# Mimic mod install vid for Dungeons & Dragons pinball

**Source:** Don's Pinball Podcast Live Streams (YouTube)  
**Type:** video  
**Published:** 2025-04-27  
**Duration:** 8m 17s  
**Beat:** Pinball

**URL:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v25-4fr8Mo

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## Analysis

Don presents a detailed installation tutorial for a custom Mimic Chest mod for Dungeons & Dragons pinball. The mod replaces the original Mimic plastic with a sculpted terrain piece featuring an improved chest design and reconfigured flasher dome. Installation is rated 2/5 complexity and involves disassembling original plastics, reusing existing light boards and hardware, and carefully routing cables before reassembling the terrain assembly.

### Key Claims

- [MEDIUM] Dungeons & Dragons game deserved a better Mimic than the original — _Don's opening statement justifying the mod creation_
- [HIGH] The mod installation is 2 out of 5 in complexity — _Don's explicit rating during installation overview_
- [MEDIUM] The ball trap plastic mitigation reduces airball incidents by approximately 100% — _Don's discussion of the airball plastic's function and effectiveness_
- [HIGH] The new sculpted terrain allows reuse of existing light boards and flasher components — _Detailed technical explanation of how original LED board slides into new Mimic chest_

### Notable Quotes

> "Dungeons & Dragons is an awesome game. It deserved a better Mimic."
> — **Don**, 0:00-0:10
> _Establishes the design philosophy and justification for the custom mod_

> "If you try to put a lot of torque in there, you can crack the plastic of the mimic chest. But it's fairly durable."
> — **Don**, ~3:00
> _Critical installation warning about handling torque on plastic components_

> "Take your time. Don't lose these tiny little screws, man. Throw down a cloth or a table cloth, something, a microfiber so your hardware doesn't go everywhere."
> — **Don**, ~8:30
> _Practical assembly advice emphasizing organization and care during modification_

> "They don't have to be super tight, just snug them and stop."
> — **Don**, ~2:45
> _Repeated emphasis on avoiding over-torquing to prevent plastic damage_

### Entities

| Name | Type | Context |
|------|------|---------|
| Don | person | Content creator and mod designer; created the Mimic Chest mod for D&D pinball; hosts Don's Pinball Podcast Live Streams |
| Dungeons & Dragons | game | Stern pinball machine that is the subject of this Mimic Chest modification |
| Mimic Chest Mod | product | Custom aftermarket playfield modification replacing the original Mimic plastic with sculpted terrain and improved flasher dome integration |

### Topics

- **Primary:** Aftermarket playfield modifications, D&D pinball customization, Installation procedures and technical assembly
- **Secondary:** LED/flasher lighting reuse and integration, Playfield ergonomics and ball trap mitigation

### Sentiment

**Positive** (0.85) — Don speaks enthusiastically about the mod quality and D&D pinball; provides patient, encouraging instruction throughout; ends with gratitude and celebration of the modification community

### Signals

- **[product_strategy]** Custom Mimic Chest mod addresses perceived design shortcoming in original D&D playfield; represents community-driven improvement to manufacturer design (confidence: high) — Don explicitly states 'Dungeons & Dragons is an awesome game. It deserved a better Mimic' and developed this aftermarket solution
- **[technology_signal]** Demonstrates growing sophistication of aftermarket mod ecosystem with engineered plastic components designed for drop-in compatibility with existing Stern hardware (confidence: high) — Mod is engineered to reuse original LED boards and flasher components with precise mounting hardware integration; includes longer bolts as optional compatibility enhancement

