Anyone add sound to a model kit or base?

[joez2391]

Im working on a sculpture right now and was playing around with the idea of adding sound clips to play to give it a little more character. I was trying to brainstorm how to go about doing it without taking up a lot of space. I was thinking about grabbing a cheap mp3 off of ebay and plugging in speakers to it but i dont want the sound to take away from the piece. Has anyone added sound to their models that can offer any help or point me in the right direction? thanks

 

[JMChladek]

Well, granted it has been a few years. But I recall at one time Radio Shack selling those recorder keychains where you could record up to 30 seconds of dialog and play it back. I believe these are still around (sometimes you see them advertised on TV, but they should be readily available) and more widely available now for cheap prices. Plus, they are pretty dang small. A friend of mine once built a Futurama Bender and mounted one of these in the base (he had a button and a speaker grill in the base to amplify the sound). So when somebody would press the button, Bender would say "Bite my colossal metal ***!" That is all it would say, but it got the point across.

I believe you can get programmable sound chips now as well, but it would take a little wiring to set up with a speaker. As for a portable MP3 player, I think that can work as well if you can find one small enough to fit (and surely there should be something out there tiny enough with not a lot of memory since your average thumb drive isn't too big, yet contains a lot of stuff on it).

 

[VOODOOFX]

Here is a few links to our sound page, you mite find someting here to work with your project. Give me a call if you have any questions 1-650-568-3400

Model Sound Effects_Seaview Sonar Ping_sound effects models props trains planes military special effects

 

[Jumpergal]

I second the Radio Shack recording keychain. If you pop it apart you end up with something quite small that can be built in without much trouble. I did one for my 1/6 scale resin "Thing" (50's version), and set it into a diorama based on the electrocution scene.
Mind you, we bought out our local RS when it was converting to The Source. Are there still RS in the US?

 

[joez2391]

Awesome thanks for the input guys! I'm going to check out that recording keychain idea for sure, it really seems like it could be integrated into a small space very easily, and most importantly inexpensively. Yes, radio shacks are still around but there isnt one near me at school, so im going to browse ebay and see if i can snag one for a few bucks to play around with.

VoodooFX, that sound effect unit looks awesome, I am seriously considering getting that "sound effect unit." I just noticed that it can play four different sound files by clicking different buttons...that is really neat! I have no background in soldering wires if it was prewired i'll get one for sure.