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THE PHYSICAL FALCONS
THE PHYSICAL FALCONS
This should be a fairly accurate list of all the physical representations of the Millennium Falcon used in the original trilogy films as they were originally released.
This list doesn't include matte paintings, the computer-modified Special Editions of the 90s, or the Force Awakens and later digital Falcons.
Star Wars (1977)
Models
"Five foot" or "four foot" model (depending on if you refer to the length or the saucer diameter).
Large model of the radar dish used in an extremely brief moment of the Death Star escape sequence.
Sets
Full-sized set, scaled to maybe 40% of the starboard half of the ship exterior, for Docking Bay 94 and the Death Star hangar. Included fixed internal ramp.
Cockpit interior set. Included short section of corridor.
Hold set including some corridors (and the smuggling compartments) and interior view of the ramp and door.
Single gunbay interior set, used to represent both gunbays.
The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Models
Five foot model as above; modified with extra landing gear and lights.
32" model (or 2' model) for action sequences, the first shot on the back of the Star Destroyer, and the closeup of the medical frigate closing sequence.
10" model for the medium shot in the medical frigate sequence.
2" model for the long shot on the back of the Star Destroyer.
A large model of the starboard rear quarters, for the brief scene where a doll (unarticulated puppet) of Lando emerges from a hatch.
Sets
Full-sized set, scaled to maybe 40%, of the whole ship exterior, for the Hoth hangar, the space slug gut, and the Bespin landing platform. Included movable ramp and corridor view up the ramp.
Cockpit interior set, deepened slightly and with added greeblies compared to ANH. Includes a small section of corridor.
Hold set, modified slightly (widened) from Star Wars. Included the kissing booth and corridors.
Medical bunk set. Unknown if this was a modified part of another set, or built standalone.
Roof hatch set for Lando and Luke. Unused in the final film and replaced with a brief shot of the Lando doll rising up out of the hatch opening.
Possibly a full-sized replica of the radar dish for the deleted Luke rescue scene, though it seems more likely that this was the dish from the full sized set.
Return of the Jedi (1980)
Models
Five foot model as ESB.
32" model as ESB.
Sets
Full-sized set, scaled to maybe 40%, of half the ship exterior for deleted Tatooine desert scene.
Cockpit interior set, as per ESB
Corridor interior sets used in deleted scenes of rebel crew running around the ship.
Single gunbay interior set used in deleted scenes of a rebel gunner defending the ship.
COMMON COMMERCIAL MODEL PROBLEMS
COMMON COMMERCIAL MODEL PROBLEMS
Several different companies have released model kits of the Millennium Falcon over the years, as it’s a pretty popular vehicle. Almost all have problems in one way or another, and there are countless web pages out there, where people laboriously document their struggles to fix the glaring problems with their model kit of choice. Bandai's 1:72 Falcon, released in summer 2017, finally ends this tradition of inaccuracy, as it's a stunningly accurate model of the original five footer.
Still. Here are the most common issues which plague commercial Falcon model kits.
Sidewalls too high. This travesty started with the AMT/Ertl/MPC plastic model and continued with Revell. They produced an impressively large kit, but one with bizarrely high sidewalls (the greebly-filled bits between the top and bottom saucer), making it look like a big thick toy. Why are these American kit makers so loathe to produce realistic models? Why does it take Asian and European companies to care about model accuracy? Mystifying.
Inadequate saucer curvature. A more subtle problem. Many kits have fairly flat saucers, which throws off the balance of the whole thing.
Crappy greeblage. The Bandai 1:72 is the only model which accurately replicates all the myriad pieces on the five foot shooting model, or any Falcon. The DeAgo Falcon and the Fine Molds/Revell 1:72 Falcon both come close-ish to replicating the details of the 32" miniature. But most other kits, such as the aforementioned AMT/Ertl kit, are notorious for a crude approximation of the greeble coverage. The Falcon is a complicated and expensive product to make the moulds for, so you can see where a lot of firms cut corners.
