- Joined
- Jul 21, 2011
- Messages
- 38
Hi all -
I've got a Junkyard, that I am thoroughly enjoying. But I have always really really hated that blue plastic VW camper van. To me it looks like it doesn't fit at all - it looks cheap and nasty. (I feel the same about the radio on Roadshow!).
So I decided to swap it out. Following some advice out on the net, I bought a 1:25 scale Maisto model of the Samba camper van. The one I picked was from the 'Old Friends' series, which are all 'rusty' and 'aged' as I thought it would fit the theme.
I also decided that I wanted to make the headlights light up, otherwise it's just a toy screwed to a pinball machine!
Both Van and (prewired) LEDs for the headlights were bought from Ebay. Total cost was about £20 or so.
The first thing to do was to lower the height of the bracket that holds the VW. On the original, the bracket goes all the way up to the top, inside the vehicle and in screwed in at the top (adding to the naffness). The new one was attached on the (plastic) bottom of the model. So I cut the backet in half and 'overlapped' it, drilled a couple of holes in each part and bolted it together shorter.
Then I unscrewed the bottom of the new model from the top, which gave me access to the interior of the vehicle. Using a Dremel, I removed the 'lens' part of the headlights and the metal as well. So I now had two holes where the headlights used to be. Next step was to install the leds into the headlight holes. I'd bought domed 10mm LEDS (which were too big really) so they were just butted up to the holes and superglued on. The wires were set to go out of the 'cabinet' side of the model and the model reassembled. Then it was just a question of screwing the bracket to the model, and putting the wires through the already existing, empty hole conveniently near in the playfield (I wonder if there was going to be something there which was removed when cost-cutting?). I had soldered some alligator connectors to the ends of the wires, and decided to connect it to the GI. The GI on Junkjards goes on and off, and flashes regularly throughout gameplay and the lights look great. (They are designed for 12v so are a bit dimmer when running off the GI - this is a good thing!).
Here are a few pictures. If anyone wants to do this mod, and wants more details just ask.
The original bus :
The new version:
Cheers - Jon H
I've got a Junkyard, that I am thoroughly enjoying. But I have always really really hated that blue plastic VW camper van. To me it looks like it doesn't fit at all - it looks cheap and nasty. (I feel the same about the radio on Roadshow!).
So I decided to swap it out. Following some advice out on the net, I bought a 1:25 scale Maisto model of the Samba camper van. The one I picked was from the 'Old Friends' series, which are all 'rusty' and 'aged' as I thought it would fit the theme.
I also decided that I wanted to make the headlights light up, otherwise it's just a toy screwed to a pinball machine!
Both Van and (prewired) LEDs for the headlights were bought from Ebay. Total cost was about £20 or so.
The first thing to do was to lower the height of the bracket that holds the VW. On the original, the bracket goes all the way up to the top, inside the vehicle and in screwed in at the top (adding to the naffness). The new one was attached on the (plastic) bottom of the model. So I cut the backet in half and 'overlapped' it, drilled a couple of holes in each part and bolted it together shorter.
Then I unscrewed the bottom of the new model from the top, which gave me access to the interior of the vehicle. Using a Dremel, I removed the 'lens' part of the headlights and the metal as well. So I now had two holes where the headlights used to be. Next step was to install the leds into the headlight holes. I'd bought domed 10mm LEDS (which were too big really) so they were just butted up to the holes and superglued on. The wires were set to go out of the 'cabinet' side of the model and the model reassembled. Then it was just a question of screwing the bracket to the model, and putting the wires through the already existing, empty hole conveniently near in the playfield (I wonder if there was going to be something there which was removed when cost-cutting?). I had soldered some alligator connectors to the ends of the wires, and decided to connect it to the GI. The GI on Junkjards goes on and off, and flashes regularly throughout gameplay and the lights look great. (They are designed for 12v so are a bit dimmer when running off the GI - this is a good thing!).
Here are a few pictures. If anyone wants to do this mod, and wants more details just ask.
The original bus :
The new version:
Cheers - Jon H
