I’m a merchandiser for a retail store here in the UK helping to buy and choose the stock that the company sells. On a visit to a store and their warehouse I came across this on a desk.
After a bit more nebbing around I came across a whole bunch of old graphics that are printed onto 3mm PVC board. I left with a big handful and an idea in mind after being inspired by Jackdoud and Ecto-Wes.
So here’s the beginning of my cheap trap build. So far it’s a mixture of foamboard and that PVC board I acquired.
This project kind of took a back seat over Christmas and the New Year with so much happening, but I recently started work on it again.
I’ve added the screws, hat light and switch to the top of the battery compartment. Next up I finished placing epoxy into all the exposed foam board edges and sanded it down. I then cut some steel plating for the side panels and front of the trap. The resin parts are Nickatron pieces but I’ve just this moment ordered the correct hat light, a Cal-R resistor and a side vector plate from the fan shop.
The battery compartment was original made from styrene plastic but I found some thin aluminum plate, cut that to size and bent it to shape.
Finally I have also found a piece of metal to replace the wooden handle. Hopeful I can finish this project up over the next week
Closer shot of the battery box re-constructed from thin aluminum sheet. The sheet was thin enough to be cut with a modelling knife I then scored and gently bent the angles. Not shown in this shot is the top of the battery box which I also remade using the thin alley.
Next up I screwed and attached the side plates, the vector plate and the resistor. I also securely glued the various trap dials to the plates after painting.
The photo also shows the replacement handle, the original I constructed from wooden dowel but I wasn’t happy with the finish so ordered some perspex rod and used this instead.
Next up I cut the door hinges and the actual doors themselves. All were made from the PVC board with the styrene on either side all that was left to do was to epoxy the edges and sand them square.
EDIT
The doors however warped during this process so I decided to cut them from 1/4" pine instead.
Primed and painted the doors but wasn’t happy with the colour of the yellow or how the stripes turned out so decided to cover these up using yellow electrician tape
Unfortunately I didn’t take many photos during the final stages of this build I was to eager to get it done. Lots of painting, bit of weathering, attached the wheels and base plate to the trap and finally constructed the forward indicator using the thing aluminum plate I’d used for the battery box. The ears were cut from wood and covered with styrene, the edges filled and sanded then painted.
I printed the labels form GBFANS, added a simple flashing LED and hit the whole thing with fullers earth.
I’m very happy with how the build turned out, I was aiming to do this as cheap as I could but try to keep it looking half decent at the same time. It has a nice weight to it coming in at just under 2kg.
VIDEO
Breakdown of my costs anything with no price listed I already had lying around at home.
