Take it apart, there's bits inside!

  In the shot over there on the left is just a sample of the pile of bits I made by taking apart two old DVD players I had lying around. Quite the haul, I think, and all this was for about 15 minutes work.  This was 2 old DVD players that are now gone, not used, kaput!

  (As an aside, I bought the Blu-Ray for the bedroom so we could watch Blu-Ray movies in there, chiefly, the UltraMarines movie I just picked up on Blu-Ray.  Yes, I am that guy who thinks that movie doesn't suck all that bad.)

But anyhow, from just these two drives, let me take you through the pile.

- 6 good motors that can either be speed controlled via battery size, or a decent potentiometer.  Automate the turret on that Predator, I think maybe?  The motors are small enough to also be used for the turret on my StormRaven, who knows?

- Gears! Everything from scenery effects to using them for that Turret!  There are different gears in there, but the ones that have the attached belt and pulley are screaming to be added to my Generator scenery piece.



- Rubber grommets, great scenic pieces in ruins and can even be used to spice up a manufactorum rubble pile.

- Metal bars, who doesn't need metal bars in rubble piles?   Maybe glued in to make nice looking stanchions to hold up second floors.  Any number of things can be done with these.

- Springs, again, more uses in scenery or in building the guts for a mechanism you have in mind.

- Square magnets... who couldn't use powerful square magnets?  They are kind of large, but if your magnetizing scenery or something else large, these may be the trick you need?

- Lenses - here is where it gets sweet.  The 2 small mirrors used to point the laser down to the disk and the lens that floats above the disk are great.  You can replace any number of headlamps with these round ones, and they look great because of the curvature they have. they really make the light play, so that if you just dab some paint behind them, you'll have a great lens.  Just be sure to mask themn if you dull coat your model.  The mirrors are glass, so be careful if you go to cut them, but again, they are great for adding/replacing view-port covers or anywhere you need a window that will be reflective.

  The main point here is not about how to take apart DVD players, it's how to think about stuff before you toss it.  There are a ton of things you probably have around the house that are on their way to the trash. Maybe check again and see if there are some potential good bits for your bits box in there?  I like to do minor changes on my models, especially scenery that people have not seen a thousand times before.  This is how you get those weird bits that can set a piece of scenery or fig off. An old computer or really, any machine, is a treasure trove of stuff. Just be careful if you take apart TVs or monitors.  The power circuits in there can remain deadly for DAYS after you unplug them.  It's how they come on so fast when you flip the switch.

The guts of the DVD player

Mostly nothing in here, but the plastic drive itself is a pile of parts.

 Look at all that bitz goodness

 The lens and the mirror, I neglected to add anything for size comparison, but the grid-lines on the mat are spaced 1 inch apart, so these are small, perfect for vehicles, and maybe even a LasCannon mod?