[cray]

Hi everybody!

I have been meaning to start a build thread here for a long time now, and here I am finally getting around to it.

I’ve been working on this pack on an off (ok, mostly off) for the last 8 or so years, and I’m just now getting close to finishing.

I really wanted to try to build something that I hadn’t seen before, which is pretty difficult considering how many amazing packs have been built over the years. I originally only wanted to build parts of the big board because it could be seen behind the cyclotron ports. Well that soon evolved into replicating the entire board.

Then Covid hit, and I suddenly had a lot more time on my hands.

I didn’t start out wanting to build a replica of the interior of the original packs, but I’d try something and it would look good, and I’d try something else and it would end up alright. At least it was something to do.

It’s a bit of a compromised design because I’m fitting the interior of the Super Hero into the body of one of the standard GB1 heroes, but I’m really happy with the end result!

Now I just need to finish the shell and wand.

Anyways, on to the pictures...

[gerard55]

Nice, how much does it weigh?

[mburkit]

Looks great! I can't wait to see more of the pack.

[cray]

Nice, how much does it weigh?

It’s a little over 17 pounds. The weight should be accurate too, right?

[cray]

Looks great! I can't wait to see more of the pack.

Thanks! I’ll try to get more up soon.

[gerard55]

Nice, how much does it weigh?

It’s a little over 17 pounds. The weight should be accurate too, right?

Quite a bit to go then, the movie ones were meant to be around 45lbs or so with the battery installed.

[pchrisbosh1]

Wow the internals look amazing man! Great job replicating it...please post more pics of the whole pack I know a lot of us would love to see it. Thanks for sharing.

[cray]

Alright, since you guys were wondering, this is more or less where things currently stand with my pack:



It’s an old GB Fans shell and motherboard that I bought around 2013, and I’ve been tweaking a bit here and there. I really like the shell, but the gun box is 1/4” short. I didn’t think I could rebuild it to be structurally sound, so it’s staying. The food news is that frees me up a little from obsessing about accuracy endlessly, and I can have a little more fun with it. (More on that in a second.)





I managed to make a few “oops” holes in the shell as I was working out the locations of a few parts, but at least I have some positioning options later. I’ve also dremeled off the cast N-Filter that was on the shell originally so I can glue in an aluminum one later.

Another little detail is the plate that I added next to the power cell. The theory I read was that was once part of the bracket that held the power cell lights on the Super Hero pack (and is the only pack that can be found on.) it’s totally unnecessary on my pack, but I thought it looked neat, so on it went. Unfortunately the screws are probably a little too towards the centerline of the pack, but I don’t mind.



Over the past few years this pack has evolved through being a replica of all five original hero packs at one point or another, but I finally settled on it being a combination of all of them. I’ve been picking details I like from each pack, and/or just following available reference for certain areas, when available, and combining them into this thing. Hopefully the end result will be at least nice to look at.

And now for the fun extra details! (Or possibly infuriating, depending on your views of accuracy)

I’ve added nails all over the power cell in approximately their correct positions.



There’s also a socket cap screw in the side of the power cell for two reasons. First, it’s a nod to the shell mounting screw on the Super Hero. Secondly, there was a film grain anomaly in the Marshall College pics that made it look like there was a screw there on the Spengler pack (but there really wasn’t.) I just liked the idea, so on it went.



Over on the gun box, I copied the writing from the Super Hero V-Hook as closely as I could. Then there’s more nails, and the empty mounting hole with something red inside it from the Spengler pack (I just painted the L bracket with a red sharpie. It really pops in direct light, and it was cheap and easy.)



I added two #4 Phillips head screws on the bottom rib to mimic the two scratches that were there on the Stantz pack starting with GB1. (The best view of them is when Ray walks out of the Sedgwick Ballroom holding the smoking trap) I thought the screw heads would look better than scratches, and would catch the light nicely.



Next, I added two #4 screws on one of the bottom plates as an homage again to the Super Hero Mounting screws.



And finally, I stuck a couple more screws into the Spacer/synchronous generator. Why? I dunno. I thought it was missing something there, and figured ‘what the hell.’ They’re mostly obscured by the bumper anyway.



Oh, and it’s a freekygeeky aluminum wand, and I made a bungee cord to hold it on (like in some of the New York location shots), but I’ll get into all of that later.



Anyways thanks for reading all of this and coming on a tour of my pack with me! Next I think I finally have to attach the N-Filter, and then prime and paint the shell once overnight temps get a little warmer here.

[cray]

Spent part of yesterday building the harness running to the wand. Probably too many wires to be truly accurate, but I think it looks good and will add some nice weight to the split loom.



Happy New Year everyone!

[cray]

Things are progressing slowly.

The wand tip is coming along. I used black heat shrink instead of the accurate black electrical tape, and my aluminum tape is too narrow, but it looks good. There’s room for improvement, but I’m pretty happy with it so far.



Vs the original Spengler wand tip:

[Q-man]

Great attention to detail, looks great

[cray]

WIP update: finished painting the shell today. The intentionally crappy paint was interesting to pull off, but I think it looks pretty good!

[cray]

Well, You’ll have to forgive me for glossing over the build process so much, but at least I’m finally finished with my GB1 hero!