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“This issue, you can get the build under way by assembling the cockpit bulkhead and taking a look at the assembly of the Falcon’s quad laser cannon.“

This is the first of 100 issues needed to complete our studio-scale Millennium Falcon from Fanhome/DeAgostini.

Contents

Parts

Materials: Here I will describe the materials the supplied parts in each issue are made out of. All of the screws are metal, so I will not mention them in this section. For instance, in this issue, the Hull Frames and Laser Cannon/Plates/Yoke parts are metal, the Instrument Panel is a decal, and the rest of the parts are plastic.

Screws: This build does not assign any designations to the different screws used to assemble the model. However, I created my own single-letter designations for each screw type. This way, I can label the slots in my screw box with something I can remember. I recommend reading through my Screws page for more details:

Magazine

• Starship Fact File – The Legendary Millennium Falcon: The Fastest Hunk of Junk in the Galaxy
• Secrets of Spaceflight – The Falcon’s Quad Laser Cannons
• Build the Falcon – Assembly Steps

Introduction Guide

A foldout guide to the model and its features:

Blueprint Poster

This huge two-sided poster has 1:1 scale top side line drawing of our model, with multiple frame diagrams and other details on the reverse:

Build

Assembling the Cockpit Bulkhead

Step 01

Gently peel the Rear Cockpit Instrument Panel decal from the backing paper.

Before we peel the backing paper off, we should see how this Instrument Panel decal is going to be placed. The Cockpit Bulkhead has multiple openings in it that will allow our lighting to pass through the decal in specific areas. Note which side of the Bulkhead is facing up, it should match the design of the decal graphics. However, the most critical areas to line up are the large center opening and the two slots at the bottom of the Bulkhead:

With this understanding, I gently peeled back only the bottom half of the backing paper from the Instrument Panel. I find it easier to place larger decals without all of the adhesive exposed:

Steps 02-3

Align this Instrument Panel to the matching door and bottom slot openings of the Cockpit Bulkhead. When happy with the fitment, press the decal smoothly into place.

I carefully aligned the two slots in the decal to the matching slots of the Bulkhead and made sure the decal was centered around the large center door opening. Having only half the adhesive exposed gives us a ‘handle’ to hold the decal with in case we need to try this again:

It took me a couple tries to get this aligned the way I wanted, but once it lined up, I removed the rest of the backing paper and smoothed it all down:

Step 04

If desired, temporarily slide these two tabs of the Cockpit Base into the matching slots of the Cockpit Bulkhead to test their fitment.

Do not glue these parts together – this is just a test to see how they fit together:

Quad Laser Cannon Assembly Details

NOTE: You may find that your Laser Cannon Barrels arrived loose, or even detached from the main part:

Not to worry, just slot them back into the main parts for now. We will secure these connections later on:

Steps 01-02

Slide the hole of the Left Mounting Plate over this pin of the Mounting Yoke, as shown.

Note the proper location of this small tab (circled below) on the Plate:

Step 03

While holding the Left Mounting Plate in place, slide the hole of the Right Mounting Plate over the opposite pin of the Mounting Yoke, as shown. These two Mounting Plates are mirrors of each other.

Note the tab of this Mounting Plate (circled below) faces towards the center as well:

Step 04

Slide the Laser Cannon Barrels (Lower Pair) between the Mounting Plates and under the pins of the Mounting Yoke.

The pins of the Mounting Yoke fit into the groove of the Laser Cannon Barrels (Lower Pair) while the tabs of the two Mounting Plates should fit into these matching recesses (arrows below) of the Cannon Barrels, as shown:

Step 05-06

In a similar way, fit the Laser Cannon Barrels (Upper Pair) between the Mounting Plates and over the pins of the Mounting Yoke.

The two sets of Cannon Barrels should fit together and align correctly to each other, as shown:

Step 07-09

Secure the Laser Cannon Barrels together with three (3) ‘R’ screws.

TIP: If you have Issue 02 of this build nearby, a screwdriver is supplied with that issue.

As I mentioned above, I am using my own letter designation for the different screws in this build. See my Screws page for more details. These screws do not need to be very tight right now, just snug is fine:

Thoughts

I am very excited to be launching into our Millennium Falcon build journey! At first glance, I am happy with the details of the Cockpit Bulkhead. As more of the cockpit is assembled, I may add some additional color details. As for the Laser Cannon, I was not expecting it to be unpainted. However, this does give us the opportunity to paint it in our own way soon enough. Keep all of these parts nearby for the next issue.

Next Up

 Issue 02 – Hull Frames, Quad Laser Turret, Control Console, Instrument Panel, Hologame Table/Game Board, Connectors