Docking Bay, 1:43, 1 of 2

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Product Description

SET 1 of 2

These are some of the scenic accessories you need to make a diorama of Docking Bay 9 4. Recreate the audience's first sight of the Falcon!

The parts are scaled to 1:43, to match the De Agostini Falcon kit or the Master Replicas collectible. (admittedly to be totally accurate, neither model is correct for a 1977 Docking Bay 9 4, since they both have ESB era Falcon details. Though this is arguably less of an issue for the SE release of ANH, which introduced the ESB Falcon into the CGI scenes..)

Since printing objects at this scale is kind of expensive, the affordable option is to use "White, Strong and Flexible" polyamide plastic, either regular or polished. Polished being the better bet, as it offers a less stripey print-line finish. However, you can't light white polyamide very effectively, and it can't hold fine details. So if you use white polyamide, you will also require the additional detail set printed using "Frosted Detail" translucent plastic.

If your model is a 1:144 model, like the Bandai or Fine Molds Falcons, I have 1:144 versions of the Docking Bay. Or if you have a 1:72 model I have a version for that. Finally, if you're looking for parts for the teeny "Vehicle 006" Bandai Falcon, I have a 1:350 version as well.

What you get.

This excitingly fiddly set includes crates, a forklift, doors, and various greeblies. Illuminated parts have holes for optional fibre optics. Since no full blueprints or complete photos of Docking Bay 9 4 are known to be publicly available, the models are based on screen grabs and behind-the-scenes shots, so they aren't necessarily 100% accurate.

Crates.

What self-respecting spaceport would be without a fine selection of space crates? Docking Bay 9 4 has a number of crates lying around - mostly cubes with circular patterns on each face, and bigger crates with rectangular grids.

Greeblies.

There are additional random greebly thingies scattered around the set, conveying an air of general mechanical decrepitude, and I've made models of many of them. The greeblies include:

The angular blue box - maybe some kind of power supply? - that sits beneath the Falcon. The original prop had two red lights on the top - quite possibly German-built Hella 2RL rotating beacons with the motors turned off. Because you can't light white polyamide material very effectively, I've made separate beacons and a separate control panel, which have to be printed using "Frosted Detail" plastic. Behind-the-scenes photos show that this box has a kind of rectangular exhaust pipe thingie protruding from the top back, but it's too small to 3D print to scale, so it's been thickened up a bit.
Two copies of the stacked barrel sort of objects - one of which is shown to the left of our heroes as they first enter the docking bay. These have 1mm holes for fibres for the green (left) and red (right) lights in the middle. There's also space for an LED to be installed. This has a rectangular cutout on the back so you can glue in a piece of styrene.
The two mysterious tall totem pole things that we get a really brief glimpse of twice in the scene. I've had to guess the details on these stretched ovoid objects. They also need thin wire pipes or rails.
The sort of low dome thing behind the Falcon, near the back wall. This is only briefly visible for a split second during the scene.
Curved pipes that stand near the walls. One group also has a control panel on a short post, but since I couldn't get the greebly details to print very well using this white polyamide plastic, the control panel is part of the extra detail set.
The mysterious low yellow-painted tank-like things situated over on the left side of the set. Presumably they're just throbbing with magic spaceship fuel, but who knows? In the movie they're surrounded by piles of silvery accordionlike hoses, which I haven't included with this model - you're best off using fine wire for that. IMPORTANT NOTE: I have since learnt that the design of these objects is incorrect. The front is right, since that's the only bit we see in the film, but the back should actually be tapered. I'm working on corrected replacements for this issue if that's of concern to you
Two cylindrical post thingies seen in the background behind the strange yellow tanks. These are barely visible in the film, and I haven't found any decent behind-the-scenes photographs showing any more details. So I've had to guess a lot of details on these objects, I'm afraid.
Finally there are low grey tapered cylinder things. (two under the Falcon and one hidden behind the forklift)

Forklift.

Did you notice the ordinary British-made Lansing Bagnall red forklift (technically a "reach truck") in the docking bay? It's hidden in plain sight - just sitting quietly against the back wall, equipped with an enormous claw for lifting rolls of paper and other cylindrical objects. Since it appears in making-of shots, it was probably used to build the set in Elstree, England, back in 1976. And then it was just left there once the cameras started rolling.

Note that the safety bars and three support poles are thin and fragile! To keep the upper section of the cage printable and protected I've added two extra thin horizontal poles extending from the top of the forklift frame. These two poles aren't present on the actual prototype unit, and can be carefully removed with a fine razor saw and a needle file.

Ground lights.

The ground lights are not included with this set, since they should be lightable and the white plastic isn't translucent. Accordingly I moved those to the extra set of details made from "Frosted Detail" plastic.

Doorways.

There are a number of yellow-painted doors in the docking bay, and I've supplied doors and frames accordingly. These doors have the same pattern as the one behind which the robots hide from marauding troops in an earlier scene.

In fact, keen-eyed fans will notice that a door with the same rounded criss-cross pattern was painted gloss white and recycled as the front airlock of the ship in the opening sequence of ANH. Though seen at the start of the film, this hallway attack was actually one of the last scenes shot in England for the 1977 movie.

Note that the models' door design is slightly simplified from the one in the movie. This is to make it printable - the diagonals were just too thin otherwise. Also, the doors are all single units and fixed shut, because the Docking Bay 9 4 doors are closed. I also make 1:43 versions of these doors with separate door and frame components, if you want to make them openable.

What you don't get in this set.

No human or alien figures. No robots. There are a number of tiny details omitted - mainly because you can't see them clearly in the film, or they're too small or finely built to make into printable models. Building features, such as air intakes, pipes, and the Special Edition's cranes, are omitted. Finally I didn't include any hoses or cables since they're best made using fine wire.

Please read the following if you're interested in these items.

These accurizing parts are not mass-market commercial products. I made them for my own use, and have put them here in case they're of interest to someone else. Possibly you, since you’re reading this.

These are components for the serious model maker who wants to build a more accurate miniature. They require finishing. If you don't want to trim, file, sand, and glue, then these aren't the parts you're looking for!

The parts are tiny, and easily broken. They push the limits of today's 3D printers. The detail in the digital previews is all there, but it won't always be visible at the miniscule sizes that this scale requires!