Part 10 - Corridor Modifications

The grade of details on the interior parts is one of the weaknesses of this model and one of the reasons, why so many aftermarket parts exist for the inner parts.
I have spend the last days doing the following modifications to the corridors:

1. Wall lamp detailing using Paragrafx parts and 3D printed parts
2. Green wall lighting
3. Additional Paragrafx corridor details
4. Under-floor lighting
5. Long corridor illusion

Painting

All the corridor hull parts are painted with Tamiya Flat Dark Grey (XF-24).

For the wall pads I used Tamiya XF-55 (Deck Tan) over a prime coat of XF-49 (Khaki) and then did some weathering with Oil Stain from Tamiya Weathering Set D.

The Paragrafix corridor floors where painted with a XF-24 (dark grey) base coat and then dry brushed (toothbrush) with XF-1 (flat black) and some X-11 (chrome silver). No priming was done in order to let the brass color of the Paragrafix part come thru on some edges.

 

Wall Lamps & Lighting

For the wall lamps I used a combination of the following aftermarket parts:

• Lamp rings and detailing parts from the Paragrafix Corridor Set
• 3D-printed lights from 308 Bits on shapeways
• Wall lights from the Millennium Falcon Lighting Kit by Chris Holland
• Small LEDs for the wall controls

 

 

Under-Floor Lighting

The floor parts of the Paragrafix corridor set have been put on top of the stock parts, after removing the edges in order to let the light shine through the grill. LED stripes where glued on the hull part after light blocking with some self-adhesive aluminium tape.

Wall Pad Weathering

I like more subtle weathering and had taken special care of not to overdo this on the wall pads. Only slight weathering has been added to give the wall pads a used look by adding some Oil Stain from the Tamiya Weathering Set D.

Long Corridor Illusion

To give the illusion that the corridor continues beyond the edge of the stock part, I added an additional spare ring together with a second pad ring and glued a mirror to the ring.

The red line indicates the position of the mirror.

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 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.