Adding Custom lights to a vintage Kenner Star Wars Y-Wing - Toy Polloi

The Kenner Star Wars Y-wing is one of my favourite ships from the toy line. But the electronics inside are very basic and really could do with some improvement. So today I take apart a beater Y-wing from my collection and add engine lights, cockpit lights, and flashing lasers. It's a complicated project, but the end results make it all worthwhile.
Using K'Nex rods to replace Y-wing struts: • How to make Replacemen...
Lego Y-wing front guns: • Vintage Star Wars Cust...
0:00 Intro
3:01 What you will need
5:55 Teardown
10:52 Cleaning
13:12 Adding the laser custom lights
19:45 Adding the engine custom lights
29:36 Rebuilding the Y-Wing
32:16 The finished ship
#starwars #kenner #vintagetoys #repair #restoration #ywing #custom
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[@EnigmaticPenguin]

The best thing about Y wing is no matter how minty or beater it is, it suits the ship because of it’s design.

[@toypolloi]

Totally. This one is really beaten up, but looks great. That's why I didn't bother tidying any of it up as it all adds to the look. Cheers

[@jeromyfisher297]

Love your channel! Great star Wars video, my son and I found that if you put the lights under the dash by the feet, you get a great shadows coming into the cockpit highlighting the pilot’s face. We have re-done our Slave1 and moved the light to the top of the cockpit on the roof when slave 1 is in the parked position so it shines on Boba Fett feet when in the flight position. We found a Aqua blue color LED that works the best for Instrument panel lights. This also shines into the cargo bay to highlight Han’s case when the hatches are open. We mounted 2 contact switches to the seat so so the lever on the outside turns it on

[@toypolloi]

Cool. Thanks for the tips.

[@Cog_In_The_Gear]

I wonder if any old Kenner staffers who saw this would marvel at how we still love, and tinker with these toys?

[@bwtrader]

It’s amazing how accurate the old Ywings looks to what you see in the movies ..

[@toypolloi]

It is. I think this is one of the closest to the originals that they did.

[@sizzal31]

Kenner SHOULD have done this back in the day. Looks so much better, especially those engine lights. ....anything is better than that "laser" sound.

[@mikecrowe9888]

I absolutely love how you can transform a previously loved toy into something really special. Please keep up the good work because you inspire so many people to fix previously broken and unusable toys to be even better than when they were new!

[@TheUncleRuckus]

Wish all Star Wars ships came with lights back in the day!

[@GermanNightmare1976]

Dave (Y-)winging it is always better than anyone else could hope to achieve. Love it!

[@TheLeatheryman]

In the words of Director Krennic; Oh.. It’s beautiful!

[@roger97338]

That lighting project looks great. The orange engine lights, and flashing lazers on the front...wonderful! The warm white in the cockpit looks much better than a bright white would have looked. Now I'm off to watch your snowspeeder video, because that looks fantastic as well!

[@stefaanderop6171]

Another amazing project. I love what you did with the front lasers and rear engines. The idea for the kinex rods is also very innovative. thanks again for the amazing video. and all the tips and ideas which you are sharing; they make alot of difference. With regard to the landingmechanism, here is a quick tip. If anyone is having trouble with their landinggear; a known issue with y-wings: 1) Remove the battery cover with a small flathead skrewdriver. 2) Use 3 equal sized books to support the feet of the toy; or use a piece of tape to hold em up in the upward position. 3) Insert a small wooden meatskewer through the hole of the aligned landinggearmechanism. It sticks through the battery compartiment and keeps it properly aligned when you screw your toy back together. 4) Screw the toy together (mid centerpiece 2 screws should be enough) 5) Remove the little skewer through the battery compartiment 6) Test the landinggear by pushing the button entirely forward in the locked position. Your toy should be standing without any difficulties. 7) Screw the toy together (rearsides/centerpiece backend- sides front // two forward screws can be screwed at the end) 8) Retract the landinggear and put it back into the locked position. Final test. I have a problem with the front cockpit window; I retrobrighted it; but the plastic was dissolving; when i was washing it afterwards. The rear part of the cockpit window did not have the same problem. different plastic? Do you perhaps have any tips for me on what product i can possibly use to polish that part again, to make it transparant again?

[@sithcarebear1]

I absolutely love when you add lights Dave! This one turned out very very nicely. I agree that the engines look studio quality and the gun lights and cockpit just add another level of realism and playability to the piece. Very nice indeed. Thanks Dave!

