Part 4 - Interior Modifications and Upgrades

As I am planning to do some extensive upgrade work on the interior lighting, I will need a solid base for that and replacement parts, if something goes wrong.

Therefore the following modification and upgrade parts from Paragrafx will be used:

Cockpit
A complete cockpit interior replacement, together with some very detailed decals.

Paragrafx Falcon Cockpit

Corridors
As I am planning to light the corridors, these parts are needed to upgrade the floors.

Paragrafx Falcon Corridors

Gun Port
Same as for the cockpit, this is a complete interior replacement, together with some very detailed decals.

Paragrafx Falcon Gun Port

Cargo Hold
Probably one of the most important parts of the model to upgrade and modify, this photoetch is a must for replacing the floor grill of the cargo hold and especially when planning to add the maintenance pit mod (deeper hold mod).

Paragrafx Falcon (Cargo) Hold

Engine Vents
Like for the exhaust grill, the engine vents are also available as a nice replacement part in the form of photoetch parts. The grill of the vents can be bent a little to give it a nice, used and damaged look, which is my primary goal for this mod.

Paragrafx Falcon Engine Vents

Figures
The original model does not come with any figures representing our most beloved human and droid characters in the universe. I find this being a must upgrade for the model, both in the maintance hold area and in the cockpit. So I ordered 3D printed figures from Falcon3D at Shapeways.

3D Printed Figures

These include: R2D2, C3PO, Han, Luke, Ben and Leia. There is also a nice replacement for the Navigator seat, which is more detailed than the original.

That's it so far for planned modifications and upgrades and the next post will be about opening the first packs and starting to build.

Part 3 - Ramp Modification

When I first discovered that there is a complete replacement kit for the ramp, my interest

arouse instantly!

dragnse7en has an entry on Shapeways for a Complete Ramp Mod Kit.

This kit replaces the ramp, except for the motor and some mechanical parts, puts some additional detail to the interior corridor connection and looks very sophisticated. However a lot of modifications are necessary to the original model, which are irreversible and may hinder some from implementing this.

Falcon Complete Ramp Mod Kit

The kit is out of stock most of the time, but I contacted dragnse7en directly and he build one on-request.

This is what he writes about his mod kit:

"This is a set of parts for the Loading Ramp and the Airlock Entry that goes into a curved corridor.
The Hull Frame will need to be cut, sanded, and finished to make this mod fit properly inside the model, so this part set is not a plug-and-play or direct bolt-on kit, and is not recommended for novice or average model builders."

Falcon Complete Ramp Mod Kit © dragnse7en

I planning to give it a try and will report in detail!

Part 2 - Engine Exhaust Modifications

Before opening the first assembly pack, I already knew, that there is need for some modifications and upgrades.

So I ordered some mod kits from the following sources, which in my opinion and after researching a lot of sources are necessary to replace some of the original parts of the kit or upgrade them.

Some leave the original part, but in my opinion the exhaust grill is one of the most significant weaknesses of the model. First it isn't even close to the studio model or CGIs used in the movies, second it is one of the most exposed parts of the model and everybody looking at the model will investigate, how the engine parts look, especially for a space ship model.

So this has to go and be replaced by something else.

I think about using one of the following three options:


Solution 1: The Two Part Grill from Oregon Studios (shapeways), which in my opinion is the most attractive solution and most closely to what the engine exhaust looks.

Two Part Grill Replacement Kit from Oregon Studios

Two Part Grill Replacement Kit from Oregon Studios

Solution 2: The photoetch parts from Paragrafx, which are widely used as a replacement. Paragrafx in general is an important source, beside Shapeways, for upgrades. It is not quite right in its design, but is a good and not very expensive replacement part.

Paragrafx Falcon Engine Exhaust Grill

Solution 3: Although not matching the studio model, but beeing more an effects part, Nico Moebius of scifimodels has some interesting mod kits.

• Engine Exhaust and Grill Set (EEGS), containing both a one piece grill, very close to the Paragrafx design and effects part simulating the plasma exhaust of the engines, which are also available in fluorescent material.
• Hyperdrive Detailing Set (HDDS), which are detailing parts for the engine actuators, as the original model has no detailing on the underside.

Engine Exhaust and Grill Set (EEGS) and Hyperdrive Detailing Set (HDDS) from scifimodels

The most probable solution will be the grill from Solution 1 combined with the HDDS set of Solution 3.

Part 1 - Delivery of 100 (99) Packs

A lot is written about model-space and their bad customer service. Unfortunately this project started with making this experience myself.

They had (have) a special promotion, where you could order the complete DeAgostini Millennium Falcon Model in one delivery, containing all 100 packs. A very attractive solution as I found, because I like to have every piece on the table, before starting to assemble.

However,

• Pack 42 was missing, which is (as all packs probably) a very important one, containing hull pieces and a tool.
• Pack 100A was not included, which contains not so important parts in my opinion, but should be included in a full delivery nevertheless.

After contacting model-space and finding out, that they simply did not care about my problem, I re-ordered pack 42 from ebay and Hobbylink Japan in parallel and received the pack from both sources a few weeks later.

I don't care about Pack 100A as for now.

All 100 packs have arrived and are ready to be unboxed and assembled over the course of the next months.