Hello all,

I just bought a Midway Shooting Gallery Deluxe that is in great shape last week, but was totally missing the rubber clown. The metal bracket was their, but no clown. Once I got the key and got inside the machine, in the back I found what must have been an original replacement clown that was left inside!! It's used, but fully intact and in great shape except for a dented nose. The rubber is too rotten to even think about using it as it would not last long, but since its totally intact and all the colors are still there, I'm going to make copies of it. 3D printing might be an OK way to go, but unless one prints with various colors for each color layer, I can't see that doing something like hand painting the output print would hold up that well to being shot at all the time with it being hard plastic.

I'm making a mold and will be making copies of the clown using a flexible colored rubber resin casting material. Each color on the clown will be colored layer of rubber, so it wont wear off or chip (least that's the idea). I just have to get the right hardness of the material so its strong enough not to tear off its metal bracket, but also not so hard that its like solid plastic and still will still have some give to it like the original would have.

My discs are intact, and the globes are fine, but the blue side clear disk has a couple of cracks in it that I'll just be filling with a clear bartop style epoxy, but I might try and make a full mold of those as well and see how it holds up to being shot at with a couple of different casting epoxy. If one had a vacuum former, those would be easy to make out of a clear poly carb sheet, acrylic or similar that's strong enough to take the hits, but I don't have access to one (but I might try make a vacuum mold just for the fun of it).

If the clown turns out well and holds up, I'll let you all know as once the mold and material mix is figured out, its just as easy to make 10 as it is one.

The one thing I would appreciate some help on, is the motor for my clowns movement is totally gone. It must have malfunctioned at one point and was removed so my clown is just static at the moment. The bracket, wiring and the pull rope and pulley are in the machine, but no motor. Is the motor assembly the same or similar as the one that controls the disc rotation? If someone could post some pictures of it and its connection to the clown, that would be a big help as I might be able to jury rig a new motor setup in some way.

Thanks,

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Thanks for the motor pictures Walt - much as I though, its the same as the disc motor. Yesterday I came across a facebook posting from a fellow who sells machines of all types, (I see @kovalski3 that you saw it as well - same clown). The machine he posted looks to have a replacement motor on it that runs the discs. It has a label that I can almost make out but I emailed him for clarification. Shouldn't be to hard to find or make something that will work - I dont think the transmission gears are necessary if one can find, or dial in the right RPM motor, but it just has to be reversible on its electrical connections for the back and forth.

Attached are a few pics of my clown. It seems they made a couple different color schemes. Mine I thought was either a yellow, or a skin tone color that faded, I thought that it might have been white face at one point and spending 30+ years in the back of the machine degraded to this off yellow it is now. When I saw a couple examples of white ones, that also have a black shadowing line above the ears, which mine does not, I'm thinking now it was a off-skin tone color and they made a few different styles over the production run or for replacement parts. Who knows - not really critical I think, as when I cast these, I should be able to do any color pattern one would like, though the more colors the more steps involved.

One last question - and I know the answer to this before I ask, but by chance does anybody on this thread have an extra right side grip for the gun? Lol... Doubtful I know, but that's the only missing part on my machine besides the motor.

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Forgot to mention too - if anybody needs it I can scan it and upload, but inside my machine was the full wiring schematic.

First and second draft of my clown mold. Not perfect, but when compared to the originals detail quality, what I didn't get 100% right, the original has the same exact issues. (its tricky making tiny amounts of the casting rubber to do each color and then "paint" it into the mold with fine detail on the lips and collar before it sets in 2 to 5 mins). Making a few more I should get it down a bit better, but the originals were not detailed works of fine art either. at 4 feet away, and something that's made to be a target, I was super happy when I popped the first try out and saw it be pretty darn good. The first one I made to match the original one I had with a more "normal" skintone, then I made the white one.

A Scary clown would be easier to make lol! Messing up it's "makeup" one could easily make a crazy clown, vampire clown, green faced zombie clown.

I need to let it set up fully for 3 days, then I'll epoxy it onto the bracket in the machine and shoot it a couple hundred times and make sure it holds up, but the density is perfect just about - not to hard, but strong enough it will not tear off over time.

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