[MOD] UCS Slave 1 (anti-droop/bend when on stand)

[GallardoLU]

I'm going to do this MOD too. One question though, the dark gray Mixel joint piece, when you mount it to the 1 x 3 piece, is it closer to the front or closer to the back?

should mount closer to canopy (against the technic beam) hope you like the results

[JPN366]

should mount closer to canopy (against the technic beam) hope you like the results

Thanks for the info! I'm sure I will.

[JPN366]

Did the Mixel joint MOD, but I had to do it differently. I had already done the anti droop MOD from the OP. And, with the changes you make to the back of the panels with the weapons that pop out, you can't do the Mixel joint MOD the way @GallardoLU proposes. I used his brace idea, reversed the joints and didn't use any of the plates on the joints. I added some grills above the cockpit seat. I hated the gap between the cockpit and the loading ramp, where you can see all the way through to the back, so I added a platform. I connected a 4 x 6 (or a 4 x 8) plate to the 1 x 10 plate from the brace in @GallardoLU's MOD. Added one of those 4 x 4 corner plates to make it a little longer, a 1 x 2 brick with a 1 x 2 clip piece, one of those handle/blaster/gun pieces and a 1 x 2 slope with a control panel print. I'm going to add that Aurebesh 2 x 2 printed tile with a bracket piece as well.

[Bbafett]

I am almost finished building the slave 1. I had a concern that the top part of the canopy doesn't connect to anything. It just rests on top. I know it connected at the bottom of the canopy to the body of the ship. Is this right? Seems odd that it isn't a tighter fit for a cockpit canopy. I would have thought there be some connection to secure it.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Bbafett

[JPN366]

I am almost finished building the slave 1. I had a concern that the top part of the canopy doesn't connect to anything. It just rests on top. I know it connected at the bottom of the canopy to the body of the ship. Is this right? Seems odd that it isn't a tighter fit for a cockpit canopy. I would have thought there be some connection to secure it.

Yep, only one connection point. That makes the MOD from the original post even more important.

[Pariah]

Hey guys. Not sure if anyone is still following this. New member, been lurking for a while. I had this same problem to an extreme degree. Built the slave one and it has sat for over a year now. You can see its current state. The arms inside under the cockpit have completely disconnected. It hasnt been dropped or moved since the build. So, i dont know if this was a build error-highly unlikely, but im human too-or if this issue others have had eventually caused a complete separation. Im curious if anyone else has had this happen. Guess ill be pulling it apart to try to find the issue after i get done building my new ucs snowspeeder!

[brobert]

13 hours ago, Pariah said:

Hey guys. Not sure if anyone is still following this. New member, been lurking for a while. I had this same problem to an extreme degree. Built the slave one and it has sat for over a year now. You can see its current state. The arms inside under the cockpit have completely disconnected. It hasnt been dropped or moved since the build. So, i dont know if this was a build error-highly unlikely, but im human too-or if this issue others have had eventually caused a complete separation. Im curious if anyone else has had this happen. Guess ill be pulling it apart to try to find the issue after i get done building my new ucs snowspeeder!

Wow, that is bad...mine sits only since like half a year but I haven't noticed anything extreme. I would be curious, since the OP how did it hold?

[ArchieNov]

Apologies for resurrecting this topic, but now that a lot of us are looking forward to the new UCS Millennium Falcon about to be released, I'm sure many will want to display it with their UCS Slave I. It's been about 2 years since I applied and shared my MOD here, and I am happy to report that my Slave I didn't droop a single bit in that time. All the bricks my MOD were connected to in the cockpit area are still holding strong and show no signs of separation (it was theorized that my MOD would place stress on the bricks and eventually lead to it coming apart). 

So long story short, I think my MOD was a success and is safe to apply (at least from my experience).

@Pariah Was your Slave I built following the official LEGO instructions? If so, perhaps you can try applying the MOD I posted in the first post. It's worked for me so hopefully it does for you too.

[Boba-Fett-13]

I will be doing this to mine to display with the MF abouy to drop. Thanks for the update on this.

[BigEl]

12 hours ago, ArchieNov said:

Apologies for resurrecting this topic, but now that a lot of us are looking forward to the new UCS Millennium Falcon about to be released, I'm sure many will want to display it with their UCS Slave I. It's been about 2 years since I applied and shared my MOD here, and I am happy to report that my Slave I didn't droop a single bit in that time. All the bricks my MOD were connected to in the cockpit area are still holding strong and show no signs of separation (it was theorized that my MOD would place stress on the bricks and eventually lead to it coming apart). 

