View new posts | View your posts My Alkaline shell/first Proton Pack! MAJOR UPDATE 04/14

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Gee man, thanks. I'm honored.

That's the greatest idea ever. Don't want to look like Homie the clown beating my pack with a sock, but if I ever decide myself on dirtying up my pack, that's exactly what I'll do. I think I even got some pastels left from my model making days... Those things are great for weathering. The only thing is that I haven't decided on doing it yet; if I remember correctly, the packs in GB1 weren't really that weathered, that was mostly the GB2 packs' thing... I still have time to think about it, because I don't want to weather it before it's complete.

Small update: I decided to replace my reflectors. That's one of the unscheduled upgrades that I was talking about; I was waiting for the replacements to get here. The new reflectors are aluminum, versus the old ones being plastic; and they're actually large enough to cover the holes, so they're won't be any "halo" around the reflector when the lights are installed, like with the old ones. (I used 34mm reflectors before, buying them before getting my shell; that'll teach me) The new reflectors are 41mm wide, which is more than enough.



Here they are, freshly installed, literally bathing in epoxy. I'll post pictures later when everything's dry and I can actually flip the shell.

Nice! Where did you get them from?

eeeeeeeeeBay. Can't post the link here, I think. They're LED flashlight aluminum reflectors, 41.5mm wide, 31.5mm long. And they have a nice orange skin polishing on the inside; can't wait to see what they'll look like with lights.

Awesome pack!!

Mike, Im so glad you replaced those reflectors. I think the halo effect was the only thing I didnt care for.

And just my .02: please let the pack dust up naturally. We get so used to seeing the display packs that we sometimes forget that 30 years of dust and grime perhaps wasnt the original intent when the prop was originally made.

Yeah, they've been bugging me for some time now. As much as it was a pain to remove the old reflectors (Devcon plastic weld is a little TOO permanent, you know?) the new ones are worth it. The list of things that are bugging me is getting smaller by the minute. And that's a good thing.

You know that's exactly what I've been thinking for a while now? Don't weather the pack, don't dust up the pack. Just let nature do its work. I mean, the packs in GB1 weren't even weathered; the things are supposed to be brand new. Egon is working on them literally minutes before their first call. The only weathering that's on them is accidents that prop makers had, like bumping them, dropping them, etc... And I'm less careful than I could be with it for that exact purpose. The pack is already weathering itself, and I've stopped dusting it a little while ago. That'll do the trick.

I also hope they look good with the lights because if they don't, it might take a little work to get them out from all that epoxy ^_^

Actually, the packs are pretty well weathered by the final scenes of the film. From outside of Central Park West building, up onto the roof top, and back down after the battle, the packs are pretty dirty.

Yeah, I know... Pretty good points. I still don't know what to do! Ultimately, I'll decide when the pack is 100% done. Will it be a Sedgewick pack, or a Central Pack West pack? We'll see!
Lucky for me, they already look really, really good, even without lights.



I love these things. I better, because as you said, I'd need a jackhammer to get them out.

Damn man, im just gonna use this thread as my reference book!

Those reflectors look phenomenal!

A great option for someone who doesn't have lights in their pack.

wow il est vraiment nice ... ton pack ... hahaha ... j'ai hate de me rendre à ce stade ...

keep going....

Woo-hoo! Looking good, Mike!

Please do.
Didn't even thought about that. But yes they do look good enough for that, especially in the light.
Ton pack avance bien mec, et il est déjà impressionnant. Continue!
Thanks. But I was supposed to get lights. And I didn't get lights. I need lights. I want lights. What'll do without lights? No lights. Me sad now.

I just made a light.. Go check it out

I went, I saw, I kicked its ass! No, that's not right...

Minor update, or upgrade-for-something-more-accurate number 1282: I changed the Phillips screws on my V-hook for slotted head screws. This upgrade has been brought to you by KagaSakai, who gracefully donated screws to the cause when I couldn't find any at local hardware stores (no I'm not kidding, stores are really that sucky up here)



Theeeeeeere. Much better. Phillips screws always were wrong somehow.

Ah, there you go!

Glad to help you out Mike!

Weather it ! Weather it ! Weather it !

