Falcon Restoration "What a piece of junk!?!?"

Managed to rescue my childhood Falcon from my younger cousins about 5 years ago. I think it was passed over to them in the late 80s.
It looked like it been down a coal mine, the top left image dosn't do justice. Every possible detail or 'nook and crany' was filled with black dirt and dust.
Wish Id taken more documentation in its previous state.
The dish, gun turret, blue turret seat, cockpit glass, smuggler hatch & entrance ramp were all AWOL. It was a shell basicly. Funny enough the Jedi Trainer and Chess Board were still present, plus the FX battery motor was still kicking out.
It sat on shelf for a while, mainly during University. Not really knowing were to make a start with it.
Almost a year ago on a Easter bank holiday weekend I stripped it down and started cleaning it up. 3 months later after bit of patient eBay searching for missing parts and fashioning myself some repro stickers.

Most of the external stickers are DIY repro stickers. Half of original ones were either torn or hanging off.


Gives me a really big buzz looking at it now.
Got a AT-ST scout walker which is in the workshop waiting for the same TLC

That looks great !! 8)

I'd forgotten how much detail there was on the Falcon plus I wouldn't know if the stickers were repro or not !! :lol:

Thanks mate.
If you've got access to photoshop, a decent printer, a sharp scalpel knife and some patience. I kinda refused to go for the ebay repro stickers on principle. Theres plenty of resources to get scans of SW stickers on the internet. http://erikstormtrooper.com/vehiclestickers.htm
You can tell there not the real thing on close scrutiny next to the real stickers, not quite shiny enuff.

The detail on the Falcon is amazing, can't be improved on really for a toy. Hasbro have been chucking out the same hunk of plastic for 12 years now in different various paint jobs.

looks amazing, makes me wish mine wasn't in a box

Makes me wish I hadn't sold mine to the kid next door for a fiver! (it was 1986).

it looks superb. Did you manage to get rid of any yellowing?

i started one but all parts i bought were different colours so i threw it in skip at work

i love my falcon!

its hanging from the ceiling, pride of place in my room

nice work Doyle

IMTech said:

Makes me wish I hadn't sold mine to the kid next door for a fiver! (it was 1986).

Click to expand...

Know that one. My AT-AT went to a boot sale. Went for 10 quid in 1986 (hence my signature). Needed the cash for Transformers, Action Force or some other fad.

spoons said:

it looks superb. Did you manage to get rid of any yellowing?

Click to expand...

Think I was just lucky there wasn't too much overall staining. Its irreversible, a natural process in the plastic under direct sunlight or the right temperature, it just breaks down. Normally starts where two panels of plastic meet or have been fused in the factory.
Basicly if you fill the bath up with warm soapy water and dunk the two (upper and under) plastic panels in, let them soak for 5 mins. The vintage stickers can take the abuse. Then get a old toothbrush on the really dirty parts. But avoid scrubbing the stickers. You'll find that most of the yellowing is just surface dirt and grease.

8) Looks great!

Bespin_Doyle said:

IMTech said:

Basicly if you fill the bath up with warm soapy water and dunk the two (upper and under) plastic panels in, let them soak for 5 mins. The vintage stickers can take the abuse. Then get a old toothbrush on the really dirty parts. But avoid scrubbing the stickers. You'll find that most of the yellowing is just surface dirt and grease.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Well thats worth knowing, thanks for the tip.