[Warrenzo]

So with the uniform being pretty much complete bar 1 or two things, i thought it was time to get this thread up and running to let you all see how the Proton Pack is coming along.

So below is a pic of how it sits at the moment. A friend and myself started this back at the beginning of April and have spent whatever time we can on it since to get it to this point. It's not completely finished yet as there are still a few things needing done, such as sanding, filling, shaping and of course using no nails...put together into one big piece which is then screwed to a sheet of wood, ready for moulding. Hopefully by the end of this week we should have it ready to begin the moulding process.

[Warrenzo]

Just a quick update on this. Didn't really get alot of time in on the buck 2day as i had to pick up the Silicone Rubber and Fiberglass that i will be using to make the shells from, but we managed to complete the little bits of details needing done before we begun to filler each part.

Here's a pic of the completed buck with the N-Filter attached. You can also see the squares 15 squares to the left that need to be glued onto the Synchronous Generator Spacer. I will attach these once all the filling and sanding is complete



Also a pic of the filling process in the early stages.

[Stroudy]

Looking good fella

[Warrenzo]

Filliers, fillers, fillers and MORE BLOODY FILLERS!!!

Yes, you've guessed it, this week has mainly been taken up by filling and sanding numerous holes, cracks, dips and joins. Saying that it has been quite exciting seeing this build at this early stage start to take shape so quickly. I remember when all of this statred with a few blueprints, a few bits of would, a measuring tape and a pencil....aahh the memories of old lol!!

Anyhoo, back to the matter at hand....After making sure everything was ok and we were happen to continue, we set about the filling and sanding process, also we decided to screw each piece into place on a big woden board so that we can keep it altogether and minimise the mess. The idea of mounting it on the wall once finished has even been tossed around lol!!

So here's a pic of how she looks all filled, sanded screwed down and pilot holes drilled for other attachments



Also a pic of it just wanting to be strapped to my back....actually i think this look suits, maybe i should just keep it like this and attach the Alice Frame now?? lol!!



So once all of that was done with, we set about giving the wooden buck a coat of gloss paint to help stop the Silicone Rubber from trying to soak into the wood.

With and without flash

[KagaSakai]

Also a pic of it just wanting to be strapped to my back....actually i think this look suits, maybe i should just keep it like this and attach the Alice Frame now?? lol!!

I vote that you do this!

Nice work so far!

[Warrenzo]

And so the scary biscuits bit begins!!!

Tonight was the night to make the Silicone Rubber mould, so here is a brief description of how it was done including pics.

To begin with we bought a 5.5KG tub of Silicone Rubber, a bottle of Silicone Catalyst, Thixo, Black Pigment, Release Agent,a few mixing bowls and a few paint brushes....i kinda forgot to include these in the photo, oopps!!



For the 1st layer i mixed the Silicone and Catalyst until a salmon pink colour was achieved and poured this onto the wooden buck. Using the paint brushes we spread it over the buck until it was completely covered and left it to cure until it was tacky.



1st Layer done.


Once tacky, this was the cue to mix up the next batch. This time i aded a black pigment, making it easier to see where i may have missed any bits with this next layer. I also added some Thixo to thicken up the Silicone as this layer needs to be thicker. This was applied and again left to cure until tacky.

2nd Layer done


Now it was time for the third and final layer. This time i added slightly more Thixo to make it even thicker. This proved to be a little too thick, but gave the mould that "just iced" cake look. It was so good i couldn't help myself and had to taste it just to be sure it really wasn't iceing lol!! I got caught in the act and quickly decided this might not be such a good idea after all and set the paint brush down....unplanned trip to A&E swiftly averted



3rd Layer done, with that oh so tempting iceing look!


This is where we left it to completely cure and then it's time for the Fiberglass jacket to be done. We'll cover that next.

[parksdesign]

Nice.

[dfak2009]

Loving it Warren, awesome job man!!!

Here come the Emerald GB's

[gbrob]

Git 'er done!

[Warrenzo]

Ok, time for another update. Get ready for loads of picture viewing cause this is a big one!!!

So once the Silicone Rubber mould had set, it was time to break out the clay and build a fort err....i mean a wall around it.





We also built a clay wall on top to make sure the Fiberglass will be seperated into twho halfs.



Next it time to begin making the fiberglass jacket on top of the Rubber Silicone. For this we bought a 5kg drum of resin, Hardener, thickener,, syringe, fiberglass matt and a mask to keep the smell/fumes out. Also (out of shot) we used latex gloves and a full body covering boiler suit type thing that they use for crime scene investigations.



