We were coming to the end of the latest delivery of issues of Fanhome’s Millennium Falcon build. My seven-year-old daughter (Ember) and I had been steadily making our way through the stages. Although this delivery has felt the shortest of all the ones we’ve had – some of the magazines having less to do than others – it has also had one of the biggest impacts. A huge piece of wood the size of the Falcon itself housing the jig to help support the hull. It is something we now see every day, reminding us of where we have got up to. Not only that but the previous instalment saw the turret ring being added to the build, helping to really secure the plating.
After the rather short issue twenty-nine, I had said that I really wanted to focus a bit more on the frame. The issues up to now have fluctuated between the frame and the interior of the Falcon with a heavier focus on the latter. While it has been fun to build, and with very recognisable locations from the films that Ember loves to spot, I know for much of the time when on display, none of this will be viewable. Seeing the frame every day, I want to build this up more and more.
Before I sit down with Ember to start any instalment, I always do some scouting. The patience of a seven-year-old is more aligned with that of the Sith rather than a Jedi. Checking what was coming up is always advisable to avoid boredom striking! Not only that, but I could check how long the magazine would take and whether we would be able to do one or two in a single sitting. Looking through issue thirty I could see that I was going to get my wish: more work on the plating. Knowing we could probably tackle another issue and finish the delivery, I quickly checked part thirty-one. The same again; actually, almost identical, even down to the instructions. As I was comparing both magazines, I thought I was seeing double. Some of the instructions and photos are identical! Not that it matters, the right parts are labelled correctly, but it was obvious that we were doing the same thing twice. It made sense and also an easy decision to be able to do both parts together. Not only that, but we would also be finishing the jig.
The magazines themselves also seemed to complement each other. Part thirty looked at the Trade Federation battleship, while the following part had a part dedicated to the Naboo starfighter. The latter didn’t get a look in as Ember found it also had a feature on R2-D2, her favourite droid. Well, you can imagine how pleased she was to find information about him as well as all his different tools.
Knowing we were just working on the plating meant that there was no preparation work to do. Usually when we are working on the interior, there are some parts that need painting before we can proceed. With the plating I didn’t need to do anything; just get the issues, screws and screwdriver ready. This, fingers crossed, should be a straightforward, enjoyable bit of daddy/daughter time.
As predicted, these were two simple issues that were identical. Ember loved to do it, it was her favourite thing. She has such confidence with these things that I rarely need to do much, except hold the frame and parts together for her. She can now even recognise when the screw isn’t taking and knows that something hasn’t quite fitted correctly. We went through the first issue very quickly. The last part, coming to the jig, she loved seeing come together.
When she opened the second issue, her reaction was the same as mine had been, ‘it’s just the same!’ It did quickly dawn on her that we’d be finishing the jig, something she was very excited about. A couple of things to mention here. The first, when we were assembling the radial rib, we were using the gold screws and found that one was slightly thinner than the rest. Not too much of an issue as Fanhome gives you plenty of spares, but if the fit doesn’t seem tight enough, you might want to check this. The second thing is the jig. It doesn’t mention taping the last two pieces down, and you certainly don’t need to. I had used glue dots for the first parts, hoping they’d be good enough. I’m so glad that I now did. When fitting the last two pieces, you’ll find the jig moves slightly. Having dots that aren’t quite as secure as tape was actually a huge advantage. As long as the initial pieces are secure, you won’t need to add anymore. The weight of the frame will be enough.
By the end of the parts, Ember was beaming. I took a photo of how far we had got up to and she insisted on holding the frame up. With the inclusion of the turret ring, the frame is secure enough to be able to do this. When she held it, she let out an audible gasp, not believing just how heavy it was. She is certainly like me now, wanting to finish the bottom frame and see it complete. These two issues should be done together, they are, in essence, the same issue. This isn’t really a problem as Ember, and I were just excited to add even more to the frame.
That concludes this delivery, and I’m really pleased with it. The frame is coming along nicely and although it is taking up a lot of room, it’s good to have the jig set-up; it’s making construction a lot easier. I imagine the ease from using it will only become even more apparent the further into the build we go. There were a couple of moments on the interior which I’m sure I’ll like eventually, but the focus for me now is all about getting the shape of the Falcon. I don’t know what the next delivery of parts will include, but I hope it’s more of this!
