[MOD/MOC] UCS Tie Interceptor 75382 - Spherical Cockpit (NOW WITH INSTRUCTIONS)

KK3D · July 6

I took some time to revisit the UCS Tie Interceptor (75382). I'm glad I got the set, but I wasn't in love and felt a bit disappointed, considering the final look when built. The shapes felt off, and specifically the center cockpit sphere. I feel that the promotional images were focused on the wings. But the photo's angles were the only way to make the spherical cockpit look like a sphere.

Luckily, I had some breakthroughs tinkering with it, and I think I'm delighted with it. I am a 3D artist by trade, so at some point it hit me that I needed to use the same principles that I would use to make a 3d ball to upgrade the parts that built up the center. I was able to tighten up a lot of the gaps, especially on the top. I am really happy with how much more spherical the cockpit now is. I tried a lot of tile combinations to create more rounded panels that flow into each other. I spent a lot of time working on the edges of the pieces where they meet up with the windshield, and I think I got something that flows better and comes off more circular than what the original set had going.

The other big thing to me was rebuilding the engine to get something with a smaller profile, but also that worked better with the rest of the set. I wanted it more embedded within the center body as well.

- Changed front cockpit pieces from black to dark gray (stands out much better)

- I hid the top cockpit hinges with sloped tiles

- Ditched shovels for more accurate gun covers. 3x2 angled plates.

- I worked to get the struts on the top and bottom of the arms to insert into the center sphere at a lower angle so it looks more accurate. Also, more space to create the cockpit sphere.

- Some cosmetics and "battle damage" to give it some character. (black and grey is so boring)

--- Here are some side by sides compared to the product images ----

I would love to know if anyone else had any mods, fixes, or alternate builds for this set. If you all think this is good, I would like to look into creating an instructions PDF, but I've never done that before. So, message me with any pointers or resources.

Edited July 6 by KK3D
moved images to flickr

Schrat · July 6

Yes, that's some great mods to the UCS TIE Interceptor! :thumbup: Fun thing is, that i was searching the web today to find some mods and now there they are! :grin:

Keep up the good work and yes instructions will be great :wink: !

Greetings

sandtrooper · July 7

This looks so much better! Excellent work!

joebiwankenobi · July 7

Bravo! I've been eagerly awaiting someone to mod the ball as it desperately needed some help. Good job removing all the unsightly gaps and staggered plates!

KK3D · July 10

Made a YouTube short for a breakdown too.

Lordhelmet · July 11

Looks great, I do like the red stripe too (is this baron soontir fels ship and marking?)

KK3D · July 11

I know I saw it somewhere (the red stripe), either for a specific pilot or markings for rank. Truthfully, I just found all that grey boring, and I don't own enough red pieces to do more with it. That's also why I added the broken wing tiles to add battle damage. Anything to give it a different color and break up the model. All those tiles are water tiles from the Mini Ninjago sets you could get with points from lego.com

Rilted · July 12

This looks great and you’ve managed to nail it with the spherical shape of the Tie Interceptor. This should also allow for adding different wing designs such as the Tie Fighter. Really looking forward to do this modification once you have the instructions made. Cheers!

Aeroeza · July 12

Nailed it! Very nice work. :thumbup:

KK3D · July 14

Part 2. The arms kept bothering me then I had another epiphany.

Robotbikeboy · July 16

This is an amazing upgrade to the stock set! Love it!

If you "recreate" your set in Studio (Lego Builder app you can download at Bricklink: https://www.bricklink.com/v3/studio/download.page) then you are able to export out .pdf instructions or share the .io file itself.

I've used this to create a good number of the older sets I have where the instructions are long since gone or fish-moth eaten beyond recognition.

It takes a bit of practice and tinkering to get the part instructions to show the steps in a proper buildable order (often the base auto-generated instructions start with you building impossible configurations, so it's just a case of setting the build order correctly which you can do by either tweaking the auto stuff a bit, or by starting selecting pieces from scratch in the instructions from the model) - but we both have 3D software experience, so I can guarantee you'll be flying through it.

Happy to help out with the instructions, if you want a fresh eye to look at it for you.

*edit - just seen in the clip that you're already familiar with Studio 2.0, great bit of software. Offer to help with the instructions still stands. :D

Edited July 16 by Robotbikeboy

KK3D · July 31

New images with the updated arms featured in the YouTube videos. These are the final images of the set (minus battle damage) that I used for the instructions.

Currently, I am in the process of submitting instructions on Rebrickable.com. Wish me LUCK!

Edited July 31 by KK3D
grammarly + image fix

**Anio** · August 1

I can't tell if the inside is build properly as the official set, but the final result certainly looks much better than the official model.

KK3D · August 16

WE ARE GO! Version One of the instructional PDF has been approved and is already on Rebrickable.com!

In the instructions, there are disassembly instructions so you can start from an already built set. But I also annotated the steps so you can work from the original instructions from scratch! I copied a lot of the style of the books, so hopefully they are intuitive enough to understand. Hopefully, I can get some good feedback. I'm already working on updating images with new renders.

Here's a project breakdown.

The center shape is more spherical with fewer gaps around the front window.
The top and bottom of the sphere have additional sphere sub-builds to add to the sphere shape.
Color change to the window pieces highlights the internal greebling of the cockpit.
Internal additions to the cockpit add more details, and additional red color highlights for a more menacing look.
Updated engine sub-build makes for a sleeker profile and a more accurate shape.
Upper and lower arm struts insert into the central body at a lower profile, enhancing the central body’s shape.
Updated design of the front and back of the arms that insert into the center.
Rebuilt the torpedo sections using new LEGO pieces to replace the shovels for detailing.