Mensa 32" SS Falcon

[Mensaboy]

Hello all, and good day

here is, as many of you have already seen at RI, my falcon

as i said in my new user post i am sorry i didn't get here earlier

I have made much progress with IDs - and much of it has overlapped the work done on this forum, it will take me some time to sort through all the posts but hopefully i can help with things not yet found

[Aurora]

very different seeing fiberglass but looks good

[Mensaboy]

part 1 of the armor done, this is going to take quite some time.... looking over a dozen grainy magazine scans and blurry photos for shots of just where to cut that slot or put this chip....still knowing its not quite perfect

i am glad reference of the top is much better and this tedious task will be a distant memory

[dbhs]

That looks awesome. So much dedication on this build to get that level of detail in there.

[Mensaboy]

plating...plating.. more plating

my hands hurt, i cut off one of my fingertips, and my eyes are crossed

other than that im fine tho

[JAWS]

Sick man. Thats really nice work Corey. Screw scratchin this mutha Im waiting for your kit. Lol!

[dbhs]

Did someone say "kit"?

[Mensaboy]

(02-15-2011, 05:56 PM)dbhs Wrote: Did someone say "kit"?

i may have some "spare" parts when all is said and done

[dbhs]

I might have a spot on the shelf to help you store some extra parts in case you run out of space.

[Scott Graham]

Holy cow! That's impressive. Looking forward to this too.

(02-16-2011, 09:02 AM)Mensaboy Wrote:

(02-15-2011, 05:56 PM)dbhs Wrote: Did someone say "kit"?

i may have some "spare" parts when all is said and done

[Mensaboy]

my goal is strong and light - and primarily long-lasting

to achieve this for the hull i will be employing design and materials more commonly used in high end radio control aircraft - this wont be a studio accurate internal structure - but i definitely think it will impress

---

tedious only begins to describe this plating task....

i estimate 10 more evenings of plating on the bottom, unless i forego accuracy and simply get it done...

[Mensaboy]

this is getting a bit boring

[JAWS]

For you maybe but we're lovin it!
Seriously mate your doing a fantastic job.

[Mensaboy]

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[kbilly]

Looks great! and nearly complete...

How you going to do those access pits/wells?

[Mensaboy]

(02-21-2011, 02:40 PM)kbilly Wrote: Looks great! and nearly complete...

How you going to do those access pits/wells?

as this is the master for a mold, i do not want to have any large blocks to inhibit a nice smooth layup of the composite laminate - so my plan is to cut out the wells and offset them down just a few mm - this way the shape will be there to guide cutting out the holes in the finished part
i used this technique when laminating the wings for my tie fighter, after removal from the mold the edges and center hole were easily trimmed by simply scoring and snapping the excess off

there are also several other molding minded tweaks that you cant see right now but will become evident when i get to that point in the process

much thought and research has gone into this project so far, probably more planning has been done than actual construction

[JAWS]

Heres a scan from the back of the 'Millennium Falcon A 3D Owners Guide' book.
Nice shot straight up from the bottom.

Edit

Hers the top aswell.
Not so clear due to the way the book breaks down the ship page by page.

I will put these in the Ref section when I get all that sorted.

Gotta say if you (other builders) size these pictures up you can plan out the plating for this baby easier than ever before!

[Mensaboy]

what you got there isn't the ESB Falcon...that there is a really nicely painted MR Falcon - which would be fine except....

well, lets just say i only use the filming model for reference unless there is simply no other option

[JAWS]

Really! Thats just &^%$#@.......
The only thing I can say is that the MR Falcon was made from scans of the original model.
So the size plating etc should be correct.
Other than that there are more false parts on that than I care to comment about.

[Mensaboy]

yeah, the MR plating/chips/notches are not accurate, totally - due to the lack of reference mine will not be either...but really i am doing my best with what photos i do have - the top will be much closer to be sure

[kbilly]

(02-26-2011, 03:23 PM)Mensaboy Wrote: yeah, the MR plating/chips/notches are not accurate, totally - due to the lack of reference mine will not be either...but really i am doing my best with what photos i do have - the top will be much closer to be sure

I don't think anyones going to notice whether there's chips and notches out of placem and even if they do I'm sure they'll say to themselves 'but who cares... damn that thing looks awesome'.