Just kidding, it looks very good as it is
But this pastel chalk method would add a lot i think. And if you dont want to put pastel chalks in a sock i suggest tamiya weathing master, its pretty much the same but already comes in a nice little makeup box
I used the "B -set" on my last pack. Mostly the white and brown of it.

Thanks for the advice, man! I'll be sure to look into it. If only I could make up my mind on that darn dust thing...

OK time for another update! A small unplanned upgrade, that is. This one was inspired by both pchrisbosh1 and mburkit... Take a look here!

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10227&start=109

So I got the correct rubber bumper from BlkMesaHero, who kindly sent me his spare, since McMaster won't ship to Canada... Jerks. Anyway, thanks man!



Here it is in all its bumpery glory. 2" x 1" rubber bumper, with a 3M tape backing.



And here it is with a big fat 3/8" hole in it. That was scary.



And boom! Here it is on my pack. I really like the look of that thing. And you can't beat the extra GB1 authenticity.



As you can see, I squeezed it just enough so that my ALICE frame would be aligned with my motherboard. I used the same bolt and split washer, so it won't move again.

That's it for now! Stay tuned!

Glad to be of help, and part of a great build.

I need to stop giving people advice on their packs. They are doing everything I'm doing to my pack before its done! Curses!


No, it looks good. I honestly have no idea if its "accurate", because we don't know what that spacer was made from; but I think using that foam spacer makes sense and looks the part.

If it makes you feel better Matt, the only way I could do it so fast is because my pack was almost done, and George had a spare. Futhermore, if everybody is doing what you're doing, you must be doing something right!

And yes, it does look the part. There's no way to know what they used originally, but it was probably something very similar to this. Great find.

Hey Filandrus, where did you get the brass washers for you legris fittings? I've been looking everywhere for those!

You're talking about my 1/8-27 NPT nuts? Lucky find. I stumbled upon them on eBay, and didn't saw those before or since. I think I searched for 1/8-27 nuts, and there was an active auction... Sadly, the auction has been inactive for months (I can't even find it anymore)

Having received my Exoray light kits earlier this week, it was only a matter of time before I tackled the installation in my pack. So here's how I did it!



The LEDs in the cyclotron. The aluminum reflectors that I put in earlier were a blessing, and the operation was a breeze because of those. I used some electric tape to assure a snug fit (installing LEDS permanently is NOT a good idea) then I secured the wires with some small zip ties. Worked like a charm. I kept repeating the correct order of the LEDs like a mantra so that I wouldn't install them incorrectly (blue-orange-green-brown blue-orange-green-brown... ) They rotate clockwise, if you're curious.



I took a page out of Libtechinit's book and installed the board in the alcove behind the Clippard. Fixed it on the shell with some 3M mounting tape, then I plugged everything in. Exoray's pack kit comes with a switch, that needs to be removed (or turned off) when you use his gun kit; I chose to keep it for test purposes. Zip tied its wires, though.



Then I installed the power cell board. That one was a little tricky, because I needed something to support it! Finally I used a couple of motherboard standoffs (no, not that motherboard; I work with computers, you see ) Drilled some holes in the acrylic lense, screwed the standoffs in, then I screwed Exoray's board. Until I noticed that my second standoff was too far; I glued that one on (can afford to be sloppy, it's on the inside ) Then I plugged the ribbon cable. I also fixed the ribbon cable on the shell at both ends with some more 3M mounting tape.



And this is the result. The aluminum cyclotron reflectors look phenomenal with some lights, as expected. I'd really show you what I mean if I had a camera-camera. This is the best I can do.



And here's the infamous power cell LEDs, which are incredibly bright. I mean, lightsaber bright. Can't look straight at them. Personally I would've prefered that the cyclotron LEDs be a little brighter instead. Oh well; it's a great light kit, and my pack looks great. Can't describe the feeling of that pack finally coming to life with lights. I wonder how it'll feel when I put sound in?

That's it for now! Not many things left to do... I know, I've been saying that for months . Stay tuned!

Looks great! You sure this is your first pack?

If you don't count the cardboard RGB pack that I've put together with scotch tape when I was 11, then yes, this is my first pack.

Seriously, thanks man.

Amateur! I used Elmer's glue and rubber cement at age nine!

Lights look great!

I love this pack so much, that I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant!

The lights look good, but you say they're not bright enough? The reflectors don't help much?