MPC/ERTL Millenium Falcon Review

This will be the first in what I hope will be a series of model kit explorations. Each one will be based on my personal experience with the subject kit. I will explore the relevant aspects of the kit from initial purchase to fit and finish, and everything in between.

This time I will focus on the classic MPC Millennium Falcon. The kit was originally released in 1979 following up on the success of the first wave of MPC Star Wars model kits. It was re-released in 1983 with new packaging to coincide with the release of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. It was repackaged again and released in 2005 for the release of Star Wars Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith.

The kit is available now on the secondary market in a sealed package for a little over $100 USD. If you are more adventurous, the kit is available in various states of assembly for less money on Ebay.com. Because the kit itself did not change, there is no reason to seek out the much more expensive 1979 issue. If your intention is to build the kit, the 1983 or 2005 re-issues are great.

The kit includes the upper and lower hull and 4 sprues of parts all cast in a light grey plastic. The box contains one small sprue of clear parts, windshield, and cannon well windows. For some reason, the rear wall of the cockpit is also cast in clear plastic.

It’s important to mention at this point that this kit is a legacy kit. For the money, there are more accurate kits. If you are choosing to build this particular kit, your aim is nostalgia, rather than accuracy. Before I discuss the casting and overall quality, it’s worth noting that this kit was made in a much different time. As with many things, this kit is a victim of technological limitations of the time in which it was designed.

The instruction sheet is a simple black and white multifold print with line drawings which tend to be a bit vague. Modern instruction sheets are much more accurate, reducing errors for the builder.

The kit’s plastic is stiff and fairly brittle. Whether that is a function of its age or the formulation of the plastic is a matter of conjecture. The majority of the ship is cast in two large pieces. They lack accurate details, opting for placeholders that were presumably used for ease of production. All of the surface plumbing is cast, as are all the details on the engine deck. While this made the kit easier to build and cheaper to produce, it detracts from the final look of the ship. The original release date explains the 3 legged design. As many knows, the Millennium Falcon added two landing gear between Episodes IV and V. The secondary release date might have been better if the kit had been reformulated to address some of the inaccuracies and include these two additional landing gear.

The several I have built have all had some degree of warping. The upper and lower hull has a noticeable twist which had to be corrected. The casting sprues are thick leading to a lot of work cleaning up the parts before assembly. Among the kits inaccuracies are, most notably, the engine deck, the height of the side walls, the diameter of the radar dish and the incorrect framework on the cockpit. Speaking of the cockpit, it is basically phoned in, including only the rear wall and two seats. The incorrect height of the side walls makes the docking rings and cockpit appear too small. The radar dish is oversize by 6mm or so.

The model is designed to be fairly easy to build consisting of just a few major components. The most difficult part is getting all of the sidewalls lined up with the upper and lower hull pieces. Because the kit is mainly two shell halves, they all have to be aligned while assembling. The drying process involves rubber bands or multiple clamps to hold the halves together. They will not simply rest in place. I recommend this kit to the intermediate modeler, as it takes a bit of massaging to get it together correctly.

Over the years, modeling this ship has been a process of better and better models. This is the first kit along that journey. This kit is enjoyable as a finished piece. It holds a place of nostalgic honor among modelers and Star Wars fans alike. Assembled correctly and painted well, it makes a passable Millennium Falcon. It was the most accurate representation of the ship that was available until the release of the FineMolds model many years later. It looked better than the Kenner Toys version of the ship for the more adult fans. There are obvious corners cut in the design of the kit, but it’s worth buying mainly because of the place it holds in history.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

Thanks for reading.

Mike Cotterman

Administrator, Everything Millennium Falcon

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