Parallel mandibles. A fairly subtle problem that bugs some people and goes unnoticed by most. The real Falcon models have mandibles (the triangular sticky-out bits up front) which angle or “toe” inwards very slightly. Some commercial models, the Fine Molds/Revell 1:72 being particularly notorious, have parallel mandible jaws.
Mixture of prototype model components. This only bothers the obsessed, but you often get a kit that’s clearly meant to represent, say, the 5 foot model, but actually has a cockpit that takes features from the 32" model. Or whatever. In fact, ILM are guilty of this too. The new TFA Falcon, for example, is based largely around the 5 foot model. However, the L-shaped hull plating on the right side of the cockpit tube, and aspects of the cockpit tunnel’s greebly arrangement, are actually taken from the 32" model. The Special Edition digital model was a mishmash of mostly 32" features with a few 5 foot features.
Thick overscale detail parts. This is common to all plastic model kits, really. But some parts could be really fragile when scaled down, such as the narrow bars around the cockpit windows. Accordingly most manufacturers make certain pieces deliberately oversized, so they’re less fragile.
Crazy cockpits. Basically every model company seems determined to make crap up when it comes to cockpit internal design. I’ve no idea why – it’s not like the cockpit set designs aren’t available and mostly documented. But weird-looking consoles, odd-shaped seats, random feeble greeblies (feeblies?) on the side and back walls... it’s all out there. So why these lame-ass designs?
It's the wrong cockpit, Gromit. Oddly, while some kit makers have gone to great lengths to make accurate cockpit interiors, they end up producing the wrong design for the ship version in question. For example, the DeAgostini Falcon model is clearly of ESB vintage, yet the cockpit interior they designed is both incomplete and of the ANH depth! The add-on superdetailing kits from 3DFalconKits and Paragrafix are both spectacularly made, but also have the wrong ANH depth.
By contrast, Bandai's 1:72 Millennium Falcon is a superbly modelled replica of the ANH Falcon, yet its supplied cockpit interior is that of the ESB ship! Generally I try not to be religious about stuff, but it does seem weird to me to faithfully model the interior from one movie while modelling the exterior from a different movie. Especially when there are really only three fundamental variants to choose from! (ANH/1977, ESB/ROTJ, and TFA/TLJ)
SOME COMMERCIAL MODELS
SOME COMMERCIAL MODELS
Ertl/MPC/AMT/Airfix Millennium Falcon. Released in 1979 and sold for many years by different companies. Possibly around 1:72 to 1:78. The only game in town for a long time, but with mis-sized sidewalls (see above), poor proportions, and horrible details that don’t look anything like the real models. Based on the 5' ANH model. Also sold in a toylike “cutaway” version which showed a conjectured interior, loosely based on the interior sets.
Revell EasyKit/Snap-Tite Max Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Various snap-together toys with huge sidewalls and general inaccuracies. Aimed at the junior market. If you're a small child you might as well go for Lego Star Wars, frankly. Much more fun!
Fine Molds 1:72 Millennium Falcon. From 2005. A well-detailed kit for advanced modellers, with some 900 parts, patterned after the 32" ESB model. Sadly the proportions are a bit off – its saucer is too flat, and the parallel mandibles in particular bother purists. Still, it was the first decent model of the Millennium Falcon commercially produced, and the first to have an official answer as to what the Star Wars ANH SE engine is supposed to look like when powered off. Japan’s Fine Molds no longer have a licence to sell Star Wars merchandise, and now produce this kit for Revell instead. In terms of accuracy and quality, this model has been resoundingly eclipsed by the Bandai 1:72 model.
Revell Master Series 1:72 Millennium Falcon. This is the Fine Molds 1:72 kit, resold by Revell. See above.
Fine Molds 1:144 Millennium Falcon. An okay kit, but a bit undersized and with somewhat chunky moulding. Opaque engine area which can't be easily lit. Based on the 32" ESB Falcon, this model has been surpassed by the far more detailed Bandai 1:144. Discontinued, but re-released by Revell.
