Millennium Falcon from "Star Wars" (1977)

SCALE: 1/72

INITIAL RELEASE: 1979

MEDIUM: Polystyrene

RARITY: (3)

ABOUT THE DESIGN

ABOUT THE KIT

Although at first glance it resembles a familiar flying saucer, the Millennium Falcon is actually shaped like no other spacecraft in movie history.  Originally, the Falcon was going to be a traditional "linear" spacecraft (i.e., cockpit, fuselage, engine block), but this early configuration was ultimately rejected by George Lucas who then used the design -- with slight modifications -- for his Rebel Blockade Runner.

When his designers were unable to devise an acceptable substitute, Mr. Lucas purportedly bit into a hamburger, showed the result to his artists, and said, "Try this."   This lunchroom inspiration led to this "saucer-plus-mandibles" design with its cockpit and radar dish placed oddly off-center.  (Purportedly, the Falcon was originally supposed to fly edge-wise like a sunfish and the cockpit would rotate accordingly, an ability ultimately given to the B-Wing fighter featured in "Return of the Jedi.".) 

This was a second-generation "Star Wars" model released subsequent to the success of the X-Wing Fighter, R2-D2, C-3PO, Darth Vader, and Darth Vader TIE Fighter kits.  Large and nicely detailed (albeit technically inaccurate), it was re-released in the 1990s by AMT/Ertl as a Cut-Away that allowed you to look into the ship's  impossible-to-accurately-reproduce interior.

The kit was re-released again in early 2005 with new box art to coincide with the May 2005 release of "Star Wars - Episode III - Revenge of the Sith."

This model was built from an original 1979 issue.

Original Box Art

Re-Release Box Art

2005 Re-Release Box Art