Part 9 - Painting The Heros

Over the weekend I spent some time on the Falcon and painted our famous heros. All figures are part of the Falcon3D Complete Cockpit Replacement Kit.

I didn't do any priming on them, but soaked them in dish soap for some time to get rid of some oily remains from 3D printing and used undiluted paint color.

I drilled small holes into their "sitting area" and put toothpicks into the holes, which made it a lot easier to hold them during applying paint colors.

I am quite happy with the way they turned out and here's some pictures and the Tamiya colors I used.

C3PO

• Body: Gold X12
• Right leg: Chrome Silver X11
• Body center: Flat Black XF1
• Eyes: Flat Yellow XF3

Chewie

• Body: Flat Yellow XF3 over Flat Black XF1 over Red Brown XF64, mixed with some Vallejo Light Rust Wash
• Eyes and Nose: Flat Black XF1
• Belt: Chrome Silver X11

To get a more realistic look of the fur, I painted in layers and didn't leave it dry completely but continued to overpaint the next layer while still a little wet. I repeated that process until I liked how it looked. The final layer of Desert Yellow XF59 was thinned with some water.

Han

• Boots, Pants, Jacket: Flat Black XF1
• Belt: Red Brown XF64 with some Vallejo Light Rust Wash
• Shirt: Flat White XF2 with some Flat Yellow XF3
• Face and Hands: Flat Flesh XF15
• Hair: Red Brown XF64 with some Flat Black XF1

Originally I planned to paint the eyes with some Flat Black XF1, but as the face contours are very detailed on the 3D prints, I found the natural shadow to be sufficient.

Ben

• Body clothes and Boots: Red Brown XF64
• Cape: Flat White XF2
• Face and Hands: Flat Flesh XF15
• Hair: Medium Grey XF20

The original 3D printed figure is a mid grey color. I decided to let this shine though the Flat White of the cape a little to give it a more defined, natural look.

Leia

• Clothes: Flat White XF2
• Belt: Medium Grey XF20
• Face and Hands: Flat Flesh XF15
• Hair: Flat Black XF1

As with Ben, I decided to let the base grey of the 3D printed figure shine though the Flat White of the dress a little to give it a more defined, natural look.

Luke

• Clothes: Flat White XF2
• Face and Hands: Flat Flesh XF15
• Hair: Red Brown XF64 with some Vallejo Light Rust Wash 
• Boots: Red Brown XF64 with lots of Vallejo Light Rust Wash

As with Ben and Leia, I decided to let the base grey of the 3D printed figure shine though the Flat White of the clothes a little to give it a more defined, natural look. and I didn't paint the eyes.

Stay tuned for more details on building the cockpit...

Part 8 - Cockpit Replacement Kit by Falcon3D

I am planning to do some kind of "Frankenstein" cockpit, combining original cockpit parts with replacement parts from Falcon3D and Paragrafx.

Falcon3D Cockpit Replacement Kit

The following pictures give a side by side comparison of the Falcon3D replacements with the original parts.

The kit comes with a new cockpit cone, cockpit floor and console, door frame, pilot and co-pilot seats, photoetch parts for the back wall, door and grill ring and some very nice figures and decals.

The cockpit console is very different to the original part, the pilot seats are smaller, the co-pilot seats are higher and the door frame is wider.

Falcon3D parts (left) and original parts (right)

Falcon3D door frame (left) and original door (right)

The replacement kit contains figures of Chewie, Han, Luke, Ben, C3PO and two versions of Leia.

Original cockpit floor and console (left) and Falcon3D replacement (right)

The Falcon3D kit comes with a back wall which is transparent for diffusion of the backlight.

Stay tuned for pack 5 and 6 and the Paragrafx cockpit replacement which is next on my to-do list.

Part 5 - Pack 1 to 4

Today was the day, where the first packs of the original DeAgostini model were opened and examined.

Pack 1 contains the cockpit back wall, cockpit floor and front console, hull parts and the upper turret cannon.

Pack 2 includes a screwdriver tool, the upper turret cannon window, the dejarik table and cockpit and hull parts.

Pack 3 contains the pilot and co-pilot seats, cockpit door and hull parts.

Pack 4 has hull parts and the front plate for the cockpit console.

Already upon examination of these packs I decided that some modifications will be necessary:

• The whole cockpit will probably be replaced by the cockpit replacement kit from Falcon 3D Parts.
• The decal of the Dejarik table (hologame chess table) has the wrong coloring.
• The upper turret cannon window frames have the wrong orientation.

Assembling the Cockpit

Nevertheless I assembled the cockpit to get a reference.

Cockpit back wall and floor part with console.

When applying the decal to the cockpit door, I inserted the decal first and then used a brush to press it down carefully. There is only one chance to do this correctly.

Decal applied to the cockpit back wall, Door inserted and floor piece applied.

The pilot seats have the wrong coloring and size.

The cockpit back wall console looks quite good, when backlight is applied.

The front panel of the cockpit console is attached.

First Hull Parts Assembling

The provided screwdriver is actually quite good, when applying tiny screws to the hull skeleton.

This will be the beginning of a long process of attaching hull skeleton parts to each other.

The hull parts are mounted onto the hull skeleton.

This hull part gives a hint of the actual size of the whole model.

In part 6 I will start to do modifications to standard parts delivered as they do not meet my expections.

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.