We mixed up a batch of the resin with the hardener and began to pour/paint it over one half of the rubber, making sure to cover the clay also.



Once that was done we mixed up another batch, but this time added some of the thicknener. We previously had cut the fiberglass matt into good sized squares and dipped them into the mix, making sure it soaked in well and covered the whole of the 1st half right up to and including the clay.






Once that was done, we allowed it to dry for roughly 24 hours.

tick....
tock....
tick....
tock....

And we're back!! Now it was time to do exactly the same process to the other side, but 1st we had to remove the clay wall that was built on top of the rubber. We then rubbered a generous amount of vaseline on the seam where we took the clay from. This helps to keep the two halfs from forming as one and allows it to come apart easilywhich is what we were aiming for.

Once that was dry it was time to crack this baby open.....oh what a job we had at doing that!!!
1st we decided to grind off the flash/jaggy bits from the seam to stop from getting cut. Then using a hammer and screwdriver just tap into the seam all along the length of it.

[Warrenzo]

The next part was a bit of an effort/struggle and very time consuming as it took 3 of us to prise it open and roughly 1 hour. I'll let the next set of pics speak for themselves.















And now we have our mould, ready for making the fibreglass shell which I’ll cover in my next instalment.

[chibigear]

NICE!!!!!!!!!

[Croesus]

that sir... requires a belly clap

very cool

[Filandrius]

I thoroughly admire anybody who has the skill and courage to embark on such an endeavour. Good job sir.

[Warrenzo]

Cheers folks, really appreciate all the comments. I dunno about skill and courage, but i for me it's all about the hobby side of things, and building things i love to attempt...so long as i can do it for cheaper or the same price of course. But yeah i reckon everybody should take a stab at buildin something, it gives ya a great feeling of knowing you've done it and build something from a few scrap pieces of wood, or even built a resin kit etc....

[nick-a-tron]

Thats a great looking mould! Nice job.

[Warrenzo]

So the wait is finally over and i have the 1st fiberglass shell out of the mould!!

It took alot of time, sweat, tears and hoping & praying it would come out looking half decent or it was ALOT of money's worth down the drain.

I don't have any pics of the actual moulding process seeing as my hands were full of resin and fiberglass matting, but we got it out and it looked pretty good for a 1st attempt. A few bits needed seeing to with a touch of fillers and sanding, but other than that it looked fine.

One that was done it was time to fake weld the N-Filter with hot glue.



Once that was done, we shot it with a full tin of undercoat, just to see wut it would show up. Again, everything looks pretty good.

[parksdesign]

Looks great.

[Warrenzo]

So with the pack primed and everything looking good, it was time to get cracking on preparing the shell for all the extra's that have to be screwed, glued and fixed onto it.

First move was to drill out the holes on the Powercell and Cyclotron.



One the were sorted we flipped the shell over and carved out indents on the Cyclotron and Powercell for the lenses to be able to sit in tight against the shell.





Next it was time to pay some atention to the resin that will be attached to the shell. For the HGA and Ion Arm i had to bake 2 wooden bungs to glue to the inside to allow me to be able to affix these to the shell. Once cut out i drilled a hole in the middle and glued a bolt into place





I then hot glued some fake weld onto the Ion Arm after drilling out all the holes for the Resistors and Legris Elbow.



For the PPD all i had to do was drill a hole to allow the tubing and split loom into it.




For the Injectors i did the same as the HGA and Ion Arm with the wooden bungs on both ends. For these i made them out of 2 lengths on Aluminium pipe.



For the bottom of the Injectors (the ends that are not directly screwed into the Shell) I slightly recessed the wooden bungs and covered them in Isopon fillers. After that i drilled a hole in the middle for the Hose Barb to fit into, and then i fake welded the bottoms with some more hot glue.

[Warrenzo]

I then undercoated each of the bits and gave them 2 coats of silver....shown here is the Ion Arm, Boster Frame, HGA (with the holes drilled), Crank Knob (Left grey for accuracy), Booster Tube, Booster Tube Plug and Bumper.



With these left to dry i turned my attention back to the shell and decided to drill out all the holes on the N-Filter, for mounting the shell to the Motherboard, straights, split loom hosing, Legris Elbow, Gun Mount, Ribbon cable, Ribbon cable clamp and for attaching the resin parts. I also glued the PPD to the EDA.













Once all the nessacery holes were drilled it was time to colour it in with silver paint...man it looks sweet in silver lol!!



