Hi All,

I picked up the ISD-1 modification from Mel's minitures on shapeways a little while ago. The key think that is stopping me from starting the mod is i'm not sure what the best way is to remove the existing bridge from the ISD model. I was wondering if the community could share their experiences and provide a recommendations on how this could be done. It would also be great to hear your thoughts on any other lessons learned from applying the mod.

Cheers,

Bridge is easy... freezer for a while, rock it gently side to side.

the more difficult part is removing the existing quad turrets.

i clipped them out and filed down with an emery board, but even then, that was not great.

Given I haven't tried removing the bridge while the tower is attached to the ship, but it's super easy to remove it. The bridge is a 5 sided box with everything but the bottom, so you can slip a knife from the bottom in the parting line, and just a little bit of pressure should pop it off. I've done half a dozen regular ISDs, and two Chimaeras now, and I will say that both Chimaeras started to crack, while none of the W2 ISDs even pretended to give any resistance. So I don't know if they change anything or just bad luck, but figured I'd throw it out there. Hopefully the picture helps you figure out where the parting lines are.

Cool, going to give this a go tonight and see how i get on.

So put the ISD in the freezer for about an hour. Bridge was pretty hard to wedge off but got there in the end. Primed and base coated this evening. Feeling pretty chuffed that this is going to look good.

Thanks for the advice. Think i will try the dremel to remove the old turbo lasers.

Is the inside of the ISD1 bridge hollow like the standard one? I'm wondering if I can install fiber optics into it just like the normal one, or if it's solid and that won't really work.

I'm afraid I made it hollow. I did not think of the option of fiber optics.

Mel's ISD I bridge is hollow, but is also a single piece. The FFG bridge can have the bottom panel removed for internal access. With Mel's you would need to do everything from the notch for the tower.

Ah okay, so it's not just a "plug on top of the part that's remaining" piece. Good to know.

4 minutes ago, Khyros said:

Ah okay, so it's not just a "plug on top of the part that's remaining" piece. Good to know.

Well, it is.

its just that it requires you to completely remove the lower piece that you have remaining on your tower in the pic above.

5 minutes ago, Drasnighta said:

Well, it is.

its just that it requires you to completely remove the lower piece that you have remaining on your tower in the pic above.

Wait - you mean to tell me that the bottom part isn't actually part of the tower? I'm going to have to go home and look for more parting lines now! (Not that I have any reason to remove that bit)

I've looked very closely at this kit on shapeways and I have to ask, are the turrets missing the barrels?

They look like the broken versions of the turrets that appeared in portions of ESB and not the versions with the barrels that are in ANH and Rogue One.

This is an example of both broken and unbroken ISD1 turrets.

4 minutes ago, Khyros said:

Wait - you mean to tell me that the bottom part isn't actually part of the tower? I'm going to have to go home and look for more parting lines now! (Not that I have any reason to remove that bit)

Check jrocknz pic above - the tower ends with a squareplug only... the bottom half plugs into it. It’s a recessed join So parting lines will have been very difficultly concealed

7 hours ago, Khyros said:

Is the inside of the ISD1 bridge hollow like the standard one? I'm wondering if I can install fiber optics into it just like the normal one, or if it's solid and that won't really work.

If you get it in FUD, you may be able to mask the areas you want lit and just light block the rest of it, then use a general light on the inside. The FUD seemed to be pretty translucent.

6 hours ago, emsgoof said:

If you get it in FUD, you may be able to mask the areas you want lit and just light block the rest of it, then use a general light on the inside. The FUD seemed to be pretty translucent.

Fair warning, it is really hard to get 100% coverage on FUD to make it completely opaque.

I've glued the bridge, thruster nozzles, dorsal turrets, and trench turrets.

I think the way I've done the dorsal and trench turrets are a complete pain. I almost lost half of them as I cut them from the sprue and they flew off. They seem very fragile once glued on too. I think in hindsight I would leave a bit of the sprue in place on these items and then drill a hole into the main hull to drop these into.

Something I've noticed since applying the wash on the bridge, and another 3d printed model I got, was that the wash seems to not stick in a few places. I did wash the parts in soapy water before priming and base coating so I'm not sure what going on and what could be done to fix it. Thoughts?

1 minute ago, JRockNZ said:

I've glued the bridge, thruster nozzles, dorsal turrets, and trench turrets.

I think the way I've done the dorsal and trench turrets are a complete pain. I almost lost half of them as I cut them from the sprue and they flew off. They seem very fragile once glued on too. I think in hindsight I would leave a bit of the sprue in place on these items and then drill a hole into the main hull to drop these into.

Something I've noticed since applying the wash on the bridge, and another 3d printed model I got, was that the wash seems to not stick in a few places. I did wash the parts in soapy water before priming and base coating so I'm not sure what going on and what could be done to fix it. Thoughts?

That happened with me as well... The surface just... doesn't seem conducive to washing conventionally at all. Despite my normal surface preparations it beaded up the wash something fierce.

I make the assumption its a FUD surface issue... Even though I Washed, Dried, primed and base coated...

I've had this problem with FUD for years and been told "it's your paint."

The truth is that FUD has a residue that, I think, can't be washed off easily. The solution for me has either been intense sunlight or stripping the paint and trying again.

Try washing FUD with a 2:1 water and simple green mix. I keep mine in a spray bottle. Spritze them good, toothbrush the details, hot water rinse. I have only ever had issues with the MC80A without panel lines, where Iam obviously missed washing a spot because my phone thumb drive was there.

On 2/24/2018 at 8:32 PM, jscott991 said:

I've had this problem with FUD for years and been told "it's your paint."

The truth is that FUD has a residue that, I think, can't be washed off easily. The solution for me has either been intense sunlight or stripping the paint and trying again.

On 3/11/2018 at 10:42 PM, cynanbloodbane said:

Try washing FUD with a 2:1 water and simple green mix. I keep mine in a spray bottle. Spritze them good, toothbrush the details, hot water rinse. I have only ever had issues with the MC80A without panel lines, where Iam obviously missed washing a spot because my phone thumb drive was there.

Pro tip: It's the resin oil from uncured FUD material. They cure the stuff in ultra violet light after printing. This is not always 100% so let the parts sit in direct sun light for at least an hour or two... this cures the FUD resin all the way trough and sweats out any remaining oils from the material. Then wash the parts in simple green and rinse in hot water.

Trust me on this...