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Millennium Falcon Customised Build page 1 Options
Tomick
#1 Posted : 18 March 2015 20:39:50

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The Falcon customised build is not intended to be a "rivet counters" build, but a tribute to what is probably the most iconic SciFi ships in movie history!

Any questions on the Customised build should be posted into the Millennium Falcon discussion topic.
http://forum.model-space...aspx?g=topics&f=316
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Markwarren
#2 Posted : 21 October 2016 20:15:44

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So here is my build of the iconic Millennium Falcon. As a few of you are aware, I started the build at the beginning when it was first released back in January 2015. I have enjoyed building this project and more recently looked at areas to improve on, what is already an excellent model, to give it more character and to personalise it in my own way.
I will be using various lighting options and will try and give a little more detail on how to use fiber optics and how to make your own set of LED lighting, as well as wiring and connecting it all to the supplied power board. I am by no means an expert, I’m just passing on what I have learnt over a period of time, but it all seems to work for me. So, if this just helps one person or encourages anyone to have a go, then I have achieved what I have set out to do.

So, let’s get started
First off is the cockpit. This is an area I have felt an improvement was needed, taking the flat stickers supplied for this area, to give it more depth and a little more realism.

In picture 1 you can see I have taken the main console area and using 1mm styrene plastic card, I have cut a glued some pieces onto the supplied part to give it a little more depth.

Pictures 2 & 3, I decided to create a computer screen that would stick out on the main console area, and using a piece of balsa wood and some heat shrink I set about creating the square surround.

And here it is in place in pic 4

Pic 5 shows me drilling a hole for the LED light that will be used to show the screen. Note, I use a small drill piece to start the hole and increase the size of the drill bits until you get the correct size. Drilling the larger/correct size straight away could damage the plastic on such a tiny piece.

Pic 6. Here is the almost completed console with screen and drilled holes ready for the fiber optic cables. As you can see some test fibers in place.

Pic 7. Next, I have used some Sci-Fi etched brass for the flooring and glued into place.

Pic 8. Here it is again with the console in place.

Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#3 Posted : 21 October 2016 20:22:33

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Pic 1. Next, I went to work on the rear seats. As you can see, I have cut away the bottom piece under the seating area and sanded it down. I then drilled a small hole/recess to fit a wooden dowel in place, or a wooden skewer used on barbecues in my case.
I also reduced the neck of the chair and sanded the top headrest to the more rounded one seen in the movies

Pic 2. Next, I filled the hollow back with plastic cement and allowing to dry over night before sanding.

Pic 3. Whilst waiting for those to dry, I primed the cockpit decking and console area ready for painting in finer detail.

Pic 4. And here it is again with a test UV bulb in place where the console screen is. As you can see, I placed a piece of plain white paper in the screen area to defuse the light from the bulb. When I finish this area, I will print a radar type theme onto the paper before inserting, hopefully it should give a reasonable effect. I have also drilled holes into the rear notches where the wooden dowels from the seats will be inserted, allowing them to swivel.

Pic 5. Here the seats are taking shape a little more with some cut styrene plastic card attached ready for priming.

Pictures 6 & 7. I have sprayed the cockpit flooring with some Humbrol Metalcote Steel paint, and left to dry before polishing. The console area has had the base paint applied along with the central column between the front seats. You can also see the rear seats primed and in place.
Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#4 Posted : 21 October 2016 20:32:28

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Pictures 1, 2 & 3. Here, I have added some more detail to the console and glued in the UV bulb for the screen before inserting the fibers. I also tested the bulb once the glue has dried. Note, I frosted the bulb before inserting to get an even light effect. This is done by sanding the bulb carefully to give the glass a frosted look.

Pic 4. Here is the rear padded doorway. As you can see, I have cut between the pads to give them more depth before repainting. This will have another UV bulb inserted and a new door, other than the printed one, with door panels that will illuminate. Well that’s the theory anyway!!!!

Pictures 5 & 6. Now for the fiber optic cables, 0.5mm optics were used and threaded through to two sections. These will be for the red and blue LED bulbs that I will be using. I then carefully bound the two sections with heat shrink tubing. Note, when using heat shrink tubing, care is needed not to melt the fiber optic cables as they have a very low melting point and the smaller gauge won’t take much heat before they become one piece.

