The Millennium Falcon

I need to decide on The height of the new legs. They need to be tall enough to let The ramp open, and let people place figures on the ramp when playing a wargame. And if we are to be accurate to the films, short enough so a wookie has to duck down when walking up the ramp.

Now, given I am only extending the existing stump legs by around 3cm, I have to decide how they should look. I remember how the legs on the kenner Millenium Falcon looked when I was a kid, with pipework and hydraulics. I even priced some up on ebay, but decided they were too expensive, especially as I will have to weaken them by cutting them down to size.

Another option would have been to 3d print something, but I don’t have access to that technology yet and I am not sure how strong 3d printed legs would be. Some 3d printed items seem to be made in “layers” rather than one solid piece, and those layers sometimes come apart from each other. 3d printing is probably the future of wargaming minis,  but not something I know enough about yet to really pass on any knowledgeable opinions.

Given that the new legs will only be about 3cm tall, they are going to be mostly hidden the shadow of the ship, I think I might get away with just using some solid wooden shapes that I can screw into the flooring laminate I have added to the hull. This should be strong, and I can always add some surface details later to make them look more like the hydraulic legs of my kenner childhood Falcon. I briefly toyed with the idea of making thin shapes out of dowling glued together,  but I need a core block of wood that is wide enough that I can attach it to the hull with a wood screw and washer.