# Mangling a 75c Merry Go Round, a Fast n Easy Bash



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

I REALLY, REALLY wanted a Lemax or Mr Christmas carousel to use with the trains when I do road trips. OTOH, I could never justify $100+ for one. This morning Kim found me this at the flea market for whole 75 CENTS! Small (about 5" around and 9" tall), kind of meh looking, but my kind of price!









We tried it, and it worked... The 15 second timer feature was kind of nice, but the electronic music box was beyond horrid....AND, the top didn't turn  Never one to leave well enough alone, it was time to see what made it tick. I got the bottom apart OK, It was held together with screws.... But the top was glued tight and idiot proof.... So, I did what any self respecting idiot would do... I took the marquee in one hand and the axle in the other, then twisted and pulled until something snapped inside and it came apart 









The axle inside was hollow plated brass... kind of like a radio antennae.. It broke where it was drilled for a kotter pin you couldn't get to.... a bit of brass tube took care of that problem. Next to go was the music box. Again I used the most expedient method.... Everything went bye-bye but the motor and gearbox.... I'll be using a 3v transformer plug and momentary switch to control it.









It came with 3 white horses, and a reindeer with Santy Claus riding.... The deer could stay, but Santa simply had to go. These things are some sort of soft vinyl, like an expensive plastic eraser.... A bit of carving with an x-acto knife, and the jolly old elf became just another fat kid... The 3 white horses sort of offended my sense of symmetry, so the one opposite the deer got painted brown.









To keep everything together, I did the same thing the factory did... drilled a hole and used a kotter pin. I also painted over some of that abundant red.









Back together, the LEDs in the Marquee are no longer wired, but the top now turns with the carousel... A fair trade, I think. I also added some plastruct steps, they'll probably get painted red and blue tomorrow....









I'll probably eventually build an open Gazebo around it to make it look bigger. It's still not a Lemax, but IMO not too bad for 75c and 3 hours of foodling around.


----------



## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Not bad?? That an understatement! Very nice work with some inventive solutions. 
It must look good on a little playground or fair next to your model trains!


----------



## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

But is it 'G' scale?


----------



## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

And can I mount Aristo couplers on it?


----------



## jgallaway81 (Jan 5, 2009)

Tom.. of course not... its already set up for body mounted Kadee's 

Excellent work. A point of consideration... I'm assuming that you didn't glue the top back on (like the original idiot, lol) If thats the case, couldn't you put a couple AAA batteries, a resistor and a micro switch up in the canopy to light it up? Perhaps add a few other LEDs to liven it up? I know basic red, yellow & green LEDs are fairly cheap these days.


----------



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By ThinkerT on 28 Jun 2010 10:04 PM 
But is it 'G' scale? 
It is now......

Those that know me were probably taking bets on how long I could 'leave well enough alone' on this.... Official answer -- 2 days....

First I decided it still looked funny because the apron was so much smaller than the marquee. A bit of acrylic and some brass rod solved that... but then the base was so small it looked like it would topple.... A bit of 2x6 and some brick sheeting solved that. Then the fat kid got a new head... then I added a girl riding sidesaddle half way around.... then a couple gaslights... then started on adding a fence.... then it was beddytime, so I had to stop.


----------



## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Now that's a really neat bash, Alan. A great interest getter for the layout.


----------

