Dynamic Subspace

Tag: Millennium Falcon

  • DIY LEGO Display Stands for Kenner’s 1979 Millennium Falcon and 1981 Slave I Vehicles in Flight

    I wanted to display my Kenner Millennium Falcon, which I’ve had for awhile, and my recently acquired Slave I on a shelf above my desk at home. While I liked seeing them on the shelf above my desk–Falcon with gear down and Slave I resting on its base–I thought displaying them in flight would look a lot cooler. There are aftermarket displays, including some nice ones that are clear acrylic, but since I have so much LEGO on-hand, I figured I should use what I have instead of purchasing something new. Below, I’m including detailed photos of each stand in case you are interested in building your own.

    LEGO Flight Display Stand for Kenner Millennium Falcon (1979)

    The Falcon display stand presented an interesting problem. Due to its asymmetrical design (with cockpit stuck off on its forward right quadrant), getting it to balance from the center gunner platform was difficult. Also, I didn’t want to build the stand with a wider width so that I could avoid putting any weight on the fragile loading ramp piece. A very simple solution presented itself when I ran out of single-stud wide tires. Putting a two-stud wide tire on the front support arm in the direction of the cockpit substantially balanced the Falcon so that it doesn’t wobble or move on the stand at all even while I’m typing on my keyboard below it on my desk.

    LEGO Flight Display Stand for Kenner Slave I (1981)

    Slave I’s unique design presented its own unique challenges for building an in-flight display stand. It is designed to be in flight mode by someone grasping the handle on the back of its base. The straight forward approach would be to build a long arm with a hook or some assemblage to “grasp” around the handle. When I was testing this out, I didn’t have enough long black 1 x n Technic bricks to construct a stable and supported arm (needing at least a sandwich of Technic bricks over and under a 2 x n plate).

    I opted to build a shorter support arm that would contact with Slave I in three places–hook around the bottom of the handle for stability, 4 x Technic, Axle Connector Double – Flexible Rubber holding the weight under the two bottom engine exhausts, and two 1-stud wide tires under the screw assembly that holds the base at the loading ramp together.

    Due to its center of gravity, I angled the arm back a couple of degrees and built the display stand’s base wide, short in the back, and long in the front.

  • Working on the Millennium Falcon

    droid, man, and a wookie inside a spacecraft making repairs

    While the Millennium Falcon is prone to problems and breakdowns, Han Solo never gives up on her. There’s a lesson there about how we treat and take care of all of our technology.

  • New Wood Shelf to Show Off the Millennium Falcon Above My Home Workstation IKEA Table

    IKEA 47" desk with metal legs and DIY 12" shelf supported by two 2" x 4" x 24" studs. There are two Millennium Falcon toys on the shelf.

    I have two big problems. One is a Kenner 1979 Millennium Falcon, which is 22″ long and a little over three pounds. The other is the much larger Hasbro 2008 Legacy Collection Millennium, which is 32″ long and weighs 15 pounds. Living with these hunks of junk in a small Brooklyn apartment presents a problem–where to put them?

    For awhile, I’ve had two 4′ desks in an L-shape configuration. One is my ancient IKEA 47″ x 24″ artificial wood with metal legs desk, which had been holding the Falcons. The other is a Costco 48″ folding plastic desk, which I had setup to use my computer and laptop on. I wanted to put the Costco desk away to free up some living room floor space, so I thought about adding a shelf to the Ikea desk would be the solution.

    I used to have a series of lightweight shelves on my Ikea desk to display LEGO sets, which I wrote about here. I discarded those when we moved from Carroll Gardens to Park Slope, which is fine as they were not wide enough or strong enough to support the two Falcons.

    I already had screws, brackets, and support plates. I also had a 4″ x 12″ x 1″ board that I had used to extend the IKEA desk’s table top for lightweight objects. I took this board off the IKEA desk and intended to use it as my new shelf.

    What remained needing were two supports for the shelf. Yesterday, I walked to the Brooklyn Lowes to buy two 2″ x 4″ x 2′ studs (total $4) for the shelf supports.

