[WIP MOD] 75105 Falcon

[Lawngnome]

Much as I was happy finally getting a Millennium Falcon (not counting Microfighter or Advent Calendar versions ), I had already started working on LDD modifications the day the 75105 instructions were released. While still very much a work in progress, I figured I'd share some details in case anyone else is interested in doing something similar. The guiding principle here was to keep as much of the original design as possible, and to maintain structural integrity. This was particularly challenging with the cockpit, not least because some of the things allowed in LDD turned out to be physically impossible due to ever-so-slight clipping and some of the actual molded detail flat-out missing in places... luckily, I still managed to fit most of what I wanted in there. The real model does in turn allow for some positioning LDD doesn't, but to my knowledge I've only done that where the official instructions have called for it. Which is to say, no illegal techniques used.

A quick rundown on some of the current and eventual changes:

• Seats in the cockpit (not quite side by side, but close enough to give the illusion; Chewie can fit in the copilot seat, but that requires assembling the canopy around him)
  
• Correct number of "retractable" (i.e. folding) landing gear, including the double ones at the rear
  
• Partial overhaul of the interior, including a proper cockpit passageway (not quite tall enough to fit a fig in there though, but close enough... originally I just added a fake interior on each side of the turntable, but the lack of physical access annoyed me too much to leave it at that)
  
• Hidden storage compartment to interchangeably store an OT or FA style radar dish (also works without modifications: just stick the unused radar to the bottom and you're done)
  
• Newly designed sublight engine exhaust, including slight change to the thrust vector plates (yeah, I had to google that stuff)
  
• Larger mandibles (granted, this along with yet-to-come cockpit repositioning technically makes the ship less accurate in proportion, but I consider it a good trade-off for more detail)
  
• Rearranged color for the 3x12 wing plates to represent the soot around the heat vents (the best part about that -- doesn't cost a thing)
  
• Added greebling (and probably some other details I already forgot)
  

And finally, a couple of pics of the ongoing physical build and the current "finished" look in LDD:

[FTG Prime]

Looking good,one of the biggest issues with 75105 and previous falcons that i have is the gaps that the 3x12 wedge plates create.I see you added more greeble to the thing.

Hope to see the IRL version finished soon!!;)

-Prime

[Dameronian]

Love to see your ideas on the double folding rears! I've managed a 5 strut folding set up, but I'm still scratching my head on the double rears...

Edited November 22, 2015 by Dameronian

[Cyanide-Tipped]

I'm anxiously awaiting this LDD (if you plan to release it to us) after you are done with everything! I've love to do this to my set.

[Lawngnome]

Thanks for the replies! I'd be happy to share the lxf, but I'm not sure if brickshelf allows putting it on there. I can always send it via PM or whatnot though.

In the meantime, here's a closer look at the landing gear. The greebling on them is rather limited, but there's only so much you can do when all you have is one plate of height and not much more sideways. At least the "toes" on the skids were easy to add.

The rear skids cheat in that the columns are not quite centered. I did have a version where they moved independently, but that was a) not really necessary b) required rearranging the structure they're attached to, or c) folded partially rearward so they were hanging off the back (and prevented rounding off the bottom in order to make room for them, not good). The long Technic bricks are in their original place, while the red 1x2 brick on the forward skid is not actually red, it's just pointing out where one is added for stability for the 3m pin. You could also have the 3m pin centered on the L-beam and support it on both sides with small bricks, but I elected to make sure the whole setup wouldn't fall off. And then added plates on it anyway. Oh well.

[khatmorg]

Looking good,one of the biggest issues with 75105 and previous falcons that i have is the gaps that the 3x12 wedge plates create.I see you added more greeble to the thing.

Hope to see the IRL version finished soon!!;)

-Prime

It is relatively easy to fix the gaps between the wedges, you can alternate 2x4 wedges and 3x12 wedges to have a near perfect fit. It's almost like it's designed to do just that. You could probably do the same with 7965 since they're so similiar.

[edit]

pic for clarification

Edited November 23, 2015 by khatmorg

[Lawngnome]

Oooh, nice, I'll have to try that! Much more elegant than just trying to cram random stuff in between the 3x12s. Cheers, khatmorg, I appreciate the tip.