Revell Master Series 1:144 Millennium Falcon. The Fine Molds model above, reboxed by Revell in 2017.I suppose it still has a market, since it's based on the OT round-dish ship versus the Bandai TFA/TLJ model. But it costs more and its detailing is far worse!
De Agostini/ModelSpace. A huge, ambitious product that tries to replicate the 32 inch ESB model exactly. (hence references to “1:1 scale,” etc.) Comes as a weekly or monthly (depending where you live) subscription kit, not a one-off purchase, and is thus quite expensive when finished – about £900 UK/$1500 USD. A serious and complex kit – a metal subframe, ABS panels, motor for the ramp, a somewhat toylike interior (hallways, hold), cockpit lighting, etc. Not your shake-the-box styrene kit. Many third party upgrades, such as 3D printed and brass components, are available to improve and correct this one, since it has a lot of minor inaccuracies and merely average mould quality. It's closely modelled after the Master Replicas Falcon, which was a 32" model sold as a finished miniature and not a kit.
Hasbro Hero Millennium Falcon. An enormous toy, but reasonably proportioned. A lot of people have been buying this one and improving the detail on it to get the thing to “model” status.
Bandai 1:144 Millennium Falcon. A tiny model, but astoundingly detailed for the size despite being snap-together (which doesn’t have the same negative connotations in Japan as in the US, thanks to Bandai Gunpla products), accurate proportions, and affordable. Said to be modelled from the TFA digital data; thus represents the 5 foot model, as modified for TFA. Accurate to the TFA model in many ways, but contains numerous mirrored components because it was based on an unfinished data set. Released 2015. Updated in 2017 for the Last Jedi, with fixes for the mirrored problem.
If you’re interested in the 1:144 Bandai Falcon I’ve written a more detailed writeup on the subject.
Bandai 1:350 palm-sized Millennium Falcon. In late 2016 Bandai announced a “Vehicle” (ie: palm-sized) teeny-tiny model of the Falcon. Intriguingly, it’s intended to be the ANH Falcon, and fixes many of the problems with the 1:144 TFA Falcon! It has the round dish, correct sidewall greeblies, no mirrored left sidewall or underside maintenance pits, and has the streamlined ANH underside without the ESB and later extra landing gear! It’s a total nerd fantasy Falcon, except for three aggravating things. First, because it’s so tiny it has solid opaque windows. I've made replacement windowed cockpit cones for that. Second, its cockpit tunnel greeblies, though improved over the awful 1:144 ones, are still wrong. And the weirdest and most annoying, it has the TFA docking rings rather than the Original Trilogy ones. So bizarre – why make such a perfect model, then collapse at the finish line? Anyway. If you want a palm-sized Falcon of your very own, this is the kit to get.
Bandai “Perfect Grade” 1:72 Millennium Falcon. So. This is the one. After years of tantalizing teases, in summer 2017 Bandai announced it would be releasing the ultimate Millennium Falcon model for nerdy fans – a 1:72 model of the ship as it appeared in the original 1977 film. It is, by far, the most accurate commercial model of the ship ever produced. And, based on the 5 foot model with ANH-style 3 landing gears, it's a classic. Hot stuff!
The only things wrong is that it has the ESB-era internal cockpit layout, which doesn't make any sense given the landing gear configuration. It also has the TFA-style engine grille. Which arguably isn't a total mistake, in that the original 1977 film never showed what the engine looked like. But also does seem a bit out of sync with the model design.
If you'd like to learn more about this impressive kit, I've written up a full review on this site.
Other models. If you want a crazy long list of Star Wars commercial models, including bootlegged resin kits and so on, there’s a list here. And another one here, which includes a lot of accurizing kits, though hasn’t been updated in a little while.
USEFUL LINKS
USEFUL LINKS
Physical books: The Making of Star Wars (2007), The Making of The Empire Strikes Back (2010), and Star Wars: the Blueprints, all by J. W. Rinzler.