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## Transcript

Let's go ahead and install this cool, awesome D&D Mimic Chest thing that I got created here. D&D is an awesome game. It deserved a better Mimic. So let's go forward. So install, fairly straightforward. It's probably a 2 out of 5 in terms of complexity. Here's a picture looking down at what you're probably seeing, the layout of the original plastics before we start. The first thing we're going to want to do is take the old Mimic plastic out. This is secured by two small Phillips screws at the base. You unscrew them, they come right out. A little bit of Loctite is on these. You might have to give it a little bit of English at first, but then it'll come right off. And you can remove that plastic, stick it in your coin box, stick it to your refrigerator, whatever you want to do. All right, next up, behind that is the airball plastic. There is a ball trap behind the flasher dome. And this plastic that sits there keeps that from happening. We're going to reuse this. Potentially, it's an option. But go ahead and take that guy off. Next up, we're going to start removing the rest of the hex bolts that are on top of the existing plastic and that original flasher dome. That's all coming off because we've got sculpted terrain that's going in there that's going to be even cooler. So just get your little parts tray around there, and we're going to reuse most of these parts. So just take them on off there. Take your time with it. Disassemble the spotlight tower there. You'll need to remove the couple of hex posts that are on there and the screw on top just to free it up. We're going to reattach it later onto the new terrain plastic. So moving forward, this is what you should be looking at. With the tower removed, the original plastic on top removed, this clear plastic is going to stay. And this is what we're going to mount everything to. And this essentially completes that disassembly process with the one caveat of the flasher dome. So before you can take that original plastic completely off the game, you'll have to disconnect the flasher dome. This is held with two nuts on the underside of the dome Go ahead and unscrew those And pay attention there is that LED light board that we going to reuse that little flasher that there When you go ahead and flip over the new plastic and insert the new crystal flasher dome, you'll go ahead and reinstall those same bolts. I did include a longer bolt in case you find that a little easier. You can reuse the original ones, but it is a little easier to use the included ones. They're just an extra, I don't know, eighth of an inch longer, but makes it a little bit easier. Now, it does not matter which side or which bolt you use to reattach the LED flasher there. Go with whichever one seems to give you the most play in the wires. And then, you know, run it down. You don't have to, you know, run it down extremely tight. Just as long as it's pretty snug, it shouldn't really be going anywhere. And it should look something like this when you're done, and then you're ready to reinstall the plastic. So this will complete that disassembly process. Now, with the flasher dome removed and maybe you put the new light board on the terrain, but reinstall the Mimic. Put in the Mimic chest mod at this point. You're going to use the same exact bolts. It's engineered so that the existing light board that is on the plastic that originally lit up the Mimic plastic is reused and slides inside of that new Mimic chest. Now, when you put it down in there, it's engineered, and I've tested this. It will line up with the existing mounting hardware that's on there. Uh, probably what you'll need to do is put on the leftward most bolt first. And then the other one, you might have to flex the plastic back just a bit, uh, for it to get to line up and then just run these on in again. They don't have to be super tight, just snug them and stop. If you try to put a lot of torque in there, you can crack the plastic of the mimic chest. Um, but it's fairly durable. Just, you know, go with what's reasonable, uh, snug it on in there and, uh, it will slide in. you may need to just jockey it a little bit depending on that position of that light board because it does have a little bit of motion capability to it. But just take your time, ease it on down. The mimic chest should go in just fine Then we installed the flasher dome and the flasher light on the back of the terrain So that will be the next thing to go in here What I like to do at this point though before putting in the terrain is to reattach the spotlight hex post assembly. So if you lift up your play field at this point, trace back the wires to that flasher stand up because the spotlight, because you're going to need to have a little bit more play. There's a simple black cable tie that's in there, locate it, snip that one, and then just free up the cables. You'd only need an extra inch or so of slack. And then this photo here shows how I like to route the cable kind of behind the mimic chest, between that hex post and the mimic chest, and then right around there. Take your time again with this. Everything will work. You just have to gingerly kind of place it all together in a way that goes back in its original manner. Okay, so you should be looking at something like this. once you've freed up some extra slack from underneath the playfield and you've got this installed. Then we can move on to the final part, which is reinstalling the terrain and the flasher and everything. So you've got this whole assembly. I like to start by the skinny end in the back by the dragon cave. Use the existing hardware to put those two bolts back in there. And then go on down to the far part by the mimic chest, and you'll see the spots to reattach that. Generally, I've installed this a couple of times on a few different machines. The very last screw that goes into a hex post, sometimes you need to flex that plastic back a little bit just to get it to line up. Sometimes it's easier if you take the hex post and just loosen it a little bit so there's a little bit of wiggle play, and that'll allow you to line it up. I put the bolt in the terrain plastic and then bring that down to the hex post so they mate, and then once you start tightening it up, the whole thing snugs. By doing it this way, it puts a little bit of counter pressure on that bottom plastic so that it's not as floppy. It really firms it up a little bit. So don't be discouraged when you go to put this in if the holes aren't lining up perfectly at first. They do flex a little bit on that plastic and they will line up. Again just loosely attach everything at first and then go through and tighten everything down once it all lined up Now at this point you can reinstall that ball trap plastic that we removed in one of the very first steps there There is a spot to put this hex post back in, and then you can put the plastic back on there. Now, this is an option. This isn't a very likely place to get a ball, but if a ball does get up there, you will have to remove the glass to free it. with this plastic in place, which essentially is invisible to the player, sits behind the mimic chest, it really mitigates that almost 100%. So it won't allow the ball to sit up on the terrain, like as in this picture here where I'm holding it. So that's pretty much its main job. Now, if you get like the wildest of balls, there is a chance it could land on top of that plastic that's up there. Now, before there was a little bit of room with the original plastic where the ball could roll down and then into the out lane. Here, it will get stuck there if by chance it flies up. However, when it's up against the side of the cabinet right there, if you just tap the cabinet with the heel of your hand, it'll pop it right back into play. So that's super fun. All right, once you've finished all this and you're installed, you're pretty much ready to go. Raise that play field back up and go ahead and throw a zip tie back just to clean up all those cables, kind of replacing the effectiveness of the one that removed in step one. And there you go, man. Mimic chest. It's in there. Not a very difficult install as far as installs go. Take your time. Don't lose these tiny little screws, man. Throw down a cloth or a table cloth, something, a microfiber so your hardware doesn't go everywhere. If you've got one of those little magnetic dishes from Harbor Freight, they're like $1.28 and they're like the best thing for doing these. But yeah, take your time. I did include an extra screw. if you need it. If you lose something or you want a different screw, it's a 632 sized 3 quarter or half inch bolt. So you can go get those at Home Depot. They're a dollar something for a whole bag of them. But there you go. More cool stuff to come. But yeah, enjoy the mod and thanks so much for the interest, man. Give yourself a round of applause and a handshake on my behalf. Thanks.

_(Acquisition: youtube_groq_whisper, Enrichment: v3)_

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*Exported from Journalist Tool on 2026-04-13 | Item ID: debf9ce7-ceb8-4892-aa1c-a6461b6ee5e2*