Millenium Falcon 1/72 scale by Fine Molds (Modified)

[DizWhiz]

Whoa this is one of the 'holy grail' kits I've only read about. Good luck, you're gunna (probably not) need it. 

[Cook1965]

Looking forward to seeing "The fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy" in all her glory!

[Joe Boss Red Seven]

The A-Team always wins...on the show.
 

[big game nerd]

Look forward to seeing this go together.

[r0bert]

Lol...you guys crack me up...I hope I provide a good show. Well Kenny, doc refers to my profession. I'm an MD.

and Armando also has a PhD in Alclad!!!

[Armandodlc]

Lol Robert...Dr. Alclad...I like that

[Lufty]

Wow! I am with everyone else here, I'm looking forward to seeing this go together! Total dream kit! GL!

[Sergio]

Wow. You have all my attention, Dr.Alclad. Best of luck with this beauty!

[Armandodlc]

It has begun! Ok, guys, first pics. I spent the last couple of days alternating between continuing decal placement on my Enterprise D and dry fitting parts on my Falcon, as well as giving some thought as to the order of assembly I would follow. I tend to favor primering and painting the large parts first, so with that in mind, I went ahead and washed the two saucer halves with dish washing detergent, then let them dry, and then began with the light blocking inside. Now, this kit's plastic is thick, so I dont believe I'll need very heavy light blocking. First, a coat of the black primer.





Then a coat of the white primer for light reflection within.





Then I mulled over the choice of base hull color. I pored over several different reference photos, especially the ones provided with the kit which are wonderful, as well as read some forum posts in assorted blogs, and decided that, to my eye, the base color is a sort of khaki/tan/light grey combination. With this in mind, I went ahead and mixed up my witches brew using the Spies Hecker paints.




I started with white as my base, filling the little cup up to the little cardboard edge at the bottom, then I added a total of 4 drops of black and 4 drops of yellow. The resulting color is a very close match.

[Armandodlc]

So went ahead and primered with gray Transtar primer first





Then I loaded up my paintgun with my witches brew and fired away. Here is the result.







The color is very close to the pics on the box art. Now mind you, these photos were taken under my fluorescent bench light. Afterwards, I turned on another overhead which is a standard yellow bulb and the color was even closer, so I think I achieved a very close match.
Next, I turned my attention to the cockpit, which is the first section in the instructions to be assembled. They start out by painting the seats, so I did that. Then they assemble the cockpit. Since I got the photoetch parts, most of the cockpit will be composed of those, and as you can see I am in the process of assembling them now. More to come, and enjoy!

[jellis11]

Great start Armando!

[AnythingSciFi]

Lol...you guys crack me up...I hope I provide a good show. Well Kenny, doc refers to my profession. I'm an MD.

Well Hell, no wonder you can afford those massive kits!

Hey Doc, I have been having pain in my right rib cage, is it a broken toe?  =)

[fumblethumbs]

OMG...That photo etch    AWESOME!!

Nice start Armando! 

[3rdplacetrekkie]

WooHoo! Go armando! looking onward to a masterpiece!

[Armandodlc]

Thanks guys! More work on the cockpit. I finished assembly of the photoetch set and applied the decals. Here is the cockpit with the seats in place.



And backlit to illustrate the decals. Though they dont show up very well in this pic, they do have multicolored dots to represent the different lights, so when I back light it, it will look like a lit panel.



Next I turned my attention to Chewy and went ahead and painted him. My thanks to Boyd for his suggestion that I add lighter colored highlights to his coat to emphasize the texture more. I think it worked well. Also colored the shoulder holster with aluminum.



And here he is sitting at his post in the cockpit.



The kit provides two Leaias (a sitting Empire Strikes Back version for the cockpit or a standing New Hope version), two sitting Solos ( New Hope or Empire), one Chewy, one Luke sitting and one Obi Wan sitting, as well as a couple of Storm Troopers standing. I need to check if there is also a standing Luke. Also, there is a sitting C3PO. I believe I will do the New Hope arrangement with Han, Chewy, Luke and Obi Wan reenacting the famous scene ("That's no moon...it's a space station..."). Not sure what to do with the other figures, but I'll "figure" something out...anyways, more to come.