75257 - 2019 Millennium Falcon MODs and MOCs

[Goonmo]

Hey everyone,

I know we have a running thread of various users modifications to the UCS Millennium Falcon from 2017, so I thought it would be a good idea to get something going for the newest system version of the set from The Rise of Skywalker. I think it definitely is the best model of the ship you can get besides the UCS model, but it definitely is a blank slate for modifications, fixes, etc. to make it a better model and more film accurate. So let this be a thread for discussion and a showcase for the changes the community is making to their small-scale falcons. If anyone has done anything interesting with the 2011, 2015, or 2018 models, this could be a good place to share those as well, especially with interior modifications as they could be applied and adapted to the newer set.

Looking forward to seeing everyone's unique changes!

[Sucram]

First order of business would be fixing the mandible gap next to the cockpit, and the interior

[Lawngnome]

Don't have a camera or an LDD model of it currently, but a very simple interior fix to 75257 was to cram the kitchen to its proper place next to the bunks (I also replaced the stove with a white mailbox to make it a proper oven :P ) and flip the couch next to the dejarik table 90 degrees. While the latter move effectively blocks access to the lounge from one side, it looks good in practice as it doubles as a divider without needing to add any walls in the very limited space available. An extra two layers of plating to the mandibles to make them more robust, and just random pieces here and there to plug in some of the gaps also worked wonders, even though I opted to forgo accuracy of colors and placement of greebling this time around in favor of just adding them where I felt like it. Oh, and I hollowed out the cockpit passageway, but I may yet revert that change as it compromised structural stability quite a bit, the ceiling is only 3 bricks high, and it's more or less impossible to see into it anyway...

I'm also working on a 150% upscaled MOC in LDD at the moment, which has just enough room to fit (almost) a full, easily accessible interior, and it's coming along quite nicely after the first week. Hopefully the physical model will actually hold together when (and if) I get to building it, but that's for another time.

[Retro]

Modifications to the 7965 set released 2011. More pictures in the Flickr album. By no means master builder standard, but it was a lot of fun to do.

 

[Kozikyo86]

I'm going to remake the front of my 75105 like this new one. I wonder if my stand will match the new one?

 

[mcphatty]

I’m definitely keen to see some mods to the new Falcon, especially something to close those gaps at the corners of the mandibles and also tackle the lack of rim and greebling behind the cockpit.

I haven’t had a chance to see if this would fit the new set but I added some cockpit detail to the 2015 Falcon...

To get Chewie in you have to lower the floor by one stud, perch him on the floor and bend his arm back behind whoever is in the pilot seat. It’s a squeeze but at least he’s in!

Edited October 27, 2019 by mcphatty

[Sucram]

I started building the 75257 set in stud.io in the Solo movie colours, because the actual Solo set is horribly gappy and badly proportioned. The new set is sooo much better, so I will bricklink the pieces to make it when Im done. Might cost less than the actual set too. I will try to fix the ugly gaps near the cockpit.

Kessel Run Falcon WIP by Sucram H, on Flickr

[Buzzetta]

Been lurking for years and I rarely post... but figured what the heck... 

For this set the golden rule for me is not to take away any original parts from the set. Anything that I do I want to be able to take away at a moments notice if I needed to pack up the set and archive it in a bin somewhere. That way if I ever wanted to sell it in order to trade up, everything is already there. 

The first fix I needed to do was to fill in the gaps of the frame.  If you notice by the circles I used 1x2 inverted slope bricks on the port and starboard side of the vessel. Those are the upper two yellow circled areas... More on that in a second.   The lower fix was easy using two more of the 1x2 inverted slopes and a 1x3.  Those really eliminated a lot of the gaps in the shell area of the falcon. 

The port and starboard sides though needed a bit more of a fix.  I did not like how floppy the back shells came away.   Move the ship, and they flop upward.  So... placing a 4x8 gray plate on either side gives the back shells something to bump into and allows space for that 1x2 inverted brick to attach itself.  I then placed the original 'wing' plates right over it.  This made sure that no interior space was taken up and the exterior shape of the ship's shell also goes unchanged.  

