Intro: F-14 Car Ornament With Folding Wings & Navigation Lights

This is an instructable on how to hack a F-14 pencil sharpener into a car ornament, complete with functional folding wings and navigation lights. It's similar to my V-22 osprey hack with simpler wiring. There's a separate how-to on tapping into 12v dome lights soon.

STEP 1: Open the Plane

Fairly simple step: Get it under a drill press, use a 1/8 drill bit & drill thru the 2 rivets. Remove the small metal "stub" above the gear wing box to make more room

STEP 2: Do Initial Electrical Wiring & Test

Take the micro LEDs, solder them in series with a 75Ω resistors. Use sand paper & rub off the wire enamel, test with a 9v battery. When all works, use nail polish & bush on a layer of insulation.

STEP 3: Tape Lights on the Wing

Slightly bend the LED leads so it's flush against wing tip, secure with masking tape. Remember to match FAA guidance :D

STEP 4: Drill a Wiring Access Hole and Attach Lights. Dry Fit and Test

I want to keep the folding wings functional, yet hide the wiring as much as I can. There will only be 2 wires coming out, so the closest hole I can make is slight ahead of wing box, oh well.

Use a center punch, drill thru fuselage, file down burs and thread thru the wiring. Trim down all slacks and re-solder if needed. Make sure wing still swings without pinching anything. Use heat shrink to prevent any shorts, bend/tuck everything under wing box & canopy channel. Attach a battery, put back the bottom, tape shut and check for smooth wing movement with LEDs still working.

This took me a long time to get everything right with not electrical shorts, and minimum wires exposed. Gotta have patient for this.

STEP 5: Glue It Down

Once dry fit and operational, mix in some epoxy, use wood stick & put a small dab under the wing and canopy access hole. Also put some on nose & exhaust. Put back bottom. Wipe down excess. Clamp the plane down with small clips. Leave dry overnight. If you want, check every 2 hrs with battery, move the wing around to ensure gears & LEDs OK :D

Also, (using pics from other hack) Insert the 2 wires into a drill chuck, tighten & wind 'em up nicely.

STEP 6: Balance Before Hanging

Knowing the access hole is way too fwd, I took it down, bend back the wire enough to C/G, tape and glue to wing box. Leave to dry overnight again.

STEP 7: All Done

If done correctly, plane model should hang perfectly at level flight. LEDs should work whenever interior dome lights are on.

Now congratulate yourself !!