In Stage 45 and Stage 46 of our 1:8 scale Knight Rider K.I.T.T. partwork build, we assembled the wearable and wireless ComLink Wristwatch that will be used to remotely control the model’s electronic functions. At the end of Stage 45, the magazine instructions would have had us test all of our electronics for the first time. However, I chose to complete the watch first, so I moved the testing process and the ComLink operation to this page.

Initial ComLink Setup

The ComLink Wristwatch has five buttons that control various functions of the model. But, for the initial setup, we only need these four:

To set the TIME:

• HOLD the Dial (A) button for 3 seconds (it will count 01, 02, 03 on the screen)
• PRESS the +/– buttons to select between a 12-hour or 24-hour format
• PRESS the Dial (A) button once to confirm
• PRESS the +/– buttons to set the seconds value
• PRESS the Dial (A) button once to confirm
• PRESS the +/– buttons to set the minutes value
• PRESS the Dial (A) button once to confirm
• PRESS the +/– buttons to set the hours value
• PRESS the Dial (A) button once to confirm

To set the LANGUAGE of the voice clips played by the model’s Speaker (defaults to French):

• HOLD the Speaker (B) button for 3 seconds (it will count 01, 02, 03 on the screen)
• PRESS the +/– buttons to select the appropriate voice language channel:
  • CH01 = French
  • CH02 = English
  • CH03 = Spanish
  • CH04 = Italian
  • CH05 = German
• PRESS the Speaker (B) button once to confirm

Preparing for the first Electronics Test

NOTE: I completed this first electronics test once I finished building Stage 46.

Step 1

Retrieve your Chassis and your Front Bumper and position the Bumper near the front of the Chassis:

Connect the plug of the Scanner Light Printed Circuit Board (marked ‘A’) to the free end of the Front Scanner Wire (marked ‘A’), as shown:

Step 2

Install four (4) AAA batteries (not included with the model) into the Battery Compartment and slide the Switch to the ‘ON’ position:

Lighting Test Part 1

During normal operation of controlling our K.I.T.T. model, the five buttons of the ComLink Wristwatch each have a specific purpose:

PRESS the Dial (POWER) button once to initiate the K.I.T.T. startup sequence. This should cause the model to play a sequence of sounds and trigger the following events:

• The Pop-Up Headlights Motor (43C) should rotate for a few seconds counter-clockwise (when looking at the end of the gear):

• The following LEDs at the front of the Chassis should light up in a timed pattern:

• • 42G – Front/Fog Lights (marked ‘R’)
  • 43B – Headlights (marked ‘M’)
  • 44B – Keypad (marked ‘G’)
  • 44C – Dashboard Monitors (marked ‘H’)
  • 44D – Front Panel and Voice Lights (marked ‘O’)
  • 44E – Dashboard Instrument Panel 1 (marked ‘J’)
  • 44F – Dashboard Instrument Panel 2 (marked ‘L’)
  • 44H – Steering Column Pods (marked ‘I’)
  • 44I – Lower Center Console (marked ‘V’)

• The following LEDs at the rear of the Chassis should also light up:

• • 43E – Overhead Console 01 (marked ‘K’)
  • 43G – Overhead Console 02 (marked ‘W’)
  • 43I – Left Tail Lights (marked ‘E’)
  • 43J – Right Tail Lights (marked ‘E’)
  • 43L – Rear License Plate (marked ‘P’)

PRESS the upper-right (SCANNER) button once to turn the Front Scanner on/off and play the matching sound effect.

On my model, when I pressed the SCANNER button all of the electronics just turned off. I followed the troubleshooting steps listed at the bottom of this page and found I was affected by the faulty C3 capacitor on my Scanner Light PCB. See that section below for more details:

Audio Test

• PRESS the Speaker (MUSIC) button to play/stop the Knight Rider theme song.
• PRESS the left (ENGINE) button once to play/stop K.I.T.T.’s turbine engine sound. This one is quite loud.
• PRESS the lower-right (VOICE) button once each time to play through the following K.I.T.T. voice clips:
  • “I am the voice of Knight Industries Two Thousand’s microprocessor. K I T T for easy reference. KITT if you prefer.”
  • “I project odds of a thousand to one against my meeting a more compatible human than yourself.”
  • “I am not qualified to overrule your wishes.”
  • “Yes, Michael.”
  • “As Michael would say, thanks pal.”

TIP: If you want to have your Scanner lights moving but without any sound playing, press the ENGINE or MUSIC button twice to override the sound effect and then go quiet. This mode could be helpful if you want to display your model silently, but have the Scanner running.

Lighting Test Part 2

One at a time, activate the switches on the ends of the Left Door Switch and Right Door Switch wires (42D and 42E both marked ‘B’):

Operating either of these switches should light up the two Floor Lights (44A marked ‘F’):

Activate the switch on the end of the Brake Pedal wires (44G marked ‘E’):

This should cause both pairs of Tail Lights (43I and 43J marked ‘J’) to light up brighter than normal:

Finally, PRESS the Dial (POWER) button once again to initiate the K.I.T.T. shutdown sequence. The Pop-Up Headlights Motor should rotate in a clockwise direction for a few seconds and all lights should turn off in a timed pattern:

Troubleshooting the Electronics

• If you find that the watch does not activate any functions of the car, make sure you are using a brand new CR2032 battery.

