1/144 Millenium falcon Build #1 by KP

[Konrad Popławski]

Hello,

 

It will be my first model build. I am used to painting gaming miniatures and larger busts, but I would like to try something new. Millenium falcon starship always fascinated me. Since I was a little boy I always wanted to build it. I have chosen 1/144 scale because finished product is not gigantic and can nicely fit in the shelf, on the other hand, model details are still superb. I was lucky to get this one really cheap. I know that recent released version has some minor bugs fixed, but for me this already is supper cool (by the way, you can read more about it here: https://sites.google.com/site/millenniumfalconnotes/bandai-s-millennium-falcon). I’m not inted to make my build supper accurate to original work – this scale in my opinion  is too small to do it right. Of course, you can find many 3D printed parts to enrich you millenium falcon but they are quite expensive and not as smooth as the Bandai plastic is (here is the good example:

https://www.shapeways.com

So just to start a few photos of parts moved just out of the box:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by Konrad Popławski
adding new photos

[Andrés S.]

Hi.

I have this kit, and a few others from Bandai, in the stash. Certainly the quality is excellent in all aspects. In my opinion a larger scale of the ship only gets bigger, as the detail at 1/144 is exceptional. Also, when I bought it I thought to add some of what is seen in Shapeways but the prices are absurdly high.

Well, I'll keep an eye on the progress.

Regards.

 

Andrés S.

[Konrad Popławski]

Thank You Andres

So Far not much to look at. I have spent literally hours on planning and studding how I will build this ship. The more I was thinking the more it get complicated. I deciced to start with the cockpit as it will be for sure some major focus point. Since its beginning I should be motivated enough to make it as good as only I am able.

Step 1 – part E2/37

I have drilled holes for optic fibers – I will try to light up a front control panel with few of them.

 

Now I need to hide these holes somehow. I have picked some thine white styrene sheet (I guess it was 0.25 mm). I cut off proper floor shapes. I have even used some rounded spare frame to make sides.

 

At the end I have added some photo etch parts from greenstrawberry.I want this ship to be in flight mode so I was free to use parts designed for open ramp on landing mode. In addition I have filled with Tamya putty (followed by some milliput) these ugly gaps on chairs.

 

 

Next step will be some painting...

 

Edited August 11, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Konrad Popławski]

I did paint the part #37. I did not want to use black strict black on floor. The cockpit will be quite dark itself so there is no need to use pure black. Also its worth mentioning that characters sitting on their chairs will cover a lot of available space. My goal is to get close to something visible on this photo:

 

 

It wasn’t easy to pint this part. You can’t divide it to smaller pieces with better brush access. Maybe later i will add a bit more of oil dark paint to the deepest areas and some more oil paint lights on most exposed areas. I will decide after putting adding miniatures and finishing front control panel.

And here is the achieved result:

 

Paits used :

 

Primer (spray can): Citadel SPRAY PAINT Chaos Black Primer - for my opinion its suuuper good primer it really sticks to the surface providing excellent grip for other paits on on top of it. You just don’t want to fully cover the surface because there are other better primers to get better finish on surface (but not as good as sticking to the plastic itself).

 

★★★ Seats ★★★ :

Base (brush): Tamya XF-59

 

lights:

1 light (brush): Vallejo GC 72034

2 light (brush): mix 30% Tamya XF-59/70% Vallejo GC 72034

3 light (brush): mix 50% titanium white schmicke primacyl /50% Vallejo GC 72034

4 light - selective (brush) almost pure titanium white schmicke primacy

 

shades

1. shade (brush): Army Painter: quickshade soft tone

2. shade (brush): Vallejo MV 76514

3. shade (brush) van Gogh oil ivory back wash

 

First I did lights the do the shades and then agin rebilded some lights

 

★★★ Floor ★★★ :

 

Base (brush): Vallejo PA 70309

1 light (brush): mix 70% Vallejo PA 70309/ 30% titanium white schmicke primacyl

3. shade (brush) van Gogh oil ivory back wash

 

Grey panels on sides was just the primer. Later i added van Gogh oil ivory back wash

 

Next I’m going to paint Rey, Han and chewbacca...