Good thing I didn't place an order for the smaller wing plates just yet.

[Smitty500]

Ive done similar mods to mine. with replacing the alternationg wedges with 2x4 wedges. I also put 2x3 slopes to to fill in the front portion, this allows the front slope to lay down flatter. I like the idea of the holes through out the model. I may try and do that to mine.

[Lawngnome]

Here's one possible way to cover the entire top of the saucer near-seamlessly:

The grey parts can be left as is, and the arrangement should work exactly the same with the original model (so feel free to ignore the extra greebles). Because of LDD limitations, this is definitely not the optimal layout, but still a decent and easy to figure out starting point. I'll still need to swap a couple of the 3x12s around in order to widen two of the "holes" in the plating, for example, but I'll only do that when I get back to the physical model. Not going to waste any more time micromanaging hundreths of a degree with the angle of each individual wedge in LDD...

Edit: Come to think of it, the pieces to the right of the cockpit passageway might need adjusting with the original, but it should be possible to simply mirror the left side as it sits at a 45-degree angle. Also, there's obviously support needed for most of the smaller pieces, but expanding the single layer of plates already underneath and/or adding some greebling on top ought to take care of that.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Lawngnome

[Dameronian]

Just ordered 36 (18l/18r) 2x4 wedges! One more less gappy MF coming up, thanks for all the helpful hints in this thread!

Edited November 25, 2015 by Dameronian

[TheBear]

The solutions to the gap problem look great, it looks so much better and makes me wonder why TLG didn't do it. Having such huge holes in a space ship just looks really wrong. I suppose it would be more expensive with lots of little parts and maybe make it more fragile for play. Those are the only reasons I can think of.

[Cyanide-Tipped]

Lawngnome, may we have the LDD when you "finish" with it (new wedges, greebling, and all...)?

I so want to do this to mine.

Btw: I noticed you put some small wedges at the end of the mandibles where it touches the main base, your thoughts on this?

[Lawngnome]

I'd be happy to share the LDD file, I'm just not sure where to upload it.

The extra 2x4 wedge plates (if those are what you meant?) at the base of the mandibles are only there to add a little bit of transition from the flat mandibles to the sloping saucer section, which is probably why the two random grill slopes are there in the original set as well... although I may have also put the wedge plates on top to support the stuff added to the enlarged mandibles at some point... can't quite remember the thought process because I don't really plan ahead. I mostly just try out random stuff and see if it works (structurally and aesthetically), so there are occasionally artefacts left behind from earlier iterations.

Speaking of which, if you were actually referring to the sideways grill slopes between the main body and the mandibles, those are from the very first round of modifications, which was far more limited in scope and only meant as a quick and cheap solution to fill out at least a couple of gaps. It wasn't the worst offender, just easiest to fix, and I ended up liking it well enough to leave it there.

[Cyanide-Tipped]

I added some red circles to point out what I meant. And a red arrow pointing at the transition (Doesn't seem as fluid and smooth as it could be. There's a bit of a "gap").

In terms of uploading a file some people use Brickshelf to host files and link them here. That didn't work well for me so I uploaded the files directly into the forums as a download link (I believe you have to use the full post editor or something).

[Lawngnome]

Ah! Those aren't mine, they're from Smitty500's mod.

[Cyanide-Tipped]

Ahh...you're right! My bad.

[Lawngnome]

Alrighty, then. Here's a new batch of LDD modifications, and the actual file (at the end of post) for anyone interested. Sharing is caring!

The major changes include a completely... well, not completely, but very heavily re-worked gun turret (and central column) to install see-through windows (...that are barely visible in the shots below):

The windows were the easy part. I sacrificed the hinge to open the top, but the 10x10 octagonal plate with a cutout as a new base for the top/gun assembly should allow easy removal without pieces falling off, as it's only attached by 2 studs on either side and otherwise rests on flat tiles. The bottom is slightly different due to less space available, and is not meant to come off anyway. After finishing with the initial change, the major pain started. I had left the window at the exact center thinking it would save me a whole lot of trouble with everything underneath (which it did) but as much as I tried to ignore it, having the window sit even further back compared to the actual Falcon just didn't work. Thankfully, moving just the window proved much easier than I feared, and as an added bonus that made room for the 4x4 donut plate to give the window the illusion of being larger than it is. However, offsetting the window from the center of the turret meant a minifig (then still seated in the original position, just swapped to the other side) would only have one side of its face showing through the window.

