I'm about to have a wee bit of time to continue work on my cyclotron et al. as my girlfriend will be on holiday for about a fortnight. After that, moving house, which, however, means that I'll have my own room for both working on my proton pack AND rehearsing playing the pipes. Yes!

Hmmm... I've got to remember the following link,
in case I ever get round to working on a PKE meter.

And this one

More later...

I ordered some E6000 and JB Weld via Ebay from the UK (somehow even shipping small things from the US is already outrageously expensive). I have already tried out the E6000 (glue) on the broken frame of my girlfriend's mirror. It does indeed seem to be a strong kind of glue. I haven't tried dropping a 10,000 stone weight on it yet to test it even better, but then again I don't have such a weight.

My gun kit from Throwingchicken has also come in and looks really fantastic.

Yesterday, my Exoray 'Deluxe Electronics-in-pack gun light kit arrived after I had send it back last autumn because of an error that had been made as regards it contents. Along with it, Flynn had sent me an aluminum heatsink (very beautiful). Now it's just a matter of waiting for the resin gun body that I have ordered from ThrowingChicken a little while ago (see below and see this thread)



I've tried out the electronics along with the pack light kit and everything is in perfect working order. Can't wait to have everything installed. Well, that will have to wait for quite some time I guess, as I can only work on it very occasionally, unfortunately.

Once I will actively go and fuss about with the resin gun body, things are going to be interesting as I will have to remove the resin 'metal' knobs and the resin heatsink on it, as I've got metal ones. Oh well, I hope that my Dremel will be of good assistance in that respect.

I have also made up my mind now about glue and epoxy I want to buy. Based on what I've heard on GBFans and other sites, I will try and get my hands on JB Weld and E6000.

I'm always on the look-out for material I might be able to use 'for ma wee pet project'. I heard some people talk about JB Weld as having some great stuff. Need to keep this site in mind then...

"Use J-B WELD as an adhesive, laminate, plug, filler, sealant, and electrical insulator. Squeeze out equal portions from the black and red tubes. Mix thoroughly. Clean surface to be bonded. Apply J-B WELD, and let it cure. That's all there is to it!

Like metal, J-B WELD can be formed, drilled, ground, tapped, machined, filled, sanded, and painted. It stays pliable for about 30 minutes after mixing, sets in 4-6 hours, and cures fully in 15-24 hours. It's water-proof; petroleum-, chemical-, and acid-resistent; resists shock, vibration, and extreme temperature fluctuations, and withstands temperatures up to 500° F. J-B WELD is super strong, non-toxic, and safe to use. Before it sets, you can clean up with soap and water. (print instruction sheet)

What does it bond to?
Virtually any combination of iron, steel, copper, aluminum, brass, bronze, pewter, porcelain, ceramic, marble, glass, PVC & ABS, concrete, fiberglass, wood, fabric, paper -- just about any porous and non-porous material."

Whether I'll be able to purchase this in the NL is a completely different matter altogether, I guess...

I started collecting material and plans and what-have-you from everywhere and everyone about a year ago and actually started to work in the city workplace a bit last August, in the meantime very much looking foward to the GB videogame to come out at the end of October - which didn't happen. Oh well, decided not to mourn about it and to keep on being enthusiastic. For a very short time I even thought I might be able to have my pack ready before June but that is definitely not going to happen. Oh well, I wouldn't want to rush it anyway.

Last summer, I decided to start making my pack out of MDF and as much genuine parts as I could possibly find online - collecting material from both GBfans and from other Ghostheads via GBfans and Proptopia, for my future proton pack + gun, for a ghost trap + pedal, and for a PKE meter. Only in case I really wouldn't be able to find a genuine part (whatever that means exactly I don't know), I would go for a resin-cast item. I've never cared too much for the Ecto-Goggles, but who know what the future may bring, although I'm sure I won't be bored for a long time to come.

Anyway, for the past couple of months I've been working mainly on making the basic box forms out of 6mm MDF (practically the same as 0.25" MDF). I am not entirely sure yet about what kind of glue to use; the idea of using E6000 Ind Adh (Industrial Adhesive?) Glue is tempting, although they don't sell that anywhere in the Netherlands, and I'd have to buy it off the Internet. Oh well, we'll see.

So far, this is how far I am. The bits of paper lying on the spacer-in-progress and on the floor were simply plans on a 1:1 scale to kill the time and become more acquainted with the sizes of everything. My girlfriend took this picture with her mobile phone about a week ago, hence the resolution. Looking forward to continuing working on this.



Last but not least, I'm quite thrilled nowadays when I see station wagen 5-door versions of the Volvo Amazon as it
kind of reminds me of the Ecto-1; they've got a similar feel to it - an elongated body just like a hearse, which is why they remind me of the Ecto so much. With the metal strips around the windows it has exactly the right feel to it. It should be white, of course... :-)