Pictures 7 & 8. When I thread fiber optic cables through a hole, I always mushroom the ends. This is done by carefully heating the end over a flame, such as a candle, and melting the end into a small mushroom. By doing this, it will stop the end pulling through and gives a neat finish.
Sorry for the photography. I’m no David Bailey, but I hope you can see the effect. It almost looks Christmassy!!!!

Pictures 9, 10, 11 & 12. A lot of painting has been done since the fiber optics have been put in place. The side panels have been painted with a couple of greebles attached and two holes for some fiber optic lighting. I have also completed both sets of seats and placed them into the cockpit to give an idea of how it all looks. The rear seats will not be glued in, so they can swivel to the position of your choice.
I have also painted the doorway padding and front cockpit panel.

Pic 13. This final photo shows the console screen with the printed radar panel in place, lit by the LED.

Next, will be the rear and side panels, plus wiring to the circuit board.
Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#5 Posted : 22 October 2016 11:54:07

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Pictures 1,2 & 3. Now onto the rear bulkhead and side panels. First, I wanted to create the part of the bulkhead that extends over the front seating area as seen in the film. For this, I used some packaging plastic string that you get on parcels or boxes, and the use of an old razor blade cover I found. Once glued in place I then started creating the side panels, using 1mm styrene plastic as before.

The back panel had the same treatment along with a couple of greebles I found in some old model kits. I have cut the bottom off to accommodate the cables when this area is fitted to the cockpit floor.
As you can also see, I have drilled some holes into the panels. They don’t go all the way through the bulkhead, just the plastic card I’ve glued on.
My plan is to paint the holes with different colours, representing lighting, although you could quite easily fit some more fibers and run them into the base. Maybe that’s something I might do at a later stage.

Pictures 4,5 & 6. Here you can see, I have primed the parts to give me an idea of what it will look like. It also lets me see if there are any areas I need to alter before the detailed painting.

Pictures 7,8,9,10,11,12 & 13. Here are the parts in more detail and painted.

Pictures 14 & 15. The next stage was to tidy the cables under the flooring by using a self-adhesive metal cable tidy. Once this was done, I then test fitted the rear panel to make sure everything fitted correctly. I also retested the bulb on the console.

Next, I will be making the wiring loom and LED bulbs that will connect everything together. I will also be connecting some fibers to the two front side panels.
Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#6 Posted : 22 October 2016 16:56:53

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Pictures 1 & 2. Next, we are looking at the wiring loom and connection. I will be using some Losi 2-pin connectors I have kicking around, and some JST-XH connectors, the same as the ones supplied with this kit and that will fit to the main board.

Pictures 3,4 & 5. Firstly, I have bought some LED bulbs with resistors. I always put a resistor with every LED I make. I usually make them in batches, ready for me to use when I need them. You can buy them ready made up, and are relatively cheap to do so.
Here is a photo of the pack I bought and one I have made up with the heat shrink covering the resistor and soldered joints.

Picture 6. I have put the last of the fiber optic cables to the front/side panels and to the centre console. Then I used another self-adhesive cable tidy to attach the remaining fibers to the underside of the cockpit floor.

Picture 7. I then attached another UV LED bulb to the console screen bulb along with a female 2-pin connector.

Picture 8. Now onto, the wiring loom that will connect all the fibers and LED’s to the main power board using the extension wire supplied with the model. You can also use the 6v battery pack once finished.

The next picture shows the wiring loom I have made, which consists of 4 LED bulbs,
1 Red
1 Red Flashing
1 Blue
1 Blue Flashing

These all need to be connected together with: -
Male 2 pin connector, connecting the 2 UV LED’s on the console.
Male JST-XH, which will connect to the supplied lighting board, which attaches to the rear.
Female JST-XH, which will attach to the supplied extension wire.

Picture 9 & 10. Then I attach the fiber optics to the 4 LED bulbs, and attached the 2-pin connector to power the console bulbs.

Here is a video link of the working fiber optic cable test.

https://youtu.be/uACzX-g9jwc

That’s all for the wiring at the moment. Next is the rear panel and door.
Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#7 Posted : 22 October 2016 19:27:25

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Picture 1. We have almost completed the cockpit, some more painting to do, and finishing touches.
The steering column was placed on a spare piece of plastic card, for ease of painting. It was first primed, which makes it easier to paint, rather that paint on bare metal.

