Buzzing. There was no other word for it. Ember – my nine-year-old daughter and copilot on this project – and I had been buzzing since starting the current delivery last issue. We had finally finished working on the mandibles and started something new, which had involved a lot of electronics. While there had not been too much for us to do, the magazine had provided us something different, something that we hadn’t done too much of before. The fact it ended with us turning on the landing lights to the galaxy’s biggest piece of junk, well, like I say, we have been buzzing.
Which meant that both Ember and I were eager to get started on the next installment. I only had to look in the delivery box to feel a sense of excitement. For the last few deliveries, it has been nothing but frames and plates – and rightfully so. I mean, we have been building the Millennium Falcon. As we move into the final stages of the construction, it is fantastic to see so many varied parts. There are electronics, but I can also see covers for the engines, amongst other things. As I have always done, I have a quick look through the magazine to check what Ember and I will be doing. At the start of the project, this saved me a time or two, allowing me to make sure parts were painted, or little pieces could be glued before Ember, and I sat down with them. Now that Ember is older, and most of the hard work is actually done, this seems more traditional than practical. However, I’d rather do it this way than be caught out.
This time around, we’d be assembling the engine lights, something that would require some work with electronics, which would please Ember. After this, it would be fitting the engine lights and testing them to make sure that everything is working fine. It seemed fairly straightforward, so simple that I started to reach for the next issue. A quick flick through though told me I better hold off trying to join the two magazines together for a single sitting, as I could imagine a lot going wrong with that issue. As much as the electronics went smoothly last installment – and they did – I didn’t want to push my luck. If there were any problems, I wanted to make sure that Ember and I had the time to resolve them properly.
With nothing more to do, it was time for us to give the Falcon the engines that could make a certain run in less than twelve parsecs! The first thing we did was to assemble the engine lighting. Doing this as a two-person team worked really well. I was able to hold the lighting wires, while Ember was able to place the casing on. Ember then found the screws and started attaching the housing together. Out of all the work we have done on the Falcon, she found this extremely difficult. I don’t know if it was because the screws were so embedded in the housing, but it got to the point where I took over, to save her frustration. What I hadn’t realised while I was doing this, was that she was watching me carefully. I was placing more force onto the screws to get them to attach the housing. Once this was done, we attached the LED strips. Two of these were done in no time at all. The only thing I had to check myself with, was the fact that there is supposed to be a gap when you line up the housing. I was there for a couple of minutes, thinking that it hadn’t properly attached, when it was fine all along.
With the engine lights done, we could now attach them to the Falcon itself. This was where I found that Ember had been watching me carefully. She started to mimic what I had done with the housing and had no problem getting the screws into place and securing the drives. It was a proud dad moment! Before I even knew what to do next, Ember was fitting the electronics to the board to test out the lights. We were both rather excited. That was until only half the lights turned out. Well, more precisely two thirds. The port side lights were lighting up on either end of the strip but not in the middle. Which meant this wasn’t an easy fix. The strip was clearly getting power, as it was reaching both ends, so it must be a manufacturing fault. It was a bit of a disappointing end to an otherwise great session.
It was now onto customer services. How long will a replacement strip take, I’m not sure. I’m hoping it doesn’t slow us down too much. We’re at the part of the project where I don’t think we can really work around a fault now. If it wasn’t for this problem, the build would have been a huge success. Ember was happy. She had faced a problem, learnt from it and came out on top. I was feeling like a proud father as well as being one step closer to finishing the Falcon. Guess now there’s nothing to do but wait for repairs.