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Konrad Popławski]

Time to add crew,

In the cockpit I will put Rey (part A/22), Chewbacca (part A/28) and Han (plpart A/26). I will let Finn to fire with  quadblaste in the top gun port.

Here You have size comparison:

And here You have the figures in place (not glued):

First, I removed the original plastic bracket with help of dremel. Later I have modeled the gap between figures legs with help of sharp scalpel.

Then I have pinned (with 0,3 mm drill  its quite durable and quite cheap) the figures and wait for UHU epoxy to cure. I like to use kitchen oven to fast and hsrd cure epoxy. I set teperature ~ 55C ( it can be even higher i think - the higher then the binding gets stronger) and bake glued parts for an 1 hour. before baking remove any exces of  anwanted epoxy with IPA alkochol. Just do some test with spare parts and dont melt it with your oven. I dont use AC glue. From my point of vie its a garbage.

Then I will paint Ray.

By the way. I have found nice website to help molders building this ship. You can find there scanned construction manual and paints suggestion. Here is the link:

 

http://www.mech9.com/2016/07/1144-millennium-falcon-force-awakens.html

Edited August 15, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Konrad Popławski]

Here are some reference pictures I used to paint Rey:

 

And here is the resoult:

It wasn’t easy to paint her - at least in the way I wanted. It is simply too small . In such scale You can’t pick up much details. remeber the pin she is sitting on is only 0,3 mm wide.  You need to carefully control lights and shadows to make a good contrast. Only then it will be understandable for human eye.

 

Next target: Chewbacca (by the way its almost done)

Edited September 4, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Hunter Rose]

That is really nice figure painting at such a small scale! Looking good 

[Stephen W]

Or of my all time favourite ships from Starwars, looking forward to seeing it created! Love the detail, I built one in 3d a while back which I must redo as I have learnt lots since!

[Konrad Popławski]

Thank You. Your kind words really push me forward.

 

So as promissed: here comes Chewbacca. First some reference pictures:

 

And here what I have managed to do:

 

Next step will be painting Han Solo. I still struggle myself how to paint him. I would like to see him in a classic ANH outfit. But on the other hand to make him fit in the more accurate manner to “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens” he should be painted as old man.

 

When I will find few free minutes i will edit posts and put paint recipit for thouse intrested. I can also give a few tips how to help you paint in such scale.

Stay tunned

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Stephen W]

Great detail, tips are always welcome! I am contemplating taking my 3d models from paper to resin printing so I think I need to update my skills to paint outside of PS as I can not afford a full colour 3d printer! 

[Thom216]

Looking good. Makes me think about restarting my MilF.

[Konrad Popławski]

I was quite busy last week. Sorry for no update 😕

As promised, I have painted Han. I have decided to paint him as old mam because his figure was molded to fit in “Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens” style. His outfit seems to be a bit boring in some way (just two main colors: dark lather and white skirt). I slightly changed some tones to make him pop up in the cokpit. As usual I shall post here some refference pictures:

 

 

I would like to share with You some knowledge about painting as I suggested in my previous post. Han sems to ge a good example. I will give You some step by step.

 

Step1 Surface preparation.

You probably know very well that this step is crucial. Yet I will stress it one more time! In the end all surface imperfections will be even more noticable then before any painting. Especially in this small 1:144 scale You need to be double devoted and perceptive as usual.

 

Step2 Priming each parts.

Its easy step but cant be neglected. Without a primer your paint job will be extremely vulnerable to damage. Even normal brush strokes can strip off some of the previous unprimed layers of paint!

Another feature of primer is to help you eye find every subject details before painting. First you need to use primer which has excellent adhere features. It will be your foundation for all work in the future you don’t need to fully cover the surface - save space for new layers of paint and keep details visible. Then add a primmer, which is as smooth as possible. You can mix primer shades to make better color gradation. Use airbrush – it will give you better control. Here are the primers I like to use:

 

 

Step3 Painting - Basecoating.

