So, I know I teased a B-29 build but let's be honest Jerry gave me the title "Mr. Sci-fi" for a reason. Bandai just released a new Millennium Falcon model depicting the legendary ship under the ownership of one Lando Calrissian, as it appears in the movie "SOLO" before Han won it in a game of cards. The kit is beautifly molded and very well detailed for is diminutive scale (1:144). Oddly Bandai chose to release this kit with out the options of landing gear, open boarding ramp or sub-light engine that is not powered up. Thankfully I saved these unused items from my previous Falcon build and they fit this kit with zero required modification. I guess maybe an alternative boxing will be released or this was done to get modelers seeking these options to purchase two kits to the tune of $120. While I've already made significant progress on this build I wanted to start by sharing some sprue shots. before the weekend is out I'll get a couple more posts up to detail the build so far.
After the success I had with my previous Falcon "vignette" I knew this would have to have a base of some type to set on or it wouldn't feel complete. I didn't want a massive diorama just a small slice of landing pad to bring the Falcon to life. the "saucer section of the Falcon is roughly 7.5 inches in diameter so I selected an 8 inch artist cradled panel, similar to the gesso board I brought to the meeting as my base. i started by cutting 60-ish .75 inch hexagons out of polymer clay and texturizing them to look like volcanic stone. After baking them they were then glued to the cradled board, the edges sprayed with some textured Krylon paint to blend them with the base and given a uniform base coat of black. I applied a heavy coat of kosher salt and begin to lay down layers of color to simulate the dark gray volcanic stone. Not happy with how the the colors where blending I misted the base with water. I was unsure of how the the acrylic paints and washes I used would react but I couldn't be happier with my experiment. The base was then sprayed with a coupe coats of Testor's dullcoat and set aside until a few supplied I needed arrive to complete it.
Now onto the fun stuff. I started by building the major sub-assemblies of Lando's Falcon and hitting them all with a coat of my favorite primer, black Stynylrez. Once the black was dry I laid down some highlight of with warm taupey gray color. The overall color of the early falcon is a very light, almost white gray. I mixed a color to my liking out of 95% XF-2 white and 5% XF-18 medium blue. Initially I stoped short of the correct color because I was so pleased the withe color modulation I had achieved but after staring at it for a days I knew I had to go lighter. Happy with color I could resist a preview of the Falcon on her perch.
This MF is looking good. Not being familiar with the movie base, your effort and work on the base hex material is really good and is very unique. Looking forward to this one, and its display presentation. Thanks Mr. Science Fiction.
Kurt,
The base isn't actually from the film.
When I started this build I had two goals, building the Falcon gear down and boarding ramp open and replicating an iconic seen from the film. Unfortunately I couldn't come up with a scene to replicate with a gear down Falcon. The idea for the hex-tile base was sparked by my bathroom floor tiles. I've always been fascinated by the"honeycomb" pattern as it is something that forms in nature but is also very clean and modern looking, The base draws inspiration from two very different things, Giant's Causeway in Ireland and pre-formed hexagonal pavers used by the Soviets to build remote airbases in the 50's. I've added markings, "ballast" between the stones and some spots of grass. If my skills are up to it I will fabricate some type of coms tower to go with the base.
I have also begun installing the fiber optics into the cockpit but will have to wait for another update.
And BMW I3 Front door speaker grills....naturally occurring at BMWland.
I think your use of the hex base will make it really stand-out, good idea.
FFL
Don’t know how I forgot about the liberal use of honeycomb in my beloved GTIs
Calling this one done, see you guys tomorrow night.