[abaka]

I'm extremely jealous!! I want to start working on mine now!! Loving the tear drop chip, not looking forward to adding that detail on mine!!

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks Abaka, appreciate the comments. Yeah the tear drop is not nice at all. I just set my dremel at low speed and started to slowly grind away. Looking forward to seeing your build

[Venkman's Swagger]

Update: HGA

I wanted to get the Clippard and SMC elbows test fitted before I mounted the HGA to the pack.I scaled up some reference shots to gauge my drilling/mounting points and marked them using a centre punch. I am very pleased with how it came out:

STANTZ/SONY LOBBY HGA





REPLICA HGA





I'll hopefully get this pack mounted tomorrow. More to follow........

[Venkman's Swagger]

Last update of the day...............

Bumper, Booster Frame and PPD

After the tear drop, the bumper was the thing I was dreading the most. I put off doing it about 3 times lol. I drilled out the centre hole in the Cyclotron and Bumper and then mounted the Bellows/ShockMount to my Bumper. I then drilled out the four holes in the Bumper sides. To make final placement easier I mounted the Bumper using the centre bolt first and then lined up until I was happy with the placement. This took about 20 minutes, the Bumper loves playing tricks with your eyes doesn't it hahaha. After numerous touch ups and reference shots I got what I wanted. To say I was buzzing was an understatement.

STANTZ/SONY LOBBY BUMPER



REPLICA BUMPER



Next up was the PPD and Booster Frame.

These were fairly straight forward to mark up ready for mounting but again the placement was making me tear my hair out. After many fibreglass cuts and expletives I think I got it sorted

STANTZ/SONY LOBBY



REPLICA



So here is where I am at the moment.......



Today was my first "Holy s*** its a proton pack" moment

Happy, Happy Happy

[Venkman's Swagger]

Got a little bit more done over the past few days...........

Managed to get my VHook mounted to the gun mount. The VHook is the GB2 version and is from Franchesky. Its a real nice part. I again made a cardboard template fiddled until I was happy, centre punched the 2 holes and drilled away.

STANTZ/SONY LOBBY



REPLICA



Once I had done that I moved onto mounting the HGA. Guess what I did?!? Yup, made a cardboard template, fiddled, centre punched, drilled.......... There's a theme occurring here lol.

STANTZ/SONY LOBBY



REPLICA



I added the ION Arm Cap for dry fitting but I am more than likely going to do some work on it before final install as its a little different to the one seen at the Sony Lobby.

Yesterday I got the shell mounted to the Mobo and then got everything mounted to my LC2 Frame. What a feeling it was wearing "Stantz" for the first time. Unbelievable! Couldn't smiling! After I'd stopped titting about and came back down to earth I took a snap of where we are as it stands. Still lots to do but its starting to take shape

[thebigone2087]

Looking great!!!

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks buddy. Really means a lot

[bishopdonmiguel]

That's pretty sweet! Enjoy the tittering while you can. Once you get all the kit installed, you're gonna say "crikey, these things are heavy!"

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks Bish, I really appreciate your kind words and support. I can see what you mean about the weight. I was shocked yesterday when I strapped it on.

[nick-a-tron]

Looking very nice! You gunna cut the ion rod down bit? Not sure about the ray pack but the volguus rod was 1.5 times the length of the cap.

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks Nick. Yup that's on my to do list. The measurements I've seen from the Sony Lobby hero have the length at 4" with the top rod roughly 3/4". I'll also be rounding the corner edges a little

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks Nick. Yup that's on my to do list. The measurements I've seen from the Sony Lobby hero have the length at 4" with the top rod roughly 3/4". I'll also be rounding the corner edges a little

*EDIT* The measurements of my ion arm cap are 2 3/4" length which will roughly convert to a 4.125" rod. It currently measures 5" so just under an inch is coming off

[Venkman's Swagger]

Small update for today and I can't thank Bish enough for documenting his method of "aging" the Clippard Elbows and Legris Straight replicas etc. How he did it is documented here http://www.gbfans.com/community/viewtopic.php?t=37102 Well worth a read!! He is as ingenious as he is nice. Top bloke.

