Millennium Falcon: Completed Posted by Huw, 16 Sep 2017 17:00

This article documents the second half of the build of 75192 Millennium Falcon, continuing where the first part left off.

I mentioned at the end of it that by that stage of the build the model had become so heavy and fragile that I decided not to cart it up and down the stairs to photograph it after every bag. of parts was added.

So, what follows are pictures of subassemblies and, where appropriate, photos showing where they fit on the model, taken once it had been completed.

If nothing else, it illustrates just how modular the build is.

Bags #10

The underside of the craft was almost completed in part one, except for the bottoms of the side corridors and the central gun turret.

The one fitted to the left of the craft, at the front of the picture, has a Technic mechanism to raise and lower the entry/exit ramp.

View image at flickr

The turret is a complex build with studs in virtually every direction form the circular shape and circular portal for the window. The gun can be moved in a number of directions but not a whole 360 degrees.

View image at flickr

Studless Technic beams at the back provide a means to pin it to the main chassis.

Build time: 60 minutes.

Bags #11

Now we turn our attention to the top of the craft again, first with the tops of the side corridors. As I mentioned in the first part of the review, left- and right- hand sections can superficially look the same but as you can see here the colours and greebling are quite different which removes the potential for tedium during assembly.

View image at flickr

Build time: 45 minutes.

Bags #12

The next couple of bags build the rear top of the ship's fuselage, in five parts.

View image at flickr

The right-hand one is in two parts, loosely connected by pins to allow the smaller part to be removed easily to access the interior underneath.

View image at flickr

Bags #13

Two more parts for the rear of the fuselage. Again, the right-hand one has a removeable section.

View image at flickr

This photo of the completed model shows the sub-assembles just built in place.

The thin central section is connected using Technic pins and is not (easily) removable. The outer ones closest to the corridors built in bags 12 are not secured on at all. Instead, the yellow Technic axles on the underside simply slot into a corresponding hole on the chassis.

Finally, the larger sections are connected by hinges or ball joints to the central section.

Once they are all in place they don't move about.

View image at flickr

Build time: 35 minutes

Bags #14

This part fits at the front of the craft.

View image at flickr

View image at flickr

It's not attached to the rest of the model, it simply sits in place allowing easy removal

View image at flickr

Build time: 35 minutes.

Bags #15

Two end caps for the side corridors, port docking rings, I think they are, and a section of bodywork for the front right-hand:

View image at flickr

Build time 45 minutes.

Bags #16

The cockpit and corridor were probably one of the most complicated parts of the model to design, given it's round and set at an angle to the rest of the bodywork. It's certainly one of the more complicated parts to build.

View image at flickr

We'll take a closer look inside the cockpit when looking at the completed model.

View image at flickr

The corridor makes use of 1x3 and 2x3 curved slopes mounted at strange angles with the help of Technic pins to form the circular shape.

View image at flickr

View image at flickr

The cockpit is fixed to the frame with Technic pins but the corridor simply rests on the angled arm topped with white plates shown in the picture above.

The corner isn't great but obviously the best that could be done with available parts.

View image at flickr

Build time:45 minutes

Bags #17

Finally, after nearly 14 hours, we reach the final bag! But, there's still complex building to be done in the form of another gun turret which is similar, but not identical, to the one at the bottom.

View image at flickr

Two rectenna dishes are provided: a circular one as seen in the original trilogy, and a rectangular one should you with to represent the craft's appearance in The Force Awakens. The two parts in front of it clipped onto the top of the mandibles and are also to be fitted should you wish to model its TFA appearance.

View image at flickr

These two slithers of bodywork are fitted either side of the corridor and you can see them in the picture above.

View image at flickr

The upper gun turret looks similar to the one at the bottom. It's not attached to the frame so can be removed easily to access the gunner's seat.

View image at flickr

View image at flickr

At the very end you come to the most difficult and challenging part of the whole build: putting the sticker on the tile straight and without any air bubbles or fluff under it! Surprisingly, I think I did a pretty good job.

View image at flickr

Build time 45 minutes.

Verdict on the build

So, after a little under 15 hours, spread out over the course of a week, the model is complete!

Overall it's been very enjoyable. Apart from when building the landing gear, it was never boring or repetitive, or particularly taxing. This is mainly because you're never building a huge model. You're assembling many subassemblies that clip together to make a huge model, and that's a very different experience.

The variety of building techniques employed from one bag to the next also helps to keep it interesting: One minute you're building Technic frames, the next you're placing 1x1 greebly bits on plates.

I would say that I built it quickly, mainly so I could finish this review, so it's likely that you'll take longer than 15 hours, and indeed you may want to, just to savour every minute. It's certainly not a model you'll want to finish in one sitting!

My verdict on the completed model

View image at flickr

When Ralph McQuarrie designed the craft in 1976-ish he certainly did not do so with building it with LEGO in mind. But despite its circular, angular and everything-but square appearance, designer Hans has used every technique available to him using today's LEGO parts palette to replicate it admirably.

The only part that doesn't look quite right, in my view, is the corner of the corridor. But I accept there is no better solution.

I don't have 10179 Ultimate Collector's Millennium Falcon to compare the two side-by-side but it's clear to see that this one has taken the best of that model and improved on it in every way.

I think it's fair to say that this is probably as good a LEGO Millennium Falcon as it's possible to make at this scale. I don't think we'll see a bigger one, unless a bottle of Kragle is provided with it...

We'll post more photos of the completed model, along with our resident Star Wars expert CapnRex101's view of it in the next couple of days. Tomorrow we'll turn our attention to the minifigs.

Now to find somewhere to put it...

Thanks to LEGO for providing the set to review. The review is an expression of my own opinions.