    The corners of the IKEA desk are more substantial to support the installation of its four legs. Therefore, I wanted to mount the shelf’s two supports through that particle board instead of the weaker honeycomb core of the desk top. I drilled pilot holes 3/4″ from either side of the desk top at 1″ and 2 1/2″ from the back of the desk top to correspond with the pilot holes I centered on the 2″ x 4″ supports at the same measurements. I drove 3″ deck screws from the bottom of the desk top into the bottom of the 2″ x 4″ shelf supports.

    L-shaped metal bracket connecting an IKEA desk top with a 2" x 4" stud

    I provided extra support with a flat metal plate on the back and an L-shaped bracket on the front.

    1 7/8" deck screws driven through a 1" x 12" x 48" board

    Taking the shelf, I measured and drilled pilot holes on its back end at 1 1/4″ from either side at 1″ and 2 1/2″. The shelf is 48″ long but the desk is only 47″ long, so the shelf hangs over its supports by 1/2″ on either side. To secure the shelf to the supports, I drove 1 7/8″ deck screws through the shelf into the support from the top.

    Metal plate and L-shaped bracket supporting the meeting of a 2" x 4" support and 1" x 12" x 48" board

    I reinforced the shelf with a metal bracket on the back of each support and an L-shaped support on the inside under the shelf.

    1/2" clearance between edge of shelf and skateboard hanging on the adjacent wall

    I had to slide Y’s electric piano over an inch to give my shelf about 1/2″ clearance from my Ray “Bones” Rodriguez Powell-Peralta skateboard hanging on the wall.

    2008 Hasbro Millennium Falcon sitting on the shelf

    Looking at the “BIG” 2008 Millennium Falcon on the shelf, you can see that the landing gear comfortably fit on the 12″ (11 1/4″ actual) shelf when positioned longways. As you can see in the first photo on this post, the smaller 1979 Falcon can fit in any orientation and currently facing toward the front of the desk.

    I’ll keep an eye on the shelf to see if it needs any additional support on the front with heavy duty shelf brackets. It was already warped as shown above. I positioned the warp side up, so it might not need any further work.

    If you decide to build a similar back-mounted shelf on a lightweight desk like my IKEA one, be aware that the desk’s weight might not be enough to counterbalance the weight of objects that you put on the shelf, leading it to fall over backwards (if it isn’t positioned against a wall to halt it’s movement).

    In NYC, I suppose desks and shelves are like buildings–if you want more space, you gotta go up!

  • LEGO 75212 Kessel Run Millennium Falcon on Custom Display Stand

    LEGO Kessel Run Millennium Falcon on display stand.

    This is a lightweight custom display stand for a stock LEGO 75212 Kessel Run Millennium Falcon from the underrated Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018). Like the stand that I built for my heavier modified Falcon discussed here, it provides an angle upward and a swoop to the left. The landing gear lock into place on the stand and are held in place by gravity.

    I hope there will be more Han Solo and Lando Calrissian adventures with Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover. I don’t think he and the rest of the cast of Solo got a fair shake due to the behind-the-scenes production turmoil. Let’s keep the dream alive!

  • Star Wars LEGO MOC Diorama of the Millennium Falcon Hold Scene from The Force Awakens

    Finn, Rey, BB-8, Han, and Chewy in the main hold of the Millennium Falcon, a LEGO diorama.

    I built this 18 x 18 stud diorama of the Millennium Falcon’s main hold that depicts when Han Solo and Chewbacca get to talk with Rey, Finn, and BB-8 in The Force Awakens (2015). I made it sometime before The Last Jedi (2017) premiered. It isn’t 100% accurate due to my wanting the round passage way to create flow for the model (they should be on perpendicular walls). Nevertheless, I fit in important elements of the scene: the seating for the Dejarik table, the Nav computer, the pipes and tanks, Ben Kenobi’s seat while Luke is training, the in-floor repair access, and other equipment seen in the background of the Falcon in the various Star Wars films.

    Finn, Rey, BB-8, Han Solo, and Chewbacca standing in the hold of the Millennium Falcon (LEGO MOC).