Tested Builds: Millennium Falcon Studio Scale Replica, Part 1
This week, we’re starting a new long-term build series, and it’s a replica prop from Star Wars! We’ve ordered the DeAgostini Millennium Falcon kit, a 1:1 replica of the shooting model used for The Empire Strikes Back. The kit is being released a piece at a time every month, and it’ll take about two years for it to be completed. It’s a true endurance build, and we’ll have friends join us throughout the series to help out. Follow along with us for the rest of this build by signing up for a Tested Premium Membership here!
42 thoughts on “Tested Builds: Millennium Falcon Studio Scale Replica, Part 1”
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YES!!!!!!!!
I wonder if George Lucas ever saw anything that was Star Wars related and said “Damn, these people need a life!” I love The Trilogy but man, some of this stuff is obscure. I mean not only is it a model but the 100 micron resolution Shooting Model used on shots 1-XX during scene XXX.XX, I mean damn, how specific do we need to get before we are making more realistic stuff than used in making the movies? Dont get me wrong, If I had the money to spare, I’d buy it, but only because I dont have a falcon already. I dont have an X-wing yet either and they have 2 Lego X-wings behind them. I will build the Red One Xwing they built because I like it the best.
If the kit is from England, is it going to leak oil and have screws that are all different sizes?
Keep the Content coming guys, love the content, just dont duplicate in the same year and I think you may be blowing it for later in the year on the Star Wars content.
Love watching you build, you need to get a schedule set on builds, like Friday-Sunday are Model Days, tuesdays are Replica Prop Days, Wednesdays are Movie review and preview days etc… then before you know it, you’ll have a network, then you can hire Patrick Norton to host a show and have Adam and Jamie host a Replica Prop Show, Norm have a Tech preview show, Joey can have a show on shooting movies, and I get an Executive Producers Credit on the whole network.
Cool, looking forward to see this thing progressing!
It’s a bit too expensive for me at the moment, but I’m sure it will be an impressive build.
A 2 year build? Surely you have more pull! Have you tried contacting DeAgostini?
Dudes, come on, it’s Dejarik, not Chess or Holo Chess 😛
This kit looks amazing, and I would love to build it, but I can’t justify spending $1500 on a Falcon… Would love to, but sadly it’s not happening.
This is awesome!! Unfortunately I found out about this at the same time the Anovos trooper armor was up for its great sale and I had to make a decision. I went with the armor and decided I’d try and get this a few months later and just stay behind a bit.
If they are like the Australian model building magazines which it looks the same they normally sell the first issue in the newsagent /news stand to lure you in to subscribing.
Cool but MAN this is expensive.. I like how they say “No contract, No obligation – You are free to cancel at any time”; the thought of having an unfinished Millennium Falcon taking up space in your house is going to pressure you into coughing up that 1500USD :’)
You guys are evil! Now I HAVE to become a member 😉
yes they are usually available at newsagents (a mix of a news stand and a corner shop) but they wont usually get every issue in there stock unless you ask them to. usually the first issue very cheap to lure people in but due to the long time span they usually fizzle out so is not worth the newsagent stocking them most of the time. Us lazy brits cant be bothered to see much through to the end.
I just love when Will always says to Norm “don’t mess it up….26 months” Like putting huge stress on him when he have to be delicate on parts, I would turn crazy in is place…. 🙂
I was really tempted to get one of these, but could not justify the cost. At least I can see the results through you guys.
There’s a plethora of these types of magazine kits every January in the UK. They’re mostly regarded as a bit of a scam.The first few issues are priced cheaply with enticing tv adverts and copies in the shops – huge eye catching oversized magazines with lumps of model spitfire or whatever attached, lodged in the magazine stands. Kids don’t read the ‘256 issues at gbp8 a time small print’ and usually give up after first 3 when they they disappear from the shelves completely.
