Project Upgrading Illusive Concepts HIC Panels

[Mammer]

Hello,

I purchased an Illusive Concepts HIC when they were first released in 1997, and I've had it displayed ever since. I have been collecting the pieces to assemble more screen-accurate-ish panels for the past several years, and I'm finally starting to build them. I'm now eager to replace the absolutely terrible 8 "Panel 2" copies that are screwed on the HIC. Has anyone else done this? Actual Volvo panels don't quite fit, since the sides of the IC Han are also a bit wonky. It doesn't appear it will require a little modifying of the panels. I will also have to cut out some of the fiberglass in the panel areas for the Hero panel and Panel 2 electronics to fit; and one small hole for the power cord to feed out of the back. I don't anticipate ever wanting to sell this, so I'm not concerned with devaluing the HIC based on upgrading the panels. Has anyone else worked to overcome the fit problems with upgrading the panels? Amy I crazy for wanting to change them all? Please see the picture of how lame the IC Panels are compared to a Volvo panel. Thanks ahead of time for any input.

 

[Panaflex]

I’ve got the same HIC and have often thought about replacing the panels but don’t have the skill set for such a job. I look forward to seeing your progress.
Best wishes on the project!

 

[Mammer]

Well, I pulled Han off the wall and sliced him open with a Dremel. I thought that I would take some close up pictures of Han prior to cutting into the side. The pictures below are just intended to be close up reference shots of the front sculpt. Maybe this would be helpful for anyone building their own HIC. My Han is numbered in the 700's of those produced. I think that I got a pretty good one, though. Next post I will have pictures detailing how poor some aspects of the Illusive Concepts HIC are; especially on the sides.

 

[Mammer]

Here are some shots of how poor the craftsmanship is on the sides and top/bottom of the Illusive Concepts HIC. See the screws sticking out, the crappy panels and how wonky the edge (extremely wavy) is.

 

[Mammer]

Here’s my using a dremmel to slice into the panel location for the Hero Panels 1 & 2. I did have to increase the size of the second Hero Panel hole when mounting, to accommodate the electronics/box housing that I purchased from SirCharles77. I would highly recommend purchasing his 3D printed pieces to help mount Fettronics kits for your Hero Panels. This was a very dusty process with the dremmel, but I had a wet dry vac sucking most of the dust out of the air as I cut. If anyone, for some reason, wants pictures of the inside of an Illusive Concepts HIC, just ask. I did take some pics.

 

[Mammer]

Here are my first 4 panels that I made. If anyone wants to know where I sourced the parts, just ask and I can detail. I tried to base most aspects off of pics from the film HIC at museum exhibits, but felt some specifics mattered more to me than others.

 

[Mammer]

The side panel pockets on the Illusive Original HIC are fairly inconsistent, but pretty accurate. I did have to shave off a bit on some of the panels, to allow them to better fit in the pocket. Below I’m showing the slight modification that needed to be made for the 4th right panel to fit. I simply filed down the edge of the 2 screw tabs with a dremmel, to create a good fit. It didn’t take much. From what I remember, I filed down the upper tab on the Hero Panel, nothing on Hero panel 2, nothing on panel 3 and both tabs on 4. 3 and 4 ultimately fit the best.

 

[Mammer]

Here’s the panels in place. I reused 2 of the 3 screws from the crappy Illusive Original panels to attach the tabs of the new panels to the HIC pockets. I used a 3/32” drill bit to pre-drill holes for the screw tabs, which allowed for a snug fit of the screws. I used a minimal amount of hot glue on the front side edge for each Panel, and then screwed the screws into the pre-drilled holes to attach.

 

[Panaflex]

Wow, super impressed with what you did here. It looks great. Fantastic job.

 

[Mammer]

Wow, super impressed with what you did here. It looks great. Fantastic job.

Thanks! It really was quite an upgrade. I still need some motivation to do the 4 panels on the left side. Hopefully soon!

 

[Littlemuseum]

Here are my first 4 panels that I made. If anyone wants to know where I sourced the parts, just ask and I can detail. I tried to base most aspects off of pics from the film HIC at museum exhibits, but felt some specifics mattered more to me than others.
View attachment 1096883
View attachment 1096885View attachment 1096882View attachment 1096884View attachment 1096886

Hi! Could you let me know who I can buy all the parts including the 4 side panels, electronics and greeblies? I currently only have Han Solo in carbonite front panel. So need everything including the electronics. Thank you and best regards.