Fine Molds 1/72 Corellian Engineering Corporation YT-1300 Transport " Millenium Falcon" By John Rich

Background

Blasting it's way onto the screen in the year 1976, the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy”, became a star in it's own right. Those of us who saw the Millenium Falcon first on the big screen surely can't forget that first glimpse as she power climbed out of docking bay 94, Mos Eisley spaceport on Tatooine, leaving Imperial stormtroopers scattered about the place. All the Star Wars buffs who are model builders would either have built or wanted to build this ship.
So we have the review subject, the Millenium Falcon by Fine Molds. Anyone who has already acquired some of the previous Star Wars kit releases by this company will tell you that the quality of Fine Molds kits is among the best and this one is no exception.

The Kit

Upon opening the box you will find two large reference sheets , almost all the trees are packed into three smaller cartons, 14 separate frames of highly detailed and flash free pieces assemble together to become what has to be the best sci-fi kit on the market today. The upper and lower hull halves are rigid, straight and have only the surface plating detail in fine relief. All other clutter that adorns the outer skin is added on piece by piece, this would go along way towards explaining why there are 900 parts inside the box. If you look closely you will see that Finemolds have faithfully reproduced every single pipe, panel, fusion coupling and techno-gadget, it's even possible  to identify almost exactly what parts the kit bashers used when they constructed the original studio model.
The cockpit is made up of 11 parts not including the figures of Han, Chewie and either C3PO, Leia, Obi-Wan or Luke. There are also 6 decals to add to the cockpit detail. Alternative representations of the cockpit windows are provided – either with clear plastic, or as with the studio model, no glazing at all.
In total 11 different figures are provided including two Imperial Stormtroopers, just to make things interesting. The top and bottom lazerturrets are just great with detailed seats and control columns.
A comprehensive decal sheet is provided with all the hull markings, patches, control panels and others. Instructions are explicit and well laid out on a 24 page booklet (historical notes are unfortunately in Japanese)
The painting guides are provided on two 68cm by 44cm cards, the first has several photos of the original special effects model for reference, the second is a similar item with the photos of the Fine Molds model assembled and painted –although I am sure you will find that the top view is in fact a shot of the studio model itself.

Conclusion

Pros; well designed, crisp clean mouldings highly accurate and excellent fit.
Cons; Lots and lots of very small parts !

To sum up, this is just a great kit, congratulations to Fine Molds for a top effort and to all you eager young space cadets out there who are waiting for the big one – this is it. I got my review copy from SANDLE Hobbies.

Good luck and above all happy modeling.