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... 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.
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... 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.
