Our Collective 5-Foot Millennium Falcon Build

swgeek said:
I'm just curious, is there a reason you didn't follow your plan and bulk up the wood where the armature goes through it?

Also, if I got something right the first time on a studio scale build, I wouldn't know what to do.
Click to expand...
Actually, SWGeek, that's a good question -- that original plan was originally a way to both "save wood" by cutting multiple C-sections out of a 4'x8' sheet instead of just two "ring" sections, and make it stronger by clamping plasma-cut steel connectors to the mid-sections. But then I got overconfident and just went for original wood rings so it would look like the original build.

And yes, I hear you on the "first time" business, so now I'm thinking, "my SECOND millennium falcon" will be perfect -- AS IF...
 
Searun said:
I like the way your armature helps ensure that all 3 axis are true centerlines. Good work there. Ensures mandibles are aligned and have a strong spine.

Even so you have to rework the rings, their lamination build up is an excellent way to keep your disc wall thickness precise and uniform at the locations you want them. My approach to the disc was based on a airfoil curve using ribs. My major rework on the disc front was at the 45.5“ dia. were I thought the wall (channel) height was 2.625” for the 2” thick mandible entrance. That height was good for the 47.50 dia. to 48“ dia. I did not have the Sheridan Tank kit part in the beginning. It’s hull height properly set the jaw box mouth entrance.

Honestly, I have pushed the reset button more than a few times. Mock-up, templates and trusty alignment jigs help. Persistence is not an option. Recall the statement attributed to Hannibal upon crossing the Alps, “If we can not find a way, we will make one.”
Click to expand...
Wise words, Searun -- I'm especially fond of the aptness of the Hannibal crossing the Alps analogy. I think the Millennium Falcon must be the part where he had to figure out how to get the elephants across. I'm comforted by the fact that he tried to bring 40 of them across, but only one made it -- and I'm hoping for the same result: I just need ONE to make it.
 
Meanwhile, if your turret gun rings are too small in outer diameter, you can just add strips of Plastruct, then fill the gaps with putty:
1646613867323.jpeg


And if you want a smooth flawless skin, just add a really thin layer of styrene around it, and you're all set for adding the sidewall greeblies:
1646613986538.jpeg
 
Studio Kitbash said:
So you've got the Chronicles reference book. You've got the Rinzler books. You've got the websites. You've got ALL the known pictures, images, CADs, and museum picture collections. And you've got your own personal super-duper secret stash that you're not supposed to share with anyone else, on pain of losing a corner of your Jedi card...

So you're pretty much set to start building a 5-Footer Falcon.

But...

Do you have My Affair With the Falcon by James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr.?

No? Haven't heard of that one?

Well then!

Just putting it out there, for all your purists, completists, and totalists out there. In case you don't want to miss a trick.

I'm not saying it's super helpful, I'm just saying it exists. And I will say this: it's very interesting, on multiple levels.

It was self-published on Oct. 28, 2019, and I got mine on December 6, 2019.

And James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. puts Internet references and links in his book, one of which is the RPF and a few particular threads.

So this leads me to query: is James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. ON the RPF? Is he known to anyone reading this? Is he reading this? If so, please identify yourself, as the Falcon builder's community has grown, progressed, and now has in their possession many of the things you are struggling to achieve and/or discover in your book.

Anyway, if you've got the coin, and are interested in knowing just how difficult it is to do what you are currently taking for granted, this book will give you a strong sense of historical perspective, as well as many personal details of the author's life, his journey into Star Wars obsession, and just how hard it was to get an accurate blueprint poster made in 1983. Yes, 1983. Yes: he was forty years ahead of most of us.

