BrickLinking (another) 10179 UCS Millennium Falcon

[Chills]

Great pics, Lobot! I really like seeing this coming together.

[dwong]

Hi unhappyeeyore,

I did input the min qty in wanted list, this will definitely improve the matching speed, but may not be a fair price because some shop will inventory same parts in different lots.

Hi Lobot,

"Show All Items this store has on my Wanted List (All Items)" is very useful but not at the mean while. Here's what I did now

1. mark down all price from "Brick & Pieces"

2. mark down min qty in BL wanted list

Edited February 17, 2015 by dwong

[rynoster]

Hey Lobot,

First off, kudos on bricklinking your first UCS Falcon! And now again, good luck!!!

You have inspired me to do this as well. I never knew about this set until someone I know built it up, he got lucky and bought an original, used set for a steal at less than $1000.

Could you perhaps assist me with some of the spreadsheets and work you have already done? There are so many parts that have alternates and I'm not sure when to use them, and when not. Some things can't be replaced and understand that I will have to pay the higher price, just need to make sure I do the right thing first time. I stay in South Africa, so shipping will be a pain, as 95% of the parts will come from a foreign country, escalating my costs for shipping and hence having to reduce the number of lots.

I started looking at this guide, any chance you have Brickstock export of the "final" items to order? http://www.dagsbricks.com/2014/07/lego-techniques-building-millenium.html

All these things considered, what would you reckon is a fair price for a used, original UCS Falcon?

Thanks for reading if you've made it this far. :)

[unhappyeeyore]

Dwong, If you've done 1 and 2 like you said you are off to a good start. Having the price that Lego charge vs what the Bricklink seller is charging is critical. Don't forget to change all of the parts you can replace before starting those orders! The levers, rigging, large red plate, radar, 6.6l umbrella stands, 1x16 technical and the technical right angles can all be changed as well as a number of other internal parts. No one can see the inside so you can make a fair few subs to keep the cost low, also there was one part which lego made a different part which caught me out - 42445 Light Bluish Gray Bar 1 x 12 with 1 x 2 Plate End and 1 x 1 Round Plate End - I think canbe replaced with Light Bluish Gray

Bar 1 x 12 with 1 x 2 Plate End Hollow Studs and 1 x 1 Round Plate End 99784. There were not many 42445s around but loads of the 99784.

Yes the sellers do have multiple lots so it is always best to order used if you are after a low cost option. I've done this and had no issues with the quality of the parts.

Took me 18 Bricklink orders and 1 Lego order to complete it. Probably could have done it in <15 with a bit more planning. Oh +1 order for the bits I forgot! oops. Guess I can't count or I started to suffer from Lego fatigue!

[Lobot]

Thanks Chills

Hi rynoster, welcome to Eurobricks!

I'm glad that you've found my thread helpful and good luck if you decide to go ahead with your own version! It's really worthwhile doing some homework though, it will potentially save you a lot of money! The link you refer to contains most of the main parts that you can readily replace without affecting the model too much. Looking at the parts list, I'd suggest you consider the following, but obviously it depends on your budget (replacement colour or part code in brackets!)

40344 'Black Technic, Brick 4 x 6 Open Center' (LBG)

40345 'Black Technic, Brick 6 x 8 Open Center' (LBG)

6558 'Black Technic, Pin Long with Friction Ridges Lengthwise' (Blue)

4589 'Dark Bluish Gray Cone 1 x 1 without Top Groove' (4589b)

30364 'Dark Bluish Gray Hinge Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger Vertical End' (LBG)

6019 'Dark Bluish Gray Plate, Modified 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (thick open U clip)' (61252)

6538b 'Dark Bluish Gray Technic, Axle Connector (Ridged with x Hole x Orientation)' (LBG)

3456 'Dark Red Plate 6 x 14' (DBG or whatever you prefer!)

42445 'Bar 1 x 12 with 1 x 2 Plate End and 1 x 1 Round Plate End' (99784)

4592c05 'Light Bluish Gray Lever Small Base with Light Bluish Gray Lever' (black lever)

47996 'Light Bluish Gray Boat Mast Rigging Long 28 x 4' (Black)

4095 'Light Bluish Gray Bar 6.6L with Stop Ring (Patio Umbrella Stand) (63965 - 6L)

3308 'Light Bluish Gray Brick, Arch 1 x 8 x 2' (16577)

50990pb03 'Light Bluish Gray Dish 10 x 10 Inverted (Radar) with Radiating Spokes Pattern on Concave Side' (blank LBG)

