Pinball Modding Group
Beaming your Pinball to another dimension
Reviews
Monster Bash Skull Mod
Gaming Play Score: 9.1
Here we have another fine mod for the Monster Bash ! On my research for some stuff for pinballs, I passed a very nice web page and saw this figure. This skull resembles a lot the skull on the plastic in the laboratory. So I bought it and we did the first tests : NICE ! It was clear that this skull will get some red LEDs and Domino had to do the job again and the result is just cool, so check-out the video.
The Monster Bash Skull Mod consists of the following components :
1x Skull mod figure with red LEDs
1x wiring
Installation time : around 8 minutes
André Banderas
Monster Bash Tombstone Topper
Gaming Play Score: 9.5
The Monster Bash Topper project is very old and was nearly finished when I got the Cactus Canyon. Then I concentrated myself more to the Cactus Canyon and all other projects where left behind at that time. Now, seeing a small light at the end of the tunnel, regarding modding for the Cactus Canyon (mmhh…actually not J), I again took more time for the other projects and worked on that topper. That project is something special because I started to create a complete documentation about the whole flow with pictures, notes and so on. It´s also the first project where Domino and I really started to work together.
The story of the Monster bash topper is long and I had lots of different ideas in my mind...that’s not really difficult because you have lots of figures and therefore can use lots of different toppers, which will probably fit into the pinball...but as usual, the topper should be something special and when I looked at all the figures on the playfield, the Frankenstein one is the most interesting one in the game because it has lots of animations already included. It’s also a perfect candidate because you always interact with it by e.g. shooting the targets, collecting parts of his body, so I started to concentrate on that figure...
My next thoughts went to an association between the Frankenstein and some actions, and that was finally the reason why I was searching for graveyard tomb stones...why ? Because you are collecting the body parts on a graveyard...very simple...finally I ordered 2 different tombstones to test for and after a hard "decision night", I concentrated myself on that one what you see.
OK, topper found, but we surely need some effects...and I remember myself to these flickering candle lights. So this was the reason why Domino and I started to remove the styropore around the cross and put a flickering led behind. That was the first modification. The second one concentrates on the R.I.P letters and I wanted to have some scary effects. I went with my daughter into an art supply store and bought 5 different "glowing in the dark" - ultra-violet colors. She was then the one who mixed the different colors till we had the best one and she colored the letters with that green color. I finally installed an ultra-violet led stripe in front of it and the second effect was finished...but hey : I am always talking about "dynamic", so I talked to Domino and said : wouldn´t it be cool when something happens with the Frankenstein, the topper should "shake" - just that you think, Frankenstein is trying to come out of the soil...so next idea : let´s install a motor behind the toper so that it will start to shake in different situations...Ronny MyGyver took that part and after realizing that, the topper is now finally finished...but here you can see, how much development work is inside a topper...
When we had halloween here, I saw these monster hands and thought : Wow ! That could fit to our monster bash pinball and I bought some of them for testing. Arrived at home, I put them on the pin and I have to say, that they look just great, but one issue had to be solved : how can I fix it onto the pinball ? And Ronny McGyver had to do the job again, so he examined the hands, the backbox and so on and created a construction to fix the hands onto the backbox ! You can even modify the position of the hands because his construction is variable ! These hands are a superb add-on for the Monster Bash Topper and should be used together.
The Plug´n´Play Monster Bash Topper consists of the following components :
Contents :
1x Monster Bash Topper with
1x flickering LED
1x ultraviolet LED stripe
1x motor
1x electric cable to plug it into the PDB
2x Monster bash hands
2x brackets to fix the hands
4x screws
Dimensions :
Length : ca. 40 cm
Width : ca. 14 cm
Height : ca. 47 cm
Installation time : Around 15 minutes
André Banderas
Monster Bash Ghost Mod
Gaming Play Score: 9.5
What ? Again another figure in the Monster Bash ?" you will maybe ask, and the fast answer is : YEP ! Why should the very nice and poor phantom flips not get their own figure ? That was ONE of the leading questions we had in our team. When I saw this nice ghost figure, I felt to implement it into the game, but that was a challenge...here are the questions we had with the answers :
1. Where should we place another figure since there are already so many ?
We discussed around 3 different positions for the ghost...at the beginning of the Frankenstein ramp or above the middle red flasher in front of the bumper area and other ones. but the best position was really on the right side of the right ramp, but why ? Simply because you don´t hide any background images, figures ect.
2. Can we make the figure even more attractive ?
The figure itself looks already really nice and wonderful. Additionally, it will glow in the dark, which makes just an awesome effect. Since it´s a ghost, it was clear for us to use led eyes for that little guy and since it´s a ghost, it had to be blue ones.
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3. ​Can we use the figure to maybe improve something else on the playfield ?
Yep, definitely ! We positioned the ghost on top of the right switch, which is fixed to the right ramp. That switch is really ugly and now the ghost is hiding that one ! Just nice and sweet ! Another important point : When you have a look at the center playfield, then you will recognize that this area is very dark. After some more investigation, we saw that there are some ultraviolet effects on it. Now, when the ghost is shining with his BLUE and fluorescent eyes on that area, you will recognize the 2 blue flashes in the center, which is just wonderful.
4. Can we have any dynamic movements into the figure ?
As you maybe know from our already created mods : Dynamic is always a very important part of our design, and this was the reason why the ghost is NOT statically fixed on the playfield. Instead we were using a spring, on which the ghost is fixed up. So every time, when the ball passes the ghost and you just hit a little bit the pinball, then the ghost will start to move around...and this is what we call "DYNAMIC" !! :-)
That kit consists of :
1x Ghost figure on a spring with blue leds eyes
1x wiring harness
Installation time : around 8 minutes
André Banderas
Monster Bash Switch Mod Box
Gaming Play Score: 9.1
I already had the idea of a switch mod box long time ago and you can see that in the video : in fact, that video consists of 2 parts : one part where I introduce the box in my office and the second part shows the box in action in our party room. When I created the first video, I didn’t have the time to build it into the pinball and lots of months passed, so it took around 8 months till I finished the second part and here we go :-)
The switch mod box (or just called "Mod Box") is a little tiny gadget which you can use to have full control over all your mods in the pinball. It consists of 6 different switches, where each switch is secured with a fuse. For example, you can make a comparison: Pinball with all mods on and Pinball without any mods activated. Another example is that maybe a player tells you that the light of one mod is too strong and is blending him. Just open the coin door, deactivate the corresponding one and that’s it....easy and simple.
That kit consists of :
1x Switch mod box with 6 switches
6x fuses
1x bracket
2x screws
Installation time : around 5 minutes
André Banderas