These are great instructions Riefepeters. Thanks for taking the time to post them. I am slowly building the topper, but instead of fastening everything to the back box on my newly restored Fish Tales I am adding a piece of Birch plywood to use as a base. My plan is to make the topper a self-contained module so it is easier to remove for both travel and maintenance. The fish flapping doesn't create a lot of vibration so I am thinking about using 2 4x6 patches of industrial Velcro to attach the module to the head. Do you think that will be enough to hold it securely?

Thanks for posting the picture Roamin! I printed this picture onto transparent inkjet sticker paper and cut out the eye. I darkened the black part of the eye with a sharpie and used a dab of white out to complete it. It doesn't look half bad.

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I am conflicted about the loss of the vibration which is part of the toppers charm, Roamin, but having just had the machine restored with new playfields and Radcals I just can't bring myself to drill into it.

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I just finished the topper. I used industrial 3M Velcro to hold the module, it is really strong and I had trouble adjusting it when I first put it on a bit crooked so I am fairly confident it is solidly mounted. I think it looks pretty good and am pleased with it.
There's actually little or no loss of vibration when the tail gets flapping. The LED shell lights are a bit bright, so I may order one of those Matrix Brightness Adjusters from Comet Pinball along with my next bulb order.

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