[@toypolloi]

Thanks 👍

[@ARobertBluefield]

if you want to brighten the laser leds, try removing the resistor thats attached inside the heat shrink tubing on those prewired leds. if youre wiring these lights in series, the leds themselves will act as resistors, if you find those too bright, then add a resister on the positive leg going toward the leds on that circuit. that should solve your issue and brighten up those lasers. great video as usual!

[@ARobertBluefield]

and you could add a second resistor to the light in the cockpit if you want to dim that one down. sometimes ive added 2 or 3 resistors to an led just to get a gentle glow. im sure there are beefier resistors for that, but i just make do with what i have.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks for the tips.

[@TorontoJon]

What an amazing lighting job which has really brought new life to that vintage Kenner Star Wars Y-wing fighter. Bravo! :)

[@toypolloi]

Thanks 👍

[@drawingbyhand]

Absolutely brilliant toy polloi great led custom on y wing awesome. 👍👍😎

[@vanessareneecharles7327]

OMG! OMG! THIS IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAD ASS!!!! I saw someone on one of other Roy channels and he added lights and sound to a vintage Star Wars A-Wing fighter, but it was years ago, and he didn't remember how he had did it, I saw it in a short, so I've been looking for a channel that might show me how to do that, but in a simpler way, then I saw your channel as I was scrolling hoping to find someone who has added lights to any of thier classic Star Wars ships.

[@TheRowlandstone73]

Brilliant stuff! If there's anything I like more than the designing and application of stickers to Star Wars vehicles in your vids, it's your addition of lights! The amount of work this needed was stress-inducing even for me watching it! Your 'can-do' attitude and skill smashed it! 👌

[@Tim-57]

Hey Dave Happy Friday over there. I really enjoyed your customization video. Take care

[@thecurationstation6310]

I think I might just do this to put a light under the land speeder I'm restoring for display. What a cool idea

[@MRK1973]

I was so hoping you’d get back to another Vintage Star Wars custom job and this was one of the best! I have the Y wing and I love it. Wish Kenner back in the day had done what you did, those lights are great. You could use that in a stop motion video or something, or an intro for your videos. Really good.

[@jimkelseymusiccjh]

Very innovative, Dave. I may have to do that with my junker Y-wing.

[@allluckyseven]

Nice little project. It might be interesting to sand those transparent Legos slightly so that the light diffuses a bit.

[@josecoto6709]

This is a toy I had as a child, I feel this video is gonna be amazing. . . [EDIT]: it was amazing.

[@thetworoos]

Wow, this is really cool. As usual with your customs and fixes, I would’ve loved this as a child!

[@brianartillery]

That's great work. The Y-Wing looks superb in a beaten up condition, always. The only other thing I'd do, is to put a R5 'droid in the astromech socket - maybe one of the Stan Solo ones would look cool there. Thanks for sharing! Nice one.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks. My main y-wing has an R5 in it as I think it looks way better. Thought I'd try R2 in this one. Not so good, but it works as he is pretty beaten up.

[@RockyRailroadProductions_B0SS]

Very fun project, the engine lights especially add a lot of dimension and character to the ship. I'd say even unpainted, the button for the nose blaster cannons looks like any other 'greeble' on the Y-wing, since it's already got so much texture.

[@ActionPopCast]

Brilliant upgrades, I'm really impressed with how you've taken that ship from a wreck to a brilliant display piece with added awesomeness 🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@kieronball8962]

Incredible work, Dave. By fitting lights to this vintage Star Wars Y-Wing, you've improved it 100% and created something on par with the functioning models used by Gerry Anderson, for his famous tv shows.

[@GoliathAngelus]

Indeed,,Garry Anderson wished that he had led lights to work with

[@TheTWRModeller]

From Kenner's Star Wars: The Ultimate Force collection, the Y-Wing VS the Imperial TIE Bomber both with working light-up features! Batteries not included; action figures sold seperately. The fate of the galaxy is in your hands with Kenner's Star Wars: the Ultimate Force collection! Y-Wing Fighter and Imperial TIE Bomber - each sold seperately.

[@theladyfingers___]

Really nice work! You could also place or direct the cabin light on either side of the pilot so it looks like instrument glow.

[@toypolloi]

Cool idea!

[@kevcox5585]

Dave that is the best custom light job I have ever seen you do. Jeez that looked complex! I don't know how you come up with these ideas, but I wish I had 10% of your creative spark. You deserve a knighthood to services to vintage toy repairs Dave, there's no one out there on the planet doing this level of repairs and upgrades. What a video that is! My vintage Y - Wing seems very bland now sitting on the shelf with it's rotating gun and annoying buzzing sound 😄👍🏼

[@toypolloi]

Thanks Kev!