[Mensaboy]

some planning in progress here

i included my full size pattern if anyone wants to grab it

[propologist]

for some reason I think you can get a rectangular punch from a leather place that you could use to punch out the rectangular parts on the plating.

I'm going to plate the rear cover of my iphone and put some " falcon-esk " piece on it for the feel of it. also want to do a sandcrawler cover as well.

[Mensaboy]

to get the correct "looking" spacing of the notches i have to adjust the width of them sometimes - my plating does not always jive exactly with the studio model and having the notch size float a bit i can make up for it in every occurrence

so my notches are all cut by hand, with an eye to proportion rather than accuracy

here seems like a good place to expound on my theory regarding accuracy as it relates to the falcon and other studio models

a 100% accurate replica is impossible with a 30 year old model - no 3D scan was performed at the completion of building for reference

you could have the actual model sitting in your room with you and be very lucky to get even 95% close to the model in its current condition

its current condition is far cry from what existed when it was built - a close study of available reference reveals that

the falcon was straight and true, clean and shiny looking when it was built - it is now twisted, scraped, broken and fixed, chipped and repainted, sagging and dirty

all that being said "close" is all you can get - we already have 95% or more of the kit parts on the falcon ID'd - the plans that I and many others have started with are also very very "close"

after more and more people make these the chances of getting a perfect one increases

but here is the hitch, when it does happen not a soul in the world will know it - because the needed reference does not exist to make it knowable

and here is the corollary - a SS falcon (plus many others) need not be accurate to be pleasing, with much respect to the fastest SS ESB falcon build ever completed, Paul Francis' rendition likely has less than 25% correct parts - and looks awesome...



with that i put forth my next photo - let the plating continue

[MonsieurTox]

Very true Mensaboy !

And dont worry about the notches, they were all cut by hand on the 32" and they were not even at all...

[kbilly]

(02-28-2011, 01:01 PM)Mensaboy Wrote: a 100% accurate replica is impossible with a 30 year old model - no 3D scan was performed at the completion of building for reference

you could have the actual model sitting in your room with you and be very lucky to get even 95% close to the model in its current condition

its current condition is far cry from what existed when it was built - a close study of available reference reveals that

the falcon was straight and true, clean and shiny looking when it was built - it is now twisted, scraped, broken and fixed, chipped and repainted, sagging and dirty

all that being said "close" is all you can get - we already have 95% or more of the kit parts on the falcon ID'd - the plans that I and many others have started with are also very very "close"

after more and more people make these the chances of getting a perfect one increases

but here is the hitch, when it does happen not a soul in the world will know it - because the needed reference does not exist to make it knowable

and here is the corollary - a SS falcon (plus many others) need not be accurate to be pleasing, with much respect to the fastest SS ESB falcon build ever completed, Paul Francis' rendition likely has less than 25% correct parts - and looks awesome...

I agree with you there Mensaboy, it's an impossible task trying to make a 100% accurate falcon for all the reasons you've given. Even to get 99% accurate would mean that there's only 10-20 parts you haven't found (making the assumption there's 1000-2000 parts on the falcon), I'm pretty sure we still have that many missing from one sidewall.

The studio model in its current state is really beat up. The saucers around the edges have been bent, broken and are pulling away from the body, from some angles the whole thing looks like it's sagging, and a number of parts have been knocked off. But this is all we have to try to determine the dimensions of the model, and so a lot of finessing is required to represent the symmetrical and true model as it was first constructed.

In terms of kitparts, putting aside the fact that there are numerous well documented parts we still can't find, I doubt we'll ever be able to ID some of the areas like between the jawboxes or in the various access wells, because reference just isn't available. So you're left trying to copy the MR falcon (being the next best reference available), but even that is probably less than 90% accurate in terms of correct kitparts, and it's anybodies guess as to whether they got those difficult areas right.

So we're in new territory, with the new finds recently all new builds from this point on have the potential to be the most accurate replica ever. But at the end of the day, as you say, it doesn't even need to be totally accurate to look amazing. The MR falcon and others are certainly a testament to that.

[Mensaboy]

i see the end in sight

anyone have any thought about these kit parts?

[Mensaboy]

added three hundred million chips....

[JAWS]

Looking very nice buddy. Excellent work. Am looking forward to this kit!

