Disney's Hot Potato Thermal Detonator Game Conversion

Like many others I always wanted to have a Thermal Detonator. It is a very iconic prop - with only a couple of seconds of onscreen time in RotJ it continuously returned throughout the spinoffs and books.
And like many others I was not willing to spent hundreds of bucks for a Master Replicas Version (if I even had the chance to get one in our parts :wacko ).
There are many static versions of different levels of quality available. And some come with lights and sound. But none of them won my favor except one - the Disney Hot Potato game. Further details you will find here: http://www.rebelscum.com/Thermal_Detonator_Hot_Potato_Game_Disney_Parks.asp
It is far from screen accurate but with some work it could become a nice close-enough. Some of those games are available from time to time charging insane high prices especially compared to the original retail of $24.95.

A couple of month ago I was able to snag one of those little fellas for a reasonable price.
As I inspected it some spots revealed that had to be taken care of:

• the visible battery compartment with the screw,
• the noticeable “hole” for the mode switch,
• the lettering
• the speaker holes
• and the overall look. No chrome, dirt or weathering.

So the first step was to build an inner battery compartment. The toy can be opened by accessing the three screws, which are hidden under glued in panels. Dismounting these panels caused some small damage that was removed later along with the gaps of the original compartment.



The game is powered by four LR44 1.5V batteries. It seemed to be quite laborious to change everything to the inside. Much easier was to change the power support to two 2032 3V batteries incl. the proper compartment. This fits in well and could easily soldered to the circuit board.
I replaced the screws with neodymium magnets to have an easy access.
The bottom was filled with screw nuts and glue to give some additional weight to the prop. Hot glue was used to protect the wires from breaking off the board during the build.



The mode switch had way more space than needed for operation. I glued in a frame and filled the remaining gap.
Some of the speaker holes were filled also but I left a few otherwise the sound would have been too muffled.
All the lettering and filled gaps were sanded smooth. The notches have been restored and everything was coated with primer and silver spray paint.





For the plating I used chrome color “Bare-Metal® Foil”. See https://www.google.com/search?q=BAR...&oe=utf-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=VR4jV6ScMqzcgAa9h7joDA
This self adhesive metal foil was perfect to achieve the chipped off chrome plating look of the prop.
During the build I noticed another little detail missing, the small “cavity” at the backside of the main switch. No big deal at all this was sanded down pretty fast.
The main switch and the “belt” got a coat of hammer finish paint.




To finish it, some weathering with different colors, Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color and Tamiya Smoke Spray.





I hope you like it. Comments welcome.

As I forgot to take pictures of the original detonator I was forced to take screenshots from davidJurassic ’s Youtube video. The credits for those pics are his.
He made a very nice conversion too! Here’s the link to his build. http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=228899&highlight=thermal+detonator

Another great conversion I may recommend is Katscan's. See http://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=210737

That's terrific!

Looks great! I wish I could get mine to look like that.

That came out great! One of the best conversions I have seen!

Thanks for the kind words! Much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Looks good. :thumbsup

Waouw, look great ! And very helpfull, thank you.

:love

Thanks again - you're too kind.

Very, very, VERY impressive paint techniques! love it!

Bookmarked for reference. Thanks for sharing.

Not only does it look great but that's a VERY impressive display.

It's a softball display case. I think these are pretty common in the US.
And thanks people! Your approval is really appreciated. :thumbsup

This is awesome...I picked up 2 of these a few years back from DisneyWorld, because I was looking for a great TD prop, as well. Wonderful ideas - thanks so much!!!

I've got one of these sitting on my shelf. What would you say is the conversion cost in materials? Nice work.

Thank you!
Depending on what you already have at home (like glue, spraypaint, tools etc.) I think it will not be more than $25.

SUPER AWESOME Protoss !!! But,... how do you change the batteries?

Ridire Firean said:

SUPER AWESOME @Protoss !!! But,... how do you change the batteries?

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot!
Changing batteries is pretty easy

Protoss said:

I replaced the screws with neodymium magnets to have an easy access.

Click to expand...

Protoss said:

Changing batteries is pretty easy

Click to expand...

Thanks Protoss! I totally didn't read that part. I see it now that you mention it! When I saw that you'd filled in the seam for the trap door and its screw, I started imagining you'd figured out some way to simply set it on a charging pad or the like. What you did with the magnets is probably way easier. It's good that you're clever! And it's good that I can realize that I need to get to bed, and that I need to stop skimming threads when I'm falling asleep at the keyboard. Good Night everybody.

Hey Michael...dId I miss the TD last time I visited you or did I simply forget about it :lol

Great conversion my friend, but I expect nothing less from you
Looking forward to the 12th :thumbsup

@ Ridire Firean: You're welcome! And I was thinking about the charging pad too, but my skills with electronics are... limited :$

@ Markus: To be honest - I can't remember either :facepalm :lol
And me too :thumbsup ( wasn't it the 13th? :confused Just kiddin )

Would love to find more of these, came across 1 a long time a go on ebay. I need 3-4 more so I can gut them for their electronic contents and add them to my own Thermal detonators.