So long story short, I think my MOD was a success and is safe to apply (at least from my experience).

@Pariah Was your Slave I built following the official LEGO instructions? If so, perhaps you can try applying the MOD I posted in the first post. It's worked for me so hopefully it does for you too.

 

I did your Mod on my UCS Slave 1 shortly after I bought and build it and everything is fine on my end, too. 

That infamous gap hasnt gotten wider and my Slave 1 hasnt left its stand in over a year now. Thanks man, maybe it has prevented mine from dropping as well!

[Flandy]

Same here, mine's solid as a rock over a year later.

[roadstermatt]

again carried out the cockpit brace mod mines not moved that I can tell cheers for sharing

[Ether]

Thank you for this, I've just modified my set as it was starting to show a visible gap between the two sections.

 

[JPN366]

On 9/5/2017 at 10:25 PM, ArchieNov said:

Apologies for resurrecting this topic, but now that a lot of us are looking forward to the new UCS Millennium Falcon about to be released, I'm sure many will want to display it with their UCS Slave I. It's been about 2 years since I applied and shared my MOD here, and I am happy to report that my Slave I didn't droop a single bit in that time. All the bricks my MOD were connected to in the cockpit area are still holding strong and show no signs of separation (it was theorized that my MOD would place stress on the bricks and eventually lead to it coming apart). 

So long story short, I think my MOD was a success and is safe to apply (at least from my experience).

@Pariah Was your Slave I built following the official LEGO instructions? If so, perhaps you can try applying the MOD I posted in the first post. It's worked for me so hopefully it does for you too.

Like I posted before, it was a simple but brilliant MOD.  No matter what the designer claimed... and he was being contradictory.

[Pariah]

@ArchieNov Sorry, I wasn't notified about your post! I built the set exactly per instructions but, as I said, it is possible I made a mistake. Just odd that it started out fine, then 8 months later it looks like that! I'm guessing I'll have to take a substantial bit apart to fix it, and at that point I plan to add in your mod, especially given the later reports of continued success from everyone. It may just have to wait until I'm done with the -Really Big Box- thats hiding in my wife's closet until Christmas! Thanks for the mod, looking forward to integrating it.

[StarfuryT]

I just looked at my Slave I, it's been on the stand for about 15 months now. Everything seems to be in order, though I guess i'll add these parts in just to prevent it from drooping in the future.

[BigEl]

So I have taken another look at my Slave 1 these days and noticed something else bending after 2 years: The stand!

To be more precise, the diagonal technic beams on which the lower end of ship rests upon. Its definitely enough to be noticable on a quick look and it worries me because if the 4 technic beams continue to cave in, there might be a chance that at one point the ship simply slides off the technic arms that hold it up and it comes down crushing.

 

But at the same time, it might be relatively easy to fix by connection the diagonal front technic beams with the vertical beams in the back and the horizontal beams on the bottom. 

I will take another look and try to use some of my technic spare parts to reinforce the stand.

Maybe some of you, who have the ship on display for a similar amount of time could check their stands as well and give some opinion towards the general design and stability of the construction!

Edited October 17, 2017 by BigEl

[stuworrall]

mines just started doing this so I'm going to get some parts to make the fix

[Marinho]

Just finished building mine yesterday, and I can see clearly that the gap is wider as soon as I put it on the stand. It is a brand new set, bought it from Lego one week ago. Will go through my spare parts today, and try this mod. The set is amazing, it is my 2nd UCS, and I'm really happy with it!!

[LordLEGOtube]

On 17/03/2016 at 3:47 PM, GallardoLU said:

should mount closer to canopy (against the technic beam) hope you like the results

I’m having trouble with the 1x10 brace piece. When it rests on the dark red slope bricks it is 1 stud above where the grey slope in the middle sits, so I can’t put the grey slope in. Are there any pics of how the brace is constructed?

[Bender222]

I did not have 5l liftarms but I did have 7ls. Theres is room in the cockpit for the extra length on the ends. 

[dkorr]

I would get back up replacement parts to change out when the plastic fatigues.

[Atheos]

Great thread!

[TwoSolitudes]

Noticed a slight Slave 'gap' after several years- applied this MOD and problem solved. Simple, solid, invisible. 

[sixtybricks]

just applied this mod to my slave 1. so simple and amazingly effective! I was worried about how much movement the body had especially when putting the windscreen on and off and now it's rock solid. thanks so much for this!