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Bandai Millenium Falcon Perfect Grade 1/72 - Advice Appreciated


Chrissy1

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Hi all,

I've just finished a 1/340 Bismarck and (given on-going lock-downs) have now decided to push-myself a little with a Bandai Millenium Falcon Perfect Grade 1/72.  As such, I'm on here looking for help and advice from anyone who has already completed this.  I've read lots of articles and watched lots of videos but still have lots of questions!

Hoping for some answers to these:

- What are the best sources for articles and videos of other people's builds?

- Everything I've seen suggests that no-one paints this with brushes, it's all sprayed.  Is this right?

- And everyone seems to assemble then spray (rather than spray parts before assembly).  Is this right too?

- Do people use the waterslide decals or do they paint instead?  Why?

- Does anyone use the included stickers?

- Does anyone use the included photo-etched metal parts or do they upgrade?

- What are the best 3rd party add-on's?  Are they necessary?

- The plastic means that you can only use acrylic paints.  Any brand/range recommendations?

Thank you very much in anticipation...

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I shouldn't be replying as I've not built mine yet but I have built the 1/144 scale version. Most of the Millennium Falcon is the same colour so it is easier to paint mostly built....or at least in large sections.

 

Personally I wouldn't brush paint until there are finer details. And with all my builds I try and use as less of the decals as possible and any panels I airbrush on.....it's a pain with all the masking but you get a more realistic finish. Plus you can pre-shade, weather, chip effect and add damage much better than you can with a decal. The nice thing about the kit you have is the panel decals already have the look of chips and scratches etc so will still look decent. Nothing wrong with using the decals. 

 

I would never use the stickers tho. These are included in Bandai kits for any real novices or kids that want to build the kits but are maybe too young or new to it that instead stickers can be used to make it easier for them.

 

With regards to aftermarket parts, I believe there are some about but I'll be building mine out of the box. I've also seem some more detailed characters in different poses available if you weren't happy with the ones that come with it.

 

You've probably been watching videos on YouTube, these are the most accessible and there's quite a few on there with some good tips. 

 

I use Vallejo Air paints mainly, I find them cover well using an airbrush.

 

There's no right or wrong way to do it. You just have to do it your way but always push yourself a tiny bit to do something that takes your builds to the next level.

 

Good luck with it 👍

 

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Hi,

As far as detailing/photo etch there is the dedicated Paragrafix set( I have this, it's superb) but mostly concerns the cockpit. You would also want to get some flat panel LEDs to back the photo etch(get these from "Age of plastic", just google that with "Millennium Falcon" and it will take you to his site, loads of great info there too and links to his 3d printed parts.)

Green Strawberry also do dedicated sets for this model, may be worth a look at.

Many people use the Tamiya fine surface primer(grey) to prime the model and then lay a base coat down of Tamiya AS-20 insignia white (rattlecan) or you can use LP-35 insignia white(Lacquer paint range) or a mixture of Tamiya flatt white XF-2 and Deck tan XF-55.

If you wanted to really push the boat out in terms of paint you could go the route of "screen accurate" paints by Archive X enamel based paints ( Pretty expensive, I have some and will be using these with Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo).

There are dedicated groups on FB for the PG falcon and the Archive X paints, some helpful people and links there also.

Hope this helps a little.

Cheers,

 

Richard

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If you're looking for the figures @Fletch0311 mentioned, they're made by Falcon3D. 

 

https://www.falcon3dparts.com/

 

There's stuff on Shapeways. I've picked up some from 308bits (sp?) for my 1/144 Falcons. 

 

Green Strawberry and Paragrafix also make some additional detail sets in PE. 

 

Some folks have used the the stickers as masks for painting on the markings. I've got a pair of the PG kits but have only built my 1/144 one so far. I used the kit decals on that one. 

 

 

IMG_20200110_172016-600x450.jpg

 

I would definitely recommend using an airbrush or spray cans for the paint job. You could do the smaller details with a brush but best to do the overall colour with an airbrush. 

 

The kit lighting set is a bit limited in scope and some folks add an AM one to improve on it. Tyridium Models makes lighting kits as do a number of other companies. 

 

WIth regards to paint, acrylic or lacquer paints seem to be ok. Not sure on enamels. With washes, be careful using anything enamel based as the plastic has a habit of reacting adversely to the thinners used to wipe them off.

