It has been a few weeks since my daughter (Ember) and myself tackled the last few issues of the Millennium Falcon build. Ember has been asking every few days when the next package will be delivered, which is a testimony to her enjoyment of this project that we find ourselves on. The package was slightly delayed, but to my delight, instead of four issues, we found ourselves with five! Ember very quickly started looking through the box, trying to identify the different pieces. More hull pieces: she was happy that she’d need to use the screwdriver again. But the part she was really looking for were the electronics. Her eyes lit up when she saw the wires and battery pack! All in good time I thought, we have a few issues before we’re ready for that part.
Before we could begin the electronics, it was part seven of the construction. The first six issues have really been a joy. Apart from some stickers, Ember has been able to help and, with very little aid, construct the Falcon herself. It has been wonderful to take on such an epic project with her, to see her learn new skills and knowing that in two years’ time, when we’re gazing at this almost one metre goliath of a ship, that I know we did it together. As always, I looked through issue seven ahead of getting it out to do with Ember. Forewarned is forearmed and all that. I have to say, the contents of the magazine itself were drawing me in, looking at the models of the original YT-1000s, the more I see of these magazines, the more I’m beginning to appreciate that they go so much beyond just the knowledge of the Falcon itself. But that would have to wait.
Getting to the actual construction, there were a lot of things contained in this issue that we had yet to do: using superglue and using paint. This brought me up short. A seven-year-old… with super glue… with paint… I hadn’t quite banked on this yet. Obviously superglue and children don’t mix, yet the techniques to use it correctly, for actual model building, require gluing. Same for the paint. The issue does say that you don’t have to paint, it’s fine as it is, but if you want to bring out the details you might want to think about it. Well, let’s be honest, if I’m doing a project like this, too right do I want to bring the details out! If it had just been me doing this solo, I wouldn’t have hesitated. The more I thought about it, the more I was comfortable thinking that this is exactly what I want from this project. To be able to teach Ember skills. Looking through the instructions, they were very clear. I’d need to get some cocktail sticks, a method I thought Ember could use for gluing safely. The other things, superglue, paint, and a brush, I already had from doing miniature gaming. Of course, with the glue, when holding the two pieces that have been glued together, I would do that part, but why not let Ember apply the glue. The only person who might get his fingers stuck together would be me!
As for the painting aspect, I had only mentioned to Ember about teaching her how to paint miniatures soon. This seemed to be the force telling me now was the time. If you have read my previous adventures of how I got started on this project, from visiting Archive X Paints last year, you will know that I already had the paints I would need to paint any part of the Falcon. A quick summary, Archive X Paints are a company that replicate the exact paints that were used by ILM when they were working on the original films (and are still used in the industry now). For painting parts of the Falcon, there could be nothing better!
So, with my preparation done, cocktail sticks brought, it was ready for me and Ember to delve into completing the cockpit… Now usually I review two issues at a time, as Ember enjoys it so much that two is perfect for her attention span. This issue has by far, been the longest to complete for us. Not because it was too difficult (well, bar one aspect), but because Ember was learning so many new techniques. Clipping, filing, gluing, she loved it all. The instructions are straight forward enough, although for the cushions, we struggled to get the pieces to line up. Eventually we got them to a state I was happy with. It was a great start for Ember using superglue, particularly for the last part of the issue, where we would use it so much more. She adored using clippers and said to me her favourite part was using the file to get things ‘just right’.
These skills were all new to her but then we moved onto dry brushing. I didn’t want to overload the painting with too much grey, so we kept it very light. We used Archive X SP Lark Dark Grey to bring out the console and I was very happy with the look. Ember took to dry brushing brilliantly. She read the instructions in the magazine and followed them to the letter, wiping the paint off so as not to overload the brush and was incredibly gentle with the brushing itself.
Which brings us to the final part, gluing the cockpit together. Having glued the cushions together, Ember was ready for more. She was ready with her cocktail stick before I was, knowing exactly what to do without me saying a word. All was going well until… those blooming levers and cockpit sticker. You may remember in a previous review the cockpit panel sticker I struggled to fit properly. I wish now I had waited until I was ready to glue the levers in. One lever snapped on me, thankfully not too badly damaged that I haven’t been able to repair it. The issue I found was that the holes in both the sticker and panel are too small, and I had to wooden them with a file. It was painstaking and it slowed the process down rather a lot. Ember was waiting with her cocktail stick wanting to finish it all off! It was the one complaint I had with this issue. However, as I was the one to deal with it, Ember said she’d loved it and when could she use the clippers and paintbrushes again!
Although the levers are infuriating, the rest of this build I really enjoyed. It saw us gluing the cockpit together and after seven issues, I feel a sense of achievement that we’ve permanently glued something we’ve spent weeks building. From a daddy/daughter project aspect, this has been an issue that has really engaged Ember; lots of small tasks that are all very different to one another. It took a while to get through – I could have probably used a break mid issue – but Ember was happy to plough through the whole thing and still wants to know when we’re doing the next one. To hold a non-falling apart piece of the Falcon does bring a sense of completion, at least to part of this, just remember to take extra care with those levers.
