Welcome to the forum, Walls. Glad to see another build starting.

For an airbrush, I use an Iwata gravity fed model. Works very nice and is fairly easy to clean up.

For paints, I invested in the DOA paints set. The colors are mixed specially for this model. The down side is that it is one guy making them and the wait time for an order can be several months, so you have to plan ahead. The instructions in issue 50 also go into details of how to paint the kit using Tamiya paints., if you would rather go that direction. For weathering, I use oil paints and Tamiya weathering pastels. I actually go through how I have been painting the model in my build diary if you are interested in more details.

Good luck,

Stephen

Walls, I have to tell you, I'd never touched an airbrush before starting this. I'm one of the stubborn guys who airbrushed the entire exterior before weathering it by hand. You will want to pick up a cheap kit or two to practice with.

There are great tutorials on youtube. If you want something specific to this project, I followed Scale Model Medic's Millennium Falcon budget paint series. I made a few small modifications to his techniques but the foundations he shows and the specific effects he uses for the falcon are great.

The good news is that while you get a few upper hell pieces and the cockpit, the first 1/4 of this build is almost entirely interior work. You can decide if you want to just build and weather it a bit or go fully into modifying it or buying 3d printed parts and run fiber optics. Because of where and how I'll be displaying it, I didn't put nearly as much effort into the interior.

Welcome to the forum and enjoy your build

I use a MEK glue for all the plastic and resin parts as it actually melds the plastic effectively welding the parts together and giving a much stronger and longer lasting bond.

This is the one I use but there other brands out there

http://www.ebay.co.uk/it...d2087:g:svUAAOSwPc9W1fbm

Hey Walls... Welcome to the group! I'm sure you're both a little excited and scared at the same time, but don't be! There are so many people around to help you out and get advice from during your build. It's not as hard as it looks. Sure it may seem a bit intimidating, but trust me it's not that bad!

First off lemme say, practice first. Hone your painting skills. If you don't feel comfortable with something, don't do it. Get yourself a cheap, inexpensive model kit and try painting it yourself to have some practice on. Experiment with different types of paints enamels, acrylics, oils, and pick and choose the ones that you feel most comfortable with. Don't rely on advice from one person... go online and watch how other people are building this beauty. This falcon is one of the biggest projects to ever hit the modeling community and just about everyone who is building it has some kind of build log about it... either a photo log (like I do) or a video log. Share your progress and show people what you're doing. You'd be amazed at how much inspiration you can get from seeing how other people are doing the same thing you are!

What's wonderful about this community is that we LOVE to share our styles, techniques, tricks etc to help out those that aren't so familiar with it. The whole key to this build is do what you feel you're comfortable doing. If you like the way a certain technique looks after doing it, go for it. If you've never used an airbrush, don't bother buying one. Many of the builders around here aren't even using an airbrush and coming up with fantastic results... but then again, they know how to use a paintbrush.

There are several different ways you can go with painting. You can go with the DeAgostini recommended paints/kit or the DOA paints that are available. Or you can go with your own paints and mix them any way you want and feel comfortable with. The key is having a plan! How do you want your falcon to look when it's done... do you want to make it look just like the original prop or do you wanna do something more unique and different? Do you want to tackle the interior or would you leave it out and just build the exterior? Come up with a game plan... imagine how you want your Falcon to look and then go for it.

As far as airbrushes are concerned... there are so many types out there... Badger, Iwata, Master Air, Pasche the list goes on... each have their own advantages and disadvantages. If you've never used one before, start off with a beginners kit like an inexpensive Testor's Airbrush Set. When you get used to it, you can move up to something more expensive. Think about it this way. If you've never used a chainsaw before, would you want the most expensive chainsaw or just something to practice with to get the feel of how to use a chainsaw? Everyone has different tastes... some like their airbrush because it's easy to make fine lines, others like a siphon brush over a gravity feed because they are alot easier to clean, while others prefer a single action over a double. Some people prefer to use the compressed air in a can because they are inexpensive, while others go all out and get a 50 gallon air compressor! In any event, find out what works for you and start off with something inexpensive. Go online and do some research to find the right fit for you. Remember, if you're the one that will be using it!

I have seen some build OOB (straight Out Of the Box) with no extra painting or anything extra added to them. In my opinion, it looks like she's naked almost toy like. Sure some of the parts come in pre-painted (ie: The Top Turret) but don't believe that will be how all the parts are going to come in. There's a long stretch of hull parts that don't have any panels painted at all (but should have been) and then all the sudden you get a pack with a grey panel and it's very odd! But that's just my opinion... others actually like it.

In the end, it's your build... do whatever you want with it. As long as you're happy with it, that's all that matters. Have fun with it, ENJOY BUILDING IT! Modeling is very therapeutic. I've been building just about all my life. I've learned as I go. You will too. If you have a question about something, don't be afraid to ask. We're all here to share our advice and what we've learned. Welcome to the build my friend... you've just opened the door to a whole new world! :)

First off thanks for the warm welcome and all the tips!

Life threw us some curves over the last few weeks so my build got stalled but I am finally up and running!
i picked up a cheapie snap together X-Wing to practice my weathering skills and have to say I am quite pleased as this was my first attempt.
You guys see anything I could do differently to make it better? Thanks!

Try opening a free photobucket acct, and using that as your platform for sharing pictures here.