lifemate and constant companion, so I began to paint my 3PO.  Of course R2 had to oversee the entire operation to make sure I did it right!

 

 

Now one of the things about 3D printing is there are limits to just how small you can make things.  One of these things are the pistons on his arms and legs.  I had to leave them off the 3D print but they are pretty easy to replace with some stretched sprue.  You take a straight piece of sprue (you know, that little frame that's left over after you cut all the model parts off of) and hold it over a candle flame until it gets really soft in the middle.  Then you pull until you have the right thickness of "wire" you want.  Can get really thin wires this way.  So... here's the stretched sprue I used from a piece of black plastic sprue I had in my toolbox...

 

 

Then I cut some straight lengths out of the thinnest area of the sprue and began to glue them to his arms and leg joints.  I painted them to match the rest of him and they came out looking pretty good.  Oh... R2 had to show off his 3rd leg and hopped up on an actual DIME... he's such a frisky droid.

 

 

And finally... the money shot... yes they both stand on their own.  I haven't "permenantly" glued any of 3PO's joints together because I haven't commited to a pose just yet.  So many come to mind, and I guess we'll see what happens next.  Hope you all had a wonderful weekend... and are enjoying the build so far.

 

 

Lemme know what you think!

Fine job!  I visited your SW shop and was stoked by all the figs you've worked up.  I appreciate that you've also made 1/48 scale versions for those of us working on the Hasbro Rebels Falcon.  Obviously, you're having fun with this project.  Keep it up!

Regards, Robert

You're welcome Rob. I've also got the Hasbro Falcon... I bought it just before I got the DeAgostini. I also got the resin detail parts for it recently. I was thinking of after making this one, making the Hasbro into a coffee table. Still not sure yet, but at least I'll have the completed DeAgo for detail reference!

LrdSatyr8

 

 

 

You should have let the Wookie win C3P0 and he wouldn't have ripped your arms off! 

Nice work on the droids, I guess they could make a bigger R2 for an X-Wing right> 

Gamera

You should have let the Wookie win C3P0 and he wouldn't have ripped your arms off! 
Nice work on the droids, I guess they could make a bigger R2 for an X-Wing right>

Thanks bro... yeah, I think R2 set up for that one I suppose... I dunno why 3PO is always falling apart... maybe because Anakin really didn't know what he was doing! LOL  I've got a 1:43 R2 and 3PO as well.  I can make them just about any size... One of the nice things about making this stuff in 3D! :)