By Paul Heaberlin - images & text © 2004

Scale: Same as MPC/ERTL Millenium Falcon, whatever that is!

Parts: 9 resin (8 walls, one portal)

Instructions: None

Decals: N/A

Molding Quality: 10 - NICELY cast. No air bubbles

Detail: 10 - Very crisp, sharp detail

Accuracy: 5 or less. Don’t really look like the movie set. The portal piece is pretty good though.

MSRP: € 12,- EUR (~$14.84 USD/ $19.59 CAN) for one kit or € 22,- EUR (~$27.21 USD/ $35.92 CAN) for a set of two, plus shipping, available from Triliance

Overall Rating: 10 I like it! They’re very nice!

I originally wanted to start this review with a brief word on the inadequacies of the classic Millennium Falcon model that has been available for nearly 30 years, but, most everyone knows what they are so why bore you? But in a nutshell the kit has two portals, top and bottom that give one a nice view into a hollow, empty model. There should be identical gunner seats just behind both window and what has been dubbed a 'gun well' and, hexagonal room surrounding the gunner seat. There has been much talk on the best way to fix this detail.

A while back, someone had posted a link to one modeler's solution to the problem on the Starship modeler boards. And I was among many impressed with Wolfgang's’ solution for putting gun wells into the shi - a very nice design. For a while, he was offering them, but then stopped after he sold his spare copies. There must have been enough demand for in early Dec 2003, he offered them again and as of this writing they're available through Triliance.

When they came, I researched the movie sets by watching SW: ANH and searching the net. They aren’t 100% accurate but I love them. The easy design will make assembly easy. You also don’t get the seats or targeting computer, but they shouldn’t be hard to scratch. I’m considering drilling small holes for lights.

Editor's Note: Since Paul sent this preview in, Triliance has come out with a second upgrade kit that includes the seat, targetting computer and a seated gunner figure (either Han or Luke - definitely NOT Chewie!). The 6 piece interior for the gunwell including pilot figure, targeting computer, seat, gun control stick and power supply wire is € 7,- EUR (~$8.66 USD/ $11.43 CAN) per kit plus shipping.