Thoughts and tips on painting the Millenium Falcon

[Studio Kitbash]

I'm not an expert painter, and have a 32" DeAgostini Falcon unbuilt and a yet-to-be-completed 5-footer, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I have painted exactly neither of them.

First off, your model looks really good, and I wouldn't overdo it or overthink it, as I think the two models really are VERY different in painted appearance. It may be as simple as the filmed lighting conditions of the two films that make them appear "similar" on screen when they are so different in static shots or up close.

To my (amateur) eye, the thing that always sticks out to me is that the 32" ESB Falcon always looks too "soft pastel" compared to the 5-Foot ANH Falcon, which looks much more stark in color scheme and color contrast. It almost strikes me as a "feminine" (ESB Falcon) vs a more "masculine" (ANH Falcon) approach to the painting of the two models. Another analogy I think of is that the ESB smaller Falcon looks like an Easter egg decoration while the larger ANH Falcon looks like a beat-up car from American Graffiti. I don't know the solution, but I do agree with you that the base coat is key, and for the 5-footer at least, that base coat is still something of a mystery in that no one has definitively (to my knowledge) ever produced "proof" of which color (or combination) was used to lay down the first base coat of white on top of the matt black primer on the ANH Falcon. We know they used Floquil railroad colors, and those colors are fairly well known and readily available either used (NOS bottles on Ebay) or in modern reproduction, but what you use for the base coat seems to make a big difference.

The banned user "Akumazeto" was my favorite RPFer when it came to imitating ILM paint jobs, so if you can find him (or his old threads/posts) he or his images might be of use.

 

[batguy]

To my (amateur) eye, the thing that always sticks out to me is that the 32" ESB Falcon always looks too "soft pastel" compared to the 5-Foot ANH Falcon, which looks much more stark in color scheme and color contrast. It almost strikes me as a "feminine" (ESB Falcon) vs a more "masculine" (ANH Falcon) approach to the painting of the two models. Another analogy I think of is that the ESB smaller Falcon looks like an Easter egg decoration while the larger ANH Falcon looks like a beat-up car from American Graffiti. I don't know the solution, but I do agree with you that the base coat is key, and for the 5-footer at least, that base coat is still something of a mystery in that no one has definitively (to my knowledge) ever produced "proof" of which color (or combination) was used to lay down the first base coat of white on top of the matt black primer on the ANH Falcon. We know they used Floquil railroad colors, and those colors are fairly well known and readily available either used (NOS bottles on Ebay) or in modern reproduction, but what you use for the base coat seems to make a big difference.

The 5-footer was intended to be shot close-up and the 32" was not. That may have made a difference.

Think of a model train diorama. The hills/scenery in the background have to be painted with less contrast & saturation, to mimic the distance. The 32" Falcon was more of a distance-model so it makes sense that they might have softened up the contrast on the paint. (But if you wanna get technical, space has no atmosphere, and this effect should not be present . . . )


Look at the little 8-inch one they built for ESB (it was docked with the medical frigate at the end). The contrast & colors were VERY dulled down compared to the bigger models.

IIRC the majority of the detail on this thing was actually paint. If you saw it without the paintjob it would look like an unfinished 3D rendering that's missing half the greeblies.

 

[KramStaar]

That's very kind of you to share.
Would you say the photo you posted shows a fair representation of what colours you see in person? On my end for example the red panels look basically like oxide rust.

Cheers,
Josh

Josh as others have pointed out the lighting plays a huge part of how we see these and because the lighting in the archives is all strip lighting (and there is a lot of it), my overall impression is that the finishes on the falcons are lighter than almost all of the photo's posted in this thread are.

Here are a couple more taken of the underside so that the lighting is more muted and the risk of bounced light it reduced.

 

[starks]

It is like red oxide with a dusty faded filter over it. Now that I think about it a straight white misting or filter layer would probably shift it to the wrong color. Needs more like a grime or sand colored type of misting/fading?

I am pretty sure all those odd grey, tan, light grey and red colored panels started out full tone and saturated. It was the subsequent weathering layers that tied it all together and made it more uniform looking. That is the ILM magic that is hard to capture and what I struggle with and feel like I never quite achieve. I have come close on things, but never quite got it

I had set aside my Bandai 1/72 for a while since I am was disappointed as well, but I think this thread may have renewed my resolve to give it another crack and finally finish it up. I'd much rather be where yours ( starks ) is at.

Where my head is at...I feel like the weathering is just too light and my panels as well just don't feel blended in
Plus I do not think I got the base color. That is another thing I struggle with. It just feels to "white"

View attachment 1902619


The other thing that comes into play with ILM stuff is light.