You should contact them, if you haven’t already and buy the pieces in advance. It has been known for the publisher to abandon these things entirely leaving the few that see it through to the end without a final kit. Probably not going to happen in this case as its quite high profile and they’re probably sponsoring Tested but who can say 2 years down the line how many issue 25s they have left.
This is the second model I’m doing from these guys (the first being a 1/8th scale James Bond Aston Martin DB5) I’m on issue 17 but then I’m based in the UK. I can’t bring my self to start building till I have all the pieces. So at the moment I’m just reading the magazine and storing all the stuff for two years.
With the DB5 I found the publisher to be very help full. I kept getting broken rear view mirrors sent to me and I would just call them up and they would send another one. I did break a wheel when I was building and had to buy a replacement on eBay as the publisher had ran out of stock by that point.
Thanks Will and Norm for building this It will keep me going till I get everything.
oh man. what an unexpected gem!
I’ve been really wanting to do this. This may very well push my over the edge and commit.
I wanted to practice up a bit on a smaller model or too and sharpen up my painting skills. I think the paint job could be better on this kit. I talked to DeAgostini at Celebration and they said this was designed with someone like me in mind. Someone who had done model building long ago, not interested in the super simple snap together models that have practically no detail.
I’m really trying to justify buying this…. IDK where I’d put it though.
If you get the magazine anyway it maybe worth saving the parts for a build in two years. But what if you loose parts in the meantime or the kids or cats eat parts of it? 2 years is just plain stupid. Seriously why promoting stupid marketing exploits like that? But I guess they paid for it?
It comes with a wall mount! That’s where I would need display it because I wouldn’t have a surface to dedicate to it.
Cool.Cya in two years then 🙂
26 months of waiting to complete would drive me nuts. I would have to do it in a way that I let all the parts pile up for 2 years than conquer it at once.
Oh man this is awesome but everything i have ever read about this kit makes me think this is going to be a very difficult build.
Good Luck!
There are lots of RPF threads talking about this kit, but a great look at someone customizing this to be more accurate can be found here: http://www.ianlawrencemodels.com/wipdeagofalcon.html
I really like the work you guys do but this site is feeling more and more pointless unless you are a premium member. It’s a shame
Oy – so cool… If I had room for it, I’d be all over that kit. It’s gonna be fun watching it come together!
In the UK some years ago a BBC consumer affairs television programme reported that these multi-part collect-and-build sets often ended in retailers cancelling their orders of the publication after the first month or so sales tailed-off, leading to the publication run being cancelled due to lack of interest. The first few parts are usually eye-catching or large, gradually providing smaller (but essential) pieces later in the run.
A similar sales model was used by this publisher to sell “sticker albums”, containing pictures of sports teams or movie images. Customers complained that certain pictures were never made available to complete the sets but were on sale via the company for a premium price.
From these reports you might infer that they were operating a scam – but they denied any wrongdoing and the BBC were careful not to make direct accusations.
Not to pour water on this build, as I’m as excited as a 10 year old watching you guys embark on this. Hopefully this will work out well, and I will watch no matter what.
This is great!!!! takes me back…. i modded a millennium lego kit once…. with an old floppy drive stepper motor hooked thru the parallel port on a linux box, which made the antenna go round and round…..but…
… what people can do today with arduino, leds, lipo batteries, bluetooth, Adafruit, Sparkfun, modern internet, etc… cant even imagine what people will come up with.
I really want to do this!………The money is a lot but worth it to me – I could maybe pull it off………but 25 months? That scares me.
I wish they would just take my money all at once (or at twice) and cut the delivery to say 4 packages in a year – like quaterly.
I am a hypochondriac – I may not live 2 years and a month!
If you guys had a contest that entered all premium members (including new) into a contest that offered this full sub – you would have a 1000 new premium members.
I just bought it (and re-upped my premium membership). Watched the video and shouted “Take my money!”
