Risu
Master Member
OK, so I know more than one person has converted their CO toy screwdriver into a steampunk, or custom, or just fixed up shiny repaint of the original, so I'm posting a thread instead of PMing individuals. Also, somebody else who reads this might have some helpful info.
Now to get to the point. I'm repainting/modding my CO screwdriver to be more screen accurate and generally look less like a plastic toy. I'm not lucky enough to have access to a lathe of any kind, so there are no metal replacement pieces, just painting, etc. I got some clear acrylic tube to replace the plastic with the seam on it and have some questions about the toy itself and electronic components therein.
1. I want to replace the existing wires with yellow ones to be S4 accurate, but radioshack doesn't seem to carry yellow wires of any kind. Is there a site that is recommended for something like this, and what specific type of wire do I need? (Never really done any electronic work like this before, do I need a certain gauge, or will any do?)
2. I swapped out the LED in the sonic a long time ago, but left the speaker alone. Looking at it now, I know that I'll have to remove it both to change the wires and to get them through the tube, as the speaker won't fit through the hole. The thing is, it doesn't look like solder that's holding the wires to the speaker. How are they attached and what is the best way to remove them and attach the new wires?
3. When I split the emitter open to get at the electronics, the top section came apart into two halves and the ball joint type part stayed together. I then split that in half, but one half stayed attached to the emitter half. Are these pieces actually attached together in a permanent way, or should I risk applying a lot of pressure which could possibly crack the plastic to separate them? Have any of you ever had the same problem with these two pieces?
4. Last question is simply about masking for the paint job. The body of the sonic has the crackle handle and aluminum on each end. These pieces don't really come apart, I think they're all one solid piece of plastic. What would be the best way to mask these sections off to make them look like they are actually different pieces assembled together and not just like somebody wrapped painters tape around a rod and sprayed some paint on it?
Sorry for the lack of pictures, I hope I described it well enough, my camera is being difficult. Any help would be appreciated very much.
Now to get to the point. I'm repainting/modding my CO screwdriver to be more screen accurate and generally look less like a plastic toy. I'm not lucky enough to have access to a lathe of any kind, so there are no metal replacement pieces, just painting, etc. I got some clear acrylic tube to replace the plastic with the seam on it and have some questions about the toy itself and electronic components therein.
1. I want to replace the existing wires with yellow ones to be S4 accurate, but radioshack doesn't seem to carry yellow wires of any kind. Is there a site that is recommended for something like this, and what specific type of wire do I need? (Never really done any electronic work like this before, do I need a certain gauge, or will any do?)
2. I swapped out the LED in the sonic a long time ago, but left the speaker alone. Looking at it now, I know that I'll have to remove it both to change the wires and to get them through the tube, as the speaker won't fit through the hole. The thing is, it doesn't look like solder that's holding the wires to the speaker. How are they attached and what is the best way to remove them and attach the new wires?
3. When I split the emitter open to get at the electronics, the top section came apart into two halves and the ball joint type part stayed together. I then split that in half, but one half stayed attached to the emitter half. Are these pieces actually attached together in a permanent way, or should I risk applying a lot of pressure which could possibly crack the plastic to separate them? Have any of you ever had the same problem with these two pieces?
4. Last question is simply about masking for the paint job. The body of the sonic has the crackle handle and aluminum on each end. These pieces don't really come apart, I think they're all one solid piece of plastic. What would be the best way to mask these sections off to make them look like they are actually different pieces assembled together and not just like somebody wrapped painters tape around a rod and sprayed some paint on it?
Sorry for the lack of pictures, I hope I described it well enough, my camera is being difficult. Any help would be appreciated very much.
