“You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.”
As a kid growing up in the 80’s, Star Wars was THE franchise that probably had the most impact on my love for Sci-Fi. Sure, I watched reruns of Star Trek, Buck Rogers, and another sci-fi fare, but there was something about Star Wars that caught my imagination and made me want to learn everything about that movie as I could. My parents knew of my love for Star Wars, and each Christmas when the Sears “Wish Book” would arrive, I would promptly take it and find the pages that were dedicated to Star Wars.
I would pour over each page, looking at the new vehicles that I had just seen on screen, and I would circle the one that I really wanted…..the Millennium Falcon. Originally sold in 80’s for $29.99 USD (adjusted today would be just under $100), this was a princely sum for your family struggling to make ends meet, but somehow my parents were able to save up the cash, and that Christmas, a HUGE box awaited me on Christmas day.  Needless to say, I was delighted when I finally unwrapped the Falcon and Han, Chewie, Luke, and many others, began their adventures on the Falcon.
Fast forward to the 90’s, and I was a teenager in high school. I was too cool for toys (or so I told myself), but I still LOVED Star Wars as much (maybe more) than I was a kid. I had started to build models to feed my love of Sci Fi. I would scour my local hobby shop for sci-fi models, but I would walk away slightly disappointed when the only models I could find were of Star Trek (TNG was in its prime) and some T2 figures (I wish I would have hung onto those!) The majority of the MPC or AMT / ERTL kits were produced in the 80’s to capitalize on the Star Wars craze, but the original models were rare, and we were a few years before a re-boxing and re-release.  As with all things, my interest in models waned as I started university, and I put away my modeling tools never to look at them again, or so I thought.
Fast forward one more time, to 2016. A friend of mine decided to look for a hobby to fill his spare time and he decided that modeling would be the right fit for him. I will admit to ridiculing him (all in good fun) about his newfound hobby, but soon I was the one who had to eat humble pie and admit that the modeling bug bit me again. One look at a Bandai AT-ST and I knew that the models that I had wanted to build in the 80’s were available, and better yet, reasonably priced! I began to build the 2016 line of OT vehicles, starting with an AT-ST, but soon finding the 1/144 Falcon.
The detail on the Falcon was amazing, but it had two drawbacks. 1. It was small, just a bit bigger than my hand and 2. It was The Force Awakens only, meaning it had the new radar dish. Now don’t get me wrong, I love the new trilogy, but for me, the “true” Falcon can only be the Original Trilogy version with a round dish!
To say that I was excited when Bandai released brand new tooling of the Millennium Falcon in 1/72 scale with their Perfect Grade moniker, would be a slight understatement. My enthusiasm was slightly muted when I saw the premium price tag attached to this new kit, so I waited until I could find one on the used market, and in my price range.  Luckily, that opportunity presented itself and I am now the very happy owner of the 1/72 Bandai PG Millennium Falcon.
So let’s get down to the specs. This kit was released in the Summer of 2017 and features brand new tooling. That means that details for this model are incredibly crisp and sharp and that there is not a spec of flash to be found on this model. Bandai includes 36 runners that compose over 680 individual parts. A rudimentary LED lighting kit is included in the box, as well as clear lighting diffusers. This will simulate the original white hyperdrive as featured in the original Star Wars. One fret of photo-etch is included, which comprises the vent covers (ILM used Koolshade) for the fans on the upper structure of the Falcon, and metal grill work for the cockpit.
The model is just shy of 19″ when completed (480mm) which is the correct scale of the canon Falcon (34m – thank you Wookiepedia). Bandai gives Makers the option to complete the model with the clear parts, or to omit them and go with a windowless version. The latter is the traditional way that ILM presented filming miniatures, as the glass or plastic canopies would often create unwanted glare from the studio lights. Lastly, you are provided with an extensive sheet of waterslide decals that give Makers the option to create the multicolored panels with waterslides, or mask and paint. Additionally, there are a lot of the little detail decals provided. These are an homage to the original model makers at ILM, who added these little details, knowing that no one would be able to see them. Very cool and nerdy Easter Eggs for the eagle-eyed.
The PG is based on the original ILM design by a group of talented designers including the legendary Ralph McQuarrie, Roger Christian, Joe Johnson, and a host of others and the original McQuarrie design was actually more akin to the Tantive IV than it is to its now famous shape. Bandai decided to use the original ANH Falcon, focusing their efforts on the 5-foot filming prop vs the 32″ one used in ESB and each subsequent movie since. This means that there are some significant differences between the 1/72 and 1/144 models. The most obvious difference is that the ANH Falcon features 3 landing gears and white hyper drive engines. They did make a concession and add a grill to the engine (the original was while plexi), but I like the addition, so I will not complain. Purists may want to omit that on their version.
Bandai did a lot of research before creating the digital molds for this model. They started by taking thousands of high resolution pictures of the 5 foot ILM model. In addition to this, Bandai identified many of the famous greeblies that compromised the hull of the Falcon. They even molded in battle damage on the upper and lower hulls. This allowed Bandai to create an incredibly accurate 1/72 representation of the Falcon by using a combination of parts and scans. The result is nothing short of breath taking.
The polystyrene is crisp and details are sharp. Â The details that are molded in the hull are very sharp and defined. Â Bandai did make the decision to mould certain hull piping rather than create very delicate parts to add on. I can understand this as getting those runs of piping to sit on the hull without breaking would be daunting. Â As with all Bandai Star Wars models, Bandai has taken great care to hide seam lines behind other details. Â This means that you will not need to buy any putty to complete this model.
Speaking of putty, you won’t need any extra glue for this model.  It is a snap fit model, and Bandai has designed this model to fit together tightly and there is no sign of loose or ill fitting parts.  Bandai are master engineers and this model is a showcase for their prowess.  Snap kits mean that you will need to follow the instructions closely.  Some subsections must be completed in order to allow other sections to hold together correctly.
That finally brings me to the instructions. Â As expected, this instruction set is large and printed in mostly Japanese. Â As with all Bandai models, words are not needed. Â Bandai has done a great job walking us through the build step by step. Â As I said above, you need to follow the instructions closely to allow for proper assembly.
There are a couple of things to nitpick about.  The lighting kit solution for this model is overly simplistic.  I would have expected that for a model this detailed, there would have been fibre optics included in the kit for the cockpit back and side walls.  If you use the included lighting you will be underwhelmed by the result.  My suggestion is that you create your own lighting solution for the cockpit.  This leads to my second complaint, the cockpit is not as detailed as I would have liked.  It is a clear piece that relies on the decal, or custom painting.  If you want to use decals you will need to sand all the details off so the decal will lay down correctly.  I suspect that no amount of Microsol will get that decal to conform to those details. The side walls are decent, but lack substantial detail. I will definitely be looking at Greenstrawberry’s aftermarket detail set for this one.
I am not going to talk about the price as a detractor. Yes, this is an expensive kit. But the quality to price ratio justifies the premium pricing. If I were forced to buy a number of aftermarket parts to make it look decent, then maybe I would rail on about price. Right now my only real complaints are minor, and I dare you to find a better representation of the Falcon out there. All that being said, it’s and amazing model. The attention to detail rivals the De Ago Falcon at 1/3 the price. I will admit that the ESB Falcon is my favorite Falcon (I will probably put blue LED’s in my kit!), and while Fine Molds makes an amazing 1/72 ESB variant, the Bandai one is still superior. If you are a Star Wars fan, a Bandai fan, or heck, a Sci Fi fan in general, get this model, you won’t regret it.