So even though I don't know him, had never previously heard of him, and have never met him, I am hereby unofficially declaring James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. as the world's first studio scale 5-Foot Falcon builder pioneer, even if he never (to my knowledge) got to build one. He was, I believe, as the documents in this book attest, the first "true fan" of the 5-Footer, and the first to try and figure it out from an engineering and replication point of view. He forged a path many of us never knew he was forging. But he was, in the all-important world of documentation and provenance, at least one of the... FIRST! (Lee Malone, to my knowledge, was the actual first to complete his build, and I have seen his, and it is a thing of true beauty.)

We're socked in with snow here in Chicagoland, and Mahaffey's book makes fine winter reading by the fireplace.

I raise my glass of warm brandy to you, Mr. Mahaffey!
Click to expand...
For France, it's not possible to have the eboob "Kindle" :( I have sent a paper version, but It's possible you sale me an ebook by paypal, for have it really rapidly ?
 
Studio Kitbash said:
So you've got the Chronicles reference book. You've got the Rinzler books. You've got the websites. You've got ALL the known pictures, images, CADs, and museum picture collections. And you've got your own personal super-duper secret stash that you're not supposed to share with anyone else, on pain of losing a corner of your Jedi card...

So you're pretty much set to start building a 5-Footer Falcon.

But...

Do you have My Affair With the Falcon by James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr.?

No? Haven't heard of that one?

Well then!

Just putting it out there, for all your purists, completists, and totalists out there. In case you don't want to miss a trick.

I'm not saying it's super helpful, I'm just saying it exists. And I will say this: it's very interesting, on multiple levels.

It was self-published on Oct. 28, 2019, and I got mine on December 6, 2019.

And James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. puts Internet references and links in his book, one of which is the RPF and a few particular threads.

So this leads me to query: is James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. ON the RPF? Is he known to anyone reading this? Is he reading this? If so, please identify yourself, as the Falcon builder's community has grown, progressed, and now has in their possession many of the things you are struggling to achieve and/or discover in your book.

Anyway, if you've got the coin, and are interested in knowing just how difficult it is to do what you are currently taking for granted, this book will give you a strong sense of historical perspective, as well as many personal details of the author's life, his journey into Star Wars obsession, and just how hard it was to get an accurate blueprint poster made in 1983. Yes, 1983. Yes: he was forty years ahead of most of us.

So even though I don't know him, had never previously heard of him, and have never met him, I am hereby unofficially declaring James A.B. Mahaffey, Jr. as the world's first studio scale 5-Foot Falcon builder pioneer, even if he never (to my knowledge) got to build one. He was, I believe, as the documents in this book attest, the first "true fan" of the 5-Footer, and the first to try and figure it out from an engineering and replication point of view. He forged a path many of us never knew he was forging. But he was, in the all-important world of documentation and provenance, at least one of the... FIRST! (Lee Malone, to my knowledge, was the actual first to complete his build, and I have seen his, and it is a thing of true beauty.)

We're socked in with snow here in Chicagoland, and Mahaffey's book makes fine winter reading by the fireplace.

I raise my glass of warm brandy to you, Mr. Mahaffey!
Click to expand...
Hello, for France, it's not possible to have the "kindle" version, I have send a paper version but it's so fast:( It's possible to have "a like" for France download"? Or a possibilities you send me the Ebook directly, with a Paypal payment ? Please ?
 
Blackeagles,

Voulez-vous une copie brochée? Ou voulez-vous une version e-book? Je peux vous acheter un exemplaire broché et l’envoyer par la poste à votre adresse en France, si c’est ce que vous demandez.

A bientot,

SK
 
jcoffman99 said:
What is the height of the ring?
Click to expand...
Well, you probably want to use a height of 3/4 of an inch. That's probably the thickness of the piece of wood that ILM threw on the lathe, as best I can tell. Was dimensional wood in 1976 also "just slightly under" thanks to the genius of capitalism and shaving costs to maximize profits? Or was a three-quarter inch piece of wood actually three-quarters of an inch? That's a historical question that I don't currently know the answer to -- but am interested in knowing if any of you do know it.

I'm not saying mine is correct, or super-canonical, or exact, but currently mine sits at a height of 19.41mm.