Here You need to block specific colors – just divide the surface. Use midtones as You need to see if colors works for you and if needed change them a bit. You still need a place for lights and shadows. Paint should not cover the previous primer fully! Its very important!

 

 

By the way, You need a good brush. I mean really good one. I use W&N series 7. I like them very much. I painted Han using just one brush – size 1. If you choose some cheap brushes, then you will only get frustrated. Good brush must have 4 features: a) excellent sharp tip, b) proper flexibility c) ability to maintain its good shape for a long time d) large belly to hold a lot of tinned paint.

Next You need to have a good thinner at lest for acrylics. Acrylics are very specific. Working time with them is very limited. I use distilled water with some dedicated mediums. I can recommend glaze medium from Vallejo and some secret super weapon: Leveling thinner for brush painting manufactured by modellers. It really does the job. Try not to use mediums alone – add them to water.

Here You can see all paints I have used for painting Han Solo:

 

Step4 Painting - Lights.

Here is some more progress documentation:

 

I am focusing on most raised parts (usually the surfaces mostly exposed to light source). Starting with lighter shade of basecoat, I try to follow my primer trace. I tend to use more diluted paint to keep nice gradation in colors. I mix a couple of light sub shades and put them layer by layer each time reducing the spot.

 

Step4 Painting - Shades.

It’s the same as lights but in the opposite order. Mainly here I use washes and focuse on the darkest areas. Thanks to washes (diluted) I can even better smooth up the color gradation.

 

 

Step4 Error correction.

Here I try to remove any errors I am able to spot. Its also time to add some foilters to slighly change the colors if needed. Generally I soften color transitions here.

Sometimes I need to to do more lights/shades steps untill I am happy with results. Here You have finnished Han Solo:

 

 

I follow this 4 simple steps for all my paint jobs - size doesn’t matter 😝:

 

 

Try as much as you can not to touch the painted objects (that is why I  am pinning almost all model parts). You May have damage it. Even if you dont damage it you can still leave some grease from your fingers - this is bad and can change the color and properties of the surface.

I hope You will find some useful information that will make You paint better. In the and its all about the time and practice. If You don’t like the achieved result – You can always strip off the paint and start over.

I know its painful but necessary to make You feel good 🤪.

 

In the next post I will try to show you some side panels done + crew  mambers on their place.

 

Edited August 28, 2020 by Konrad Popławski
spelling

[Stephen W]

Thank you for the tips, really interesting to know how you get them to look so good! 

[Konrad Popławski]

I am glad You like it

 

Here comes another small progress update.

So I have added crew members on their positions:

 

 

 

 

In order to make room for optic fibers I plan to use in the front panel I had to modify the part part E1/24. I hope it will be enough.

 

As You might noticed I have slightly changed colors i have added more greenish tones. For light part I have used glazes of Mr.Hobby Color H418 RLM 78 and then shaded it with oils (Abteilung 502 ABT-510 starship filth + some black).

Darker cockpit part was also glazed with oils (pretty much the same as the light part).

 

Now the fun begins.

I mean soldering the photo each parts. I haven’t done much of it so far. But I have learned a lot. I am pretty sure that now I could do it much better. There is no glue that can match with solder. The bound is so strong! You can sand off any excess. I am simply impressed. As You see I had done it quite filthy way. I am not proud of it but this is my actual soldering skill level L.

It will be primed and painted so I hope that much of errors will be hided or at lest med less noticeable.

 

 

 

 

 

As You might spotted I decided to drill holes in the celling. Its because I have decided to use small SMD leds to light up the cockpit a bit. Otherwise it will be too dark there to notice many details:

 

 

 

The picture quality could be better. I am doing shoots only from my cell phone. It is not bad in well-lightened room but still quite blurry.

Next step will be quite challenging.