For example the pic above has no string light source and kind of highlights the flaws or weak weathering, in addition many of those greeblie details just get lost

Add a strong directional light source that cast shadows and all of a sudden it seems to come alive.
Unfortunately this is the look I am painting for, but without requiring shining a "spotlight" on the display case to achieve

View attachment 1902618

and replacing the background even further enhances the effect

View attachment 1902621

That's looking great! I think your Falcon is the polar opposite of mine. Mine definitely seems to need the colours toning down. Where as yours the colour seems good. I don't think it's too white (as some of the falcon panels are) but I see it needing to have more of the panels picked out and weathered. for example:

Take this closeup of your Falcon, it is quite white all over. Now:

You can see all the panels picked out. That bottom row, half is a darker grey, the other half is yellow. The panels above those are white again.
Then the next row again you can see a yellowed panel next to the grey.
I think masking out some panels and just doing a thin wash would just bump the colour in those directions and give it that less white overall look.

Don't know if this helps, as you know the FineMolds model is their representation of the smaller model built for 'Empire' to do more dynamic shots, The image Kramstar posted is of course the Bible Falcon, the original bigger model made for 'SW' which is a lot paler, here's a photoshopped image of the 32" top & bottom from the Chronicles book....(photoshopping out the support arm on the underside image)


View attachment 1902683

I honestly don't think you need to do anything more to your model, it is a beautiful piece

J

Thank you for posting that up! That is a fantastic reference. I'm thinking those colours may have been enhanced somewhat in the printing process. It is hard to make fresh ink look faded. But it does seem that the 32" model does seem to be a bit more colourful than perhaps the 5 footer is?

Edit: I've been sitting down studying this photo and gee mines close. With the exception of the yellow which I need to redo in a more pastel, the colours are very close and all the weathering and picked out panels are in the right places.
The book image still feels a bit more toned down, I suppose my paintwork looks a bit new. I think if I can fade out the colours on there a bit Im well on the way....

I'm not an expert painter, and have a 32" DeAgostini Falcon unbuilt and a yet-to-be-completed 5-footer, so please take my opinion with a grain of salt, as I have painted exactly neither of them.

First off, your model looks really good, and I wouldn't overdo it or overthink it, as I think the two models really are VERY different in painted appearance. It may be as simple as the filmed lighting conditions of the two films that make them appear "similar" on screen when they are so different in static shots or up close.

To my (amateur) eye, the thing that always sticks out to me is that the 32" ESB Falcon always looks too "soft pastel" compared to the 5-Foot ANH Falcon, which looks much more stark in color scheme and color contrast. It almost strikes me as a "feminine" (ESB Falcon) vs a more "masculine" (ANH Falcon) approach to the painting of the two models. Another analogy I think of is that the ESB smaller Falcon looks like an Easter egg decoration while the larger ANH Falcon looks like a beat-up car from American Graffiti. I don't know the solution, but I do agree with you that the base coat is key, and for the 5-footer at least, that base coat is still something of a mystery in that no one has definitively (to my knowledge) ever produced "proof" of which color (or combination) was used to lay down the first base coat of white on top of the matt black primer on the ANH Falcon. We know they used Floquil railroad colors, and those colors are fairly well known and readily available either used (NOS bottles on Ebay) or in modern reproduction, but what you use for the base coat seems to make a big difference.

The banned user "Akumazeto" was my favorite RPFer when it came to imitating ILM paint jobs, so if you can find him (or his old threads/posts) he or his images might be of use.

Glad to have you weighing in.
I think part of the issue with copying the Falcon is simply working off photos. You just can't gauge the amount or depth of weathering. I bet if any of us had the filming model sitting next to us we could copy it reasonably. But the filtering effects of the weathering cause an issue. Not to mention the way different lights will pass through that weathering, the fact the models will have pigment fallout and bleaching and will not be the same colours they were in the 70s 80s. And even buying Floquil colours now, the pigments will be different to then and possibly give a different colour.

Josh as others have pointed out the lighting plays a huge part of how we see these and because the lighting in the archives is all strip lighting (and there is a lot of it), my overall impression is that the finishes on the falcons are lighter than almost all of the photo's posted in this thread are.

Here are a couple more taken of the underside so that the lighting is more muted and the risk of bounced light it reduced.

View attachment 1902748

View attachment 1902749

Once again Very kind of you to share these photos. The weathering is so much heavier than I had actually realised. And looking at the coloured panels they do appear (at least by the photo) like they have a light grey? overspray over them.

But I am feeling I really need to tone mine down a bit. I don't think I need to start over but a definite washing out will help I think.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[starks]

The 5-footer was intended to be shot close-up and the 32" was not. That may have made a difference.

