INTRODUCTION     For information on specific areas of the model, roll your mouse over the green squares (left).         This is the 2000 version of my Millennium Falcon. Although they are very hard to find in quantity, I decided to use Lego bricks for the outer hull. There were some terribly yellowed and chewed bits, which I couldn't avoid using! The windows for the top and bottom gun ports are white in this version as I had yet to find the relevant parts in grey.         There is plenty of space inside for all of the interior detailing. The interior remains the same in the 2004 version, although I have replaced the white circular padding with tan. The cockpit, has a hinged section in the roof. If you look really carefully, you will see that I have sat a Lego Ben Kenobi at the controls to provide some sense of scale. The port and starboard docking ports open outward and are linked via a passageway to the main corridor hub. I was very careful from the beginning to be as accurate as possible, which proved difficult to do considering that none of the official or fan produced guides are of any use. I had to think up my own design as nothing else seemed to match the visual evidence from the films and the "Millennium Falcon Walkthrough" contained in the Behind the Magic CD-ROM (Which itself is not 100% accurate).

ESCAPE PODS         Escape pod covers, which are located under the spherical solar panels at the rear of the rear of the ship. Out of all of the theories surrounding the Millennium Falcon's escape pods, this is the only solution that makes sense to me. The first diagram of the Millennium Falcon which I encountered was the one drawn by Frank Bitterhoff and in many ways its still one of the best. Like Frank, I believe that it cannot be a coincidence that the main corridor matches the curve of the six spheres located at the rear of the ship. In any case, where else can the pods be? The escape capsule used by R2-D2 and C-3P0 was huge (See the Star Wars Technical Journal). Given the dimensions of the Falcon, I just don't think that there is room for escape pods to be anywhere else. Frank Bitterhoff even came up with a credible solution to the mysterious docking arrangement with the Medical Frigate. That Han Solo had converted three of the launch tubes into docking ports (Let's face it, the existing top hatch is a pretty feeble affair if you are looking to load cargo).     There is direct access to the foremost three escape pods from main corridor, with the three doorways matching the sliding doors of the pods exactly. The pods at the rear are reached via doorways in the port and starboard cabins. A small corridor leads from each room to the escape pods and also provides access to the ship's engines. There is not much room for the engines in my model, but it could be argued that the ship in it's original specification didn't need much room. The modifications carried out by the ship's various owners might have been fitted around the escape pods. The pods themselves are made up from an assorted bunch that Han has acquired from all sorts of places. Escape pods are probably made to standard requirements all over the Galaxy, with most being compatible with the Millennium Falcon.

LASER TURRETS    Correctly mounted upper and lower quad laser cannons. I may be able to figure out a way to motorise them.     The cannons are correctly mounted and can be manually elevated. Behind the circular window is a vertically placed gun port, complete with chair, firing controls, etc. I took a photo of the top port before it was installed. The top port can be lifted out of the model, revealing the ladder leading down.

ENTRY RAMP         Manually operated ramp. I have included a hinged inner ramp leading to deck level. I took some pictures of this section before it was installed, to help explain how it works. I agree with Robert Browne that the inner ramp hinges upwards to form the floor of the corridor (You can see in The Empire Strikes Back that our heroes run up two slopes). I actually came up with this idea myself and was a bit disappointed to see that Robert was working along the same lines! This is one area where the "Incredible Cross Sections" really falls down, as the Boarding ramp is almost at deck level. There is a small inner ramp but this in no way makes up for the space needed for the lower gun port and smuggling compartments.

RADAR, SMUGGLING COMPARTMENT, FORWARD HOLD Radar dish. Compare this to the 'real' thing!

