If you have read my previous articles looking at Archive X paint, you will know that I had been sucked into the world of studio models. Having just completed my first build, an AMT STAP droid that was released over twenty years ago, I was just about to look into painting it when something else caught my eye. I’m not going to lie, although the STAP and battle droid are impressive (1/6 scale), what I really wanted was something from the original trilogy. When I visited the Archive X store in the summer, one thing that had caught my eye was their Millennium Falcon. The size of it was simply put – glorious! And let’s be honest, it’s one of the most iconic ships of the entire saga. However, when I investigated models anywhere near close to studio scale… let’s just say it was a little beyond my price range.
As if hearing my call, Fanbase have begun a new magazine where you can collect the different pieces of the Falcon over the course of two years, building up to a model almost a meter in length. Impressive is the word I would use for such a model! It seemed the perfect next step on my studio scale journey and payments would be monthly, spreading the cost over months, rather than a huge one-time amount to pay all at once. However, and it’s a big however, for a lot of us at the moment, money is tight. Energy prices, food, petrol, everything is going up and up. Although the cost of the Falcon is spread over two years, could I justify spending money on myself for such a luxury item? As a husband and a father, my priority was them and I’m sure there are a lot of fans out there in a similar predicament.
So, how can I justify the cost (let alone finding a place to put the thing when it was finished)? After building the STAP, my six-year-old daughter walked into my study, seen it, and had asked if she could build one too. I was a bit surprised; she had watched me do pieces and really wanted to have a go herself. Of course, I was ecstatic. Of course, I want her to build Star Wars ships and vehicles. Of course, I want her starting down the dark path that will forever dominate her destiny. And as if all this had been predestined to come together at once, I thought, could we build the Falcon together? It wouldn’t just be a me thing then, it would be some quality time with my daughter, building the Millennium Falcon each week, for the same price as us going for a Starbucks together. This suddenly seemed possible. If this could be done by families in the comfort of their home, then I’m sure a lot more fans would consider taking on such an awesome project.
That is how we have got to here, I’m delving into one of the most complex projects ever, with my daughter – Ember – at my side. Every two weeks we will be sharing the issues, our joys, our sorrows and seeing if a project this grand can become the ultimate daddy/daughter experience you can have as a Star Wars fan.
The first box arrived on my doorstep, with issues one and two. As soon as my daughter realised it was here, she was very excited, her “yessss” told me she was looking forward to doing this as much as I was. Now, like any father would, I had a quick scan of the box to see what I was letting myself in for. Two magazines, two sets of parts, a welcome sheet and a folded blueprint poster that had a 1:1 scale of the falcon we were building. So, a folded poster, they don’t usually excite me, yet for my daughter this was absolutely perfect. I would be able to show her where the parts we were fitting went and she could see the actual scale of what we were building. The magazines themselves seemed to each contain a mixture of lore about the Falcon and production information from the seventies. There was a lot of information I already knew, yet not all of it. It was a quick read and being a parent, I actually appreciate that its short, to the point and I can quickly digest it in the little free time that I have. The back of each magazine has the actual build, and I was a bit surprised to see how little there was to build in the first two issue. Of course, when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. There are lots of parts that you save for later, so definitely think where you’re going to store everything. I was a bit disappointed as I wanted to build a lot straight away, but oh how wrong I was about this part.
Picking my daughter up from school, she rushed straight into the house, eager to start the building. She loved seeing the actual size of the Falcon we were building, seeing where what we were building would fit. The magazine itself she wasn’t really interested in (I mean at six I get this), what she wanted to do, was build! It was straight onto the instructions and building a quad laser cannon. The instructions were clear and easy to understand, easy enough that my daughter was able to read them and follow them. With the screwdriver from issue two, she was quickly learning how to screw the screws in with a lot of ease, more ease than I would have ever thought. She loved that the screwdriver was magnetic and asking questions about why the top of the screwdriver could move (and quickly started to use it to aid her). It was a joy to see her so competent with something like this and watch her confidence grow.
As soon as we finished the quad canon, she wanted to move onto issue two. Who was I to argue? With issue two, you are starting to build the hull to the Falcon with lots of screws and parts. She adored this. My daughter was really in her element. Having learnt when to stop to not mess the thread up, she was happily putting the pieces together, showing me which part was which and just happily enjoying herself. And of course, so was I. It wasn’t a hindrance having my daughter here, having a second set of hands was actually really useful! The two issues took us about an hour to do, not once did my daughter get bored. There are a couple of pieces – the holotable and the cockpit – that need stickers at this stage, and I will do those later, as even I get frustrated with stickers, let alone trying to get a six-year-old to line things up. The short builds that I was initially disappointed with before building is actually perfect. Short, easy builds keep my daughter’s attention, allows her to feel like she’s accomplished something but also leaves her wanting more. She wasn’t ready to stop today but I think if we had done another issue, she would have perhaps lost interest.
For myself, I have been really impressed so far. The quality of the pieces, the bite size chunks of building and most importantly, being able to do my hobby with my daughter. It has been great bonding over the first part and seeing how much fun and excitement my daughter has gotten from it. The fact that in two years’ time, when she’s eight, we’ll be able to look at this completed model and know we’ve done it together – well, that sounds priceless. I initially was hesitant to try to do this build with Ember, yet in my first delivery those worries have been alleviated. This is just the sort of project for families to do. I can’t even point out a problem Ember had with the build. Yes, I was there to direct, to hold pieces, but she knew what she was doing.
Of course, what will put a lot of people off is the cost, but having it split over months, I think it’s actually very good value for money. When you look at the cost of what a studio scale Millennium Falcon will cost you at this scale, well let’s say that this is definitely the lower end of that scale (thank goodness). The fact that you get step by step instructions and it can be built with your family, it suddenly turns this expense from a luxury to money towards a family activity.
Both Ember and I are eagerly waiting for our next delivery so we can carry on building this wonderful ‘piece of junk’! We will bring you regular updates letting you know what we’re building, what the complications are and how the final product is shaping up. Until then, I’ll admire the start of our hull and quad laser canon.
