The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon Projects

[Jaitea]

Well,....now that we have had the joy of seeing the future Bandai 1/144 Falcon model & the low of uncertainty that we might ever possess it,.....I thought I'd post some images of what we know so far about the Falcon as we will see her in the future films.

I've gone on about which version of the Falcon ILM have digitised.....(ok,...I'll say it again....the 5 foot studio model),....but apart from the obvious rectangular dish,....there is another notable difference

Although the 5 footer was a huge model & had a crap-load of detail on her,...now that she is digital she has a load more detail in the sidewalls & docking ring doors

I would say that they used the 5 footer to measure up the full scale filming prop, filled the sidewalls & docking rings full of a million pipes & greeblies and then digitised them for the digital element,.....this keeps everything the same

Lets look at what we've seen:

The 1st Teaser,....you can see theres are a lot more going on there than what we're used to,...(I brightened & desaturated parts)


Next the Bob Iger cover with the digital element dissolving into wire frame


You can see the docking door looks a lot busier


& looks exactly like the Full scale prop:



...now look at the docking ring on the Bandai kit:


& sidewalls:


Ahh,...she is a beauty





I am disappointed that things have turned a bit negative at the minute, but I'm sure the Bandai kit will turn up on Amazon or even more expensively on eBay
I am disappointed that Bandai haven't produced a 1/72 kit.....to rival the FM Revell kit coming out in Nov

Talking of the FM 72nd, I've taken the blade to my second untouched kit,.....inspired by Hunk a Junk & Rockvoice's alterations,.....I've cut off the docking walkways,....the mandibles, the jaws.......&........the front landing gear boxes,......my plan is to make a representation of the 5 foot Falcon with the parts of the FM kit,.....using magnets I hopefully can make the Falcon 3 gear or 5 gear, circular dish or rectangular,......& have the sidewalls & docking doors crammed with greeblies

I'll post some images soon

Thanks for looking

John

 

[BenHobbie]

Yes quite a shame 😕

As mentionned I had to order it via an Ebay store and for now the 4 avaible are gone 😢

Same for the new x-wing 😡

As soon as my kit arrived (shipping will start in october) l will share with you all the specs and details of the kit 😃

Feel free to use the pics to come for what you want 😁

If I get the time to I may provide you 3D scans of some parts 👍

 

[Grendels]

We will all just have to go to Ebay for our Star Wars fix, or find a good friend in Japan.....

 

[BenHobbie]

We will all just have to go to Ebay for our Star Wars fix, or find a good friend in Japan.....

Yep

 

[Jaitea]

Right,....heres some photos of my 1/72 FineMolds kit,...I have one....of which I was pretty proud to have fixed the Mandibles & jaw-box,.....that was, as far as I was concerned, the furthest I was going to go in regards to fixing the issues with the kit

I knew it was a bit flat,.....but so was the 32" compared to the 5 footer,.....but then Rockvoice (Marko) over on Keeper of the Force cut way beyond what I'd done to correct the shape closer to the 32" model,.....around then Maruska created tech drawings of the 32" & I was able to print out, to the scale of the FM kit & compare the huge miscalculations of FineMolds

Hasbro released the 29" toy which is truer to Maruskas drawings,....(I still have to get back to that beauty)....fixing the FM to the 32" just didn't excite me

Hope that a 5 foot representation would appear from Bandai for TFA excited me,...but deep down I had a feeling that it would be a 1/144,...but still the hope was there,.....then I saw Hunk a Junk's FineMolds alteration.....

....WOW,....it has the shape that the FM & 32" didn't,....it looked meaty
,

Hunk a Junk said: View Post
I'm honored to have inspired you! One thing to keep in mind (out of many) is that as you increase the hull curvature, it throws off the orientation of the cockpit tube. A lot. The nose of the cockpit gets pushed downward. You'll need to trim and shim the cockpit tube hallway section accordingly.
I hope I can tie this thing all together again like yours,...thank you matesy for what you've done

So,...Ive cut off the mandibles
The jaws
The docking walkways
the engine vents
the front landing gear bays
cut into the rear landing gear bays to allow the lower hull to curve









I used the interior of the turret as a spacer:


Foamalux:



Ok,...so this is where I'm at with the FineMolds 72nd,....as I said earlier the Foamalux is the part thats keeping her fat



ESB landing gear bays will be removable

At the minute the Mandibles slot in


I tested the cockpit tube & right enough it points down slightly as Hunk a Junk had experenced




Thats it at the minute,....the next part will be re-attiching the docking corridors

J

 

[BenHobbie]

Looking realy good

 

[Jaitea]

Re: The Force Awakens Millennium Falcon Projects Inc Bandai 1/144

Looks like all my images on Photobucket are off-line until 14th.....I've used 10Gb of bandwidth, they will come back,....I've trimmed down my account & it's now just bellow 10Gb,...but it doesn't fix the error message until it gets to the date in a month that i signed up.

