DesTROYers 1/144 YT-1300 Light Freighter Transport

[DesTROYer]

I had a pole on my Facebook page, DesTROYers Models, on what kit I should build next. By nine votes over the Fairey Gannet, the Sci-Fi fans chose the Millennium Falcon as my next build. With the Mirages almost done, Yesterday I started on the fastest Hunk of junk in the Galaxy.


At 1/144 the cockpit is tiny.


Next up was drilling out and sanding the engine cooling vents.


and fitting the new resin replacements.


Sub assemblies next.


Then after fitting out the rest of the parts onto the saucer section, I sprayed the interior matt black to assist in light blocking for when I figure out how to insert some lighting.


I did a trial assembly today to see how much space I would have to insert a battery through one of the gun ports. This could prove to be difficult.




I have the clear resin and PE set to light up the engines, but I'm not exactly sure how thats going to work yet. My research for the evening.



Off to Jaycar on Wednesday to purchase some electronics.

[DesTROYer]

Went down to Jaycar early this morning and picked up some diodes, resisters, heat shrink and battery clips. Then stopped into the bakery and got a steak and bacon pie and a Oak Chocolate Milk, because I knew it was going to be an interesting day.








I love the smell of solder in the morning.

That done, I then set about building a lightbox for the engines. At first I tried three blue LED's across the back, but the didn't light up evenly, so then I thought I'd try one LED on each side of the light box. It worked perfectly.








Once everything was soldered and glued in place, I joined the two halves and checked for light leaks. One or two but nothing I couldn't fix. Then while I had the soldering iron out, I added some blaster damage to the hull. No too much, just enough to match the references and to add some extra effect when I paint this sucker up.




The falcon is now in undercoat and will cure a few days before I get back into it. I have to come up with a suitable base. That will give me something to think about. I'm thinking maybe a Asteroid. Needs to be big enough to hide two 9V batteries and hold up the Falcon without i tipping over.

[hrtpaul]

Looks cool mate

[tor lives]

That is just friggen awesome Troy. The lighting effect is outstanding!!! I would love to see what you can do with an Enterprise C. Have you considered using half a world globe as a stand base????..... I have seen this done before with an Enterprise D model, and it was quite effective. The trick is finding one without any writing on it.
TOR

[kfutter]

Show off!

Kev

[DesTROYer]

Thanks guys.

Getting close to finished now. Painted on all the markings last night and got a great start on the weathering today. I still need to add the PE grills, some more exhaust stains and carbon scoring, but she is almost done. I have test fit the model on the base too and if I do say so myself, it's looking pretty sweet.

[kfutter]

Looks great, Troy! I'd love to give that lighting lark a go some day, but I'm a bit electronically challenged, unfortunately.

Kev

[DesTROYer]

It's not as hard as it seems Kev. Once you get the basics down, its quite simple.


Awaiting some further work in the Sci-fi cabinet.

[tor lives]

Just friggen awesome Troy!!!
Like Kev, I too would love to try the lighting thing, (especially with my current Concorde build.... I would love to have all four engines in full glowing orange "re-heat").
How friggen cool is that Sci-Fi collection of yours. Your modelling abilities seem to have no boundaries or limitations.
Superb work and thanks for posting.
TOR
PS: and love what you did for the stand base!!!

[DesTROYer]

Thanks Ray. I'm more than happy to show you what I know.

I was pretty lucky with the base. I had a look on eBay for fake rocks, and this one is used for geocaching (finding hidden treasures using GPS). Though it looks and feels like rock, it's resin and has a hidden area on the underside that is big enough for a 9v battery and wires. I drilled a hole in it for the post and there you go.