I set my oven to 210 degrees Celsius (fan assisted oven). Once the oven was at the temperature I needed I placed tin foil in a heat proof dish and laid the parts out, leaving plenty of space between each part. I checked through the window every five minutes until I was happy. In all I had them in there for 15-20 minutes and then left them to cool naturally. I am really happy with how they came out.

The 2 hose barbs at the top are spares that didn't go into the oven. I think they help highlight what this method can achieve.................



Lastly I finished my Ion Arm Cap to make it as screen accurate as possible. I rounded the edges and took around 1 inch off the bottom rod and then rounded the cut to give the rod a decent finish. I used the guidelines that were discussed with Nick and scaled up some reference pics. I may end up buying a new end cap as the missing knurl is bothering me. It'll do for now I think. I'm happy I achieved what I set out to do



Few little things left to do and then its on to paint

[bishopdonmiguel]

The patina you achieved on those brass parts is fantastic! Well done.

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thank you Bish and thank you for allowing the me to tap into your knowledge. I really appreciate everything

[ovwthrillseekr]

Looking good man!

[Grimmy GB]

DUDE! Freaking amazing work!!!

[halliwax]

looks really really good! i love how ur replicating the lobby pack.

nicks stuff sure looks good, i love how the fitting came out after that tutorial, they aged great!! keep up the good work!

[c05ta]

Does the lower rod of the cap come off? I've got one that unscrews on my pacman and one that was pressed in to place on my gb1.
If you can remove it you can probably avoid the cost and time in labor replacing the whole cap and just have the knurling done.

I'm no expert on the process but you might even be able to find someone who can do it with the rest of the cap attached.

[CPU64]

It doesn't have to be removed for knurling..

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks guys, I am humbled and blown away by all your positive comments and encouragement. It really means the world to me.

Costa, the bottom rod doesn't screw out unfortunately. I tried this as I wanted to "age" the rods like I did with my fittings. I never thought about just having the knurl done so thank you for the idea. Its something I'm definitely going to look into so thanks.

CPU64 Thanks for the heads up

[Grimmy GB]

VS... I LOVE how this came out of no where and escalated super fast! You have some crazy amazing detail going on.
I just can't believe I didn't see you start this build sooner o0

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thank You Grimmy. That really means a lot man, honestly does. I can't believe how quickly it has escalated either lol. 1 minute I was opening the parcel, then next I was replicating tear drops and mounting parts. For someone who has never built anything at all to be gaining this praise is overwhelming so thank you buddy.

[Naptime]

Dude, you deserve ALL of this praise! Wicked cool work you're doing, mate!

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thank you Naptime. I really appreciate your kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying our build

[PssdffJay]

I wish I had aged my brass like you did. Kicking myself now because yours looks so good. I don't know if I can get mine out, had to glue them into the right positions.

Your pack is looking excellent! Keep it up!

[Venkman's Swagger]

Thanks Jay! Coming from a guy who's build I read every morning, that means A LOT so thank you.

I hope you find a way of getting the fittings out because I think its worth it.

[Venkman's Swagger]

Managed to get the primer and paint done over the last few days. 3 coats of Halfords primer with several coats of Halfords satin black has left me with this...............







I had never spray painted before so I had no experience to call upon which made me really nervous. I like how it came out, its covered evenly and has a nice satin sheen to it at certain angles. I have no bench mark so wouldn't no if I've done well or absolutely pants lol.

[Grimmy GB]

It's pure pants! LOL! Jking buddy. That turned out pretty amazing! The chips look spot on after painting. I can't give this enough praise

[Venkman's Swagger]

LOL Yooooouuuuu! Thanks mate, really means a lot man. I hope it is as good as you say