Milllennium Falcon box and vehicle repair advice.

[Lonebudman]

I got this a while back and decided it was time to try and bring it back to its former glory.
I have taken it and apart and got the motor working again and gave it a good clean and its turned out quite well I thought.
Its just missing a blue strut,cockpit glass and of course the training ball and arm.

The rear landing gear is a little loose and although they will hold the slightest touch and they give up,is there a tried and tested method to tighten them up again?

The box is far from perfect but isn't too bad either but as you can see it has been the victim of the dreaded brown parcel tape,what is the best method of removing it?

 

[Doomseeker]

Hey, I'm actually restoring a Falcon of my own at the moment, just the vehicle mind....however I do have some advice as I've taken tape of boxes before with good results. Lighter fluid is brilliant for removing tape. Get your self some and pour it into an egg cup or something similar. Then using a fine paint brush start to work it under the tape lifting very ....very...very slowly with a pair of tweezers. I've never had a problem with the light fluid damaging the box, in fact it's great to use to clean the whole box by applying it to a clean cloth and slowly working your way over the whole box. Once you've gotten the tape off they'll probably be a sticky residue where the tape was. using cotton buds and kitchen paper and more lighter fluid you will be able to get it off.
I assume you're talking about the middle leg of the landing gear? The best way (if you dont want to buy a replacement - plenty on the bay) is to unscrew the falcon and take the top off then take some superglue and put it on the part of the landing gear where it meets the falcon body. Once the glue is on the joint keep moving it so that it doesn't glue them together. What happens is the glue sets and creates more friction between the two parts which should stop it easily falling over.

Hope this helps and please take pics of your progress I'd really like to see it.
Thanks
Gary

 

[Lonebudman]

Hope this helps and please take pics of your progress I'd really like to see it.

Yep this definitely helps,thanks!

First chance I get i'll pick up some lighter fluid and try it out and post some pics of the progress.

It was actually the 2 rear landing gear legs I was talking about.Its the 2 lugs that hold the falcon up when the legs are extended and holds the legs up when they're not extended.
I guess this falcon has had its legs up most of its life which has pushed them in too far out of position so they don't do their job when the legs are extended.
Thats a good tip for the front leg though,handy for future reference.

 

[Lonebudman]

Thanks to Doomseeker's advice I was able to remove the brown parcel tape with lighter fluid.It does an excellent job,no paper/print at all came off the box using Doom's suggested method apart from paper/print that was already pulled off the box and stuck to the tape.
Unfortunately there are rips from previous tape that must of been on it but the box definitely looks a lot better now the tape has been removed.



Thanks Doomseeker!

 

[Doomseeker]

hey man.....great job. I glad it worked for you. lighter fluid has so many aplications for restoration....ironic!!!

 

[rebel_scum]

It sounds like your legs are warn. I have some spares if you would like to try them? If I send um and they fix the problem you can chuck me a few quid if not just send um back. Drop me a pm it it helps