It had been a new delivery last time my daughter (Ember, who has just turned eight) and I had sat down to work on this project. It was two issues that were a variety of little bits that needed cutting, filing and gluing. Nothing too taxing but I wanted something a bit more, something that I could sink my teeth into. Of course, I’m saying that I must take Ember into consideration. The short, quick issues are actually perfect for her age, the movement between pieces and skills keeps her very engaged. So, I shouldn’t wish too hard for something a bit more!
The last few weeks have seen me completing homework for this project. This has mainly been looking into the painting of the model. I’ve brought an airbrush, paints, equipment as well as a guide, to help Ember and me eventually paint the Falcon as close to the Industrial Light and Magic model as possible. With the cold weather, we haven’t been able to practice using the airbrush. What I have been able to relax about is when to do the painting. I was thinking (apart from the interior pieces) that the model would need to start being painted in parts. Thankfully, looking through the guide by Josh Wraith and speaking to Josh himself, he did all the painting with a fully assembled model. Another relief and something to really start worrying about once the build is done. It would also provide much more time for Ember and me to practice with the airbrush in the summer.
Straight onto part forty-four, as always, I did a preliminary look through to see if I needed to complete or paint anything before I sat down with Ember. There would be some detailing of machinery, much like the last two installments. Then I saw the gun control instructions and almost glanced over it. Thankfully a took a closer look where it says to copy the instructions form issue forty-one! Oh! So, a bit more work to the issue than I first thought. I’m surprised that it says to get those instructions out and copy them. The back of this issue is blank, I don’t think it would have been difficult to reprint the instructions, but that’s just me being picky. This seemed relatively straight forward, particularly if Ember and I had done some of this before, so I thought I’d have a look at part forty-five too.
Looking through this issue, it was a repeat of installment forty-four with a little change and then just more cutting, filing and gluing. It sort of makes sense for Ember and me to do both issues together as the repetition would make things a bit easier. Like before, quick assemblies before moving on, something that would hold Ember’s attention. Also, because all of this was exterior parts, nothing needed painting, which meant I didn’t need to prepare anything. A happy bonus!
Getting the clippers, files, glue and parts ready, I could get Ember, sit down and start assembling. Straight away with the machinery pieces she was at home. For Christmas, Santa had brought her some dinosaur model kits and had spent a long time cutting and filing. The practice was clearly worthwhile as she was very assured of clipping and then filing the parts correctly. At times I forget she is still young; she was fascinated by the textures that were on the large piece. I had initially thought she might find this a bit boring, but she loved it. When we had finished, instead of going back to issue 41, we moved forward to the next part and she instantly straight on with it as she had just done the first piece. She even told me at one point that I was the one slowing us down! The cheek! Part forty-five had another small housing part that wasn’t in the previous installment but was exactly what we had been doing. Again, Ember was really comfortable with all of this. She would cut and file; I would glue.
With three very cool looking gubbin pieces for the Falcon assembled, we then moved back to the turret and had to get issue forty-one. One thing that did take me a moment, was to realize that the sprue needed to complete this part of the assembly came in part forty-three (in case you forget too!). Having already done this once, Ember got a little bored during this part, I think it might have been different if we had done it back-to-back. I on the other hand made a few little step changes. Those annoying pedals were glued on first, as was the pivot. And I screwed the chair in before putting the outer ring on. Oh, it was wonderful. For me, it was great to go back to assemble a build again, one that had been frustrating in parts, and do it a better way this time. Ember on the other hand was looking at me like I’d lost the plot, telling me that, “You do the instructions in order Daddy!”
With that taken care of, we had completed the two issues. While I was a bit lukewarm about these issues, they turned out to be heaps of fun for Ember, using skills she’s practiced in this project as well as her ever growing hobby. While I’m enjoying these little pieces, I really want to get to something sizable, to see the Falcon start to come together a bit more. The last time was for the frame, and I feel we’ve gotten a bit away from that. With one more installment remaining for this delivery, I wonder what Ember and I will be doing next.
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