Anyone ever removed a MR Falcon's front mandible piece?

[Heimidal]

How hard do you think it would be to remove the very front piece on the mandibles and then re-glue it?

See below pic of right mandible....

It's not really THAT off but...I have thought about maybe trying to fix it.

I originally posted this in another thread but thought I should move it to a thread of it's own.

Any ideas anyone?

 

[PHArchivist]

Just grow a set, suck it up and do it!

 

[Heimidal]

Hehe....I would but I sense much fear in me!

I'm just debating the best method really. I'm thinking exacto knife right now.

 

[AT-AT Luvah]

My personal opinion is that it doesn't look that bad and it gives that part character. I would not attempt to pry it off - it can only lead to bad things.

I know it's one of those things that only you know of and you want it to be 'perfect' but your Falcon looks amazing, I wouldn't risk defacing it.

 

[rmschneider104]

My vote would be to live with it like it is.

 

[Guy Cowen]

I have just done mine, it looks so much better & was really easy. All you need to do it is.... only joking. Sorry couldn't resist

Mine is the same though but i got it from AJcollecting really cheap but even that isn't enough to make me try to correct it. I'd say live with it, they still look great.

 

[Heimidal]

I have just done mine, it looks so much better & was really easy. All you need to do it is.... only joking. Sorry couldn't resist

Mine is the same though but i got it from AJcollecting really cheap but even that isn't enough to make me try to correct it. I'd say live with it, they still look great.

Same deal here. Mine was from MR direct but super-duper cheap. Didn't even notice it during initial inspection. Even given the cheapness of it I'm not sure if I want to try to correct it. Nice to know mine wasn't the only one!

Thanks for the opinions everyone. Still not sure if I'll try to fix it or not.

 

[S. Holmes]

Just think of it this way......

It's one of those things Solo will get around to fixing...... one of these days.:rolleyes

Or Chewie bumbed it into one of those dam cloud cars.:lol


If you can't just live with it.... then get some debonder and use a flat, wide exato blade to carefully and easily pry it off after the debonder has had time to work.

Gil

 

[Max Zephyr]

Most of the MR ships where pre-painted so a lot of the parts are paint to paint mounted making them quite easy to coax off. I doubt the falcon is much different. If it is a surface mounted part then it would likely come right off. The flat chisel xacto blades work best.

 

[nightrider]

If you do it, I would start with a very thin razor blade and start working it around the circumference of the part, essentially cutting it away from the mandible, try to avoid any prying. First though I would check with Barry and ask if he remembers how exactly that part is attached, what kind of adhesive they used to put it on, and most importantly, what material the part is. I looked at my pics of the ship unpainted and I can't tell whether this is one of the plastic pieces or not, one shot makes it look as though it may be resin like the rest of the ship. If this is the case, DON'T TRY IT, that stuff is extremely brittle and the slightest torque will make it crack on you. Of course if you could source a replacement part from someone it might not be a big deal if you mess it up. It shouldn't be impossible to locate this one piece, considering some have collected all of them. If it bothers you that much and you can't live with it, that's what I would do.

The debonder mentioned above sounds to be a good idea as well.:thumbsup

 

[PHArchivist]

Or take a quick latex surface mold of the part prior to working with it, in case it breaks.

 

[tk1608]

Stuff like this bugs me too, you gotta decide how much.
If it does break beyond repair when you try to get it off, the parts are from the 1/20th tamiya tyrrell six wheeler, about £14-£16 here in the uk, I think thats about $30 ish, so not too expensive to replace if there is a disaster.

You could perhaps use a razor saw, they've got quite a thin blade and fine teeth to get in just behind the part and gently saw it off if it's really well glued on.

Only real prob I can see is painting it to match the rest of the ship if it is replaced.

Cheers

Phil

 

[nightrider]

After painting it with straight "grime" and then shading it with some "grimy black", maybe a bit on the other side as well, you likely couldn't tell one side from the other. Fortunately it's a part that has a lot of shading, so an exact match with the base isn't so critical.

 

[JLinNY]

Just my .02, I wouldn't touch it. It ain't that bad . . .

 

[clancampbell]

...It's obviously an itch that, at the moment, can't be scratched scenario....

I had similar doubts when i converted a really nice genuine Graflex into a Vader ROTJ saber with all scratches and nicks apparent.....

JUSt DO IT!!!!!

you won't regret it.

Rich

 

[Guy Cowen]

One option you could do is buy an artists palette knife & grind it to a sharp edge, this will easily get under the part & lift it. I've used this on guitars before & it works great?