Fine Molds 1/72 Millennium Falcon

Alaneye said:
Too late, I've filed off the moulded grill and drilled the holes as in your first picture. I see you added a curve of plastic infront on the back wall to hide the holes? I would like to use the PE interior though so I will persever for a bit. I believe it's best to paint the PE black because the brass shows through the decal? I wonder how difficult it would be to paint the PE and not use the decal at all. Would be fiddley work I guess. Anyone any tips?

Your cockpit looks great. All the PE, what to paint, decal or not to decal, and the dreading LED work is vexing me lol

Al
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you need to paint the P.E. grey. I made the mistake of painting it black and my decals didn't show up at all.

It's funny how we all have our Achilles heel. I fear lighting the falcon. So I haven't done anything in months. I've even done two other distraction models in the mean time.

But I can't WAIT to get to painting
 
Right out of the blue I picked up the Falcon again. The cockpit PE had put me right off, so I had picked it up with the intention of working some more on the top surface, but instead continued with the cockpit PE :facepalm So after some fiddley, almost throwing the whole thing out and using the stock parts, I finally got it installed and it looks okay. (just has an LED torch in the back to see what it looks like). Photo all but washes out the colour though.

IMG_2701.jpg


IMG_2684.jpg
 
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Glad to see you back on this thread, Al!
Superb cockpit! ... But could you do some close-up shots without the LED on so that we can distinguish volumes?
I wish you good luck for the next step that I look forward!
 
Oh, this looks great, really great! I was preparing to painting mine, but now, seeing this, I'm going to hold that and return to detailing the model a bit further. I especially like what you've done with the upper jaw surface.

The PE cockpit was challenging to put together, to say the least, I never fully understood how the floorpan and console really should sit in the cockpit tub, eventually I used the kit console with PE floor.

Alaneye said:
Too late, I've filed off the moulded grill and drilled the holes as in your first picture. I see you added a curve of plastic infront on the back wall to hide the holes? I would like to use the PE interior though so I will persever for a bit. I believe it's best to paint the PE black because the brass shows through the decal? I wonder how difficult it would be to paint the PE and not use the decal at all. Would be fiddley work I guess. Anyone any tips?

Al
Click to expand...

I painted the PE interior black and added the decals. The decals are very precise and produce some nice, albeit a little bleak, coloured lights effects to the rear wall. In retrospect, I suspect black wasn't the best choice, I think dark-ish gray might work better because all the details in the decals vanished against the black.

Anyway, this is fantastically interesting thread and I'm definitively going to keep a keen eye on this!
 
Avanaut said:
Oh, this looks great, really great! I was preparing to painting mine, but now, seeing this, I'm going to hold that and return to detailing the model a bit further. I especially like what you've done with the upper jaw surface.

The PE cockpit was challenging to put together, to say the least, I never fully understood how the floorpan and console really should sit in the cockpit tub, eventually I used the kit console with PE floor.



I painted the PE interior black and added the decals. The decals are very precise and produce some nice, albeit a little bleak, coloured lights effects to the rear wall. In retrospect, I suspect black wasn't the best choice, I think dark-ish gray might work better because all the details in the decals vanished against the black.

Anyway, this is fantastically interesting thread and I'm definitively going to keep a keen eye on this!
Click to expand...

Glad the thread has inspired you to push your model a bit further. I used grey on my PE, but if I did it again I think I would paint it white. TBH I made a bit of a mess of it. I had it all looking good and while fitting it back into the cockpit tube I pressed it in with the tip of my finger only to find I had a bit of superglue on the end which then tore off a sizeable piece of the decal. I thought it was game over for the PE, but I painted it flat black and it looked okay. There were also areas of white from the superglue on the decals so I had to paint those over with flat back too.

But I don't think it's going to matter in the end. Once the seats and the figures are in place it's going to be pretty difficult to see much inside the cockpit anyway. I did toy with the idea of adding the raised shapes around the door way in styrene and adding a tiny set of levers, but I think the effort would probably be wasted as you just aren't going to be able to see them. I'll see if I can get a decent picture without the light.
 
This thread certainly did inspire me. There is so much I have missed while building my Falcon, I can't fix it all anymore because it's all glued by now, but it seems there' still much that can be done.

Looking forward to seeing where your Falcon is heading with great interest.
 
baloo said:
Glad to see you back on this thread, Al!
Superb cockpit! ... But could you do some close-up shots without the LED on so that we can distinguish volumes?
I wish you good luck for the next step that I look forward!
Click to expand...

Hi baloo, here's a picture I took with the flash, it's not perfect, but gives you an idea of what's inside.