[@Cages_Customs]

Awesome video, I love when you do projects like this.👍😎

[@toypolloi]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@gofigure6251]

This is awesome….. I love everything about this…. The work that went into this project must have been immense great job my friend and thank you for sharing

[@toypolloi]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@sabre0smile]

Your videos already helped me restore my (previously) broken Y-Wing and I'm now severely tempted to try this :P

[@SQLJedi]

Awesome job Dave. I absolutely love the orange glow of the engine lights..well done!

[@toypolloi]

Thanks a bunch!

[@thomashensel5645]

That's look realy amazing, fantastic work and ship. I think I have a new Work in the next time 😀

[@LogicBlaster]

Amazing project! I particularly like the final look for the engine lights, looks spectacular! Thanks for another fantastic video!👍

[@ghostbustersquickresponseu5159]

Nice upgrade!

[@briansadler7270]

Absolutely amazing video. I Love this kinda stuff. Looks fantastic. I like to use flickering lights for the engines, and a bit of cotton to defuse the bulb some. Really adds to the effect. Again what an awesome video. Thanks again Dave

[@toypolloi]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@korydoe4813]

What a nice way to relax, by watching you do your magic! Cheers Dave

[@TeflonDave]

Engines really look incredible. Great job!

[@toypolloi]

Thank you very much!

[@tonygriego6382]

Damn! This was amazing!

[@eltenda]

Great upgrade!!!!

[@sylvanyoung]

One of your best . The cool thing about a custom is you make it ' yours ' . Imagination, skill and trial and error and the skys the limit . I am more an ' X wing ' fan . Thanks for the video .

[@kanishka78]

I want one!!!! Stunning job Dave!

[@Beedo_Sookcool]

SWEET! Thank you for this!

[@GreyHulk2156]

Love these custom vintage vehicles. Shows what you can do with modern technology. :)

[@TheRetroTinker]

Seriously cool project Dave! Well done!

[@StudioHappyboy]

Bravo Dave, the Y wing is my favorite starfighter in Star Wars. This is perfect.

[@justinreilly6619]

Excellent work! 👏 Your Y-Wing is ready to take on the entire Empire!

[@MartinFutter70]

A fine addition to the much under loved Y-Wing - the wiring looked simple enough, I think even I could attempt to do it too... Those Lego guns are also great. Had two of these apart to adapt into better versions, and as you said this ship is a pain to work on due to that landing gear system, on, off, on off - check, on off...have a cuppa, start again, but a great ship - Off to check your K'Nex vid, as I have two Y's with no tails! hopefully you've nailed that too

[@toypolloi]

Thanks. This ship has always been a pain. It never just works first time. I've a video on the knex rod process.

[@davidkerr4137]

Great upgrade Dave🙂

[@youroldtoys1257]

Great video.

[@gieselats]

Awesome. The quality issues of the transparent lego pieces is a huge problem. The light sabers of lego star wars figures look like transmilk. That is bad. Wow. Your light-project. Wow, really fanatic. The ywing comes to life. 😊 keep up the good work.

[@toypolloi]

I've not bought many clear lego pieces, these seemed quite bad which is why I thought they could be knock-offs. For the end result it didn't matter. But if you were using them as lego, they do look a bit cheap.

[@mechachrist]

Beautiful work! A tip for the laser cannons I learned while lighting a War of the Worlds Martian war machine model kit: line the square are you put the bulbs in with aluminum tape and put some over the top, but upside down so the box is fully lined in reflective material. It’ll help direct as much light where you want it to go. It also blocks light leaks nicely.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks for the tip!

[@thestingray1983]

I really like theese custom jobs you do with lighteffects, it really makes an old regular toy pop out! :) I was quite impressed with the engines casting the light through the rear piece making an excellent lightshape on the surroundings. It really makes it a great display piece.

[@vectorbots]

Really great Dave!

[@25toys3]

Hi Dave, You SHOULD have: painted the entire thing purple put Tony the Tiger in the cockpit carved my initials on the underside added a miniature combustion engine Sincerely, The Comments Section I’d be proud as hell if I did what you did by the way!

[@shawz10]

Great job as always!

[@matthewh5862]

Really lovely upgrade there. The Y-Wing is a real favourite of mine, great job!

[@toypolloi]

Thanks a lot!

[@Broadshore]

That is really cool!