But interpretation of this number is fairly Biblical at this point: you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And seriously, I've made so many mistakes, you really don't want to take any of my numbers as orthodox, as these are simply either a.) my current numbers or, at best, b.) the numbers I am comfortable living with. ALL of this could change once I start building and see how it fits in the "parts-to-the-whole" configuration, and especially in the ratio of proportionality that I got obsessed about with the Y-Wing. So if it's not the Fibonacci ratio, I'll probably start over!

And this is without the Dura-Steel plating or any other added greeblies yet, so it may be sanded down further for "perfect flush"-ness before any of those other processes are tackled.

Long story short: I have no idea what this number is, nor what it should be...
 
Studio Kitbash said:
Well, you probably want to use a height of 3/4 of an inch. That's probably the thickness of the piece of wood that ILM threw on the lathe, as best I can tell. Was dimensional wood in 1976 also "just slightly under" thanks to the genius of capitalism and shaving costs to maximize profits? Or was a three-quarter inch piece of wood actually three-quarters of an inch? That's a historical question that I don't currently know the answer to -- but am interested in knowing if any of you do know it.

I'm not saying mine is correct, or super-canonical, or exact, but currently mine sits at a height of 19.41mm.

But interpretation of this number is fairly Biblical at this point: you must work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And seriously, I've made so many mistakes, you really don't want to take any of my numbers as orthodox, as these are simply either a.) my current numbers or, at best, b.) the numbers I am comfortable living with. ALL of this could change once I start building and see how it fits in the "parts-to-the-whole" configuration, and especially in the ratio of proportionality that I got obsessed about with the Y-Wing. So if it's not the Fibonacci ratio, I'll probably start over!

And this is without the Dura-Steel plating or any other added greeblies yet, so it may be sanded down further for "perfect flush"-ness before any of those other processes are tackled.

Long story short: I have no idea what this number is, nor what it should be...
Click to expand...
Best. Post. Ever.

I was thinking 3/4 but the side greeblies seem to big to me.
 
jcoffman99 said:
Best. Post. Ever.

I was thinking 3/4 but the side greeblies seem to big to me.
Click to expand...

I did 1 turret years ago... so take my comment ...with some grain of salt.
But I can remember that the sidegreeblies put me on the right track. But not sure but was there a mistake in the Partmap of the turret?
Just measured.. My turret is 19.74mm high.. but i sheeted it with very thin Styrene. So about the same.
 
t2sides said:
FWIW, I recommend you use the 1/72 Rocket Launcher frames for ref. You'll see in the pics, you need to be longer than those to the top, then you add in your styrene plating on top of that. Comparing that will get you the proper height.
PS - Love all the teamwork here!
-Sean
Click to expand...
Okay. Cool. It looks like the disc has another thin part glued on top before the plating. Am I right?
 
I think the Tamiya 1/12 Yardley McLaren donates the most parts of any kit on the Falcon, by my count:

A17

C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7, C8, C12, C13, C19, C25, C26, C31, C32, C33, C34, C35

D2, D4, D6, D10, D11, D13, D14, D15, D18, D19, D20, D22, D23, D24, D26, D27, D28, D29, D35 (x4), D36 (x2), D37, D38, D39, D40, D41, D42, D43, D44, D46, D47, D49

E1, E2, E3, E5, E6, E27, E8, E9, E10, E11, E12, E13, E14, E15, E16, E17, E18, E19, E20, E21, E22, E23, E24, E25, E26, E28, E30

G3, G4, G5, G6, G7, G8, G11, G12, G14, G15, G42, G43, G44, G45,

H13 (x6), H23

J2, J14 (x2)

The Tamiya 1/12 Ferrari 312b also donates a lot, but not nearly that many. And you get a lot of pieces from the Aurora Sealab, but so many of those are multiples of the same piece that I don't think that counts.

The Yardley McLaren kit alone donates over 100 pieces. Nothing else comes close.
 
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