1/72 Bandai Millennium Falcon, Perfect Grade

[cbk57]

I have not posted in a while, at least a built model, worked on this one all summer, just finishing up now.  Amazing kit, unbelievable detail.  These are covered with details from armor, automotive and a little aircraft.  It is a really joy to me seeing all the pieces from model kits I grew up building, especially armor kits.  They did not use a lot of aircraft parts although I could identify what were almost certainly a set of either 1/32 or 1/24 landing gear I think from a mustang(they would have been an LSP on the studio model).  

 

I painted this in Mission Models new paint, I base coated it black, then painted it all insignia white, then I retouched as I went mixing insignia white to white about 3 to 1.  I weathered with airbrush, streaking effects, and pigments.

 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

That is gorgeous!

 

Kev

[CATCplSlade]

I have one, but won't likely touch her until next year.

[Out2gtcha]

Wow! That is super well done. Congrats!

[Uncarina]

Really nice work! Makes me want to revisit mine.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[cbk57]

9 hours ago, Jennings Heilig said:

Really (REALLY!) nice!!  That kit is a monster, and mine’s sitting here mocking me.  I hope mine is half that nice when I get it done.

 

My only beef with the kit is I wish they’d given you alternative parts so you could do it without the battle damage.  

I think it would not be hard to eliminate the damage, fill the holes and smooth it over.  You might have to scribe a couple edges of panel lines but nothing that could not be done.  

 

By the way thanks for the kind comments.  I really enjoyed this build.  Star Wars came out when I was 7 and is my all time favorite movie, I conned 4 family members into taking me to the movie when it came so it was the only movie I ever saw multiple times in the Theater.  I have seen ever release since in the theater as well.  As for the models, the Millennium Falcon has been kind of a bucket list model.  The style of design with the use of model parts really connects with me as I grew up building models.  Since the Fine.Molds Falcon came out I have been wanting to do a big one.  This came up on a Sprue Brothers deal of the day so that finally pushed me over the edge.  

 

I went straight to work on it because it is such an expensive model, too big to just leave sitting in my shop.  I had to build it and now find it a home.  That may take time but oh well, until then once finished I will find a shelf for it for a while.  

 

As far as finishing, I lost a tinny part on the bottom and I had another part fall off recently and disappear.  I need to get replacements for those and add a final clear coat.  That is about it.

 

Of note for those who have one of these, there are no spares, you use every piece in the box, so if you have something left over you may have missed a step.  I check listed the steps as I completed them as I did not work fully in sequence.  I still have two or three unused parts, and a few alternative parts but other than a handful of alternative parts, there are no spares in the box.  The fit is amazing, you want some really good nippers to cut the lines off the sprues.  I used a UMM pair and they leave almost no burr to remove.  You will need magnifying glasses for many small parts.

 

I used the main decals instead of painting the markings, I wanted to work faster and keep the exact studio look.  I used lots of solvaset and a very sharp blade to remove bubbles.

Edited September 25, 2018 by cbk57

[BloorwestSiR]

Very nice looking Falcon. Do you use any AM bits on it?

 

I've got a pair of the them along with the Fine Molds one to build one day. Still too chicken to start on them though. I've been building up the courage by starting with the 1/144 kits first. 

 

Carl

[cbk57]

1 hour ago, BloorwestSiR said:

Very nice looking Falcon. Do you use any AM bits on it?

 

I've got a pair of the them along with the Fine Molds one to build one day. Still too chicken to start on them though. I've been building up the courage by starting with the 1/144 kits first. 

 

Carl

I can't speak to the Fine Molds kit but the Bandai kit is not intimidating, it is a lot of work but mostly a straight foreword build.  I added a little filler to the cockpit seems as there is a visible gap and I had to clamp it down and fill the rest.  I would note that you want the out board seem to be the tightest, the inboard seam is less noticeable so if you have to use more filler on the inside it won't be as visible.