Again it was time to wait on the paint drying so i decided to glue the Hose Barbs in the Injectors, the Booster Tube plug into the Booster Tube and spray everything satin black. You can see that i have also included the L Bracket which attaches to the Injectors in this pic.

[Warrenzo]

Well i guess it was pretty obvious that the next stage was to turn the shell black (even though i loved the Silver look) so here she is after 2 coats of Satin Black.



Next ting on the to do list was to scuff one side of the red lenses for the Cyclotron...shown here



Once all four of these were done i glued them and the blue Powercell lens into place...i couldn't help myself to be tempted to get a lamp and shine it on the inside just for a giggle lol!!







So after i had my fun it was time to get back to the real work, which was to screw all the bits to the shell and take more photo's. You can see that i have added the Ion Arm, Booster Tube, Booster Frame HGA, Bumper, Injector Tubes, Shock Mount, Resistors, Cable Ribbon P Clip, Clippard Valve, Straights, Legris Elbows and Gun Mount to the shell.

[Warrenzo]

A quick shot of how everything looks from inside, you can see that i have used a double nut locking system to completely secure everything and make sure that nothing desides to take a dive whilst trooping.





Next was to find a way of making it so that the Crank Knob actually turns instead of just glueing it on. I didn't like the glueing idea as i've heard too many stories where the public have just said "oh does this turn?" and next thing ya know they hear a snap and they're now holding it instead of it being attached to the pack. So we came up with an idea that consists of a ball bearing circular bit (no idea what it's called, we found it lying about my mates shed and liked it) an a few washers and nuts. It wasn't very stiff so the knob just spun freely, which i wasn't too happy with so we shoved a piece of foam between the knob and the shell to stiffen it up a bit and this worked a treat!!





So with that done i decided it was time to give the pack a bit of colour and began to add some tubing. Some of had to be glued into place, but there was few other bits that i managed to get away with just pushing into place. Once that was done i added the pack labels aswell.

[Warrenzo]

By this time the Alice frame (used for army rucksacks in WW2 and even still today) was staring at me, taunting me just to mount it to the shell, so......that's what i did

Now i now i was going for as close to screen accurate as possible, but when i saw the price of 3mm aluminium for the Motherboard i thought "to hell with that, lets see wut my mate has in the shed". SUCCESS!!! He was able to come up with 1mm thick aluminium that would do the very job FOR FREE!!! Now i know what ur thinking...wont it bend and bow when u go to put it on ur back??? Well surprisingly not!!!

We sat the shell on top of the aluminium and drew around it to get the outline, then with a pair of tin snips proceeded to cut that bad boy out. For the more inticate bits and hard to reach parts we hand to use the grinder to get them just right.



Once that was done it was time to rivet the L Brackets in place, These will be used to hold the motherboard to the shell.



Next we made the holes for the Alice Frame bolts, 3 in total...u can see 2 at the bottom and 1 in the middle i this pic.



To space the Alice Frame from the Motherboard i just used small plastic tubes and cut them in half. Once all that was done and the holes had been drilled in the L Brackets for mounting to the shell it was time for a test fit and more giggle pics lol!!

[nick-a-tron]

Fantastic! It always makesw me happy when people get the alice frame the right height on the motherboard

Must be very proud knowing that you also created the shell from scratch.

[Kingpin]

Looking great Warren! This has been a fine scratch-build so far.

Do the screws for the V-hook go through the metal L-bracket? Obviously it'd be tricky to thread them in as you're using the double-nut method, but I admit I'm terrified of having the weight of the gun applied to the fibreglass (for all I know, the fibreglass could hold it easily, but not having worked with the stuff...)

[Warrenzo]

Indeed i am Nick, very proud indeed cuz i was brickin' it at the beginning. I kept thinking "this isn't gonna work", but im really pleased with the outcome.

Cheers Ben, really appreciate the praise. The screws don't actually go through the L Bracket, but i made sure the fiberglass there was REALLY thick for that exact reason. So it should hold the weight of the gun without any bother.

[Kingpin]

Last question: are those spacers you've used on the ALICE Frame the plastic centres from some till rolls?

[parksdesign]

Looks great man. Nice Job you did.

[Warrenzo]

Last question: are those spacers you've used on the ALICE Frame the plastic centres from some till rolls?

BAHAHAHAHA!!!!! How did u know???

Yeah i work for Iceland Foods so i saw these in work and instantly thought they would work.


Cheers parks, much appreciated dude

[CPU64]

I figured you would have used an actual switch for the knob. But what you did was pretty elaborate