Millennium Falcon - 1/144 Fine Molds (2)

With little modification needed for this kit, I decided to put a bit of effort in painting. One thing about the Millennium Falcon is the weathered feel it had, now come to think of it, I've never seen a picture of a brand-new factory roll-out type Falcon! The box art itself can provide a bit of reference to how it should be weathered, but for more details I've turned to something else: 

"Sculpting a Galaxy". I came across this book once and I know I must have it! It contains the details of all the models props used in all 6 Star wars movies. 

Also there was this Youtube 4 part tutorial that I found on building the 1/72 Falcon kit, it's a different scale, but the same can still apply. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRv95ZFWLl8

So back to the kit, I start by making the dents and bullet (laser?) holes. I've seen others add the dent until the end when the painting is done, though I thought doing it before will be easier to control, and the dents should come out once I applying the weathering effect. 

There's another set of scratch marks on the other side on the ship, as well as random dents on other parts of the ship. Once this is done I prime it with Mr Surfacer 1000 and move on to the paint.

Here are all the parts (excluding the top and bottom half). That's it, on one tray.

I've decided to go with the recommended colors from Fine Molds. Mr Color 338 for the base. Turns out the actual color of the Falcon is more pale and a bit yellowish, But I stick with it anyway, again hoping the weathering will lighten the tone a bit. once the base is done I add a bit of shadow effect on the Falcon.

Next are the red and gray patches on the body, Fine Molds has included a very detailed coloring scheme with the kit, as well as a sheet of water decals for the patches if you opt for a simpler build. 

First the gray: 

 

The the red, as with the gray, it takes a bit of masking. (Quite alot in fact!). Most of the places I used masking tape, and for round corners and some difficult surfaces, masking solution. 

 

And last the yellow patches. I never know the Falcon has yellow until I built this kit. With these out of the way, the last thing that needs to be done are the weathering and detailing. Guess I'll open a new section for that.