Wanted a really good version of this model for decades. I built a kit of the flacon in the 80’s and was devastated by a) my crappy teenager building skills and b) the underwhelming quality of the kit.
this is going to be great.
Do you have any more info on that I can read? I researched them and they have some documented issues/complaints with “autocharging” after customer cancellation….but not with cancelling a series that I can see. 25 months is long for me…..but I am feeling tempted. It’s a really great looking project. But what a commitment!
When the interview for this kit first went up on the site, I was tempted to get it. After seeing you guys start and that it has an inner metal frame, that justifies the cost a bit more.
Just hoping my cats don’t run off with any of the bits as I build mine. The bigger issue is where to store it during the weeks in between the deliveries and when I can find/make the time to screw the bits together.
This will be an interesting two years. In it for the long haul now.
This is going to be epic! 2 years is a long time! I foresee VR model build content about 10 months from now hah!
I’m sorry I did have a look on YouTube to see if I could find more – the story was covered in the BBC’s long running “Watchdog” show (hosted by Anne Robinson – she of The Weakest Link, you may recall).
You can contact them via their website http://www.bbc.co.uk/watchdog and a researcher may answer your enquiry – but I’m not sure they can say much more than I told you.
This is probably the most high profile set they’ve ever released. Usually it’s something like a model of a sailing ship, or even semi precious minerals – but something generic in nature. Star Wars collectables have pretty hardcore fans. My gut feeling is that there will be a high uptake of this set, and that as long as you’re subscribed upfront there won’t be a supply problem.
I have been following this kit for a while, but I too, am greatly concerned about the subscription canceling – I’d rather pay $1500 at once, than roll the dice.
Nothing against this particular product, but if these guys don’t complete the kit, we are at their mercy.
BUT HEY! This is exactly why I subscribe to Tested…. I’ll watch you “test it” and if it is good, then I’ll buy it for myself…. 🙂
This was the first “week of build” where I really want to follow along. I waited about 20 min and then had a rare, “Shut up and take my money” moment.
There is a lot of negative comments about the cost, how long this is going to take, etc… The way I saw this was a great way for someone to get a great quality product that otherwise has a high entry level price point. If I cannot find an extra $15 a week for something that I have wanted since I was a young child I will always look at others with envy and wish.
Additionally Star Wars is almost 40 years old now, if you do not have the patience to build this particular Millennium Falcon kit there are other readily available options one may choose from. Slow building is a great way to ensure accuracy and a real sense of pride in what you accomplish. Already the way that some people have modified and improved on the kits that they have has me wondering what I should do when I get my package in the mail.
Love the build, Love the site, keep the content coming.
Thanks for the reply. Yeah, I suspect they are in for the long haul on this one. Still….I think I will let it roll around in my head a while before deciding if I am gonna jump in.
Perfect timing!!! I was waiting on month 3 to arrive before I dove in, but now I have a reason to stat early!! Thanks guys and keep up the good work!!
You make good points. I don’t personally think there are “a lot” of negative comments. If I come across as negative, it is not intentional.
For me, It’s not the slow building (month to month) that bothers me as much as the overall long time (2 years). The price bothers me, but not because it is not worth it – because it is a big commitment. It’s actually a bargain compared to what you would pay for a finished studio replica (a half scale TOS Enterprise can run 7K – although it’s 5.5 feet long – it’s totally worth it – but I can’t justify it personally at this point).
So, maybe some of the “negative” comments are really just comments on what is a very awesome, but imposing, project.
A very tempting project!
“Millenium Falcon for a head.”
I f’ing love you guys.
I heard about this kit months ago, and I was all agog and amazed! Then sadly worked out the cost with the exchange rate. Just checked it again, so currently it would set me back $80 AUD a month. Can’t afford that on top of a mortgage. 8[
Will have to live vicariously through you guys.
I just ordered it! My impatience wants it fast, but my pockets do not have $1500 right now, so I compromised for the 12 month subscription version 🙂
I cannot wait!!!