So... gaps fixed and shell stays in place when the ship is moved.  The rear shells stay locked due to 1/16 of an inch difference.  Pleasant surprise that worked very well. 

The next fix was easy.  It needed a forward storage unit. I unpinned and lifted up the mandibles to turn the two sloping bricks to the side then framed it across using 1x1 bricks and a clasping grip to hold another tool, and a container door.  I plated up the gap underneath so nothing falls through and used smooth grates so a small container can slide in and out.  For this container I figured that they are still smuggling hyperdrive fuel / crystals like they were in solo.  I used 'L shaped' plates on the corners to make sure nothing falls apart.   On the other side I used a gray 1x1 headlight holder instead of a basic 1x1 so that i could attach a 1x1 printed lever piece I found in the goodwill / ebay lot.

More to come... as I get the time... I am now looking at a way to modify the back pins leading to the gunner ports. 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2019 by Buzzetta

[Tuskano]

I recently got the 2019 model and for awhile it has sat unmodified until I had an idea what to do.  Then I decided to use the cockpit assembly for another ship I have for a forward airlock.  That in turn started the idea of making this YT-1300 one with an internal cockpit and have it use sensors and cameras for sight.  I now just have a rough idea on how to do the layout of the interior for a passenger focused vessel.

[Kozikyo86]

Hi!

I am in the process of modifying my Millennium Falcon75105. I will rebuild it to 75257, I will add a lot of improvements and modifications. Soon there will be a movie and LDD file to download on my YouTube - Edge of Bricks :) 

I put in the frame design, I improved the placement of landing gear, now it will also be compatible with my display stand.

 

[MAG85]

35 minutes ago, Kozikyo86 said:

Hi!

I am in the process of modifying my Millennium Falcon75105. I will rebuild it to 75257, I will add a lot of improvements and modifications. Soon there will be a movie and LDD file to download on my YouTube - Edge of Bricks :) 

I put in the frame design, I improved the placement of landing gear, now it will also be compatible with my display stand.

Thats sounds good. I had the same idea and I will do this for the Solo version too. I'm looking forward to updates.

[Bigdwazda]

So 

 

Edited January 21, 2020 by Bigdwazda

[Bigdwazda]

So i took it upon myself to to try and upgrade my Falcon using both my old 75105 Falcon and the First Order transporter (and some of my kids lego but dont tell them!).

I saw an excellent MOC done by 2bricks as shown at the bottom of my post, as I’m not a moc builder or someone who has ever modded lego before i decided to try and make the Lego set look as similar as possible. 

I tried to update as much as possible to get closer to the actual Falcon using some reference shots, oddly there are quite a few differnces in the design. Some are rounder while others are more elongated. I decided to go with the slightly elongated version as this is what the UCS looks like (to my eyes at least).

So what did i do,

1. I tried to close the gap between the mandibles and dish section, I just built up the area under under the dish as opposed to thickening the mandibles. While this less accurate it did make it pretty easy to close the gap.

I also plugged the huge gap by the canopy. It turned out to be really easy to fix with a couple of small angled plates. 

2. I took the slightly angled plates off the escape pod tunnels and replaced it with a straight edge. This allowed me to get a more accurate look to the tunnels. I also filled in the gaps as much as possible between it and the cockpit tunnel. 

3. The escape pods were tweaked to better reflect the UCS model. Owing to the height of these i decided to use upside down pistols. While totally inaccurate i think they give them a little more interest. I also totally copied the 2bricks design with the bits of red showing. I liked it on his and i like it on this one. 

4. The right hand side has an updated dish (copied from 2bricks) i also added a little detail coming down from the dish area. I added the 2 pipes that go to the holes in the madibles as well. 

5. The mandibles, these were fun, first off i smoothed them up a bit using tiles. I then set about adding the pipes. i basicaly attached 2 pipes together with a lightsaber hilt and attached to a 1x1 brick with hole in. 

