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My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 7/18/2011

Posted: June 16th, 2010, 10:31 pm
by Letmebleed75
Hello All,
Hers my first attempt at building a pack. I’ve been lurking and watching multiple build threads learning and taking notes in preparation for mine. I’m not tool or construction savvy whatsoever so I encourage anyone that has good advice during this build to please please please let me know as I’m scared sh*tless I’m going to mess up. So I’m going to make a blanket statement to everyone that’s going to hound me over accuracy. This build is not intended to be a GB1 nor GB2 pack. Its my pack and I decided to take elements from 1 and 2 that I like and put them together to make my own pack. If this build goes well, I def in the future want to build a screen accurate GB1 and GB2 pack. Most of my parts came from Exoray, MMM, and the GBFans shop.

So here we go:

I took my exoray shell and resin parts and gave them a good scrub in soapy water to get all the resin cast that was left off. I then gave it a good wet sanding with 400 grit sandpaper.

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I let it sit for 24 hours to let it get good and dry then decided to go ahead and begin painting. I used Rustoleum Automotive Dark Grey primer, and did many many light coats with light wet sanding in between for minor imperfections that i noticed.

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The primer process took me close to 7 hours all together. I then left it overnight to dry. The next morning I awoke to a box from clippard and MMM with my booster and filler tubes and other misc stuff I was needing. A shot of the clippard.

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I then took out my other resin parts to start prepping them for priming and noticed on the booster and filler tubes, the white resin and pvc pipes weren’t even. Not horrible and would be covered when painted but i decided to go ahead and level out the surface. I took some epoxy putty and molded it over the top, smoothed it out with a wet cloth and left it out to cure.

Here is the epoxy I used:
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Very easy to work with

Here is a pic trying to show the uneven surface:
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I know my camera sux

Comparison with one epoxied and the other one not:
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All of them done:
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Now I know they are slightly rounded, but when i go in to sand them to prep them for paint, I'm going to sand down the epoxy so its flat.

I then took my shell and all my resin parts to the bath tub for another good scrub and wet sand. The epoxy actually sanded down very clean on my booster and filler tubes but need to get a lower grit to finish it off. Here is pics of my shell and parts while there drying

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Here is a pic trying to show the tubes after sanding
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So tomorrow I’m going to go get some wood dowels to epoxy into the booster and filler tubes, and get some screws and bits i need to start drilling out the shell. Will keep you updated. Thanks for looking and I'm looking foreward to the feedback.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 17th, 2010, 5:48 am
by Syco54645
looking good thus far!

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 17th, 2010, 7:16 am
by luke warmwater
Letmebleed75 wrote:Hello All,
Hers my first attempt at building a pack. I’ve been lurking and watching multiple build threads learning and taking notes in preparation for mine.
I've been doing much the same as you, and I also have the MkX shell. Great work so far, looking forward to seeing the completion.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 17th, 2010, 1:03 pm
by Letmebleed75
Thx syco and Luke. Have u started building urs luke?

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 17th, 2010, 6:58 pm
by luke warmwater
Yeah... I've got all the parts in place minus the motherboard, wires and hoses which haven't arrived yet. Once I get all the parts in place I'll disassemble and paint it. Thrower is already completed.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 19th, 2010, 11:52 pm
by Letmebleed75
Ok all well I'm sitting in the airport getting ready to leave for Miami for a cruise, figured id catch up with whats been done. Im gone ahead and began the major construction aspect, dry fitting everything, drilling out all the holes prior to my last primer coat and final paint. Im still missing some parts i.e. legris elbows, motherboard, and alice frame which hopefully will be here in a couple weeks.

First off I tackled the bumper and shockmount, It actually wasnt that hard and I was happy with the turn out. I found a great alluminum spacer at lowes that made a perfect fit

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I then got my filler and booster tubes plugged with wooden dowels. I duct taped the top to keep it centered in the tubes, then epoxied the whole dowel and added epoxy putty at the bottom to give good internal integrity when it came time for drilling.

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My crazy dog in the backround loves to watch me build lol

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Then I went ahead and got my clippard drilled in to the shell. I changed out the original screws to hex cap black screws which ill show in updated pictures when i return to vegas

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Then i measured out the filler tubes

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Then I got my HGA attached

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Then the booster tubes

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Got my legris staights in

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Booster and Booster frame

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I also got the Ion Arm attached and drilled out the holes for my ppd. Unfor as i was cutting my dowels to epoxy into my ppd through my shell I broke it in half. So when I return ill get new wooden dowels and reattempt. I then went ahead and drilled out my ribbon cable clamp

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So when i return and disassemble Ill take more detailed pictures and actually show you my build process. MORE TO COME

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 20th, 2010, 4:03 am
by Dr. Stantz 24
Nice work so far , looking forward to seeing more !