COCKPIT     As many fans have noted, the cockpit is mounted too high for its floor to correspond with the rest of the ship. If you look closely at the Incredible Cross Sections diagram, the cockpit corridor seems to slope upwards. The problem probably stems from the fact that the interior set for ANH was designed when pre-production drawings showed the cockpit in line with the ship's side wall. Only later was the cockpit of the exterior model raised higher. The solution that I opted for, was to include a small step up to the level of the cockpit. The main deck in my model is in line with the base of the side wall. I have included the step down to the floor of the main hold, as per the visual evidence in the Star Wars films. The floor of the hold may point to the Millennium Falcon being much better designed than many people assume. Without this step down, the ceiling would be even more uncomfortably low, especially near to the front of the ship. Even with the main hold at a lower level, Chewbacca still has to stoop.

INTERIOR FEATURES         Accurate network of cylindrical corridors with padded hoops. Although it isn't easy to do with Lego, I have attempted to install a network which matches the sets used in the films,. It is very close to the diagram printed in the 'Incredible Cross Sections' book and also the "Behind the Magic" CD-Rom. My model has the exact number of hoops depicted in the "Incredible Cross Sections' (At least the areas of the ship which are shown). A good example is the cockpit corridor, which has four hoops. The Increddible Cross Sections diagram is fustrating, as it attempts to fit the sets built for A New Hope without altering them in any great way. The parts which do not work are hidden by the angle by which it is drawn. In my Lego Millennium Falcon, I have extended the cockpit corridor which is really the only way to do it properly.         Light fittings inset into the walls. Two sets can be illuminated at present. I'm looking to wire the whole model up with lights, just as soon as I can afford it!         Manually operated sliding doors for cockpit, cargo loading area, circuitry bay and the port and starboard cabins. I was really pleased to be able to include these sliding doors. Now all I have to do is figure out how to construct the doors that slide downwards, such as the one leading to the boarding ramp! Smuggling compartments. I suspect that in A New Hope, that there was a huge open space under the floor. For structural reasons however, I decided just to include two small pits. Main hold featuring holo chess table, bunk, technical station and repair pit. I have also included details such as the helmet with "blast shield" (What is that for exactly?) Circuitry bay featuring padded doorway. Compare this section of the model to the Millennium Falcon Walkthrough.

HULL, EXTERNAL FEATURES     Detailed hull built from grey Lego, including raised, wedge shaped area at the rear of the ship. I have added some red coloured panels, without which the ship looks rather dull. Detailed vertical sidewall. Hinged port and starboard airlock doors. How big is the 'Falcon?         Another point which has been hotly debated, is the true size of the Millennium Falcon. Ben Fleskes, for his brilliant (But too small?) model of the Millennium Falcon has even worked out a Lego stud to meter ratio. I can't see how that would work though, as Lego mini-figures are not properly proportioned. Are they short and squat or tall and fat? For my model, I took a view that was somewhere in the middle. The doorways for example are all wide enough for the figures to walk through, but are mostly way above head height. The overall size of my model (88 studs by 126) is probably just about right, although I have had a lot of trouble fitting in all of the corridors and rooms. The headroom is very tight, especially over the corridor that leads from the main hold to the port docking ring. The interior network would certainly have never had fitted if the model had been even a fraction smaller. Speaking of size, check out S. Fugiti's Millennium Falcon model. I only found out about it last month, but just take a look of it's size of it!. It's almost identical to mine, especially the cockpit. That's really spooky. Ben Fleskes, has worked out the ship's true size to be forty percent bigger than the Elstree set, but this is based on a design which has the Main Hold placed in the middle of the forward section of the ship. A design, like the Incredible Cross Sections (Along with my own) which has the hold moved over to the port side requires a bigger superstructure, to provide more height for the corridor network. I would estimate that the Elstree set would need to be seventy to eighty percent bigger to accommodate a credible network.         I'm sure that my model of the Millennium Falcon will be superceded by bigger and more accurate examples, but for now I am satisfied that I have done some kind of justice to Star Wars fan's favourite spacecraft. I plan to refurbish the model completely at some future date. I'll only begin though when I'm confident that my pocket and my sanity can stand it!

Interior features.

Hold no.2. I included a secret door, as there does not appear to be any way of reaching the room via a conventional entrance. It also makes sense to me that Han and Chewbacca think it in their interests to keep their contraband away from prying eyes.