Think of a model train diorama. The hills/scenery in the background have to be painted with less contrast & saturation, to mimic the distance. The 32" Falcon was more of a distance-model so it makes sense that they might have softened up the contrast on the paint. (But if you wanna get technical, space has no atmosphere, and this effect should not be present . . . )


Look at the little 8-inch one they built for ESB (it was docked with the medical frigate at the end). The contrast & colors were VERY dulled down compared to the bigger models.

IIRC the majority of the detail on this thing was actually paint. If you saw it without the paintjob it would look like an unfinished 3D rendering that's missing half the greeblies.

Yeah good point, it does make sense you would tone it down more the smaller it gets.. Imagine all those colours detailed on that 8" model, it would look like a pizza!

Cheers,
Josh

 

[JediMichael]

I think it looks pretty good.
I have this older MPC model that's got a ton of issues, but a year and a half ago, fixed up some parts, but mainly, did my best to paint it like the 5 footer and keep it lighter in color. After spraying the base color, everything else was hand painted.
I went in quite intimidated, but was glad it turned out pretty good.

 

[starks]

I think it looks pretty good.
I have this older MPC model that's got a ton of issues, but a year and a half ago, fixed up some parts, but mainly, did my best to paint it like the 5 footer and keep it lighter in color. After spraying the base color, everything else was hand painted.
I went in quite intimidated, but was glad it turned out pretty good.
View attachment 1902821

Nice job and thanks for sharing! I built the MPC kit when I was a teenager, on the grey ROTJ box. It is long gone but always have a bit of a soft spot for that kit. For it's time it was a reasonable kit, minus the tall sidewalls, and didn't have 900 pieces to drive you crazy lol
I actually have another here I have parted out over the years for people who lost parts off theirs.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[JediMichael]

Nice job and thanks for sharing! I built the MPC kit when I was a teenager, on the grey ROTJ box. It is long gone but always have a bit of a soft spot for that kit. For it's time it was a reasonable kit, minus the tall sidewalls, and didn't have 900 pieces to drive you crazy lol
I actually have another here I have parted out over the years for people who lost parts off theirs.

Cheers,
Josh

Yep. I originally got this from a girlfriend back in 2009.....when I still had all my hair and none was gray yet....lol.

Definitely a decent kit for the time.
So the back end had this clear part, that I had originally painted like this. The paint job I did back then wasn't great, and why I totally redid it.

I too the whole thing apart, and actually ended up breaking this back piece....
So I just scratch built a new back for it, and had to make it all fit best I could, and then cover the gaps on the sides.
The glowing part was made up in photoshop and printed on photopaper. Wasn't sure if it was going to work out or not, but it totally did in the end.
Always fun to see how everyone else tackles their Falcon and any issues they run into it.

 

[Analyzer]

That's looking great! I think your Falcon is the polar opposite of mine. Mine definitely seems to need the colours toning down. Where as yours the colour seems good. I don't think it's too white (as some of the falcon panels are) but I see it needing to have more of the panels picked out and weathered. for example:

Take this closeup of your Falcon, it is quite white all over. Now:

You can see all the panels picked out. That bottom row, half is a darker grey, the other half is yellow. The panels above those are white again.
Then the next row again you can see a yellowed panel next to the grey.
I think masking out some panels and just doing a thin wash would just bump the colour in those directions and give it that less white overall look.

Great catch! Definitely need more subtle panel variation as well as streaking as well

 

[Analyzer]

But I am feeling I really need to tone mine down a bit. I don't think I need to start over but a definite washing out will help I think.

Cheers,
Josh

Definitely do not start over. Just tread very lightly, and even then not every panel as you are really teetering on the brink of better off leaving as is

You might try weathering powders as they like oils are easy to undo
Get some like the snow, soot rust set or the sand mud grime etc...
The white and sand colors are great ways to get a faded look and the soot and grim stuff helps with the exhaust staining or in corners, and streaking etc...
Here in the states Hobby Lobby used to carry the Tamiya sets, but now they have there own "generic" knock-off brand

 

[Jaitea]

You probably already know that backing off the colours with a misting of the base coat will take the brightness/newness of the model down a bit.
Thats what ILM did, it just tones it down.

Here's my old FM 72 that I modified a few years ago,.....painting looks a bit off to me now, knowing I could do better

J

 

[Analyzer]

You probably already know that backing off the colours with a misting of the base coat will take the brightness/newness of the model down a bit.
Thats what ILM did, it just tones it down.

