One magazine into the current delivery and I was already feeling like we had done a lot. My eight-year-old daughter – Ember – and I, had busily worked our way through issue seventy-one, exhausted by the end. There had been a lot to do. Not in a bad way, but it had been a really meaty installment. Clipping, gluing, those bloomin’ magnets. It had kept us occupied for a long time. It had also reignited the both of us. The pause that we had had with the magazines of two months, had meant that we had found it hard to get back into the rhythm that had taken several months to build and mature. Part seventy-one saw it back. I could see Ember enjoying herself, reveling in using the skills that she had picked up so far during this project. With our energy and enthusiasm back, I was eager to get back to the build.
After having to do lots of preparation work for the interior of the Millennium Falcon for the early issues, it seems silly that I keep checking now, I mean what could need preparing? All the painting is to now be done when the ship is complete, and Ember is now at the age where clipping and filing are second nature to her – in fact she usually does a better job than me! It shows what two years of doing this project can do for the young mind. Even so, my parental senses were telling me that it is always better to check than to be surprised. As I expected, there was nothing to sort out. Everything needed for this magazine was included and I didn’t need anything prior.
What I did find was what we would be working on, the dish of the Falcon. Everything about the ship is iconic, but that dish, there’s something special about it. As a child of the nineties, there were not many Star Wars toys available at the start of the decade and the vintage line had died off. As a child wanting to play Star Wars in 1990, after watching the film for the first time, there weren’t too many options. Thankfully, I had the most incredible nan in the world, who brought a huge lot of old vintage toys from a neighbour, who wasn’t playing with them anymore. You can imagine my face when she gave them to me. Included with them was a Millennium Falcon. Having been played with, you can imagine the one thing that kept dropping off, the thing that my brother and I always had to make sure we didn’t lose: the dish. Perhaps that’s why it feels like such an iconic piece to me. Yes, it features in a few shots in the films, but it is that toy piece that comes back to me and why I was so excited at the prospect of finally building it. For Ember, I’m sure, it would just be another piece of the project, for me, it was something a bit more.
With nothing more to do than get the magazine and the parts bag ready, it was time for Ember and me to sit down and begin. So getting out the rectenna (the proper name for the dish!) I was squealing with glee – getting some odd looks off Ember. I rightfully predicted that she was like, yes, another piece, but couldn’t understand why I was so excited. Quickly we were into our normal routine. She was cutting and filing, I was gluing. Everything went amazingly well, with all the parts fitting like they should. There is a small, detailed piece, number six, which needed a slight bit of filing so it would properly slot into the back of the dish but other than this it was plain sailing. These were all parts for the bottom of the whole thing, the part that will eventually attach to the frame.
Once we had done these little details, it was time to assemble the A-frame. This is the frame that holds onto the rectenna. This is the part on the vintage Falcon that would keep dropping the dish. This went surprisingly well. I was a little worried when – once the frames are glued together – everything gets assembled without glue. It means the pieces need to be accurate and precise. Thankfully they were, everything came together really well. I left Ember holding this tightly while I got the last part together.
The frame is the middle part, holding the dish to the mount. I had to glue the mount, then place the frames on. Again, it all went flawlessly, and the dish should be able to move; it did! It was at this point that Ember decided she wanted to start changing our reviews slightly and she wanted to take the photos… I guess the learner has become the master! We ended up very quickly with a fully operational (ok, so maybe pivoting would be a better word but this is a Star Wars review) rectenna that could move. It is very stiff, but then if it is to hold its place, it will need to be.
This is one of those issues that I will call perfect. Everything went smoothly. Every part, glued or not, fell into place and at the end of it we had a perfectly working component for our build. Ember and me both enjoyed it, with Ember happily talking along as we were bringing all the pieces together. The perfect sort of daddy daughter time. The completed piece looks fantastic; the detail is just so clear to see. The fact it moves really takes me back to those vintage days. Just the right length this week that never overstayed its welcome.
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