Portal 2 Inspired Lemon Grenade (With Sound!)

Intro: Portal 2 Inspired Lemon Grenade (With Sound!)

I'm a big Portal fan, and I've been wanting to make my own lemon grenade ever since I spotted this one last year. That one has a soundboard in the display base, but mine makes a "tick-tick-tick BOOM" sound when you pull the pin and press the handle, which is a fun little extra. (Here's a quick video of it in action.) It's a simple mod that shouldn't cost you more than $10 in materials - not including the display - and only requires a few hours to do.

(You can also see this tutorial on my blog, Epbot, where I have a few extra process photos - and I'm actually giving away one of my two lemon grenades over there next week, so feel free to mosey on over if you'd like a chance to win.)

Ok, let's get started!

STEP 1: Materials

This is a simple mash-up of a toy grenade with a fake lemon, so obviously you're going to need a toy grenade and a fake lemon. :) I found my grenade (which comes with the speaker and sound effects) at a costume shop for $2.99, and the lemons are from Wal-Mart and I think cost about $2 each.

Other than that you'll need a small screwdriver to disassemble the grenade, a thin utility or craft blade, and beading pins to hold the two pieces together. Oh, and also a Dremel to drill the holes for the pins.

If you want to paint your grenade topper as I did, you'll also need matte black spray paint and some painter's tape.

STEP 2: Disassembly

Take your toy grenade apart, being careful to keep the speaker, switch, and battery compartment connected. You're going to be sticking the battery section inside the lemon, so snip any extra plastic pieces off of the outside of the casing to get it as small as possible.

Next cut a hole in your lemon for the battery case, stopping to check the fit every few minutes. Since the lemon's inside is Styrofoam, I found it helped to use needle nosed pliers to pull out the crumbly foam bits once I'd sliced through the thick exterior skin.

You want the battery pack to be completely flush with the outside of the lemon, so keep digging away 'til you get there!

STEP 3: The Grenade Topper

Snip off the top section of your toy grenade, trying to keep the "prongs" on each side roughly the same length. (I used a metal file to smooth out the sharp corners and rough edges, but that's optional.)

Now's the time to paint, if you're going to. My grenade was army green, so I taped off the gun-metal sections and painted the rest matte black, including the handle and pin (although I later replaced the pin with a metal one.)

STEP 4: Mash 'Em Up!

Ok, now's the tricky part: sticking the two parts together.

With the battery box inside the lemon, use a sliver of tape to hold any excess wire wrapped around the top of your speaker (see my photos). This is to keep the wires from getting in the way when you stick the top on.

Essentially you'll be sandwiching the speaker between your lemon and the grenade topper. Check out my first photo, where I'm holding one half of the grenade top in place, to see how everything fits together. You'll need to have the top assembled before putting it on the lemon, though. (Clear as mud? Yes? Good.)

I attached my top with metal bead pins. To do this, you'll need to first drill holes in the "prongs" of the grenade topper at a slight angle, so your pins will enter the lemon at roughly a 45 degree angle. The angle is necessary so the top won't just pull off the first time you pick it up.

I don't have a photo of this step because it took too many hands to do it, but next I held the two pieces together while my husband John inserted the pins through the grenade prongs and into the lemon. So grab a friend to help out, if you can.

STEP 5: Make It Pretty!

Once your pieces are together, it's time to decorate! I made a stencil by printing the Aperture logo on plain paper & cutting it out with a craft knife. I also added a small "flammable" symbol to the grenade head, which I printed and laminated with a bit of packing tape for some shine.

I replaced the grenade's plastic pin with a cotter pin (available for cheap at any hardware store) and keychain ring. I feel like the metal makes the whole thing look a little more real and substantial, but of course you can always keep the plastic pin and ring.

STEP 6: Display and Commence Bragging

I used a softball display case (found on ebay for just under $20 with shipping) and ordered the plaque from a local trophy shop for about $8 - so, yeah, the display is WAY more expensive than the lemon grenade itself. Even so, that's only about $35 for the completed piece. Not too shabby!

Fun Fact: That patent number is actually from the game, although I don't know if it holds any special meaning beyond that. You can find it in the upper righthand corner of the games' closing credits. I love adding extra nerdy details like that to projects. :D

I hope you guys enjoyed!

Comments

[PandaTVgaming]

made it WITHOUT sound, I really find it funny that my friends ask if I have burnt down life's house yet just laugh and say no

[blackholeseeker]

How did you make the box?

[Roadfighter]

I like your "Lemon granade" project.To bad we don't have "toy granades" to use for this project so i think i have to come up with somthing else.But if i do maybe it will become a instructable to.

[james.m.k]

Buy it online! I'm sure you could find one somewhere.

[reggaemuffin25]

its cheaper this way and easier

[AceOnFire]

If you have access to a 3D printer, that would probably be able to print the grenade part.

[reeding]

THE ARBITER WOULD ALSO LIKE SOME LEMON GRENADES!

[8bitkieran]

I love this project! :) I'm new to making stuff, thought I'd try this as my first project. It's been fine so far, with one exception - "Step 3: The Grenade Topper". I've not managed to cut these off very well, or even, 1/2 of them have got a crack gone up them. How would you cut them off evenly without cracking them?

[Christopher51]

This would definitely qualify as a “GMO.” It looks like something Monsanto would grow. :-D

[The Rambler]

Haha, I just read this blog post the other day and then got my Instructables e-mail with this in it and went, "What?!" I didn't know you were on instructables so my first thought was that someone had ripped you off (though why anyone would try that after the Redbook debacle is beyond me).

This is pretty awesome. One question though, are the wires exposed around back or do they go through the lemon? I didn't see you mention it and I imagine it would be hard to get it around the cement in the center but I was just wondering.

[Epbot]

Ha! Yeah, this is only my second Instructable - I love this place, but it's hard to find the time to add tutorials!

As for the wires, nothing is exposed, and nothing has to go through the center of the lemon. The wire only reaches from the top of the battery casing to the speaker, so the excess wire is just wrapped around the speaker and tucked inside the grenade cap - you can see it a little in my photo where I'm holding half of the cap in place.

I hope that makes sense - it's always so much easier to show with photos than it is to explain with these pesky "words" and such. ;)

[The Rambler]

Oh wow, no that makes complete sense. For some reason I made the false assumption that the battery was in the bottom of the lemon instead of the top.

Yeah I sometimes have trouble finding the time as well. I'm trying to streamline things by uploading pictures on here the same time that I upload them for my blog, and then by trying to make them similar enough that I can just copy/paste my posts into instructable form.

[james.m.k]

Looks more like an "Orange Granade" to me.

You could use one of those "Real-Lemon" plastic lemons. They are actually yellow, though much smaller.

[Epbot]

I guess some of my photos *do* make it look a little more orange, but I can assure you it looks like a lemon in real life. :)

[dablakh0l]

For permanence, you might try a 'real lemon' plastic lemon, or other plastic one from a craft store.

[Epbot]

This IS a fake lemon - though I'm glad it looks real enough that you suggested I use a plastic one!

[CSwick2]

Question...does it burn your house down ? Lol

[joey.blanton]

So...Lemonade?

[adel antado]

I can't think of a better project to do on Superbowl Sunday, than build a lemon granade following these well-written instructions except for the cigar-and-cigarette fort I made several years ago while waiting for my mom to return home from her vacation.

[repguy2020]

Love the Lemon Grenade! BOOM ... juice!