A member of the 501st Legion, Johnson modded a McDonald’s Happy Meal Stormtrooper toy into a badass hood ornament for his Buick Park Avenue. Here’s what he had to say about the modification:
The main component of my hood ornament is made from the head off of a McDonald’s toy. If you search online, it’s the one of a Stormtrooper driving a wind-up AT-AT. I removed the head from the rest of the toy, making sure to take out the spring that made the head bobble. I then filled the hollow head with resin, and drilled a hole into it that would serve as the mounting point. After I sanded the head with fine grit sand paper, making sure it was extra smooth, I painted the head metallic silver.
Next I removed the existing hood ornament from my car, which took some finesse and elbow grease. I removed the Buick emblem, but made sure to keep the base that actually mounted to the car. I then bought a nut and bolt from the local hardware store. I pushed the bolt up through the hole in the base of the old hood ornament, and screwed the nut down to hold the bolt in place. Then, finally, I screwed the Stormtrooper head down onto the bolt into the hole I had drilled earlier. Once that was done, I mounted it onto my car. Tada!
WORD OF CAUTION: While having your own Star Wars hood ornament is +10 to your geek rep. It’s a -20 when it comes to helping you get with the ladies. Proceed with caution.