Had it been the top or bottom half, it would've been a non-issue, but as it happened, I had to turn the seating 90 degrees to fix it. Unfortunately, I didn't consider that there's only room for the fig on one of the two axis until after I'd finished. At which point I gave up and reverted to the centered window... for all of 2 minutes, after which I re-re-modded the front and back walls to make the room, though it's certainly not as pretty as I'd have liked. Regardless, the turn also freed up one side of the "sled" to add controls directly on it, rather than having them hang from the ceiling and... floor? Anyway, the next step will be to rebuild the entire central column (and engineering stations) from scratch for a tidier solution, but that's for another day.

On a related note, here's a cutaway view of the current interior:

Depending on how much alterations there will be for the central column, I may yet try to go for a more rounded look with the walls, but for now this will do. Lastly, just a few more shots of the exterior from different angles...

...and the lxf as promised: http://www.brickshel...wngnome_mod.lxf

[Cyanide-Tipped]

Sweeeeet! Thanks for the LDD file! I'll definitely be changing the gaps and adding some greebling. The center turret...we'll see. :P

Keep changing stuff! :)

[Lawngnome]

Heh, thank you for the interest! And please do (or anyone else for that matter) point out any glaring errors or room for improvement you might find, especially if it's something that can save in the parts count...

Again thanks to khatmorg and Smitty500 for the tips on closing the gaps on the saucer. That wasn't even on my initial agenda, but it sure made it to the top of my to-do list.

[Cyanide-Tipped]

I gave BrickCommander your link to this post, he's on these forums (he made the MF you are modding and the Slave 1)...He was mentioning that the landing gear wouldn't pass Lego standards because there is no stoppers on the legs since they rest on the technic block. And it wouldn't be fun for kinds to manually set 4 (or 5) landing gears individually.

It's an interesting premise...have you thought about a stopper on the landing gear to lock in place?

[Lawngnome]

The landing gear pushing up against the plates on top is definitely an issue especially since there's only one layer of plates there, and possible warping or pushing parts loose is something I worried about myself. The weight/pressure is divided across multiple points though, so it was actually better in hand than I thought it would be (so far I haven't noticed any plates pushing up), but I fully agree with BC that it's not a solution TLG would use due to its inherent risk of causing damage. As for kids lacking patience, eh, who cares about the kids (okay, TLG does...), this is for my own enjoyment!

That said, there's still free pinholes in each landing gear to lock the liftarms in place, so I'm certainly not stopping anyone from reinforcing the structure back to its original state. For a compromise between more stability and faster change between modes (do note that it's not like I'm ever displaying the ship hanging in air, so the entire landing gear folding is only there for the sake of being there!) you could slip in, say, 3m axels or axel pins to better support the liftarms while on the ground.

[Smitty500]

Lawngnome, may we have the LDD when you "finish" with it (new wedges, greebling, and all...)?

I so want to do this to mine.

Btw: I noticed you put some small wedges at the end of the mandibles where it touches the main base, your thoughts on this?

I made my mandibles the way I did, because When I intially built this, I was using Flails design and the previous Falcon had a the older style slope plates (less steeper slope) So, I was trying to match it with the 2x3 slopes. The UCS Falcon also did something similar. I do not think it looks bad, as it should look a bit choppy.

[Dameronian]

It is relatively easy to fix the gaps between the wedges, you can alternate 2x4 wedges and 3x12 wedges to have a near perfect fit. It's almost like it's designed to do just that. You could probably do the same with 7965 since they're so similiar.

[edit]

pic for clarification

Did exactly what you discribed with 36 2x4 wedges (18L, 18R) and the result is extremely pleasing (I also substituted the dark gray plates and thickened the mandibles). As you stated, it almost seemed to have been designed this way! Thanks khatmorg.

Edited December 10, 2015 by Dameronian

[Cyanide-Tipped]

Love it! So gonna do this to mine (opening on Christmas).

[Hold0511]

Agreed, that looks much better - ditto above, the bricklink order is placed and Xmas day will be awesome!