MPC Millennium Falcon

[slave1pilot]

I just looked through all of my model kits to see what I had.
I have the ROTJ MPC Falcon
Maybe I'll accurize that one too.

 

[RGPFX]

Near as I can tell, the only thing changed in susequent MPC re-releases of the kit was the removal of the cheesy grain-o-wheat lighting system in the engine and cockpit. The hole for the switch was on one of the rear side panels and appears to have been retooled closed. I have bits of the 78 kicking around and I did the cut-away a decade ago. Pretty much the same stuff. The cutaway is nice but you have to do a bit of cutting and fitting to get the turrets to fit if you want to put an interior on them as I did.

my falcon model

 

[JMChladek]

Only other thing that changed briefly on the MPC kit is the 1984 production MPC kits from ROTJ in the silver boxes had black smoke tinted canopy and gun turret well pieces. For the subsequent MPC/Ertl and AMT Ertl reissues, they went back to clear pieces.

 

[jlwshere]

I started this kit this summer then took a break. I'll get back to it real soon, as I'd like to get it done before my wife gives birth. There was a better thread, though it seems to have become too old and disappeared.

Millennium Falcon--Sci Fi at Z-5??? - Zone-Five Aircraft Modeling Forums

This is some great detailing. I have been playing around with the thought (and a little bit of work) of restoring this to the original Millennium Falcon from the Original Star Wars Movie. I much prefer it over the ESB modifications, although I do have a Fine Molds 1/72 kit.

I have the "falcon kits" sidewalls, but they are not really accurate to the five footer, so I am scratching new sidewalls based on the height of the "falcon kits" parts. I actually have an in scale Mazda transmission for the sidewalls for this kit.

Other than correcting for the curvature and the cockpit and cockpit tube, I am also effectively razing the entire back engine deck, and will build it out as closely as possible to the five footer.

I have also noticed on some pictures scaled from the five footer to 18 inches (ERTL scale) that the access bays ("holes" in the top and bottom mandibles) are slightly larger on the ERTL than the studio model, so I will probably visit this to see how much of a difference this makes and if it is worth the effort of correcting, as the discrepancy is very slight.

*hint, If you cast, the Fine Molds Falcon and Y-wing kits can provide some great in scale accurate donor parts. There are also other parts on the model itself, including the sidewalls, that can be cast and repurposed in other or more accurate locations on the model, including "Aurora" parts on the engine deck, which are facing the wrong direction, and little military 5 gallon "gas cans", of which more are required throughout the model.

I've done tons of research using pictures (readily available on the web) of the five footer, it's just finding the time to make it all happen.