Here's my old FM 72 that I modified a few years ago,.....painting looks a bit off to me now, knowing I could do better

View attachment 1902905View attachment 1902906View attachment 1902907View attachment 1902908View attachment 1902909

J

Not really sure how to improve that!

 

[Analyzer]

armed with renewed vigor and suggestions on what to fix, I did some additional weathering passes. Still some more to refine, but I feel better now

 

[batguy]

Some pretty nice paintjobs here.

 

[starks]

Yep. I originally got this from a girlfriend back in 2009.....when I still had all my hair and none was gray yet....lol.
View attachment 1902830
Definitely a decent kit for the time.
So the back end had this clear part, that I had originally painted like this. The paint job I did back then wasn't great, and why I totally redid it.
View attachment 1902832
I too the whole thing apart, and actually ended up breaking this back piece....
So I just scratch built a new back for it, and had to make it all fit best I could, and then cover the gaps on the sides.
The glowing part was made up in photoshop and printed on photopaper. Wasn't sure if it was going to work out or not, but it totally did in the end.
Always fun to see how everyone else tackles their Falcon and any issues they run into it.
View attachment 1902833

That's the one!
You did well scratch building the rear panel. I think the print worked out great.

You probably already know that backing off the colours with a misting of the base coat will take the brightness/newness of the model down a bit.
Thats what ILM did, it just tones it down.

Here's my old FM 72 that I modified a few years ago,.....painting looks a bit off to me now, knowing I could do better

View attachment 1902905View attachment 1902906View attachment 1902907View attachment 1902908View attachment 1902909

J

Good grief, if mine looked like that we wouldn't be having this conversation. That's pretty much perfect!

armed with renewed vigor and suggestions on what to fix, I did some additional weathering passes. Still some more to refine, but I feel better now

View attachment 1903012View attachment 1903013View attachment 1903011

Yeah fantastic! That's a huge improvement. It's subtle but your brain percieves what you're seeing totally differently. Make sure to continue posting your progress

With the weathering powders you may be onto something.
I have some Abteilung 502 railroad powders here. Ones a burnt rusty colour. Yesterday I mixed like a light grey water and did a thin spray over the falcon. The thing that sucks to me is now it looks like it has a think light filter over the coloured panels and doesn't look right haha. It's the same percieved issue I had on my first paintjob. But am thinking I'll remask the red panels and give them a treatment with the powder.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[batguy]

I think the rust-colored panels are a difficult balance to strike. Those panels were always there and pretty clear. But they didn't make a big visual impression on the viewer. People remember the ship looking almost entirely light gray (with brownish-black grime).

 

[starks]

I think the rust-colored panels are a difficult balance to strike. Those panels were always there and pretty clear. But they didn't make a big visual impression on the viewer. People remember the ship looking almost entirely light gray (with brownish-black grime).

Yes, and not to mention I originally painted those rust red panels in what FineMolds suggested and it's more of a burgundy. So I think I've been fighting that from the beginning.

Cheers,
Josh

 

[starks]

So, this is as of this evening. Spent a few hours after work.
Getting those washed out tones a lot closer I think. I need to take some photos in the sun tomorrow.
Cheers,
Josh

 

[3Dsf]

Here are a couple more taken of the underside so that the lighting is more muted and the risk of bounced light it reduced.

View attachment 1902748

View attachment 1902749

Thanks for those images! Really great to see!

At risk of hijacking this discussion, you wouldn’t happen to have any shots showing the interiors of the lower two pits, would you? I haven’t seen any shots that show all the insides clearly.

And tying this loosely back to the original topic of painting, for some reason some folks seem to paint all their Falcon pits black or dark grey, which looks very weird since the original models didn’t look like that at all.

 

[Analyzer]

And tying this loosely back to the original topic of painting, for some reason some folks seem to paint all their Falcon pits black or dark grey, which looks very weird since the original models didn’t look like that at all.

I do not know about others, but despite using the same base color as the hull in the pits once, it is "weathered" with grime and stuff it comes out grey, then add in angle of the shadows and can often look black?

For example close up on mine it is just the hull color, but for the most part lots of grime through oil washes and pastels. I figure if dirt is going to settle anywhere it would be in those pits and I wanted that "dirty engine" look

For me personally, while I am aiming for the 5ft studio model look, but I also am willing to make some changes to incorporate some of what I like on the 32" and some of what I like on the full size sets

For example, I like to copy the look of the side walls here

and in the Galaxy's edge one

In addition, I prefer a little more visual interest in some of those pits by making it look like different materials/replaced parts instead of one uniform paint color

or I figure this part here would probably be more metallic look like some engine parts

Unfortunately, a lot of the detail painting gets lost in pics, or when viewed from a distance just reads as a uniform color