[Mensaboy]

im looking forward to getting done with this bottom hull

here's the turret plating done and some kit parts/plastruct set in place

[dbhs]

Oooooooo nice to see the kit parts going on.

I have never had a strong desire to build one of these even though I know I'd enjoy the painting and weathering quite a bit. I think seeing this thread is changing my mind.

[Mensaboy]

here is my reality check photo - make sure nothing is waaay out of wack with a big pile of cast bit set in place

[JAWS]

Brilliant Corey! Looking so sweet ma. Damn. I love it.

[dbhs]

I think I just figured out why it's called "Millenium" falcon....1000's of parts.

[scratchy]

Your build looks phenominal!

[Mensaboy]

thanks for the comments guys

heres some ID work - 1 and 2 i KNOW i have seen, but after 2 hours of going through my kits i am still at a loss, time to ask for help


EDIT:
thanks Kbilly for M3A3 ID
updated the map, found the esci 10/4 ID, but the pipes werent from the panther, they have rectangular alignment pins...still looking

i know this fiberglass hull thing i am doing isnt studio accurate - but it is really nice to be able to carry half the ship around and work on it - it only weighs about 2 pounds now, with all the plating on it

[kbilly]

Number 3 looks like it should be from the M3A2. It looks similar to the part on the front port sidewall. No 2 would have to be a german battleship like the scharnhorst tirpitz etc. Only have access by my phone at the moment so can't tell too well

[Mensaboy]

thanks a lot kbilly - map updated, that part was on the tree with all the soldiers...i dont really check those close enough

[Mensaboy]

i am at the start of an 8 week production, 100+ hour weeks - i will likely not have much time to do any actual work, but time to research and part ID and such

i have many PMs regarding the entex porsche parts - no fear but bear with me i just got a bunch of appropriately sized boxes (i really dont wanna just throw them in a baggie) and will be taking payments and shipping them out, however it might have to wait until next month, im sure no one has a "urgent porsche tranny emergency"

[scratchy]

I'm in no hurry for the parts, as long as my names on the list, then all is good

[blastmaster]

PLEASE OH PLEASE put me on the list for this kit, I am freaking out!!!
Thank you,
AL

[Mensaboy]

here is the finished master for the hull bottom and the first part out of the resulting mold - i am somewhat impatiently awaiting some resin filler to aid in laying up this complex epoxy/fiberglass part - so this part has its share of subsurface air pockets

the finished part weighs in at just a tick over 2lbs, i estimate that i am going to be well under my 9lb budget for the complete hull and superstructure, lower weight overall means l can engineer my superstructure to be even lighter

[dbhs]

That's a thing of beauty right there. Can you post a similar picture of the mold too so each step is visible. Just curious how you did made the mold and stiffened it. Did you use a stiff fiberglass cover over the silicone?

[Mensaboy]

(07-07-2011, 09:26 AM)dbhs Wrote: That's a thing of beauty right there. Can you post a similar picture of the mold too so each step is visible. Just curious how you did made the mold and stiffened it. Did you use a stiff fiberglass cover over the silicone?

i posted this over at RI also

yes, there is a backing, the photo of the mold is cropped specifically to keep my "secret sauce" from being revealed as far as the design goes, however it is at its core a simple plaster backer

[dbhs]

Thanks. I like seeing what the negative image of the mold for complicated parts like this looks like. That's very cool.

[Mensaboy]

here is my second layup of the bottom hull...much better result

it is even lighter than the first one so i will probably add some stiffening to it, i don't think there's a need to make a <10 lb falcon really

[Mensaboy]

here is the hull with what i have cast so far, still need to ID a part on the back still, and i will probably just scratch build the rest of the bits on the back of the jawbox - other than the jerry cans i simply have no clue at all

[kbilly]

That is some damn fine work!!

What part on the back do you need to find?

The jawbox is a real mystery unfortunately.

[Mensaboy]

(07-19-2011, 04:23 PM)kbilly Wrote: That is some damn fine work!!

What part on the back do you need to find?

The jawbox is a real mystery unfortunately.

thanks, the bits on the tip of the quad gun part are what i am still looking for - i am guessing that the pin on one side was broken off and they should be a matched pair

[kbilly]

Sorry, I haven't figured out what those are either...