Perfect Grade add-ons
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Wait... what?
Bandai’s 1:72 model of the Millennium Falcon is marketed as “Perfect Grade”! How could it possibly not be... perfect?
Well, it really is damn close. It's by far the best model kit of any Star Wars spaceship ever produced in terms of fidelity to the on-screen model. in fact, I wouldn't be the least surprised if it's arguably the best model of a fantasy spacecraft ever made.
But there's always room for improvement. The exterior is very nearly perfect; the interior less so. So here are a few add-ons to inch your model slightly closer to perfect!
1) Perforated landing gear rings.
The rings around the middle of the landing gear have a sequence of holes cut into the side. These perforations are represented by indentations in the Bandai model. You could cut these holes out with a tiny drill and a knife, but it's massively tedious and time-consuming work. To give that proper lacy look, I've modelled some replacement rings that are as close as possible to the original Star Wars (1977) blueprints as possible.
2) Starboard/right mandible Kettenkrad greebly.
The starboard mandible has a prominent half-cylinder greebly which features a bunch of tiny holes. Like the landing gear rings, the greebly is not perforated. This part is another time-saver.
3) Boarding ramp internal corridor.
At the top of the boarding ramp you can just see a tiny bit of the ship's interior corridor. This corridor is a ring or doughnut shape, and so the wall cushions visible from outside can be see to angle out. The Bandai part is built on a cylindrical corridor, and so the wall cushions are aligned straight up and down. This replacement part fixes the problem!
4) Cockpit interior backwall, ANH-era.
Bandai has faithfully modelled the Star Wars/1977/A New Hope (ANH) era exterior of the model. But the internal cockpit details are ESB era, which is obviously out of sync. If that bothers you, here's a replacement circular interior backwall for the cockpit.
There are three different versions, two of which can be illuminated.
5) Cockpit interior sidewalls, ANH-era.
The sidewalls of the cockpit as above.
6) Cockpit dash console, ANH-era.
The dashboard console is different between ANH and ESB. There are various changes, but the greeblies on the front console (the bit that's highly visible through the cockpit window) are notably different between the films. This is a replacement dash console for ANH completists.
7) Cockpit corridor.
The corridor visible through the cockpit door is not included with the Bandai kit. But it's kind of important, since during the 1977 movie the cockpit door is never seen closed! Fitting this part is not straightforward, since you'll need to cut out all the support brackets that Bandai put into the cockpit tube for supporting the LED lighting.
There are two versions of this part - one if your plan is to keep Bandai's ESB-era cockpit, and one is designed for an ANH-era cockpit interior. The latter is shorter.
8) Docking ring damage.
The starboard docking ring of the five foot shooting miniature and the full-sized sets had a round blast hole; evidence of past scrapes and battles. Bandai faithfully modelled blast damage to the upper and lower saucer, but not the ring. This piece is a cylindrical piece that replicates this damage. You'll have to drill a hole into the docking ring part and install this component. The edges will need to be built up with putty very carefully, so this is not a simple drop-in upgrade!
9) Docking Bay 94 parts.
If you want to recreate the appearance of the Falcon in the first film, when our heroes first walk into Docking Bay 94 on Tatooine, here are a bunch of set pieces to help you do it!