Joe Johnston Sketchbook. The personal website of the guy who‘s most responsible for the design of the Millennium Falcon, and who’s now a successful director.
A well-researched but third-party account of the development of the Millennium Falcon design during ANH’s production by Michael Heinemann.
Falcon A! A blog about making CGI models of the Falcon, by an actual ILM employee.
Deeply Obsessed, a fantastic site by fellow Falcon aficionado Stinson Lenz.
The Replica Prop Forum, General Modeling section. Lots of useful conversations here.
An interesting discussion on making a “studio scale” (i.e.: built to the same physical dimensions as the model used to shoot the movie, using identically sourced greeblies where possible) 5 foot Falcon.
What scale was the 5 foot Falcon built to? A thorny question indeed!
Joshua Maruska has been constructing 3D models of the ANH Falcon. He‘s done some remarkably detailed work on the cockpit interior.
Marketing content and some narrative backstory from the StarWars.com website.
Ship of Riddles by Robert Brown, a website from some 20 years ago, documenting the (then astounding) discovery that the interior Falcon sets couldn’t have fit inside the exterior Falcon sets.
Rogue Studio Productions. The maker of a geek holy grail – a perfect replica of the five foot shooting miniature!
Cinefex blog article, from the well-respected industry magazine.
Making a replica TFA set. A blog entry on the prop company making a replica set for sale. Includes some extremely useful video of the set interior – if only the blogger could learn how to hold a phone steady, dammit!
1:1 Millennium Falcon Cockpit. All about an ongoing project to recreate the movie set Falcon cockpits, life size. As incredible document showing all the work and research and rebuilds that have gone into this one.
Full Size Millennium Falcon. A site documenting a heroically quixotic attempt to build an actual full-size replica of the Falcon (i.e.: not the studio sized exterior Falcon, but how big it should be). In a field in Tennessee.
VIDEOS
The Making of Star Wars. A fascinatingly dated 1977 TV documentary on the original film.
SPFX: the Making of the Empire Strikes Back. A slightly less cheesy doc on ESB.
Behind the Scenes of Star Wars. Some useful information on how ILM did things.
Empire of Dreams. Another rather hagiographic documentary, this covering the original trilogy.
Star Wars Archaeology Panel: Star Wars Celebration Europe 2016. A terrific talk by John Knoll, Doug Chiang, and Kevin Jenkins. I wish John Knoll had had hours more time devoted to his segment!
REFERENCE PHOTOS (ACTUAL MODELS AND SETS)
The high-resolution 3D VR view of the TFA cockpit. (the Falcon is at the bottom of the page) Also, some kind soul has downloaded and rendered all the individual chunks of this panorama into a huge 16K file.
Steven Lee’s awesome collection of megadetailed 5 foot Falcon images.
Yet another super collection of 5 foot reference photos, from VFX Freak.
More 5 footer glory from effects expert vfxsup64.
Yet more hi-rez 5 foot Falcon photos, from Jedilaw.
Another compendium of 5 foot Falcon reference photos. Part 1, Part 2.
Still more 5 footer shots, from Forbidden Plastic.
Large scale Millennium Falcon Kit IDs: the RPF part map, documenting all the kit pieces used as greeblies on the 5 footer.
The Decal Survey. A remarkably detailed examination of the hundreds of decals that were applied to the 5 foot model.
A forum discussion on the details of the 5 foot Falcon.
A big collection of highly detailed photos, mostly of the 32" ESB Falcon.
Another group of 32" ESB Falcon photos, from Jean-Marc Deschamps and Olivier Cabourdin.
Photos of the 8" ESB Falcon.
Some of the leaked photos of the full-sized, complete Falcon constructed in 2016 for Episode VIII. Contains interesting internal shots.
THE NOTES
CONTACT
If you have any corrections or comments, particularly if you have any additional information concerning either the exterior lighting or the front cockpit console of the ESB ship, feel free to drop a line:
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