Personally, I do not like green strawberry stickers (these were added to the photo etched set I have bought) - they are so thick and really ruin the job! They really disappointed me here. I decided to prepare and print my own decals. Therefore, I need to work a bit in some vector graphic program.

Thank You for Your attention.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Stephen W]

Really impressive stuff and looking forward to seeing it take shape.
 

I was wondering what you use to clean your brushes as I have invested in some brushes to have a go at painting models in the real world! I tend to work in PS all the time! Strange I know! 
 

once I have had a play I will look at a paint sprayer too!

[Konrad Popławski]

Hello Stephen

 

Generally, for maintaining my brushes I use these products (the dedicated sope is the best I think):

But I heard that tis is the best: https://www.josonjas-ukshop.com/ourshop/prod_2967348-FAUX-MEISTER-BRUSH-SOAP-CHROMA-BRUSH-SOAP-250ml.html

(unfortunately hard to get in Poland where I live)

 

 

I tend to spend more time cleaning my best natural hair brushes. From time to time I even use wife's hair shampoo to help them last long.

There few general rules to make you brushes live long:

1. Do not steer paint with best brushes (the paint can get into ferrule and cure there damaging the hair structure). Try to hold paint in the brush only in its belly and tip (far from ferrule).

2. After each painting session clean your brushes carefully and form the tip before putting it on shelf

3. do not use any harmful to your skin substance, It may clean well  but will  damage the brush bristles too
4. Do not store you brushers in up position. Use gravity to help forming the tip.

5. Try storing you brushes in a container keeping any dust away, Maybe it’s not so important for the brush itself but may be important while painting to avoid any strange flickers on the painted surface

 

 

Anyway, I have small build progress to show.

 

I am still working on decals but in men time, I tied to approach a bigger issue - the electric circuit. I am not electrician so it’s quite hard topic to me.

It’s quite strange because in the end I decided to put the result it in a garbage bin. So actually it means no progress  Why? I will tell you in details in next post.

 

Just for a quick test, I grabbed a couple small SMD leds, some resistors ad wires. I used google to learn what resistors do I need, I have drawn a simple scratch then I transferred it on coper plate. Next, was some etching the copper plate and soldering the components. I even use some thine white styrene plates to make a kind of sandwich and locate the light module on heavy modified part D2/13 (I have removed a tone of plastic and I am a bit worried).

 

Sure, it works its very bright and fits in the model quite well. However, as I said I’m not happy with it. After some brainstorm, I realized it would be a bad solution. You see I decided to use Arduino in my build. This little chip (I will tell you more in next post about all my electric circuit details I plan in this build) gives You full control connected leds – its programmable so you can achieve any effect you desire. But it has some constrains – one of them is maximum current output ;/ As you see I have used 5 led (~ 100 mA total) and 1 pin of Arduino can provide ~20 mA – anything higher can damage it. Of course I could connect this 5 led module to single Arduino pin but before that I should add much resistance to drop current consumption on each led  - as a result leds would be much dimmer. But there is a solution – I should have used neopixel diodes instead of normal ones (I will share knowledge about it later).

 

 

 

So it’s a topic for the next post: cockpit backwall light box with neopixel diode.

 

[Konrad Popławski]

Hello after quite a long break!.

I did more testing to light module (shinning through cockpit back wall). I decided to stick with small SMD leds there – they will be always on so there is no need to use Arduino there. It’s more complicated than I initially thought as I want to use some optic fibers on the cockpit  back wall with different colors and blinking patterns.

Anyway, I need to focus on finishing photo edge parts. As I said earlier, I am not pleased with greenrasberry stickers. This is the reference picture of it, which I have found in internet:

I used it to build my own decals. First I have used Adobe Photoshop to set up the shape guidelines Thanks to it I am able to draw shape that is a good base for my decal:

 

 

As a base for the project, I have used these decals designed for larger scale model:

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2785/1026/files/deagostini_cockpit_clear_insert_decal_sheet.pdf?11717592751209307090

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2785/1026/files/hasbro_hero_cockpit_clear_insert_decal_sheet.pdf

 

Some modifications were necessary, as it does not fit with Bandai stickers. In Adobe Illustrator, I have redesigned the shapes. I simply put Bandai stickers as a top layer to have some control where to put lights spots.