So I've used Imagur for these updates:

Some more images of my Hunk a Junk inspired FM modification:

& the parcel that arrived yesterday

J

 

[Quaralane]

Kit looks to be a first for Falcon kits
The mandibles are separate pieces

 

[Jaitea]

Yep Q.....just a pity it wasn't 1/72....but still....it is a beut

Ok.....observations

The bandai kit looks brilliant......just like the 5 foot model,.....but there are some differences,.....the pipes & greeblies on the sidewalls are mirrored from starboard to portside.....we'll have to wait to see what the CG asset looks like,...hopefully we will see some nice renderings soon......I want a poster!!!

Dedalus5550 posted a concern over on the Bandai release schedule a couple of weeks ago: #645,....he said that the openings beside the ESB gears looked the wrong shape,....I defended the shape that Bandai have made,....suggesting to him that perhaps he was mixing up the shape between the 5 footer & 32"

It is the same shape as the 5 footer,....but is in a different position,....as is the CG Asset:




The Bandai hull:


.....& the ESB hull:

.....& Where the ESB opening should be on the 5 footer...(NOTE: The opening on the Bandai matches the new TFA Falcon.....so don't be panicking!!!)


So if any one wants to modify the new Bandai Falcon to how she appeared in ESB,....you know what to do

.....but what if you want to do her the way she appeared in Star Wars (ANH)....well heres where the opening was,....overlayed graphics to show the ESB mod:


Now....another thing I noticed on the underside is the shape of the armour plates either side of the engine flaps:


I never noticed this detail before,....but it is definitely only on the starboard side of the Falcon in Star Wars right up to the exhibit model now:






.....but how accurate is Bandai?....having this detail symmetrical on the model,....will it be like that on the CG TFA Falcon,.....I can't find any clear grabs....

This is the best I can find...(I brightened up the greeblies.....it would be interesting to see if they are mirrored on the other side):


It's a bit blurry....but it looks like Bandai have it right:



So what about the MPC kit......how come I never noticed this before?
Bandi:



MPC:

& Fine Molds (32' builders never carried this detail on either)


So going back to if we want to mod this model to be the OT Falcon,....the portside armour needs filling out to match the armour next to it

J

 

[jake]

John you are my #1 aficionado/expert/pro/mastermind of the MF! Keep up the outstanding work my friend.

 

[Hagoth]

I second Jakes statement. What a great source for details and information.

 

[Jaitea]

John you are my #1 aficionado/expert/pro/mastermind of the MF! Keep up the outstanding work my friend.

Thanks Jake.....no expert........just a nut

I second Jakes statement. What a great source for details and information.

Thanks Hagoth

OK,....I know I shouldn't be touching this kit till there are better reference pics,....but I started trimming pipes (like others),....thinning the window frames (even though I might use the glass version)



I also filed the smooth part under the front 4 windows to make that hexagonal effect


I'm not sure if the details in the centre of the cockpit tube are too high:


Pipes thinned:



Docking rings:


The Bandai & its closest relation,.....a mod I'd started on another MPC,...then changed my mind & started on the FM72,....after seeing Hunk a Junks


J

 

[Jaitea]

John you are my #1 aficionado/expert/pro/mastermind of the MF! Keep up the outstanding work my friend.

Thanks Jake.....no expert........just a nut

I second Jakes statement. What a great source for details and information.

Thanks Hagoth

OK,....I know I shouldn't be touching this kit till there are better reference pics,....but I started trimming pipes (like others),....thinning the window frames (even though I might use the glass version)



I also filed the smooth part under the front 4 windows to make that hexagonal effect


I'm not sure if the details in the centre of the cockpit tube are too high:


Pipes thinned:



Docking rings:


The Bandai & its closest relation,.....a mod I'd started on another MPC,...then changed my mind & started on the FM72,....after seeing Hunk a Junks


J

 

[peza]

Lol another falcon mym8!😎
Any news on the engine bits yet bro?
Keep the faith

 

[Grendels]

Thanks for posting all of the research. Nice to see that Bandai got most of it right.

 

[Chiefpettyofficer]

Puh, you did a lot of cutting work there. Excellent shape

 

[Jaitea]

Paint







My second kit arrived for my ANH mod:


Underside paint:


As TFA Falcon is a digital asset,....she has glass in her frames:








...a nice image from Empire magazine shows that the digital asset in the film doesn't have the mirrored mandible issue that Bandai does,.....I'd say Bandai got an early mesh,...before ILM refined it:

Some more painting:







After toning dow the engine deck I was a bit happier



.....OK,...so this is where I am now:


...compared to my MPC....(well the MPC that I sold)






Ahhhh....daylight....Cockpit is blu-tacked on,.....bit wonky



Direct sunlight:



Thanks for looking
J

 

[BenHobbie]

;D

 

[Quaralane]

Definitely liking this.
Making me want to pull out mine

 

[Jaitea]

Thanks guys.....woo there.....easy on Q

OK,....some more painting,.....still haven't done the sidewalls yet







& the underside





Thanks for looking

John