30365 'Light Bluish Gray Hinge Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers Vertical End' (DBG)

75535 'Light Bluish Gray Technic, Pin Connector Round 2L (Pin Joiner Round)' (62462)

3048c 'Reddish Brown Slope 45 2 x 1 Triple - with Inside Bar' (3048)

3245b 'White Brick 1 x 2 x 2 with Inside Axle Holder' (3245c)

3307 'White Brick, Arch 1 x 6 x 2 - Thick Top with Reinforced Underside' (12939)

32555 'Yellow Technic, Brick 5 x 5 Right Angle (1 x 4 - 1 x 4)' (Black)

As far as a reasonable price, for a boxed version in decent condition, they're usually £1200+ but the price seems to be continually rising!

[rynoster]

Snipped

Thanks for replying Lobot, much appreciated, and thanks for the welcome!

I have broken down your list into 3 sections, as you can see below. Not knowing the set that well, I've had to make a lot of assumptions. Does this look right?

The idea is just to prioritize the parts that really don't matter in color as they are barely seen, and maybe see to squeeze a few more "legitimate" parts into the process.

The biggest issue for me looks like the levers, especially with 60 of them in the set. Might be worth putting some extra budget there?

Not sure about the 4095 'Light Bluish Gray Bar 6.6L with Stop Ring to be honest, can't think it makes a huge difference?

Then, on the mast rigging, have seen a couple attempts of painting the black ones with little success. Any known success on getting that done, or not worth it?

Not ever BrickLinking anything in my life before, I'm still doing some test runs in BrickLink stores. If I did things right, I was able to get the first batch of ~4000 parts for $430, from one store.

This area could really see some improvement on the website in my opinion, the effort to get things right, might perturb a lot of would-be buyers, just saying.

Lastly, 1200GBP is not a bad price to be honest, and I might pay that to save me the effort of going through all of this. Where do you see this? I see a couple of replicas on Bricklink for around $1100 but I want the original if I'm doing it this way.

Non-visible

40344 'Black Technic, Brick 4 x 6 Open Center' (LBG) - frame

40345 'Black Technic, Brick 6 x 8 Open Center' (LBG) - frame

6558 'Black Technic, Pin Long with Friction Ridges Lengthwise' (Blue) -frame (and dish)

30364 'Dark Bluish Gray Hinge Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 1 Finger Vertical End' (LBG) - part cannon turrets & engines

30365 'Light Bluish Gray Hinge Brick 1 x 2 Locking with 2 Fingers Vertical End' (DBG) - part cannon turrets & engines

3048c 'Reddish Brown Slope 45 2 x 1 Triple - with Inside Bar' (3048) - cockpit

3245b 'White Brick 1 x 2 x 2 with Inside Axle Holder' (3245c) - frame

3307 'White Brick, Arch 1 x 6 x 2 - Thick Top with Reinforced Underside' (12939) - frame

32555 'Yellow Technic, Brick 5 x 5 Right Angle (1 x 4 - 1 x 4)' (Black) - frame

Visible – Minor/no visual impact

6538b 'Dark Bluish Gray Technic, Axle Connector (Ridged with x Hole x Orientation)' (LBG) - feet

4589 'Dark Bluish Gray Cone 1 x 1 without Top Groove' (4589b) - exterior

6019 'Dark Bluish Gray Plate, Modified 1 x 1 with Clip Horizontal (thick open U clip)' (61252) - exterior

3456 'Dark Red Plate 6 x 14' (DBG or whatever you prefer!) - underside

42445 'Bar 1 x 12 with 1 x 2 Plate End and 1 x 1 Round Plate End' (99784) - exterior

75535 'Light Bluish Gray Technic, Pin Connector Round 2L (Pin Joiner Round)' (62462) - feet & frame

4095 'Light Bluish Gray Bar 6.6L with Stop Ring (Patio Umbrella Stand) (63965 - 6L) - exterior

3308 'Light Bluish Gray Brick, Arch 1 x 8 x 2' (16577) - frame

50990pb03 'Light Bluish Gray Dish 10 x 10 Inverted (Radar) with Radiating Spokes Pattern on Concave Side' (blank LBG) - exterior

Visible – Major visual impact

4592c05 'Light Bluish Gray Lever Small Base with Light Bluish Gray Lever' (black lever) - exterior

47996 'Light Bluish Gray Boat Mast Rigging Long 28 x 4' (Black) - exterior

[Schneeds]

Use the old gray levers. It will save you a fortune and it still looks good.

