[EctoRalph]

Hi all,
With just one week to go to MegaCon I decided it was time to mod my matty trap to make it more realistic. While matty toys will never be as great as getting one of the awesome kits from Nick-A-Tron, TC or Franchesky, the matty stuff works well enough for those of us who have just started our ghosthead addiction. So after spending almost two years gathering inspiration from members such as Lund12, Redvirtue and The Rockman who have great tutorials, I finally got the courage to take the dremel to my ridiculously expensive collectors item.

The mods I want to complete are: ribbon cable mod, add Franchesky trap door, change the relay, add the hat light, gold resistor, upgrade the handel, change out all the allen screws if possible.

My parts so far:


When I took it apart I realized a lot of the fake components had anchor points for the screws. So I had to figure out a way to keep those screw points.


For the banjo fitting for instance I cut the plastic banjo in half to keep the anchor point.



Then after sanding it down you put it back in and it creates a nice foundation for the real brass banjo fitting.


I did a similar modification for the straight brass fitting so it has something to cover the hole and provide a way to screw the brass fitting in:






Once installed with a few drops of epoxy they look pretty damn good:


Next up was the relay which of course had two screw point I had to maintain as well. So the same procedure applies along with modifying the real relay by taking off the bottom metal connectors, sanding it flush, tapping it to keep it together(because the metal tabs that were removed usually hold the relay to the base):





Once mounted the screws did not line up with the fake ones and there was a gap I did not like, so I took some wire loom and made spacers, which I think look pretty good.



Here is the finished pedal so far:

[EctoRalph]

So I tested the trap on my belt and after walking around for a bit the dsub connector popped off even though I used epoxy and clamped it overnight. It looks like the side where the dsub mates up with is to smooth so I roughened it up a bit and decided to add a screw. Not sure if anyone else has had this problem. Maybe the epoxy was old?





Made some score marks so the epoxy would have something to hang on to this time:


Added some epoxy on the screw since I didn't have a locknut.


I decided this would be a good time to add the ribbon connector to cover up the front of the Dsub. I know its backwards but most people wont know this.


This is what the final product looks like.


Next up will be to add the brass pneumatic fittings some how.

[zeta otaku]

It might just be the composition of the plastic. Roughing it up will do it, but even just scrubbing it with water and soap sometimes does the trick too.

[EctoRalph]

That is a very good point. I always wash the parts I am going to paint but did not even think about it for this. I would imagine there might be some kind of mold releaser even on these production parts.

[gold333]

Looks great!

Are you thinking about more improvements?

I've always wanted to create a correct aluminum label set and add the label next to the on off button too.

The really thin aluminum labels look so much better than stickers.

[EctoRalph]

I am with you on that, I do think the aluminum labels add a realistic feel to the props. The ones in the GBfans shop are awesome. If someone produced them for the trap I would definitely buy some. My next mod to the trap is going to be upgrading the cable with real Foster quick disconnects if I think they can be drilled out so I can run a wire to maintain functionality. I also want a realistic length of cable or hose to go with it.