I have seen a few instructables that involve repurposing a Bluetooth speaker and I figured, I can do that...

So, allow me to introduce to you my Storm Trooper (First Order) Bluetooth Speaker with bi-color LED upgraded SE-44C blaster pistol!!

Step 1: Supplies

Range of small screwdrivers
Soldering equipment
Wire
Heat shrink
Plexiglass cutter
Storm Trooper
Bluetooth speaker
Super glue
Bi-color LED
2 momentary switches
Speaker grill/breast plate
Drill and small bit

Step 2: Take It All Apart

The first step is simple. Take everything apart without breaking anything. Take your time!

I got the Storm Trooper in a gift exchange at work. The small blue tooth speaker I picked up for $6 at Marshals. Few dollars for the rest...

Keep in mind the speaker needs to be small enough to fit in whatever final package you plan to put it into.

Step 3: Speaker Grill/breast Plate Mount

I wanted to have the speaker afixed to the inside of the Storm Trooper's chest, so I decided to fashion a speaker grill/chest plate out of some aluminum heat shield material I had laying around.

Of course the grill needed to be in the shape of the First Order emblem and be curved to fit the contours of the chest as it was my intention to have it mounted seemlessly on to the body of the Storm Trooper.

To cut out the shape in the chest of the Storm Trooper, I used a plexiglass knife. You need to be careful here. I used the plate as my guide, held in place with my hand. Use light cuts to slowly make your way through the plastic. Don't try to get through too quick.

If you have never used a plexiglass knife, it might be best to give it a dry run on some scrap plastic. It is very effective if done slowly and carefully.

Afterwards, I glued the grill on with some gorilla glue. It is common to have the glue de-gas and discolor the metal as it dries. This can easily be cleaned off by rubbing the metal after the glue has fully cured. I waited till the next day. Super glue cures quick when it is 100% squished between 2 pieces... It does not cure so fast if it is simply applied on the outside of a seem as in this case.

Glue the grill in place from the inside of the chest cavity so as to minimize unsightly glue globs.

Step 4: Mount the Bluetooth Speaker Parts

Next step is to fit the speaker, circuit board and battery into the Storm Trooper. For this, I needed to modify things a bit.

First I had to extend the speaker wires to accommodate the intended layout. I also needed to remove the plug/terminal for the speaker on the circuit board to allow for mounting the board to the inside of the cavity, the of course hardwire (solder) the speakers to the board.

I also needed to cut open an access port in the back of the Storm Trooper to allow the ability to plug in the Bluetooth to USB for recharging as well access the on off button. I also installed a grey rubber flap in the back to allow the board to be covered up and hidden from view.

I glued the board in place and allowed the battery to sit just below the board mount.

It is interesting, but the interior of the Storm Trooper abdomen and chest mold provided nearly perfect mounting surfaces for the Bluetooth hardware (except the speaker). I did have to shim the board up a bit for access...

For the speaker mount, I used the clip in mount from the original speaker housing. Once I cut it out and shaped it a bit, It fit perfect, gave something to glue in place without having to glue the actual speaker, and allowed the speaker to be easily removed if needed.

Once everything is in place, mounted and secure, simply test to ensure operation and put it all back together.

Step 5: Now for the SE-44C Blaster Pistol

I wanted to add some additional functionality to my Storm Trooper so I decided to upgrade his blaster. And what better way then to give it the power of LEDs.

First thing I did was take the blaster apart and get an idea of the internal space limitations. I knew it would be tight, but I effectively wanted to install a 3mm bi-color LED, power source, a couple momentary switches and some wiring.

Once I had myself convinced it could work, which took about 1 second, I put the blaster back together and drilled out the end of the barrel for the LED.

Next step was to wire it up. I bought a couple small 1.5vdc hearing aid batteries that I intended to hook up in series to get the forward voltage I needed for the LED... And given the specs on the batteries, I was able to eliminate the need for a current limiting resistor :)

I soldered a wire between the cathode and the negative end of one battery, with the addition of some heat shrink to avoid shorts once I cramed things together, then soldered two leads to the positive end of the other battery.

I did not want to attempt to solder the batteries together so instead i slipped them into a small piece of clear heat shrink to hold them in series with one another. Worked great!

I glued my two momentary switches together with a spot of gorilla glue, cut the backside legs off each ( you will only need one pair of normally open legs for each switch), then solderd my positive leads, one to each momentary switch.

I then wired each remaining leg of the switches to the anode legs on the LED.

Mounting the switches was tricky. I first measured everything up to ensure the switches would fit. Then I marked my spots, drilled a couple small holes in the blaster for the buttons, cut out a screw post in tended to hold the two halves of the blaster together, and set the switches in place by effectively mounting them on two small wood shims to keep them tight up against the roof of the blaster (hard to see in the pic).

The screw post was redundant. There were like six small screws holding this little blaster together so I figured one less couldn't hurt. It is important to note however that in the interest of maintainng appearances, I cut the screw down and glued the head in place so it looked like all original parts were maintained.

Once I had everything in place I gave it one last test to ensure operation, sealed it up and voila, one simple yet cool up fit for my blaster!!

Give it s shot. You don't necessarily have to hack up a Storm Trooper to create a modified/repurposed Bluetooth speaker... Anything can be used provided you have the needed space.

Now if I could only get a couple mini servos in there and give my Storm Trooper some mobility...

Build on!!