[@chrishight6598]

WOW!!!! That is amazing.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks 👍

[@SeanRedux]

Fun video! Been wanting to start adding lights to my scratch build bots. You make it less intimidating!

[@smoluk1]

Great job Cheers!

[@toypolloi]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@snookhammer]

Very cool!

[@impossiblepie]

Brilliant!

[@davidmcfadden1763]

Nice job! Great video!

[@jeromekennedy330]

NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@christoffergraff2708]

love it !

[@benstutley2904]

Excellent mod ideas TP! - really want a Y-Wing for my collection still to this day :) But you did drill holes in Kenner Star Wars- Heretic! No-one expects the spanish inquisition! -you probably do though ;) All the best Dude!

[@toypolloi]

Thanks. I know the drilling of holes will upset a few people, but sometimes you just have to go for it.

[@oele]

Amazing

[@JonathanMedd]

This is epic!

[@Fnordathoth]

Love it, great custom job Dave.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks 👍

[@MoMo-xb7nr]

Cool!

[@jasemac5391]

That came up awesome Brother 👍🏻🇦🇺

[@toypolloi]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@samuelmeasa9283]

Came across this while looking for a video for Y-wing restoration. I'm restoring 3 Y-wings, 2 for my own display, 1 for my nephew's birthday and upgrades are very welcome. In relation to 3D prints I can say that the most you'll end up paying is $5.00 USD and tax over on Cults3d. The set includes files for the Afterburner, Canopy, Engine , Engine Strut, Front landing gear, and side landing gear. Remaining parts can be downloaded for free. Only files I haven't found is the battery cover and cockpit glass. Also plan on doing lots of repaint to them. Doctor Faust Paint Clinic and other miniature painters may have convinced me to shoot for more realistic/custom toys.

[@GoliathAngelus]

WOW!!

[@ScruffyLookinRGB]

Great mod Dave! I think those lego front gun pieces look better than the original stubby pieces that often bend. Im sure it was an astetic choice for the size of the leds. Have you ever pondered to use tiny chip leds?

[@scottr2279]

So damn cool.

[@andybennington637]

Nice!

[@toypolloi]

Thanks!

[@Bill.Connor]

Legend!!!

[@StonegateCreations]

Hi Dave. I have an injection mold for the rear struts. I will send you a set!

[@toypolloi]

Oh cool. That would be great.

[@Dustin2112]

LED Tips: 1.) LEDs tend to have a narrow beam angle and the concentration of that angle extends from the tip. If you could find a way to turn the LEDs forward for the lasers it would produce a much brighter effect. Additionally, if you sanded the surface of the clear tips it would refract and glow even brighter. 2.) If all of those LEDs are rated at 9v, that means they each have a resistor attached to the leg of one of the leads which drops the voltage down to 3-4.5v on each LED. By wiring the engine lights in series you are creating double the resistance because of the accumulative load of two LEDs and two resistors. Either wire the two engine lights in parallel or if you maintain the series circuit you need to remove at least one of the resistors, if not both. The LEDs themselves are probably rated at approximately 4v, wired in series without resistors would give each LED about 4.5v which is still within most specs. But if you wanted to play it safe, leave one of the resistors in place and the voltage across it and the two LEDs would PROBABLY be around 3.7v-4v each. This will increase your light output dramatically, probably to the level of not needing to dim your studio lights to see them vibrantly. The same goes for the laser cannons which have to be wired in series in order for the simultaneous blink effect. Of course if you used two blinking LEDs it would create a faster and potentially erratic blinking effect. HOWEVER, IF THE RESISTORS ARE WIRED ACROSS THE TWO LED LEGS, THAT'S A COMPLETE DIFFERENT STORY WHICH WOULD TAKE LONGER TO EXPLAIN. AND IF THAT IS THE CASE DO NOT USE ANY EXAMPLE I JUST GAVE. REMEMBER, series = sharing their loads as if they are a single unit of output. Parallel = each unit acting as a self contained load. There are some negatives and positives to wiring in either way, mostly concerning battery life but we are talking nickels and dimes with LEDs generally.

[@toypolloi]

Thanks for the tip. I am no expert on the wiring side, but can do enough to cause damage :D Cheers

[@jubeibob]

freaking awesome, those pre-wired lights are so cool, i do not know much about wireing and stuff but im guessing those led kits have resiisters already apart of the wiring that would save tons of time. Now im just trying to think of something I can use them on. great video

[@Jinxnator]

Brillant video bud but for me there's just one thing missing and that's a sound broad for the laser which would top it off nicely Top work though.

