Vamo 2, The Sequel, Olives or no Olives ;-)

[robby]

Mar 15, 2013 13:48:19 GMT Toondog said:

Can't wait to see the finished article Robby. You've got the patience of a saint!
Chris.

Bloody hell Chris!!, I`ve never been accused of that before

[markm]

Mar 15, 2013 9:01:12 GMT Moggy said:

And while you're doing this, Im trying to work out a neat, yet rugged, carrying case for a Vamo...that doesn't look like a truncheon strapped to my belt

Mono

How about this:

[robby]

Mar 15, 2013 19:46:14 GMT markm said:

Mar 15, 2013 9:01:12 GMT Moggy said:

And while you're doing this, Im trying to work out a neat, yet rugged, carrying case for a Vamo...that doesn't look like a truncheon strapped to my belt

Mono

How about this:

The only thing is, the drip tip would end up in his armpit  ........................keep it warm though lolol

[Moggy]

I thought the idea was to hide it in the hair

[robby]

All of the Chrome plating finally removed to leave the copper layer on top of the brass. It proved too fiddly to get the chrome plate off around the buttons so it had to be stripped. I had tried for an hour to get the top off, but it would not budge. I didnt dare put any more force on the vice grips for fear of damaging the top cap even with protection on it. Cloth etc wrapped around the top first were not going to be enough to protect it, the grips really had to be tight, so I hit on the idea of putting a 22mm olive around the top cap before applying the vice grips. after ten minutes of brute force and ignorance I finally got the top off.



WHAT IT DID TO THE OLIVE



VAMO WITH OLIVES

[robby]

The Vamo without olives

[robby]

The vamo has to be one of the easiest mods to take to bits once you get the top off.

First tease up the half diamater clear plastic tubing behind the circuit board. This acts as a clamp on the board. There is no adhesive or fixings on anything inside the tube. Raise the end of the board closest to the top away from the window. Carefully draw out the top cap, board and wiring. No unsoldering at all required. Then remove the little window and the two small buttons and one big fire button. The only thing that keeps them in place is the board when it is clamped in place. They appear to be coated brass which is what I was hoping for :-).

You can see why it was necessary to strip it first. I wanted to get the Chrome layer off, but not go through the copper layer exposing the brass. getting the top off caused a few scratches etc, but nothing that wouldn`t buff out.



The BITS

[robby]

The BOARD







You can clearly see that this is Version 1.4. This is actually a pretty old Vamo. The board featured elsewhere for over £18 appears to be version 1.3.

[robby]

So that is the story so far, any ideas guys? What do you think about the brass olives against the copper background? Would the vamo be better without them?

[robby]

I am currently looking into doing some basic copper etching. Could make for something interesting if it goes through the copper as far as the brass then get`s a good buffing(on a test piece first lol) Never done etching before, should be interesting ;-)

[Super-Shiny]

Deffo with olives, looks like one of those pirate telescopes, cool

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2013 7:29:41 GMT Super-Shiny said:

Deffo with olives, looks like one of those pirate telescopes, cool

aarrrr!

[robby]

That`s the way I am thinking to, it totally hides the joins while still leaving everything functional and looks good, Pieces of eight?

[Deleted]

you definitely need a nautical etch ... a Chinese Junk still has to be the best play on words for this

[robby]

Mar 18, 2013 10:13:57 GMT @ashmal said:

you definitely need a nautical etch ... a Chinese Junk still has to be the best play on words for this

hahaha