Here You can see the final result:

 

Now I need to shrunken it to the proper size and it’s ready to be printed.

However, before printing, I need to do the rest of cockpit decals (particularly side walls and some front panel parts). When I finish I will give You the link to download it.

I will paste photos in this pots later.

 

[Stephen W]

I did some research a few years back on the interior Image references of the Falcon, I’ll try and dig them out if it helps you? Let me know and I’ll pop them on Flickr for you. 

[Konrad Popławski]

Thank You Stephen!

I have gathered a lot of reference material but maybe You will surprise me. So if You have something interesting please send it.

[Stephen W]

17 minutes ago, Konrad Popławski said:

Thank You Stephen!

I have gathered a lot of reference material but maybe You will surprise me. So if You have something interesting please send it.

Happy to share, looking at your detail level you may plenty of image references.

 

I collected these image references when doing a 3D model of the falcon a few years back so hope you find it useful. I have uploaded the folder to Flickr so you should be able to see them.

Link: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmQJDJTB

 

Some are a low resolution but you should be able to recreate them using PS.

 

 

 

[Konrad Popławski]

I am back to build process. Sorry for such long break. I was a rough time for me and modeling wasn’t my priority.

 

It took me a while to get down to Adobe illustrator. I need time to get to know better this program. First, I tried to replicate 100% accurate Millenium Falcon cockpit interior textures. Soon I badly found out that its waste of time. In 144 scale there is not much too look at. So Finally, I decided to focus on replicating and improving Greenstrawberry stickers. I did also some some decals for gunports. After some test printing on good class office printer I did some triks and twics (mainly focused further on enlarging details) I ended up with this:

 

Now I will need to order printing water decals for my project. Printing gray is a thought topic so I decided to make grey parts of these decals transparent. I will prime and paint cockpit parts in gray before adding printed decals. I hope will help me to achieve good and natural look. Here is a picture with decals with removed gray color panels:

 

 

I will share with you the AI file. Maybe some of You like to use it. Please fell free or change it to your needs. I hope You will do it even better.

https://www.easypaste.org/file/qk0Bmv3r/MF.decals.144.Bandai.ai?lang=pl

 

When I will receive my printed decals, I will show You how they look like. So next task is to prime and paint the remaining cockpit parts. Before I put it together, I need also to install some tinny optic fibers.

Edited November 21, 2020 by Konrad Popławski

[Stephen W]

Sometimes real life has to take priority, I think we are all the same there.
 

Really good representation of the cockpit interior though! 

[TristanR]

Excellent job on the cockpit, really keen to see how it comes out with your decals.  

[moondrome]

Great job so far! I especially like how the figures turned out... I know how hard is to achieve such good details at such a small scale

[Konrad Popławski]

Hi another small update. I found some spare time after Christmas.

I have received my printed decals. I am very happy with the print quality. It’s much better than I have expected - a way better than my testing prints. Unfortunately, I did a couple of very basic mistakes. For example, I left some white filled shapes on places where they should be transparent.

I should change the background color form white to let’s say green before saving a file. Then I would immediately spot the mistake. Now I have to pay for my rush and print order another print.

 

 

Since I cannot continue with the cockpit without proper decals, I have decided to start working with gun ports. Here you have some parts soldered together. I plan not to solder all brass parts together before painting. I believe it will help me to get better access and operate with the brush more easily.

 

 

 

 

As you may see, I am in the middle of adding small details to photoetch parts. I have enhanced the gun port entrance with wire and brass quarter rings. Probably later, I will add some greenstuff to make the entrance edges a bit softer. I am also adding SMD capacitors or other small bits to make the gun port shape look a bit more interesting.