Millenium Falcon 11

So I did a little more work on my Falcon last night after some initial work on the proton pack. I've added the Escape pods on which really make it look much better. 2 Giant holes on either side are not fun to look at especially when lit up. There are still some adjustments to the pods and the side panels need to be added. But the side panels need to go on once the top and bottom are glued together properly.

Next step..buy clothespins.

So here are some pictures as of now. This first one you can see the glow of the engines as well as some minor detail on the hatch

This is also the side that has the walkway lowered. I might need to do a little tweaking as far as detailing here. But it looks fairly good. You can see the engine light leaking through where the side panels need to go by the escape pod.
Here is a top front view of the falcon. Straight on the headlights are too bright and it will wash out any detail. Here you can see the light on top coming through the gunners seat. Behind which is mounted a tiny Luke Skywalker. You can also see the blue light leaking through the front. We'll get to that in a second. I do like the engine glow on my crate in the background.

Rear top angle. Fairly good engine glow spread. The angle washes out the center a little. You can see how bright the headlights are here as they burn whatever is in the background. And side blue spill from lack of cover panels by the pods.

This is just a darker side view of the newly installed pods. Here you can really the spill. Don't worry..obviously this will be fixed since i'm apparently focusing this blog on the side panels being missing. Looks good though, no?

And for some reason this to me looks like a Battlestar Galactica Shot. Of one of the raiders. I don't know why it reminds me of that. Now in the films, this section is closed off. You can't see in. For some reason the model has a little window here. I'm currently blacking out this window so I can glue it in.

This is all I have to update about now. If i really get my ass in gear I should be done with this within the next few weeks. It's just a matter of focusing. Now that the electrical system is up and running and the few bugs I had are fixed. It should last for some time with out anything burning out. Hopefully the only bad thing that happens is that the batteries die and need replacing.

Millenium Falcon 10

So this is just a quick update of pics. I was showing a friend the other day and realized several things. It's been years since I started this simple model. Some modellers scratch build in the time it's taken me to wire this. I've also realized that waiting so long in between working on this...I lose my place.

Anyway, here are some pics of the engines at 1/2 before being focused and directed where they are supposed to be.

From Built to, Build to

Rear. May cut out that stabilizer since it's so glaringly obvious

From Built to, Build to

Side shot. Again..stabilizer, but the glow looks fairly well diffused

From Built to, Build to

And rear above. SATBILZER!

Millenium Falcon 9

Today has been interesting to say the least.

I stopped by RadioShack this afternoon for a case for the batteries for the falcon. What happened to things being easy? I went in, grabbed my case and a 4-pack of AA's. Neville, the annoyingly incompetant sales clerk talked me into getting 3 more packs of batters. 4-for-10. not bad. Well apprently after i paid and all Neville made a mistake and the batteries i bought were NOT on sale. So of course i'mnot gonna pay for em. I spent the next 10 minutes waiting there while 3 other clerks came over and tried to figure out how to refund all this.

By this time i just wanted to leave and didn't wind up buying anything. And to top it all off, Radioshack doesn't sell wire. Speaker wire, sure. But what about good old electric wire?

So i went home, cooled off and went back a few hours later. After all i needed the battery case to begin wiring things correctly.

And behold the fruits of my labors. I figure that 4 AA's running the few LEDs that I have will be sufficiant enough to power the Falcon. The case for the battery fits perfect in the rear of the ship between the two landing gear bays. The whole thing will run off of one battery pack with an on/off switch.

Not too bad so far I think.

The blue glow from the engines is actually looking pretty damned good. Instead of direct light i'm going to angle the LEDs a little to spread the light and avoid harsh glares which you'll see still show up in pictures.

Right now I only have one blue engine light in. Its a slow process of making sure they're alligned correctly as well as gluing them in. I've contructed little stands to that the lights can be positioned at the right height behind the plastic shield.

Top view. You can see the tape holding on the front of the cockpit while the glue drives. There is a small LED inside the cockpit that will more than likely be overpowered by all the others. As well, there is one in the center under the gun turrets. Currently its not plugged in. But when complete, light will be seen through the small circular windows on top and bottom.

Here you can also see the spill from the blue of the engines. The model isn't completely glued together, so there is going to be tons of spill. Once all the lights are in and up and running i'll be able to seal it shut. The only access point will be the top engin turret which I am not securingits going to be the only way to turn the ship on and off as well as replacing batteries.

And of course some nice darker shots so you can get a look at what the lights will look like glowing in the darkness.

I think this is my favorite one so far. Granted its a bit blurry, but you can see some detail of the ship with the lights fired up.

Alright. Thats all for now. Within the next week or two I hope to have it all up and glowing. After that its just a matter of sealing off any cracks or seams to reduce spill light leaking through.

Enjoy.

Millenium Falcon 8

Engines!

One of the most notable aspects of the Millenium falcon aside from its hamburger shape is the glowing blue strip of light in the rear. That glowing blue of the engines and hyper drive. Now the model comes with 2 strips of clear plastic which are apparently supposed to be painted blue and glue in the rear curve of the ship. 2 things about this. 1, that would look like crap. And 2, that would look like crap. So i sat down trying to figure out how i could simulate that glow in a more realistic way. Some modellers out there have talked about their use of light sheet and such, but i am pretty sure i can do it for cheaper. So first thing i got was a clear/frosted 3-ring binder.

I took one of these inexpensive folders, you know the kind. The ones you use for subjects in school that you don't care too much about. Well i cut out a strip approximately a foot long and an inch and a half high which will be glued into the back of the ship. Eventually this will have blue leds behind it illuminating the engines. A few tests have shown that the frosted plastic helps to diffuse the light from the leds, so it should give a nice even glow.

After making a few more measurements and cuts, the strip for the engines is ready to be glued in place. Its not going to provide any real structural re-inforcement, but the clear plastic pieces that came with the model weren't going to provide much more. You can see how this material picks up the flash from the camera. Its reflecting, but the flash is being diffused just a tad. I'm thinking this is going to work out really well.

Here is the piece being held in place with painters tape. (painters tape has come in handy throughout this whole project) Next will be to build some kind of light box behing the engines to help direct the light, but also the keep blue light from spilling into the rest of the model. In this pic you can see some of the spagetti of wires as well as the lower gun turret with does indeed turn 360 degrees. The upper turret will have the Luke Skywalker character that i painted with orange and white like the X-Wing fighters. Through the glass you'll be able to see him when the interior of the model is lit up.

And here is the back end of the Millenium Falcom with the Engine piece in place. Still drying and clamped down with tape as you can see. As of now the landing gear is going to be set so that you can take it off, but this means the doors to the landing gear will open on their own accord. Something else to address later on.

Millenium Falcon 7

So i know i haven't updated this in some time. I've been busy hopping across the country and working on other projects that have taken too much of my time.

Since the last post I have managed to do a little more work on the Millenium Falcon. Chewie and Han Solo and Successfully positioned in the cockpit. Some more of the wiring is in tact and ready to be circuited. I have also weathered more of the ship and added specific markings based on reference pictures.

Next step is to get the engines in the back doing what I need them to do. I have a few ideas so hopefully next post will see them glowing and blue.


Of course none of you are here to read my words, you're all looking for pictures. So as usual, here are a pile of slightly out of focus pictures. Squit, it looks better!

underside of cockpit

Underside with yellowing

WEEEEEE Blurry

above minus turret

this is a horrible pic but it looked cool with the light

detail of rear right of engines

larger view of the underside

cockpit full on

better view of turret lighting

So there ya go. Finally an update. Enjoy and look for new projects and pictures in the coming months