 

Here's an ongoing build on Starship Modeler:

 

http://www.starshipmodeler.net/talk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=127343

 

Hope that helps. 

 

Carl

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I can recommend Xtracrylix X1137 Light Gull Grey, or "Star Wars Grey" as I label it.  It's a very good match to the base colour, as you can see here on my old 1:144 one:

 

spacer.png

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So...I’m hearing that one of the key messages here is to assemble it and then paint???  I’ve never really done this before - I’ve always found that painting as I assemble was a better strategy.

I suspect that there are going to be lots of new learnings with this kit!

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- What are the best sources for articles and videos of other people's builds?   Facebook group, there's quite a few some dedicated to the studio models which are great for reference and some to the model itself . lots of good ones with helpful hints and tips

  Everything I've seen suggests that no-one paints this with brushes, it's all sprayed.  Is this right?  Use both, You can't replicate all the weathering with an airbrush.

- And everyone seems to assemble then spray (rather than spray parts before assembly).  Is this right too? I'd assemble then spray/paint

- Do people use the waterslide decals or do they paint instead?  Why? Really is optional, depends on your painting skill for the panels

- Does anyone use the included stickers? No, waterslide or paint

- Does anyone use the included photo-etched metal parts or do they upgrade? Yes, though not massively visible in 1/72; original cockpits in models were pretty sparse as well

- What are the best 3rd party add-on's?  Are they necessary?  Shapeways, don't need too much though - Greeblies

- The plastic means that you can only use acrylic paints.  Any brand/range recommendations? You can use enamels but prime well first.  Don't flood plastic with washes, this will cause problems.   Archive X paint if you want the ultimate finish.  Archive X

 

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On 12/02/2021 at 17:28, Chrissy1 said:

....:What are the best sources for articles and videos of other people's builds?....

I can recomment "Sculpting a Galaxy" from Lorne Peterson. This contains tons of pictures from the original Movie Props. Very helpful when you are into Star Wars Models. And the Falcon has an own dedicated Section/Chapter.

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I warmly recommend the 2017 STAR WARS CHRONICLES EPISODE IV, V AND VI - VEHICLES  book from Gakken. It is in Japanese but the pictures of the original props are the best you can find in any book available and the big size (the book is 39.2cm x 29.6cm x 5.5cm) makes a huge difference. The only real con is the price. My 5 cents.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I hope it's ok to link to another forum, but there is a MASSIVE thread on the replica prop forum (RPF), it's worth a read.  It's a goldmine, there are photos of the original prop, in depth discussion of all the minute details, which is fascinating in it sown right. Dozens of people post their various build pictures on there, the discussion of what color paints to use, all sorts of modifications that have been tried from replacement lighting, to 5 leg landing gear mods.  The link I have pated below starts at page 151, as the first load of pages are before the model is even released.  

 

https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/bandai-1-72-pg-millennium-falcon-also-the-revell-germany-rebox.262348/page-151

 

I am in the middle of building this now, and I think I will probably paint it fully assembled, although being a bandai kit, it push fits together, but the fit is so snug that there is a danger of damaging the part when trying to prise them apart.  You can modify parts to make this easier though.

 

This build talk about it, and is a good resource.

https://bandai-hobby.net/sw/jp/special/millenniumfalcon_building_guide.html?fbclid=IwAR3FzdTXI4UEUYcfD3IxbkDKoANu3Jf6DzSzXzBheXAZ6tspg6pbncpS-nA

 

Good luck!

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I don't have the PG Falcon, unfortunately, but I've built two other Bandai Star Wars kits and I can give some advice on the decals questions -

 

Bandai's decals are excellent in terms of register and colors, and they're reasonably strong (hence, easy to handle) but they are thick. This can be overcome using decal solvents but be advised to leave them some setting time and work them to settle down to avoid silvering from the transparent sections.

 

I didn't use the stickers. I guess as far as stickers go, they're great, very detailed and easy to work with, but when I tested them, they leave a very obvious ridge. Quite simply, they're very thick and I don't think the thickness can be overcome. They're mostly aimed at entry level modelers or 'casual' builders whi just want to assemble a Star Wars model.

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