Personally, I would skip using the boat masts entirely and use a mod like ScottishDave's or the one I referenced and used in the previous post. You could also go with a brick-built radar dish like mine or Dave's. I think they look great and it's cool to avoid using stickers!

[Lobot]

Hi rynoster

I hope you don't mind but I've updated your post with a few changes, it seemed easier than trying to list each one of them! The alternate part numbers I've suggested should be the same colour as the original, but the new version will have a slightly different mold type. I agee with Schneeds about using old grey levers if you can, but they were getting quite rare when I looked for them, so I decided on the readily available black/LBG versions.

There haven't been many Falcons sold on Ebay recently, but if you keep looking you may find one at a reasonable cost. To be honest, I'm probably going to sell mine at some point; it was just intended as a project for the winter (and I can always do it again!). It will take a lot of time, and a fair amount of commitment so I'd strongly encourage you to fully cost it before you do anything

[Luisantonio]

by any means do you still have the excel list for the deathstar and the millenium falcon?

[H_Solo]

oops. Guess I can't count or I started to suffer from Lego fatigue!

I "misplaced" some parts during the build of the MF so I ordered them again, ending up with shiny new Technic beams now in my stockpile...

With the great number of different parts alone it seems to be the true mission not to loose patience/nerve/oversight/your head or too much money with this project...

As much as I'd love a completely original Falcon I'd never wanted to miss the experience and fun I had with bricklinking it and seeing it all come together from that gigantic pile of plastic parts...

I'd also be interested in a sheet for the DS (II?) if its not too much trouble... Love to tackle this one as well...;-)

Edited February 20, 2015 by H_Solo

[Lobot]

Hi Luisantonio & H_Solo, unfortunately I've deleted my original 'Master' files but they're easy to create:

i) The inventories are available from Bricklink

UCS Falcon 10179: http://www.bricklink...v.asp?S=10179-1

UCS Death Sttar II 10143: http://www.bricklink...v.asp?S=10143-1

ii) Open Excel & save a new file (I find it doesn't crash when you then do the next steps!)

iii) Highlight the parts & images on the inventory page (exclude everything above the sticker image!) I found that it's best to start at the end of the list (excluding the extras/alternative/minifigures)

iv) Right click on the screen & select 'Copy'

v) Then switch to Excel, right click on the sheet & select 'Paste' and wait for a bit....it might show 'Not Responding', but it will eventually transfer the data!

vi) Each part type will take up 4 rows & you'll need to re-format the total number of each part required as Excel transfers each number as text. I found it simplest just to over-write them! However, the links will still work, which I found useful.

[dwong]

Hi unhappyeeyore,

I've been able to score 3000 pcs for us$0.10/pcs from a single store, sounds ok?

This will be my first big order

Another 600 pcs will be from B&P at the moment.

Edited February 24, 2015 by dwong

[unhappyeeyore]

Dwong - 3000 bits from one store, on he money at the magic 10 cents per part -is AMAZING.My orders were #1 2292 parts, then #21129 and then a few 200s then the rest and the Lego Order for 655 parts.

Currently mine is being dismantled for sale else where as I move onto a new project.

Hope all goes well with the parts collection.

[Lobot]

Update: I'm not having much luck at the moment with this..

Unfortunately my PaB order has been 'officially' lost. Ironically it managed to get all the way from Poland to my local distribution depot (less than 5 miles away) on the 11th February, never to be seen again! However, after my earlier problems with the order, I can't praise LEGO's CS highly enough - they've been brilliant A replacement order is already made and I should have the parts within 7-10 days.

[legocharles]

Fom my experince with this build last year, 90% of the parts cost me 10% of the price, while the remaining 10% of the parts cost me 90% of the total price. Of course, you can build the 10179 for a good price if you dont mind it being slightly different from the original (I did mind, though, but that's my problem...).

I plan to dust off my MF soon and I plan to upgrade those not so good looking LBG ladders used as reactors that I got for a hefty price. I have seen in here WAY better looking alternatives for the reactors, using trans blue tiles I believe.

Edited February 27, 2015 by legocharles

[Bricksnaps]

I found the engine redesign with light blue 1x1 round plates posted by Scottish Dave extremely intriguing and far more movie accurate than any kind of fences before the Falcons thrusters... It also saves a fortune and looks imho absolutely smashing!

So i have just completed my 10179 and am looking to do an engine mod. My M.F is going to be sitting in Echo base so no need for the Hyperdrive to be firing, however I am wondering if someone has a link to this mod as I would like to see the framework, I will be building the interior of the engine on a curve like this but with black vents.

