GreenStrawberry Star Wars Lando’s Millennium Falcon FruitPACK (FP11 for Bandai)

[Mike]

Lando’s Millennium Falcon FruitPACK (FP11 for Bandai)

1:144 GreenStrawberry

 

 

The story of Han Solo’s younger years filled in a lot of blanks for many Star Wars fans, although Solo: A Star Wars Story got a luke warm reception thanks to the then-recent divisive sequels, that maybe it didn’t deserve, if it had been judged on its own merits.  I say that with my Star Wars fan hat on, which is just the thing to watch what is a Space Opera at its heart, and allowing for the jarring sight of someone else playing the titular part because Harrison Ford has unsurprisingly aged markedly in the 40 plus years since the original film – it took a bit of getting used to, but I got there in the end.  I’m also not one to over-analyse things, and can enjoy films that defy physics and sometimes logic (I do have limits though).  One major point of interest for me was the introduction of the Millennium Falcon in its original factory-fresh guise under Lando Calrissian’s stewardship, before that fateful game of sabacc that led indirectly to the Kessel Run incident.  It was clean, white and streamlined, with a shuttle that fitted snugly in between those two cargo-handling mandibles, and even sported a set of blue go-faster stripes.  Han had ruined that by the end of the film though, leaving it a smouldering write-off by the final scene.

 

The Set

This is a detail set of Photo-Etch (PE) that is intended to upgrade the excellent Bandai kit of the youthful Falcon, adding detail where Bandai has simplified or omitted.  Even Bandai can’t work miracles with styrene alone.  We’ve got the FruitPACK in for review, which puts two smaller sets in a thick card envelope to offer a one-stop-shop for the detail, with a discount into the bargain.  It arrives in the aforementioned card envelope, and the two sets are found inside in their original packaging that adds more protection to the sheets within.  The two sets are also available separately from the FruitPACK, so I’ll drop some links in at the bottom of the review in case someone doesn't want both, and we’ll deal with the sets individually to simplify things.

 

Lando’s YT-1300 Millennium Falcon (09119-1/144)

This set contains a large sheet of bare brass PE, and a self-adhesive sheet of printed instrument panels and other details that are integrated during painting to further enhance realism.  It starts with the shuttle, adding detailed afterburner-style exhausts by putting new stand-offs on the kit parts and adding a new layer to each of the four exhaust bells.  The bulkeads to the sides have grilles behind their outlets too, after which attention turns to the cockpit, which is fairly similar to the one we know and love, although a lot cleaner and less distressed.  The upgrade begins with removal of some parts from the simple interior floor part that has seats moulded in, replacing the steering-yoke and adding more detail to the front of the area.  A new rear bulkhead is made for the cockpit using the stickers to detail it with the masses of instruments and flashing lights, which should be capable of being replicated by shining a light through the perforated bulkhead to illuminate the printed portions.  More stickers are applied to the centre and side consoles, then an interior skin is folded into a faceted half cylinder and detailed with more PE and stickers before it is fixed over the aft portion of the cockpit.  New headboxes are made up for the aft seats, some of the moulded-in detail and friction-fit turrets are removed from inside top of the outer skin, then new side consoles are made up from angled PE panels with stickers applied over them, then they are glued to the cockpit sidewall.  Outside the cockpit on the side of the hull is a prominent semi-circular vent, with another on the other side, which is covered by a PE grille, with another long strip wrapped around the transition from tapering cockpit to the tunnel behind it.

 

 

The Falcon has two gun positions in its centre, one at the top, one in the bottom of the hull, which from the box are fairly sparse.  The set includes new detailed skins that are formed up and placed on a faceted ring behind the glazing to give it the depth that it should have.  More stickers are included to give the area some life, with the rest being painted according to your references.

 

 

Grilles

This smaller set contains two sheets of PE, which are laminated into a set of super-detailed exhausts that are found on the aft deck of the Falcon in a fan-shaped array of six.  The kit part that surrounds these exhausts has the moulded-in representations removed and is then backed by three curved parts that support the following steps. The assembly is flipped over and the new parts added into the new deeper recess.  The circular lower supports have two layers, plus a central disc to allow enough stand-off for the new fans.  These are etched as a single part with the blades attached, which are tweaked slightly to form the angled fan shape, then a central detailed disc is glued over the blank section in the middle.  They are fixed into the recesses, and a two-layer grille is placed over the apertures, taking care to align the long ribs toward the front so that they converge slightly towards the front, as shown by the red lines on the instructions.  A big improvement on the kit parts.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The Bandai Falcons are well-detailed for the most part, especially considering their snap-together nature, but you can always improve on styrene that has been engineered for mass-production, and this set does just that with lots of lovely details to draw the eye.

 

Highly recommended.

 

FruitPack (FP11)

 

Detail Set (09119-1/144)

 

Grilles (07719-1/144)

 

Review sample courtesy of