The Spirit Halloween Walkie is pretty good and even better with some paint. Here’s a little upgrade guide.
Behr Sand Finish Mountain Stone is a really close match to MT500. Note that mine is the inaccurate tall version.
Remove the six screws on back (and the battery cover) - unscrew and release the talk button spring
Unscrew and release the talk button switch
Carefully pry off on/off cap and switch - it’s held in by a dot of melted plastic on right side
Unsolder the battery wires if possible. Remove 2 screws from speaker and remove it too. Remove the antenna and metal weight
Rough up surfaces with 320 or similar sandpaper. Be sure to wipe down/clean surface after. You may also want to sand off raised lettering on back
Paint rear ‘screw’ silver and mask
Mask front label area in case you want to add sticker later
Spray with Behr Sand finish Stone Mountain paint - I left the silver part alone - the talk button should be painted a matching color but I wouldn’t use the sand finish
Add some weathering - I used Vallejo washes and some weathering powders. Can add black dots and stripe to knobs.
Resolder wires, reassemble walkie
NEW - I made labels for the Spirit Walkie - see shop link in my signature!