        Cargo loading area with manually operated front loading doors. I liked the idea of this room, as depicted in the "Incredible Cross Sections" The only trouble is that the diagram cuts down the size of the Main Hold, even going as far as excluding the bunk which is inset into the wall above the chess table. In New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back the hold extends much further towards the front of the ship. So much so that Chewbacca has to duck as the ceiling follows the slope of the hull. Considering the lack of space and the decreasing headroom, I doubt that the cargo area could really exist but what the hell, its a nice idea.

        Corridor leading to starboard docking hatch, featuring padded entrance to main corridor, manually operated air lock, hinged inner ramp leading to boarding ramp.

        Corridor leading to port docking hatch, featuring manually operated air lock, sliding door leading to electrical service bay and lft to top hatch. Also hooped entrances to main corridor ring and main hold. It's a busy little corridor! The lift is still at the design stage, I'll complete it as soon as I can. Obviously, I haven't got much of a chance of constructing anything resembling the lift seen in The Empire Strikes Back, as the thing is way too big to have ever fitted inside the ship's hull the first place. The inclusion of the lift in the film was entirely driven by the demands of the plot. Luke had to be able to fall a short distance on to the Millennium Falcon before being dragged inside. The existing docking ports on the side of the ship would not allowed this to happen.

Cylindrical ladder well, with padded entrance. You'll notice that there is direct access to the ladder well from the corridor.

Cabin. Designed to accommodate two people, it features a pair of bunks, a combined shower/toilet facility, and overhead lockers. There is a hinged door leading to the escape pod corridor. The bottom bunk has been converted to provide limited life support and medical diagnosis. This is the room which Luke was taken to after his brush with Darth Vader. Unfortunately, in The Empire Strikes Back, Princess Leia seems to be comforting Luke one second and back in the cockpit the next. The time it would take to walk this considerable distance was not taken into account.

Work room. Originally constructed as a double of the port side cabin, this is the area of the ship where Han and Chewbacca store all of their tools and gadgets. This room also doubles as Chewbacca's quarters, with him feeling quite at home there. My favourite Star Wars Galaxy card is of Chewbacca relaxing in a very similar setting. .

        As you can see, I have included as much detail into my model as possible, but the design process was far from easy. You would have thought that a space craft with as high a profile as the Millennium Falcon would have a set of schematics that are set in stone, but I found that this is far from the truth. The Incredible Cross Sections book, Star Wars Technical Journal and Star Wars Sourcebook disagree wildly. Fans such as Frank Bitterhoff for his 'Star Wars Fan Network' and Robert Browne for his 'Ship of Riddles' website have drawn up plans of the ship which are equally diverse. Who has got it right? All I wanted was something to base a model on!

        As none of the schematics that I had come across seemed to match the ship that I know so well, I went to the trouble of drawing up my own of plan. My version is based on the 'Incredible Cross Sections' diagram, and also the 'Millennium Falcon Walkthrough' which can be found on the 'Behind the Magic CD-ROM. The two seem to correspond fairly well but both gloss over problems with the level of the deck and the position of the main corridor ring.

        The position of the main corridor has proven to be the major sticking point with every set of Millennium Falcon plans that I have seen. In the sets built for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, the corridors leading from the main ramp and the cockpit seem not to be long enough to reach the gun port ladder well, which is in line with the centre of the ship. Han and Luke step on to the ladder directly from the main corridor, they don't walk down a sub-passage way to reach it as some diagrams claim. Also the main corridor hoop, if placed smack bang in the middle of the ship, leaves a gap between it's inner edge and the gun well ladder. Robert Browne's diagram shows perfectly the problem with the Millennium Falcon's network, without providing any solutions which satisfied my mind. For my Lego model, I opted to extend the corridors leading from the main ramp and cockpit, so that they almost reach the ladder well. I then decreased the circumference of the corridor ring, so that it curled around the well, leaving virtually no gap. That's one problem solved!