Lego Millennium Falcon Landing Pad

After getting the Lego Millennium Falcon table built, I decided to build a landing pad.  Most people go for Docking Bay 327 from the Death Star. I decided to go with my favorite Star Wars backdrop, Bespin.  The scene where the falcon flies through the clouds to the landing pad at sunset has always been a favorite.  

I got the idea from a RPF build you can see here.  That one was a stand alone so I need to make some changes.  I needed the bottom to be flat so it would go in the table.  I decided to make it out of MDF. I wanted to use my CNC machine to make the cut easier but my machine has a max cut size of 48x24.  The diameter of the pad is 29" and its 40" long. So I split it in half.  I had the CNC machine cut the pieces out and engrave the pattern on the top with a V-Carve bit.

 .  . 

To get the proper height I stacked two pieces of 3/4" MDF for a total height of 1.5".  I then had to glue the stacked halves together.  After I glued the pieces I used a router bit to create the beveled edge on the top. I used a handheld router and went around the entire edge. I routed a slot in the bottom of the docking bay to for the wires to run. 

.  

For the top edge of the docking pad I used door foam from Lowes.  I think it was half inch tall.  I glued it to shape around the perimeter. Then, I painted the whole thing a light tan color.

After that, I glued an led strip to the inside of the foam for the lights.  The lights on the strip were actually to dense. So, I used black paint marker to black out the unwanted lights to make the lighting effect closer to the movie set.  Worked out fairly well. The lights are powered by a 12v wall adapter and the wires run under the bottom of the landing pad and under the side of the table.

 .   

The pad has good heft and and is very solid.  With the lights, it looks fairly scale. Yes, its not made of Legos. I have seen plans for a dock like this in Lego.  However, I think the cost is crazy.  For my purposes this worked out well.