R0ver Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 My first thread here. Don't have much experience with model building/painting but have learned so much from your guys' threads over the past few months. One member in particular (you know who you are!) has been massively generous with advice & has helped me out numerous times when I've emailed him- so thank you. I've had a bit of practice with a Bandai TIE & the AT-ST so this thread is me attempting to tackle Bandai's 1/144 Falcon. So far I've almost completed the cockpit with Han & Chewie as pilots. Still need to add a few finishing touches although did consider stripping it & starting again as there are a few things I'm thinking I could improve. Then again, I'm quite keen to start on the Falcon itself so may just leave it as is & save the super-detailing for the 2nd one I bought. Haven't finished the figures yet as they need a drybrush & possibly another wash (especially Han), but you may notice I decided to try to paint Han as his younger self despite the Falcon clearly being the TFA one! Oh well... The cockpit probably won't be all that visible once I use the clear canopy anyway. Gotta say, painting a 1/144 cockpit & figures was a lot more fiddly than I had anticipated, so I just picked out a few bits & didn't worry about trying to be too accurate. I may have gotten a bit carried away with weathering the main cockpit seats but hey. The cockpit hasn't been properly assembled with glue yet so the photos you see are just loose fitted. I do have a lighting kit I got some time ago but saving that one for the 2nd Falcon I bought, so this one will be unlit. A few WIP pics below. And thanks for looking! 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 That cockpit really does look excellent. Great work picking out all the details on the back wall and console. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 5, 2017 Author Share Posted January 5, 2017 Cheers Andy. Means a lot coming from you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpopandchips Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 looking very nice so far. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S5 modeller Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Nice, neat work. Well done. Matt 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Chief Smeg Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 I think you have those 'dirty cushion things' that line the doorway absolutely spot on. It's all looking very good so far 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dermo245 Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 Yep, fine work on the cockpit and figures! Dernot 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted January 5, 2017 Share Posted January 5, 2017 That looks incredibly good - I'm having enough trouble with 1/72 at the moment let alone 1/144 Awesome that you were able to paint Chewie's bandolier. Will 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blastvader Posted January 6, 2017 Share Posted January 6, 2017 That's looking really rather tasty. I think you've got it just right. Can't wait to see the rest of it come together. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 6, 2017 Author Share Posted January 6, 2017 (edited) Thanks for all the kind words fellas. I'm waiting on a replacement needle to arrive for my airbrush so work has slowed down a bit until it arrives. Using the time to start work on this one: Edited January 6, 2017 by R0ver 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 Not had much free time recently so progress has been slow with the Falcon. Hoping to get lots more done over the next few days as it looks like I'll have some free time at last (fingers crossed!). I've assembled both mandibles & just need to add some finishing touches to the turrets, paintwise, so I can put the hull together. The turrets are like the cockpit, in the sense that they need to be completed early on in the build, as once the clear canopies go on they're out of reach. The details on this kit are outstanding by the way. If it's this impressive at 1/144, I can only imagine how good Bandai's 1/72 Falcon will look (personally think it's just a matter of time). I've included some close-ups of the mandible sidewalls to show off the greeblies & piping: Here's some piping on the sprue with a toothpick for scale: The next step should be pretty straight forward once I'm done with the turrets & then it's painting time! I'm hoping we get some nice(ish) weather up here so I can open the window & airbrush without turning into an icicle. Will have some more substantial updates very soon! P.S- The Venator has seen even less work but here's a loose fitting of the hull &the bridge towers: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 great work. it is an awesome looking falcon Rover, mind if I ask where you got it from? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 No worries, it's Bandai's 1/144 Millennium Falcon (Force Awakens version). I got mine off amazon for about £32 or so shipped from Japan. Took about 2 weeks to arrive but there are more expensive, faster shipping options I believe. eBay is also an option but amazon seems a bit better price-wise. Just search Bandai Falcon & it should be right at the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 cheers rover, off to amazon once i get down my stash a bit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Rose Posted January 18, 2017 Share Posted January 18, 2017 Looks great so far, and its nice to see a venator SD build too, will be following with interest 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dreamcatcher Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 That kit seems to be really good ! I built the old Revell's (snap click) Millenium Falcon but i think this model is far better that the Revell. I will follow your next steps with great interest Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Progress has been much slower than I'd hoped with the Falcon build but assembly is more or less complete & ready to be painted now. I guess my slowness isn't the worst thing in the world right now, as it's still been a bit cold to have the window open for painting in recent weeks. I have my bench right next to the window so I can hang the booth's exhaust hose out. Before assembling the hull, I first had to paint the turret wells as they're covered by the clear canopy fairly early on in the main build. I kept them really basic because they'll hardly be visible once the turret gun is actually in place (that's my excuse anyway). The idea with the gunner seats was that having been out of action in Jakku for so long, scavengers have raided most of the cushions & only these 2 are remaining. No idea why they wouldn't go for the targeting equipment too, but there you are. And you can just about see it through the clear part without the turret in place. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Quick lighting test. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Loosely assembled & ready to paint. Thinking about painting/weathering it assembled as a unit instead of doing the sub assemblies separately. Clear parts need masking & also need to add the engine vents, turret guns and dish, but will paint them separately before attaching. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 It's coming on great mate. It really looks huge in those last two shots. Much larger than what I know it really is. The lighting's going to be excellent too. Andy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Now the difficult bit starts! The lighting does look great, & i have to say thanks to Warren for that. I only wanted to light the engines on this one so got in touch via his site & he rigged me up 4 leds for the engine. I'm learning how to work with leds now as I'll need to know what I'm doing with leds & fibre when lighting the Venator, but this little lighting kit and the more complete Bandai Falcon one he makes are brilliant. Looking forward to getting some paint down finally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 Been away from home for absolute donkeys, but finally back and able to spend some time on the Falcon. I now wish I had visited the forum more often as I seem to have missed lots of excellent stuff on here. Going to space this out over a few posts, but here's what I've managed to do since I last posted. I first airbrushed a coat of black alclad 2 primer (forgot to take a photo of that, so good start), and then added some coats of a mix of tamiya + gunze acrylics. I wish I'd used the black undercoat more creatively to create some more shading, but hey. That's why I have a 2nd Bandai MF. I did use the primer a bit to distinguish the engine trails though. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 I intially used the decals provided on the lower hull for the coloured panels, but wasn't too pleased with the result. Decided to mask and paint the panels on the upper hull. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Moore Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 I was wondering where you'd got to . Glad to see work has resumed. The panel work is looking fantastic. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R0ver Posted May 19, 2017 Author Share Posted May 19, 2017 I definitely underestimated how long it would take to mask and paint, so this took me a fair while to finish. It's the first time I used maskol for the chipping and would probably try to get finer chips next time, but for a first time I think it looks ok, (I also learned not to waste so much masking tape unlike the photo!). Had to deal with some red overspray so I also need to be more careful when masking. It's all a learning experience though! The colours are inaccurate on many of the panels and there are 1-2 that I missed but I'm ok with that for this first attempt. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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