I like modifying my minis and after seeing some of the lighting mods for the YT-1300 I knew I just had to give it a shot. However I hate just cutting blindly into something as pretty as the YT-1300 so I spent some time slowly taking her apart and I documented the process for the community here. Hopefully this will give some of you a bit more confidence to do your own mods. I'm linking to the images rather then just importing them as there are 16 of the dang things.
Be warned, even if you go slow and steady, you might break something and ruin your ship. So proceed at your own risk!
My tools in this process were a clay sculpting knife (think an exacto knife with a wood handle and a slightly thicker blade), a small metal stick (a hex wrench actually), time and patience . This took me the better part of 2 hours.
(EDIT: I tried to add 2 of the picks directly but that's about it. The 500kb limit's stopping me from just attaching them)
To start, the cockpit was the easiest part to remove. It's set into the bottom half of the ship with 2 small pins. A blade can be slipped between the canopy and the bottom half and with a little pressure it should pop off. Now behind the cockpit you'll see a large thick plastic pin holding the top and bottom halves together. I'd recommend cutting this one somehow as my many attempts to force it were the ONLY time I damaged the falcon during the whole process. It's a big pin, and a weak section of the ship .
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/2.jpg
With a little prying the bits in the front just fell apart. I don't think they were well glued on my ship.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/4.jpg
Once gone though you can see the main seam running along the ship. From here I just made my way around the ship, gently prying and applying a little pressure. If you're pushing hard enough to mar the plastic visibly, you're prying too hard. Nothing popped here though and I was worried about breaking the front section so I moved on.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/5.jpg
Above the engine here was the biggest,easiest seam to pry at and you can see here that it lifted easily. You can also see a small scratch I made to the paint. Good thing I'm cutting that out to light up the engines!
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/3.jpg
As I worked my way around I stuck a bit of metal into the seam to hold it open slightly and with my knife I could apply enough pressure to pop one of the 3 big pins behind the engine. Here you can see the seam popping up.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/6.jpg
As I slowly made my way around the seam, more pins popped and bits of the decorative edging (the detailed thin bits that make up the sides of the ship between the top and bottom halves) fell out.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/8.jpg
Though not all of the edging fell out. Almost all of the edging on the front (from the round side bits on) was glued in really well, This is because the front flat section of the ship (were it spits into the classic fork shape) was practically filled with glue. I was constantly worried I was going to break the top half.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/9.jpg
Here I tried to gently pry that pin free in the cockpit.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/7.jpg
And here's the damaged I caused failing to work it free.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/10.jpg
The front took a bit more time but eventually it gave. And as you can see there are 5 dang pins holding the front of the YT-1300 together!
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/17.jpg
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/12.jpg
Surprisingly, the round parts on the side of the ship aren't really glued in. They're held in place by a pair of hooked tabs that slot into holes on the bottom half of the ship. So don't try to pry them out until you've separated the 2 halves!
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/16.jpg
Another place I caused some damage was in removing the engine. The part you can see is just a long thin piece of painted plastic that will pop free with
some pressure. But it's held in place by some glue and 3 tiny nubs. Which as you can see here, I broke off accidentally. It was worth it though as once this piece was free I could pry at the back and get the first big pins popped loose.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/15.jpg
Here's the top half of the falcon.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/13.jpg
And the bottom half. Note the very broken pin there in the cockpit.
http://i735.photobucket.com/albums/ww357/thenightgaunt/Falcon/14.jpg
So I hope this helps some people with their desire to mod their YT-1300.
And keep on the lookout for my follow-up threads "rebuilding your YT-1300" and "The cheapest places online where you can buy a new YT-1300".
Edited by Thenightgaunt