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 20th, 2010, 6:11 am
by Letmebleed75
Y thank you sir. It's funny how it takes so long to finally start building and as soon as u start it's depressing when u can't work on it.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 20th, 2010, 5:34 pm
by ArtsNFartsNCrafts
I'd love to see some pics on how you're actually attaching those tubes to your shell.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 20th, 2010, 5:53 pm
by RedSpecial
Fantastic work so far !
Youve picked one hell of a shell to build from.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 20th, 2010, 6:32 pm
by pchrisbosh1
Looking really good so far. What size aluminum spacer did you use for the bumper?



Chris

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 21st, 2010, 7:38 am
by Filandrius
Wow. Great job, man. That pack will be completed in no time! :)

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: June 27th, 2010, 6:19 am
by Letmebleed75
Thank you everyone! I plan on adding much more pics about the actual constuction when I return home. You'll see all the nuts and bolts used and how they are attached. I just ported back in Miami from my cruise so I should have more pictures up in a couple days

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: July 20th, 2010, 11:29 am
by Letmebleed75
Ok guys i almost got everything that ive been missing. I have my alice frame, motherboard now just waiting on one more package from MMM. Soooo no real update yet except I cant figure out how to get my motherboard to fit me shell. It seems way off and have no clue were to start as far as getting it traced out and filed down. Any and all help will be appreciated.

pchrisbosh1 wrote:Looking really good so far. What size aluminum spacer did you use for the bumper?



Chris
sorry i havnt answered your question yet. ive been traveling all over the place and finally getting back on track. Im gonna be making a trip back to lowes soon and ill get you a part number, name and size of the spacer.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: July 30th, 2010, 8:44 am
by luke warmwater
I also tried a mobo from MMM for my V71MkX, and while it's quality is top-notch, the dimensions don't quite match up. MMM told me it's because his mobo is made off of Stefan's plans.

What I wound up doing is buying a sheet of .25" (for strength) plastic from an online plastics supplier. I then traced my shell on the plastic and cut it with a jigsaw. Although the plastic had a tendency to melt around and reform behind the jigsaw blade, I was able to cut a mobo to the exact specs of my shell. Since the plastic was black, it also eliminated the need for me to paint it. It's also much easier to drill holes in plastic rather than aluminum.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: July 30th, 2010, 10:46 am
by FeinDTacticS
Damn this pack is looking great! I love the use of the Epoxy Putty to round off the injector tubes and such.. great work!

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: July 30th, 2010, 3:09 pm
by kind2311
if i may add a suggestion. the ribs on the upper crank gen are too blocky for accuracy. if i could go back on my shell, i would hit then with a power sander and knock them down about 1/8" and put a nice curve on the face of them where they wrap around.(like i did on my current build)

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: August 4th, 2010, 2:59 am
by Letmebleed75
FeinDTacticS wrote:Damn this pack is looking great! I love the use of the Epoxy Putty to round off the injector tubes and such.. great work!

Thanks for the great compliment!! Just got some more hardware from lowes and will be getting the building back on track starting tommorow!

Kind do u have any pics that are close up so i can see the difference?

BTW any help from anyone on how i can cut my MMM motherboard to correct specs would be greatly appreciated. I have no clue how im gonna do this! Is the steel to hard to use a jigsaw?

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 8/4/20

Posted: August 4th, 2010, 6:13 pm
by Letmebleed75
Ok everyone, quick update. Here are pictures of how I attached all the components to the shell. I also have drilled out and attached the legris and brass elbows. Im still on the outs on how im gonna fit mmms motherboard to my shell which is the next daunting task before anything else can be done.

So here are some pics of the inside of the shell:

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The four bolts are obviously to the booster tube. The two on the top right for the ion arm.

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The two bolts for the HGA

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Shock mount assembly bolt

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Bumper hex allens and nuts

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Filler tube 1 and clippard. I have to shave down the inside of the shell so i can nut the hex allens used to bolt down the clippard.

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Two bolts holding the injector tubes in place.

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Ion arm wood screws

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filler tubes 1 and 2

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booster tube

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HGA assembly. I ruffed up the brass elbow to make it look like a worn.

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Brass elbow in filler tube. Ruffed up this brass elbow too.