[@mokeimusic]

Nice you are adding lights, but space ships are basically aircraft and adding the correct anti collision lights would be a nice detail. Full white lites on make it harder to see outside so pilots use small hand held map lites and red cabin lites when in flight. A Taxi light would be good also to add on the front landing gear. Sorry to sound like I’m nit picking but it could really flesh out the Y wing if you wanted.

[@toypolloi]

You can add as much or as little as you want, that's the fun with these things. I just wanted to add some in a toy style to this. Doesn't need to be realistic to make the ship look cool. Cheers

[@decepticonzerora]

Dave those Clear Lego pieces are replicas. But the final project looks great!

[@toypolloi]

I thought they might be. They did what I needed and were cheap to get.

[@martynshaw8395]

If you used 2 more of those half pegs on the front they'd make good flash suppressors

[@antoin654]

Outstanding job! You've gotta do that POTF A-wing custom repaint you talked about ages ago, just think of all the possibilities with that empty battery compartment.... With the prices the Droids versions go for now I feel like a custom version would be very on brand for you Cheers

[@toypolloi]

It's still on my list to do. So many projects, so little time!

[@antoin654]

@@toypolloi I'm sure that when you get to it you will do it justice! Or you could go the Hasbro route and just glue a nerf gun to it and call it a day. Your choice 😂😂

[@toypolloi]

🤣

[@WorldWarWoods]

Really great work! Do you think you could make a video on setting up a light in Yoda's hut?

[@toypolloi]

Thanks. It would be pretty easy to do, I don't think you would need to do any modifications, just add a light. Or even simpler buy and LED tealight and sit it inside. That would give a nice flicker and requires not soldering.

[@freakshowfilmfestival3591]

I think maybe if you sanded the back of the clear laser light, and sanded the rest (not the tip) before you painted it, maybe they would be brighter? Something to bounce the light off. Or some foil tape? 🤷

[@danielbrockman8374]

Hot glue holding the wires in projects like these reduces the need for ibuprophen later!

[@KingofPotatoPeople]

Forget the Lego warning, I can’t handle a B Wing pilot sitting in a Y Wing cockpit!

[@toypolloi]

🤣

[@zed0002]

Didn’t realise you could get small flashing leds. Was thinking to make a police car slot car this week and was wondering how I could get the sirens to flash 😊

[@toypolloi]

They make all sorts. I've a video adding flashing lights to a transformers barricade that uses a different method. Check that out as it may work better. Cheers

[@lonestarr_sixer9554]

would of added tips to those front lasers

[@keithmyers247]

Your videos are great. I have a beater Y-Wing that was spray painted and has heavily corroded terminals. I did manage to clean them up and verify that the motor works. I can't however seem to get the spray paint removed, but the isopropyl I have is only 70%. So upon seeing this video, I'm leaning towards a lighted custom rather than trying to make it original. Curious how long the battery lasts? Also, what are the bulb sizes used? I'm seeing 3mm, 5, mm and various voltage 6V, 9V, 12 V options.I know the very basics when it comes to wiring and voltage, but always up for a challenge. Cheers again on the great videos!

[@toypolloi]

To remove the spray paint use dot 4 break fluid. I have many videos showing this process. Cheers

[@goosekjd]

hello i like watching you making them look better , so just doing one up my self but cannot work out the flashing led to non wiring done my head in over it can i ask how you did the wire led too flashing unit to make them both flash

[@toypolloi]

The flashing led works like a switch so anything wired in series after it is switched off by the flashing led. Hope that helps.

[@BrynSmith76]

Fantastic job. I really like it. Do you think the motor could have stayed in for the sound?

[@toypolloi]

It could have been left it, but as this one didn't work and it's not that great and effect I took it out. It's up to you.

[@BrynSmith76]

@@toypolloi I did wonder. I couldn't remember from your previous video if it worked or not. Thanks for continuing the custom, I always enjoy these videos. The Y-Wing looks great. I have a few here I really need to build.

[@Thehumblecollectoruk]

great video looks great .are you sure clear poles at front are lego or third party .lego dont normally would send that amount with bubbles in maybe one or two in line faulity .great enjoyed these most of your videos apart action man that allways be number one

[@toypolloi]

I think they are most likely third party and not original lego parts.

[@Thehumblecollectoruk]

have you ever done corgi or dinky toy repairs ?

[@Thehumblecollectoruk]

need new action man video i worn out others he he

[@alexandrejuliaomachado9547]

😮👍👏👏👏👏❤️