• Disconnect all connections from the Circuit Board except for the ‘MOT’ wiring. Press the Dial (POWER) button to make sure the motor works. If not, check the connections for any damage and that they are seated fully and correctly inserted. If these connections are OK, you might have a faulty Circuit Board. You can confirm this by reconnecting one of the LEDs – if it does not light as expected, you may need to request a replacement Circuit Board.

• Next, reconnect only the Front Scanner (marked ‘A’) to the Circuit Board and press the upper-right (SCANNER) watch button. If it does not come on (or as in my case, caused the entire car to shut down), we may need to remove a bad component from the Scanner Light PCB:

• • On the back of the Scanner Light PCB is a small capacitor marked ‘C3’. Either using a soldering iron or simply with some nail clippers, completely remove this component from the circuit board. This is what fixed the problem with my electronics:

• One by one, reattach each connection to the Circuit Board and make sure they are seated fully and correctly inserted. Check the lights as you go to ensure each connection is working as expected.

• If you find the Speaker does not play any sounds, check that connection as well.

Results

I was a bit surprised to discover that the startup sequence turns various LEDs on in a specific pattern while playing sound effects along the way! The shutdown sequence is just as long, but if you don’t want to wait you can just slide the main power switch under the car to OFF. Either way, I recommend removing the AAA batteries from our car when not in use to prevent them from corroding over time.

Unfortunately, I did encounter the problem with the tiny C3 capacitor on my Scanner Light PCB, but the C3 fix mentioned above solved it without much trouble. I want to personally thank Chloe Powell from ModelModz for providing us all with these troubleshooting steps – they were a lifesaver!

The subscription-based version of this Fanhome 1:8 scale Knight Rider K.I.T.T. partwork build-up includes five FREE gifts along the way. The first gift of these gifts was Posters and the second was a License Plate. For our third gift, we received this small USB Power Bank printed with the voice box from K.I.T.T..

This Power Bank is rated at 2600mAh. It includes a power switch, 4-LED charge indicator, and a short cable to charge it from another USB power source. While not high-capacity by today’s standards, it does output 2.1A at 5V so it can power/charge most modern devices for a short time.

The subscription-based version of this Fanhome 1:8 scale Knight Rider K.I.T.T. partwork build-up includes five FREE gifts along the way. The first gift of these gifts was some Posters. For our second gift, we received this replica ‘KNIGHT’ License Plate.

I have to be honest here and say that I am disappointed in this plate – it is really nothing like the plate found on K.I.T.T.. It is not full size, it does not have the state name ‘CALIFORNIA’, nor does it have any registration tabs.

If you do want a better license plate for your K.I.T.T. display, I did a quick search on Amazon and found we can have a much more accurate license plate for less than $20. Not only is it full-size stamped metal, it has the accurate markings and even the registration tab stickers:

The subscription-based version of this Fanhome 1:8 scale Knight Rider K.I.T.T. partwork build-up includes five FREE gifts along the way. The first gift of these gifts arrived with my 3rd shipment. It is this nice set of three full-color 15.7×11.8 inch (40×30 cm) paper Posters. I was wondering why the shipping box was so large this month. They were all safely tucked inside a black Knight Rider cardstock folder too! My pictures do not do them justice as all three are very sharp and clear.

I apologize for the glare here, these Posters have a semi-gloss finish on them which is nice, but it reflects my studio lights a lot.

If you are building any of the die-cast metal large scale models out there, you are probably familiar with the pain around driving screws into metal parts. In my experience, some of these screws have a tendency to bind up, strip threads, or simply snap off. Not only does it cause frustration, but it could cause a long delay in your build waiting for replacement parts.

For a while now, I have read about other builders that were using a little oil on their metal screw threads to help reduce the risk of damage and the effort needed to seat these screws fully. Up until this point, I had taken my time to carefully pre-thread metal screws, but it turns out they were on to something. I recently picked up some 3-in-One Multi-Purpose Oil (from the WD-40 Company) and it has changed everything!

I simply dip the tip of each metal screw into a tiny drop of this stuff and they go right in and without any drama. I should have done this sooner! If putting a little oil on the end of a metal screw is not feasible, you can also use a toothpick or other small tool to apply the oil directly into a screw hole before installing the screw.

To hold the oil, I use this fantastic 4 oz dispenser bottle with a built-in pump and metal lid. I fill it up and pump the lid when I need a little oil to work with. Additionally, it has a nice wide base to reduce the possibility of spills:

I highly recommend grabbing a bottle of this oil (or other similar lubricant). It will surely save you time and headache!

I have had many visitors ask about the tools and supplies that I use to build my partworks, so I have created a ‘Shop‘ over at my main build site with Amazon links to most of the items I have used along the way. All proceeds go towards supporting my site costs, not for profit. I hope you all find this helpful!

Go to Shop

If you want to build this specific partwork, check out the Fanhome 1:8 scale Knight Rider K.I.T.T. ordering page!

“Hey Buddy!” – Michael Knight to K.I.T.T

As a huge fan growing up with the 80s television series Knight Rider, I just had to build this Fanhome Models 1:8 scale Knight Rider K.I.T.T. partwork build-up. This will be my new build site for this model!