Fabian 71
Active Member
Great, Thanks!!
Building The ANH 5'Millennium Falcon
- Thread starter eagle1
- Start date
Engine deck time!.
So, this really is where the fun begins, or not, because if your parts don't fit here, somethings really off!. There are a ton of donor parts to attach on the engine deck itself & the detailing is not symmetrical!. All model kits of the Falcon, even the Bandai 1/72 Perfect Grade Kit made this area symmetrical.
I have checked, checked & checked again & come to think of it, I think I did check 5 times more to be sure that everything fits top to bottom, left to right. A bit of marking out on the deck to place the vents & subsequent holes to drop in the fans & the more critical kit parts & good to go!.
Not only do you need to work out the top engine deck measures, but it has to line up with the bottom curved engine exhaust strip. I checked this over & over too & it lines up as it should.
My engine deck will be removable as per the ILM miniature, so access to the rear engine lighting strip is made easy.
I had to work out this deck as it allows me to plate out the rear quarter sections & cut out & insert the last 2 pits. Some area always affects another, so it's like 10 things have to be worked out prior to moving onto the area you really want to get working on or finish off.
So, this really is where the fun begins, or not, because if your parts don't fit here, somethings really off!. There are a ton of donor parts to attach on the engine deck itself & the detailing is not symmetrical!. All model kits of the Falcon, even the Bandai 1/72 Perfect Grade Kit made this area symmetrical.
I have checked, checked & checked again & come to think of it, I think I did check 5 times more to be sure that everything fits top to bottom, left to right. A bit of marking out on the deck to place the vents & subsequent holes to drop in the fans & the more critical kit parts & good to go!.
Not only do you need to work out the top engine deck measures, but it has to line up with the bottom curved engine exhaust strip. I checked this over & over too & it lines up as it should.
My engine deck will be removable as per the ILM miniature, so access to the rear engine lighting strip is made easy.
I had to work out this deck as it allows me to plate out the rear quarter sections & cut out & insert the last 2 pits. Some area always affects another, so it's like 10 things have to be worked out prior to moving onto the area you really want to get working on or finish off.
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Interesting. Could you roughly point out what areas are not symmetrical on the deck?
Because the Falcon miniature was hand built & using pretty much masking tape for guide lines, some asymmetry was inevitable. For instance the 2 middle vent line-ups to the exhaust strip is off, meaning the centre line could be left or right of the vents of the strip. There is definitely more 'space' on one side than the other in terms of kit part placement, but barely noticable until you lay out the donor parts. It's a complex area & only the kit part layout unfolds the truths.
Thank you Searun, much appreciated.
Yes, many many hours of research involved, probably a 50/50 of research to build time.
Pyramidrep
Sr Member
Eagle 1,
Been looking at this build for some time . One of the most inspiring, beautiful, neat builds here on the RPF. Great lessons for us all ( you know -take your time and research, research, research). It will be a shame to cover such beautiful work with paint. Looks incredible in its raw parts form.
Been looking at this build for some time . One of the most inspiring, beautiful, neat builds here on the RPF. Great lessons for us all ( you know -take your time and research, research, research). It will be a shame to cover such beautiful work with paint. Looks incredible in its raw parts form.
Thank you so much. I feel most of the time is looking at pics & research & the building is the easy part haha. Yes I'm looking forward to seeing it all in primer, but also hesistant to cover up all the detail parts, seems a shame, but is the nature of the process.
Hits the back of the brain with a massive rush of dopamine.
Immediate next thought: MORE, MORE, MORE!!!
I love this stage, where the leaves of the greeblies disappear into the trees, nay, forest of the Falcon.
Immediate next thought: MORE, MORE, MORE!!!
I love this stage, where the leaves of the greeblies disappear into the trees, nay, forest of the Falcon.
Hey thanks guys, much appreciated from you all.
More progress pics to come of this area. I'm looking forward to adding the exhaust strip plates & details & building the underside duplicate strip & seeing the view from the rear all closed in. The engine area itself where the lighting strip is place will be hacked out too very soon & lighting installed.
More progress pics to come of this area. I'm looking forward to adding the exhaust strip plates & details & building the underside duplicate strip & seeing the view from the rear all closed in. The engine area itself where the lighting strip is place will be hacked out too very soon & lighting installed.
Can I apologize right off the bat totally and ask eagle1 some noob questions? What thickness of styrene are you using for this magnificent Falcon and how do you get such perfect radius cuts? Also, on the engine deck which is gently curved, how do you fasten those flat greeblies? Are they held in place until the CA glue dries?
My congratulations on such an amazing build. It is a tribute in every way to the story teller's and model maker's imagination, their process, their product, it's legacy and then of course your dedication patience and talent. Bravo!!
My congratulations on such an amazing build. It is a tribute in every way to the story teller's and model maker's imagination, their process, their product, it's legacy and then of course your dedication patience and talent. Bravo!!
Not a problem!.
If you mean the thickness of styrene used for the armor plates, then it was a mix of 1mm & 0.75mm depending on location.
To get the radius on the panels, a makeshift beam compass was made to mark out on card templates from center. But...this process took much longer as some radius's are off center & I have matched that from ref pictures.
All the engine deck parts went down ok with CA glue & some Tamiya thin for smaller parts. I had no issues with parts not conforming, none of them are too thick anyway, like the tank plates, it all conformed.
Wow thanks so much for the replies. I literally stared at your pics of the rear engine deck for probably 15 minutes. Keep up the great work!!
Love watching this build - keep those pics coming!
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