IMG_2698.jpg
 
Finally tackled the cockpit occupants. Fine Molds have covered all the possibilities for you by including Han, Chewbacca, Leia, Luke, Ben, and 3PO, but my favorite Falcon scene is the asteroid field so I went with Han, Chewbacca, Leia, and 3PO. The figures are quite nicely done for the size, but they are all sat straight up, looking straight forward, with their hands resting on their thighs, so I thought I'd see if I could bring a bit of life to them. I started with Chewie, chopping off his head and turning it a little to his left. Then I took 3PO, who is depicted sitting down, but I wanted him standing up, so I chopped off the arms, cut him at the waist and at the knees, then put him back together in a standing postition. Leia I left as she was, and Han I cut off his head, right arm, and cut him off at the waist so I could make him lean forward and reach over the control panel. It's all very fiddley and close up probably looks a bit crap, but in the cockpit with the canopy in place and the back lights on, I think you can get away with it.

IMG_2727.jpg


Here is a picture with them lit up from the front.

IMG_2717.jpg


And here is a pic without the canopy.

IMG_2733.jpg


This last pic show up the colours of the lights in the back wall a bit better.

IMG_9270.jpg
 
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Thank you so much for these shots of cockpit, Al! I could not expect more.
Improvements on your figures really give more life!

2 questions candid:
- Could you indicate your supplier for the back light please?
- Can we cut the back light in order to give any shape?
(... I admit I need to be lighted on this product hehe)
 
Thanks, baloo. I'm not 100% sure on what you mean in your questions, but what I can tell you is that I got the photo etched parts from Acreation Models.

www.acreationmodels.com/

At the moment the back light is simply an LED torch shining through the PE and the decals. When I put the proper LEDs in I hope to have some uplight shining on the characters.

Unless you have light shining into the cockpit, the back wall is very dark. I did toy with the idea of adding the shapes around the doorway in styrene, but I'm glad I didn't bother because you just wouldn't be able to see it.

Al
 
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Alaneye, this is proof that great minds think alike! I also have been altering the crew. I am using standing Hans arms,one on center console,the other on the wheel. Chewie will have hands on wheel. 3PO is the only finished figure,arms up as I also am depicting the asteroid chase. I am using the PE control panel and center console where I added the screen Han gets info from and the levers in the center. Oh yeah 3POs eyes light up. Was gonna post but I'm nearly done painting the top. You forced me to log in now. My Falcon wouldn't be half as good ( and been done by now) if you hadn't done such cool s*#t to yours. I'm almost done try not to do anything I have to buy another one for.
 
Stunning work Alaneye! I would like to start my 1/72nd kit but it will have to wait until all the other builds are finished. However, I really am enjoying the work that you're applying to yours.

(y)thumbsup:thumbsup
 
baloo said:
Thank you for the reply Al!

In fact, when you talked about back light, I thought you were referring to this:

T-qualizer flashing t-shirt,el light cap/hat,el cold light sources products,el flashing car sticker,solar products,sound control t shirt

How to Make a Custom Light Tape® Connection - YouTube

... You know this product?
Click to expand...

Baloo, ah yeah, I have seen that product before. I don't think I'll use it in the Falcon though.

Fett_Ish said:
Alaneye, this is proof that great minds think alike! I also have been altering the crew. I am using standing Hans arms,one on center console,the other on the wheel. Chewie will have hands on wheel. 3PO is the only finished figure,arms up as I also am depicting the asteroid chase. I am using the PE control panel and center console where I added the screen Han gets info from and the levers in the center. Oh yeah 3POs eyes light up. Was gonna post but I'm nearly done painting the top. You forced me to log in now. My Falcon wouldn't be half as good ( and been done by now) if you hadn't done such cool s*#t to yours. I'm almost done try not to do anything I have to buy another one for.
Click to expand...


Oooo, 3PO with light up eyes! Nice one, looking forward to seeing that. Must have been very fiddley work. I considered adding the centre console levers, but in the end I decided it was too fiddley and you might not be able to see it. Can't wait to see yours now though.

Great when we get inspired by each other's work. I'm sure you've got the extras covered ;)

Scratchy said:
Stunning work Alaneye! I would like to start my 1/72nd kit but it will have to wait until all the other builds are finished. However, I really am enjoying the work that you're applying to yours.

(y)thumbsup:thumbsup
Click to expand...

Thanks Scratchy, I think the hardest part is over (I hope) with the cockpit, but I was looking at what still has to be done, and it feels like a ways to go yet.
 
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it all seems to be heating up here with Falcon builds!, your cockpit lights & figures are jaw dropping Alaneye, I'd really like to go with the PE, it adds so much

J
 
Dear all,

I would like to know how about landing gear hatch.

My idea is...
-At the front center:Set of folding doors
-Other:a single side swing with center hinge.
Is it correct?
 
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