Satyr's DeAgostini Millenium Falcon Build

LrdSatyr8

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Joined
Dec 21, 2012
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765
Hey all... I don't know if you have heard, but I'm pretty sure you have. But for those that haven't... there's a kit company out of the UK called DeAgostini. They have basically focused on wooden ships, race cars, motorcycles, etc. They've been around for over 100 years. Anyway, the models they produce aren't your typical injected plastic mold kits. No... the models they produce are musuem quality multi-media kits that are completely accurate to the originals only at scale! Now, the way they sell their kits is kind of unique to me, seeing as I've spent most of my life buying kits in boxes off the shelf and then building and getting extra parts and modifying etc. Well, how they sell their kits is in part packs that are included with a magazine in a subscription form. What this means is that you subscribe to receive their magazine and for each issue of the magazine you receive a pack of parts. Each pack allows you to usually build a section of the completed model. When you've gotten all the issues you have a complete model kit. They usually include all the tools you will need and there's always room for customization.

Now... recently they wanted to get into the sci-fi realm and immediately thought about doing a Millenium Falcon. So they tested the waters so to speak and produced a few early test packs. What they didn't expect was the popularity and the criticism for the lack of and/or the inaccuracy of detail the parts they made had. So, they contacted Steve Dymszo (you know the guy who co-founded Master Replicas) and asked for his help.

Well... Steve said sure, and being as OCD as most of us around here, he gave them a hand, because secretly there were alot of things he wanted to do with the MR Falcon but didn't get a chance to do, as well as fix all the "missing" or "broken off" pieces that were left off the original 32" Studio Falcon scans that he and his company did for the MR. But he took it a step further... he also included an interior and and fully accurate cockpit. But there's alot more then that as well. Best way to think of this version is "MR Falcon v2.0"!

Well the thing that probably kept me from getting all the Falcon's before was probably the price... the MR Falcon was going for anywhere from $1200 to $1500 (good luck in finding one now under $5000-8000), the Fine Molds Falcon was going for $250 but after shipping costs from Japan closer to $350 (and now you can't find them under $600-800). The Hasbro Legacy Falcon was selling in Walmart for $150. But now you can't buy these things anymore because they don't produce them anymore. You might be able to find one on eBay but you may want to double the original price if you find one.

Recently they came out with the Hasbro Hero Falcon for $30... I grabbed one. It's got alot of good detail, but it's also missing alot more. Just the scratch building and modifications alone on it would take a good long time to get to look semi decent. However, now we've got the DeAgostini Falcon. And wait til you get a load of this.

I wasn't going to pass up another opportunity to get a good quality Falcon again... and I'm glad I didn't. I just got my first month's worth of parts and I gotta say I am blown away by the detail on this thing. You can go online and look at photos of the original 32" inch Falcon and compare the pieces and it will be difficult to spot anything missing. All the parts are prepainted based on the Pantone scans of the original Falcon. It's almost as if Lucasfilm produced a model... it's that good.

Now... what made me buy this thing? Well first off it's not cheap... The entire subscription ends up after shipping ends up being around $1500-$1800 bucks... however, it's monthly charge for 4 magazines (with parts) a month spread out over a period of 2 years (25 months). So that works out to about $15 an issue or $60 a month. I've put stuff on layway that was more expensive then that. Now I don't know about you, but that's a pretty darn good deal seeing as the original MR Falcon was selling for $5000 and this is basically MR Falcon v2.0! I can go without having to eat fast food for awhile (I'm sure my gut will appreciate it).

Now that I got this first pack in my grubby little mitts, I am gonna make sure I do it right. I want to be able to pass this on to my grandchildren and their grandchildren for years to come. Over the next few months I'm going to take my time and post my progress on it. I hope you all enjoy it and if you get a chance I highly recommend picking one up before you kick yourself for not doing so later!
 
Well I finally got my first packs of parts in... issues 1-4. My first impression was WOW. The detail is completely and totally off the chain! My second impression was that the pieces are smaller then I imagined. That's not a bad thing mind you, just that after seeing all the pics of this online all this time, the pieces seem to look bigger, but then you never really see anything else in the photos that give it a good scale. Well here's my pics. I placed a quarter next to the packs to give it a better idea of scale. I haven't taken the parts out of the packaging yet because I think I'm gonna hold off on putting things together until I get a few more pieces. Also thinking of getting some of Tony's 3D pieces on Shapeways to take this thing to the next level! In any event, I know I need to start stocking up on some paints. Most of mine are enamels and have gotten pretty old. I think I want to go with acrylics for this and am wondering which would be the most useful. I've heard Vallejo paints are good, as well as a couple of other brands, but if you got any good advice, let me know. And now here's the pics!

Everything that I received
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Parts Pack #1
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Parts Pack #2
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Parts Pack #3
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Parts Pack #4
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Just a few things I'm making notes on before I begin building... ideas that I've been considering.

- Pop out the top window frame and rotate it about 15 degrees.
- Make some scans of the stickers to make decals instead. Will be committing to buying Tony's cockpit details as soon as I get the money and love the detail of the stickers, so to compromise, by doing a high-res scan of the stickers, I can print them up on photo paper, then create my own decals by spraying the print with clear gloss spray paint. When the printed parts come in, use the printed decals for the fine details. I believe I may be able to get the white long wall lights by placing a sheet of paper in the holes of the lights that will provide a good base and scatter the lights. Still trying to figure that part out yet.
- Get some self flashing LEDs in red, blue and white and use fiber optics to light the cockpit consoles.
- I think I'm gonna build the framework as I receive the parts. This will allow me to have the shell frame to build and work on all the parts after the entire frame is together.
- Work on a good match color formula in paint that will match the hull color that the parts are provided in. I'm thinking 1 part yellow, 1 part black, 8 parts white. That should get me close but will come up with a better formula later as I start comparing on the actual parts.