I also drilled out the legris elbow hole on the side of the cyclotron. Gonna start sanding down the parts again to get ready for the next coats of primer. Im still waiting on my ion arm assembly and vhook from franchesky which i hope is being shipped on monday. Next update i hope to have the cyclotron light holes and clippard holes shaved down, complete the last 3 or 4 things on rough assembly and get it primed and painted.

still if anyone has suggestions with my motherboard issue please help me!!!

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: August 10th, 2010, 3:29 pm
by 1.21 Gigawatts
Your pack is looking great! Cant wait to see it all come together. :)
Letmebleed75 wrote:
BTW any help from anyone on how i can cut my MMM motherboard to correct specs would be greatly appreciated. I have no clue how im gonna do this! Is the steel to hard to use a jigsaw?
I will have to check mine on this but I thought the MMM motherboard was aluminum. If this is indeed the case, any jigsaw or router should be able to handle it if you go slowly. Heck, I've trimmed my aluminum with a Dremel before!!

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 8/4/20

Posted: August 11th, 2010, 2:37 am
by Letmebleed75
So far I've tried using a jigsaw and had no effect except dulling out my jigsaw blades unfort

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 8/4/20

Posted: August 11th, 2010, 7:44 am
by jimbo7
are you using metal blades?

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 8/4/20

Posted: August 11th, 2010, 11:48 pm
by Libtechinit
Letmebleed75 wrote:So far I've tried using a jigsaw and had no effect except dulling out my jigsaw blades unfort
When I cut the motherboards out for my packs I used a jigsaw. Worked just fine as long as you use some kind of lubricant. I had special stuff thats made just for cutting or drilling metal the name escapes me, but I'm sure just some wd40 or even if you have some extra motor oil or something lying around the garage would work.

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 6/30

Posted: June 29th, 2011, 6:10 pm
by Letmebleed75
Ok so after almost a long drawn out year im back to work on my pack. After starting this build I stopped when it was time to buy my house and during that time, I have been doing a lot of research on how to make my pack better. I bought some additional parts and fixed some issues I had initially, now I'm back to finishing this bad boy.

So first off I tackled trimming my MMM mobo, I tried WD-40 and various blades with my jigsaw but had no success. Finally I found out my jigsaw is outdated and not going fast enough to make clean cuts. So after replacing my jigsaw and purchasing some 36 tooth metal blades I began the trimming process.

First I clamped my mobo down on the table and marked out what needed to be trimmed...................

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At lowes I found this dark lubricating oil thats usually used in plumbing for cutting brass fixtures and can also be doubled for band saws so I decided to give it a whirl.

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I had my friend continouslly pour this lubricant in front of my jigsaw blade which is pretty viscous almost like car oil and man did it do a wonderful job. With the proper equipment I was able to cut the mobo like butter. I made some mistakes in how i cut the mobo which caused some of the fins on the mobo to hang over the shell which would have been impossible to get with the jigsaw. Foresit would have taught me to just cut along the fins instead of attempting to form the mobo to the fins, you can see here what happened...............

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So I clamped the shell down to the mobo and used a hand metal file to file down what was sticking out, worked ok but was a lot of work and i still have a small amount of mobo protruding. With comic con coming up and time being a factor, I'm going to leave it be for now and reattempt cutting a different mobo after comic con.

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Now that I've been working on the mobo i figured here was a good time to attach the mobo to the shell. First I took my L brackets from MMM and marked out on the mobo with the shell on top where the brackets where going to need to be placed.

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I used a fine tip sharpie to mark on the motherboard where the bracket needed to be. After all four were marked I removed the shell and measured the thickness of the shell so I knew how far in the brackets needed to be.

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Then marked off on the mobo the exact placement of where the bracket needed to be riveted then began drilling each bracket one by one.

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I then placed each bracket on the mobo and marked off where i needed to drill the holes into the mobo. Now its time to rivet. I got my rivet gun for $16 at lowes and my #7 drill bit and tap combo for $5.99

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I then riveted all the brackets in place.

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Unfortunately my help left me being it was 11:00 at night so i didnt get many pictures of me drilling through the shell and brackets but i used the same exact method that kind used in his sticky thread. It worked like a dream. First drilled through the shell and bracket then carefully tapped each hole. I used my drill at its crawling speed and after every turn in a half, I backed out to clean out the threads. To tap all the holes it took me around an hour an a half but the end result turned out great. Each screw went in without any trouble and became very tight at the end which meant I didnt have to crank the screw into place to hold. The shell held fast without any trouble when i lifted it up in the air to test the sturdiness of the rivets and screws. Whew that daunting task is finally over. Not to bad for my first time if i may say so myself.

