Now, on to today's update
Tore down a few more minimal assemblies, and finished rebuilding some others.
Test fit the Mantis crate cover.
Debating on how I finish it. Original was black plastic with decals. Replacement is stainless, and I have NOS decals
Do I leave it stainless? Do I paint it black to match original? Or should I go 'custom, and finish it in grey similar to the decals, to make them blend in better? It'll be one of the final details, so having an answer today is not terribly important. Still mulling it over. What do you think?
The coffin mechanism is a bit of a marvel. Lots to it, lots of moving parts, and it's relatively huge.
Mine was in poor repair. The plastic guy that goes on the lid was broken, so I had to replace him. To replace him, the lid of the coffin had to come off. To do that, I had to pull the hinge pin and spring. Then, the moving 'stiff' inside the coffin needed a new decal, and the plate the decal goes on was bent, so I got a new one of those, too. Luckily, I found Curly's site had NOS outside coffin decals, and NOS stiff decals. Didn't like his decal for the crate cover, but had a NOS set already.
This is what the cover looks like, the old one had a hole punched through it.
It's held in place by a 1/8 inch pop rivet.
The upper coil pulls a plunger in, and it opens the lid. Then, contact from the balls lifts the 'stiff' up. A German company makes a stiff that glows in the dark, but 2 friends who have had them said theirs failed quickly, so I'll go with original.
2 poppers on the left rebuilt with new Mantis Amusements bracketry.