Will be adding more notes as I come up with more ideas.
 
Recently talked with Tony and talked about my plans to use his backwall and the decal/sticker and he pointed out it doesn't have the lower light bar. Didn't even consider that. So, I'm thinking I could alter the sticker scan myself and then make it fit Tony's backwall. Then use it as a decal for his backwall. What do you all think? Good idea or not?
 
Scott Girvan said:
No I didn't get one.

I couldn't pass this one up bro... I missed out on the Fine Molds and the MR Falcons... this is basically the MR Falcon v2.0 at less then a third the price spread out over 2 years!
 
Some more notes after more research:

- The interior seating looks off to me so far from what I've seen of some of the UK builds and after skimming thru my SW Movies, I noticed the seat backs don't go past the end of the console behind the seating on the right hand side (right side as you're sitting in the seats).
- There are also some evenly spaced small embedded black control panels with buttons or something in them. Will probably have to run some fiber optics into them.
- There are seat belts. They look like standard seat belts but with a big round avition style buckle. There are at least 3 of them. Ben, Luke and 3PO use them in the original movie ANH as they are taking off from Mos Eisley.
- There's a dual ended cylider with lights at each end that are included with the kit but aren't lit. May have to scratch build that so it can be lit in some fashion.
 
Got a nice message from DeAgostini about the binder today... here's what they sent me:

Dear Millennium Falcon Subscriber,

We are writing to inform you that the Free Binder included with your Star Wars Millennium Falcon - Month 2 is running late. Rather than hold up your build, we will be shipping your Month 2 parts as scheduled as we know many of you are eager to continue on with the next stage.

The Binder will be arriving to our warehouse later this month. When it arrives we will ship this part out separately.

If you have any questions please call (877)544-6779 or email us at customer [email protected]

We truly appreciate your business and your patience.

Happy Building,
ModelSpace USA
 
I got my "shipped out" email this morning and that means I should be getting my second package in the mail tomorrow! WOOHOO... I might actually be able to start building this puppy! :)

Dear JAMES,

We are happy to let you know your ModelSpace order ######-####-##### has shipped! You can expect your order to be delievered with 10 - 14 business days. While you wait you can start connecting with our community of modelers on our ModelSpace Forum.

Sincerely,
www.Model-Space.com
 
Ok... here's my first video... its just the preview page, but more to come.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmvSMkIo7xQ
 
Got my second shipment of parts today... so I guess it took 4 days from time of notice. Now I can get to building this baby! :)
 
Been under the weather lately... got that darn bug that's been going around and have been trying to get over it so I can jump into this build. I did however order a few things and am waiting for them to come in. I bought some leds, a few tools I've been needing and some fiber optics. Waiting for my next paycheck to order some stuff off shapeways... gonna start with the cockpit and move my way to the interior cargo bay. Something I have been working on in the mean time is working fixing these god aweful stickers. I hate to say it but they just offend my OCD so badly I can't help but to have to fix em. I've scanned them in at high res so I can tweak them. Have been searching for some good references of the cockpit walls and the consoles. I found a few but am still looking. If anyone has any good head on pics of these parts let me know. I'm not sure if I'm gonna buy the printed cockpit or attempt to fix this one. I know I've got to get the nav seats thou.
 
Well I got the main turret gun painted... still gotta get out my airbrush and do some more detail work on it, but I painted it a light tan... seems to match pretty well with the base color of the falcon parts. Also have to drill out the barrels, but here's what I got so far.



I've also done a bit of work on the cockpit... even thou I'Il probably be replacing it with Shapeways pieces.





satyrs-deagostini-millenium-falcon-build-log-img_20150429_003233_748-jpg-470953d1430284909


I haven't added the stickers yet because I'm fixing them to be more accurate. But then again, if I'm getting the more accurate Shapeway cockpit, it won't matter. I definately plan to run fiber optics throughout the entire cockpit. More to come on that later.
 
Wow! That is a sweet looking cockpit in its own right, and you are going to replace it... or just parts of it?
 
Hagoth said:
Wow! That is a sweet looking cockpit in its own right, and you are going to replace it... or just parts of it?

Yeah, will probably end up getting the entire printed cockpit at some point. The problem with the DeAgo cockpit is that the chairs are all wrong, the side panels are all wrong, the console and the back wall are all just big stickers, and the lighting is just basically a flashlight shining behind a round piece of plastic with holes in it. There's no fiber optics, no detail that is right in the cockpit at all. It was almost put together as an afterthought ("Hey, before we release this, why don't we throw in an cockpit and interior"... "Oh that would be so cool man!") Its feels as if they really didn't do any research at all when they designed the interior pieces. Almost the entire cargo bay will need to be redone as well. The oval bunk is terrible and don't get me started on the flooring and nav console. And you'd think they would have at least put the little controls on the seat cushions, but nooooooo!
 
Just got a big package of LEDs that I'm gonna use in my build for fiber optics. Gonna run them all over the place... but just had to share this video I made about self flashing LEDs. They are awesome and there's a great source for them on http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com ... these are the best and easiest to wire and use LEDs I've ever found. But what's really nice is that they also sell self flashing LEDs. They aren't easy to find anymore and in so many different colors and varieties. They've got both fast and slow flashing LEDs as well as flickering and wigwag sets. These are awesome for model lighting. Check them out for yourself. Here's a video I made showing what I got from them for my build. They will definitely be getting more of my business in the future.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3YO3uBtQao[/youtube]
 

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