[ScottishDave]

I am wondering if someone has a link to this mod as I would like to see the framework.

Does this help?

Original posting

My flickr album which has more photos of the work in progress

bmerigan's blog where he shows his own implementation of my design

[rynoster]

Use the old gray levers. It will save you a fortune and it still looks good.

Personally, I would skip using the boat masts entirely and use a mod like ScottishDave's or the one I referenced and used in the previous post. You could also go with a brick-built radar dish like mine or Dave's. I think they look great and it's cool to avoid using stickers!

Hi rynoster

I hope you don't mind but I've updated your post with a few changes, it seemed easier than trying to list each one of them! The alternate part numbers I've suggested should be the same colour as the original, but the new version will have a slightly different mold type. I agee with Schneeds about using old grey levers if you can, but they were getting quite rare when I looked for them, so I decided on the readily available black/LBG versions.

There haven't been many Falcons sold on Ebay recently, but if you keep looking you may find one at a reasonable cost. To be honest, I'm probably going to sell mine at some point; it was just intended as a project for the winter (and I can always do it again!). It will take a lot of time, and a fair amount of commitment so I'd strongly encourage you to fully cost it before you do anything

Thank you Lobot and Schneeds, and apologies for the late reply, work got in the way...

I have decided to park this idea for the time being. Being in South Africa, we have multiple challenges, random import duties, striking postal service, etc, etc.

I am going to start with a couple of smaller projects first, mainly building my Technic set collection, and then maybe start doing a couple MOD's before getting into this.

[Bricksnaps]

Does this help?

Original posting

My flickr album which has more photos of the work in progress

bmerigan's blog where he shows his own implementation of my design

YES!!! Thanks so much..now to get rebuilding :)

[Lobot]

Well, after about five weeks and two attempts, my 'Pick a Brick' order finally arrived.

It was all looking good when I opened it until I realised that it was missing 10 6 x 8 LBG plates, oh how I chuckled So, I just had to make yet another phonecall to CS and they're going to send them asap. I've honestly lost count of the number of calls that I've made to them this month, I'm starting to feel rather embarrassed about it all! However, I'm going to continue building it in the next couple of days and see how much I can do. I think it's fair to say that I haven't had any luck with this order, I'm not sure what's happened.... anyway, more updates soon.

[Kelso]

Sucks to hear about your unlucky orders, I can't wait to see more updates from you. And good luck to your future orders!

[Lobot]

Well, after what feels like a rather lengthy wait, I've made a bit of progress in the last couple of days:

Page 80: Firstly, all of the underneath including the ridiculously expensive 6 x 14 Dark Red plate (which I paid £12.50 for!). All 7 legs installed and it's suddenly looking a lot more impressive. First 'greebling' touches added, I've almost forgotten how big this thing gets!

Page 92: Rear engines installed, it's quite quick to build and not too repetative. There's some lovely little touches on either end of it. The Technic beams make it incredibly stong, which is good as it gets very heavy. I must admit I'm missing the yellow 32555s, they just added a certain something to the original model If anyone is tempted to do this, I'd 100% recommend it just so that you can experience the whole process. It's certainly a mammoth project and something you'll always remember doing!

I'm hoping to do quite a lot more in the next few days, so stay tuned!

[Daphatty]

This is inspiring me to bricklink my own MF. I just finished recreating the Executor SSD last week and I loved the experience.

Edited March 13, 2015 by Daphatty

[Lobot]

Update: I've made quite good progress in the last few days, results as follows:

Page 160: Both mandibles finished and it suddenly gets a lot bigger! I've also added the lower panels to it, plus the two that cover the under-side of the central corridor between the docking rings, including the loading ramp with the hydraulic rams

Here's a photo of the underside, which should give an idea of the size of the model. The sheer number of parts in each panel is amazing and the finished model is covered in tiny 'greebling' details. When the set was originally available at an RRP of £350 it seemed very expensive, but in hindsight it was a total bargain. Even taking into account inflation, the newer sets seem far worse value for money....

I'm hoping to do some more this weekend. Unfortunately I've just used my last 6 x 8 LBG plate, so that could be a problem....

Cheers, Robin

[Strand]

I know you're in the process of building it Lobot, but how much do you project this thing will cost all up? Thankfully I bought the UCS Falcon on sale myself years ago. I remember balking at the price and mulling over it for days, and even after I'd purchased it, it didn't sit right that I'd spent $AU 750 on a single set. In hindsight, I'd purchase it in a heartbeat. These BL builds fascinate me, but the sourcing part sounds like my personal hell.

Edited March 14, 2015 by Strand