Touching-Up My Millennium Falcon

 

The Millennium Falcon is the most notorious starship within the realm of  Star Wars' Galactic Empire.  

It's also one of the most iconic starships in pop culture, next to Star Trek's USS Enterprise.

Since the movie's debut, the George Lucas, now Disney, marketing campaigns churned-out numerous playsets and action figures over the past 46 years.  Of course, one of the biggest, was none other than the Millennium Falcon.

About 10 years ago, I borrowed my friend Joe's playset.  Then, in 2015, I took advantage of a Christmas sale and bought The Force Awakens version, and returned Joe's Falcon.

What I liked right away about this playset is the plastic is softer, and more durable than earlier versions.  It was as if the playset was designed to be played with, instead of being put on display..

But as usual with the toy industry, the action figures are out of proportion to the starship.  This didn't matter to me, because I had no intention of using them.  I wanted the playset to use with my Star Wars Miniatures collection, or my 28mm sci-fi figures from other gameverses.

If you're interested in the playset as a playset, here's a video review about the Battle Action Millennium Falcon.

A couple years after buying this latest version, I decided to add a bit of detail by painting the recessed areas with  black ink wash.

Afterwards, I'd spend time pondering what--if anything--I could do to add even more detail, without turning this into a major painting project.

Since 2015, I purchased additional ink washes in various colors for my Cruel Seas vessels.  A couple weeks ago I thought I'd give another try at touching-up the Falcon.

I slathered the side hull with a coating of gray ink wash.  While the gray tone darkened the vessel along the side, compared to the top & bottom hulls, it didn't bring out all the details I wanted.  So I used a sparing amount of black ink wash in various spots.  I also added another layer of black to the recesses I painted years ago.

I added touches of a light rust colored ink wash in a few spots, mostly around the hatch entrances and vents.  I figured these areas would most likely collect condensation when in-use planetside. 

Here's my finished project from a few topside angles:

Finally, for the underside, I re-ink washed the recesses, then added an oiled earth wash on and around the landing pads.

Here's the underside view:

My mind's at ease now that I feel I haven't left anything out.  But this was an easy and relaxing project to do.  

So if I think of any more ideas on how to enhance my Millennium Falcon's look,  I may give it a try.