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 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 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.