Picture 2. The next picture is the print of the rear panel, printed on some acetate. This will be placed behind the panel with some plain paper to defuse the light.

Picture 3. Here it is fitted in place.

Picture 4. Then test fitted it with the supplied lighting.

Pictures 5 & 6. Now on to the door. I didn’t want to use the supplied printed one, so I set to, to make my own.
Note, I have made some holes where the door computer panels will be. This is where the bulb we attached earlier will go into the doorway to illuminate these panels.

Pictures 7 & 8. Next, we cut a small hole into the doorway and fitted some plastic card, where the bulb will sit. Once the door is fitted, it will hold the bulb in place.

Pictures 9 & 10. Here it is painted and finished.

Pictures 11 & 12. All we need to do now is to fit all the pieces into the cockpit tube and attach all the wires and extension wire to the main board.

Pictures 13,14,15,16 & 17. And here are the finished shots of the cockpit.

The final video will show the completed cockpit.

https://youtu.be/nmM1zK-m_Iw
Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#8 Posted : 28 October 2016 14:00:18

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Pictures 1,2 & 3. The next step, is to work on the blaster guns. First, we need to file down all the molded seams, as once painted, these will show up. The best way is to use a small metal file, taking care not to make any flat spots, caused by over filing.

Picture 4. Once this has been done, I then mark the ends on the barrel with sharp metal scribe as to where I will drill out the twin barrel holes.

Pictures 5 & 6. Then I place each barrel into a small vice and using a small drill, carefully drill two holes in each piece.

Picture 7. The next picture, I took the barrel out the vice to show how it is drilled.

Picture 8. When drilling the barrel ends, use a small drill piece first, moving on to a larger drill piece to get the desired effect and size.

Once all the filing and drilling is done, I then placed the gun pieces into a tub with hot soapy water to get off the grease that is on them from the manufacturing process.
Once this is complete, I polished up with some fine sanding pads and primed all the components ready for the final colour.

Next, I will be using enamel paint for the gun section, as it will take more wear and tear especially on die cast metal.
Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#9 Posted : 08 November 2016 18:51:39

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Picture 1. Now the gun pieces have been painted and weathered with oils, ready for its final stage of painting.

Pictures 2 & 3. All the gun parts were screwed together before painting.

Picture 4. Here is it, finished.


Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#10 Posted : 08 November 2016 20:29:56

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Pictures 1 & 2. Before I put the cockpit into the nose cone, some work is needed on the damaged section of the hull first. Once this is done, I will then paint these parts before piecing everything together.

The first picture shows this section as it is received, then I applied some plastic cement which will give me the effect I am looking for.

Pictures 3 & 4. Start to work in the cement and leave to dry for an hour. Once dry, using sand paper, sand to the shape you want.

Pictures 5 & 6. Add more plastic cement to build up the desired effect. Leave to dry once more before sanding. Repeat if needed, until you are happy.

Picture 7. The next picture is the finished nose cone, painted, weathered and put together with the cockpit in place.

The final picture (8), shows the cockpit in place and the cables. Note, I have placed some aluminium tape to stop any light leakage once it’s powered.

Markwarren attached the following image(s):
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Markwarren
#11 Posted : 13 November 2016 10:55:11

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Please note, that all the extra lighting I will be using in this model will be powered by a separate power board and not the one supplied.

Pictures 1 & 2. Now onto the hold area. The first thing I want to improve on is the light by the seating/bunk area. First, I drilled a hole where the cable for the light will go.

Picture 3. Now to make the light its self. Here you can see the tools I need, laid out ready, and of course the soldering iron, which was heating up and out of shot.

Picture 4. I used 2 bright white LED’s, seen here with a resistor.

Picture 5. Before soldering the LED’s, I frosted both lenses with a sanding stick to give an all-round brightness when finished.

Picture 6. First, I bent one of the bulbs wires to a 90-degree angle and cut the second bulb’s wire. Note, when cutting the second bulb and connecting it with the first bulb, make sure you have them the right way around, positive to positive.

Picture 7. Then solder all the parts together. It should look like this.

Picture 8. I then use heat shrink tubing to cover the cables.

Picture 9. Using a small amount of Milliput, I cover the centre area and leave to dry.

Picture 10. Once dry, I test to make sure everything is working.

Picture 11. After leaving it 24 hours, I then painted the light before attaching it to the bunk area.

Picture 12. Here it is attached and working.
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