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Ofcorse there always has to be one part that gets drlled out crooked as you can see on the upper left. Not to worry as I plan on redoing my mobo anyways. I forgot to get a picture of the screw under the ion arm so ill put that up after i attach it back to the shell.

Next I started prepping my alice frame for attachment to the mobo. First I needed to sand the crap out of it to get most of the green paint off. I did about 2 hours of wet and dry sanding then began to prime.

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I then painted my legris elbows and crank knob. I used testors model paint, flat dark aircraft gray which I think is very close to the first gens. I propped the elbows up on small wood dowels and painted away.

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My grinder doubled for a good prop up while drying

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I drilled a hole into the back of my crank kob and lock tited a wooden dowel into the back. I plan on in the future to replace most of my resin parts for real parts or metal so Im using a method of sticking the wooden dowels through the shell and hot gluing them into place so they can be easily removed later.

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I then did the same thing to my ppd. This will be replaced with a metal one once my order from Anchon comes in.

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Once the locktite dries I will trim down the dowels and secure them into the shell.

I drilled the hole to mount my last filler tube. I then used my dremel with a metal grinder attachment to grind of any excess fiberglass and resin so I could fit my lag bolt in the shell. Unfortunately were the filler tub needs to be mounted the back fiberglass lays flush with the bottom of the shell so I had to grind a lot away to make sure my lag bolt would clear the mobo when attached.

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Now I realized that all my holes I already drilled out to mount my bumber and shock mount where to high on the shell. So I took locktite epoxy puddy and filled in the holes so I can redrill and remount the bumber and shock mount in its proper place.

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Then epoxied a chip i mad into a fin of the crank gen.

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Once it cures Ill sand it down flush with the shell and redrill. After a loooong night this is what ive accomplished thus far. More updates to come shortly. I will be finishing painting the alice frame and get that mounted as well as finalizing the rest of the drilling i need to do before I can paint the shell. So far all I have left is the v-hook mount, drill out the hole for my ribbon cable, and mount my resistors to the Ion arm. Thanks for looking so far, please if you have any constructive criticism I would love to hear it!

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 6/30/1

Posted: July 3rd, 2011, 9:57 pm
by Letmebleed75
Just a small update.

I've sprayed the silver metal coats on my alice frame in preperation for final coats of black.

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I put the final coats of primer on all the misc parts of the pack.

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i finished securing the resistors to the ion arm.

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I then tackled figuring out how to mount the n-filter to the shell. I bought some wooden dowels (square and round) and a 2x2 piece of wood to secure in the n-filter. I mounted the mesh inside the n-filter using a small round wood dowel as an applicator and hot glue around the mesh inside. Im going to finish painting the nfilter then epoxy in the 2x2 cut down to fit inside. Then I'm going to secure the smaller square dowels around the 2x2 to get a better fit inside. I then cut some white paint rollers to fit inside after i get the final coats on the n-filter.

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small square dowel

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I used a standard jigsaw and wood blades to cut down to size

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I bought a roll of door mesh from lowes for $8

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I then used a heat gun to heat the plastic on the inside of the paint roller to roll them flat then cut them to size.

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I put coats of primer on the motherboard but did not take pictures yet. More work tommorow then I'll update

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 7/3/20

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 4:28 am
by nick-a-tron
How come you painted your alice frame silver?

My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 7/3/2011

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 4:31 am
by Letmebleed75
It's the undercoat before the black

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 4:53 am
by julz
Great work so far!
kind2311 wrote:if i may add a suggestion. the ribs on the upper crank gen are too blocky for accuracy. if i could go back on my shell, i would hit then with a power sander and knock them down about 1/8" and put a nice curve on the face of them where they wrap around.(like i did on my current build)
I agree with Kind. I also have the same shell and have been modifying it to match the new ref pics a bit more. The fins defiantly look nicer thinner.

Check out my build if you want to see how its looks on my shell.

Also i'm curious as to why you cut the ribs in the mother board to match the fins on the shell... the screen packs didn't have that, is that a stylistic choice?

Re: My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 7/3/20

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 5:05 am
by nick-a-tron
Letmebleed75 wrote:It's the undercoat before the black
I see. But the idea of basecoating something silver 1st is to simulate that its made of metal. An alice frame is already metal hence making a silver basecoat unnecessary.

My first build ( Mark X V71 ) Photo Heavy Updated 7/3/2011

Posted: July 4th, 2011, 5:05 am
by Letmebleed75
No just a noob builder who didn't look at the reference photos ;(