6. The back - I spent a long time wondering about the best way to approach this. In the end i decided to use square bricks and live with the gaps. I built it out to match the existing engine covers and then removed the originals. Im still in two minds whether to reduce the length by one stud or leave as it is. I then decided to use (what i know as" flick fire missiles for the actuators that attach to the fins. I made sure to leave the hole facing up to approximate that there are 2 of these on the (real) Falcon.

7. A very important detail I wanted to capture was the fanned section on the back. The top down view shows this best and was achieved by using 1 stud wide long tiles.   

Other than a bit of extra tiling and funny bits added here and there that is the extent of the changes. It took me a huge amount of time to do this and I’m really happy with it,  is it perfect, no, but in my eyes it looks more displayable.

The only drawback is that it’s harder to get to the interior, now it’s easier to remove each segment.  As I’m not concerned about the interior this isn’t an issue for me. 

2bricks version below

 

Edited January 31, 2020 by Bigdwazda
Add pic

[Retro]

Looks great and the photos are stunning! 

[Bigdwazda]

2 hours ago, Retro said:

Looks great and the photos are stunning! 

Thanks. One of the benefits of having a small room painted white and taking pictures while there is plenty of daylight. I tweaked them a bit in google photos to get them to Pop a little.  Most evident in the picture of the back of the falcon  

Edited January 22, 2020 by Bigdwazda

[Sucram]

Damn that looks good for a MOD

[mcphatty]

@Bigdwazda That’s a very nice Mod! Good use of the set, it’s always nice to see superficial improvements that add a lot without needing a rebuild.  Especially like the details at the back, great work.

[Bigdwazda]

@mcphatty thanks very much.  I have never been so happy to pull apart another Lego set in my life.  My poor 75105 is looking very sad now. 
 

I just started the ucs falcon build so it will be interesting to see if I can change anymore on this one.  

Edited January 23, 2020 by Bigdwazda

[Kozikyo86]

Hi! 

Today I make first render - this is probably 95% of my modification. Soon I'll start build finale, real model :) All modification will be available on my YouTube to download or Rebrickable - for free :)

 

 

[princess_kyloren]

I was inspired by the 'ultimate system scale' millennium falcon. The MOC uses ball hinges so that the hull can bend to form a more round some, but still leaves minimal gaps between plates. And since the hull plates bend down, they fit more closely where they meet the wings.

I also moved the cockpit out one stud and completely remade the top hull between the cockpit and mandible so the front sides match now and that joint isn't nearly as flimsy.

I also added some surface details. What do you all think? I haven't decided what to do next.

 

http://imgur.com/a/8yQQsRA

[Kozikyo86]

I just finish my modification of Millennium Falcon :) 

I share LDD or Stud.io file for FREE - available to downkoad from my youtube - Edge of Bricks :) Soon on Rebrickable!

 

 

[Kozikyo86]

List of parts is ready - all details on Rebrickable here:

https://rebrickable.com/mocs/MOC-36959/EDGE OF BRICKS/millennium-falcon/#comments

[princess_kyloren]

I really like the detail on the inside of your ship, I'm going to take some inspiration from your mods.

[icm]

Just some really simple mods here.  Added fifth landing leg in front.  Added inverted 2x2 slopes on bottom to strengthen mandible connection and improve "lower jaw" slope; added more small plates on the bottom.  Switched dark gray wedge slopes for light gray where I could.  Filled gaps just behind mandibles and hole in the floor by engineering station.  Added small, simple latches to keep roof sections closed when holding spaceship upside down.  Replaced topside gun turntable with 1x1 round stud for more friction.  Other minor color adjustments.  The most important changes are just the latches to keep the roof closed, and those are really simple.  A lever or a battle droid arm clipped to a nipple tile, mounted to the central core area, are plenty.

Photos in quote so you don't have to load them if you don't want to.

Quote

 

[bobiscool]

How do I make a stand for my lego millenium falcon