With our hiatus on the Millennium Falcon build from Fanhome over -and not a gap in magazines in sight – it was time to carry on with the project. Ember, my eight-year-old daughter, and I had been working on this project for over eighteen months. I had seen her confidence grow; her skills grow as well as her grow. When we had started, the finished Falcon was going to be the same size as her… not so much now!
With a pause in our building due to a stocking issue for part sixty-three, we had returned to the project with a bit of our usual spark gone. Ember and I were not quite in sync, we were having to relearn things that had come so naturally a couple of months ago. It had seemed a little awkward trying to complete the magazine. I’m hoping with us restarting with part sixty-three, that this time around, we’ll be a bit more like our old selves.
Which brings us to the last two installments of the current delivery. I had opted to only do one issue when we had last sat down, which was completely the right thing to do. This time, I knew we’d be able to do both magazines in a single sitting. As usual, I scouted through the magazines to see what we would be doing, what might cause us some hiccups and to make sure how many issues we should do when we sat down. Looking through issue sixty-four I found that we were exclusively working on the top frame and would finally, finally be able to fit the last piece of the jig. It has sat there in my study for months, incomplete and being unsteady because of it! I was quite looking forward to having that complete. Feeling like we could tackle two issues, I looked at the next part (and the final issue of the delivery) to find that it was more of the same, completely finishing the top frame. It wouldn’t require any extra equipment other than what we’d be using for part sixty-four, so it would make sense to do it at the same time. It would also mean that we could move onto something new rather than just more of the frame. Not that either of us have minded doing the frame but with the gap in issues, it has felt like we have been working on it far longer than we actually have. Both installments would involve screwing the parts together with little else, meaning I wouldn’t have to do any preparation for it, another bonus!
Something did catch my eye in the magazine for part sixty-four: the Jedi commlink. How it is that I never realised that the commlink is made from a Gillette razor is beyond me. Having now seen it, and Ember has, it has made me realise just how easy it would be to construct one of these. I’m sure this information is online but to have it in the magazine, to make readers aware of it, is really cool.
After my momentary distraction it was time to sit down with these magazines and carry on building this piece of junk. I sat down with Ember and immediately we were able to complete the jig. The whole structure felt far more secure. After that, I thought it would be the easy part, attaching ribs and the other frames. Oh, how I was wrong. The rib itself was slightly bent, meaning I had to put some force onto it to get it into the correct place while Ember screwed it in. This was rather more taxing than I could have imagined, particularly while trying to navigate an eight-year-old. Thankfully, Ember had been doing this long enough that I didn’t need to worry too much.
The rest of the build proceeded fine until we got to the two-hole connectors. These were the bane of these two installments. The problem was that we were finishing the frame, so the two sides needed to fit together. They didn’t sit flush but slowly overhung, which means they needed holding into place…with two-hole connectors that are small and finicky…and those needed screwing in. It was a lot to try and manage with the two of us. Ember, seeing exactly the problem, realised that this was more difficult if she was trying to also get her hands in. She sat back, got the exact screws I needed and before I knew it, they were there in front of me. Because she’d been doing this, she knew what screws were needed before I had even asked. It really helped. I’m not going to lie, if I see another two hole connector anytime soon, I might throw it out of the window!
We persevered and got through, although I’d been hoping for a much more relaxing time. With the two issues complete, we finally had the upper frame done. It was good to see it finished after starring it for several months with no progress. Coming to the end of this delivery was almost bittersweet. Yes, the frame was finally complete, but it had taken months to complete it, when it should have been done far sooner. Equally, now we could put that behind us and get started on the next stage. I’m guessing fitting all the plates to the upper hull. I guess we shall see in the next delivery.
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