#4901204
Sunday, November 19th: Got Hosed

I had the day off so after a dog walk and breakfast, I got right to it.

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Decided to start with getting the thinner hoses to stay in their fittings. I was originally going to use electrical tape to make the hose ends girthier but I lost my e-tape. I'm glad I had, because I came up with the idea of using heat shrink tubing. The legris elbows only needed one layer while the clippard straits needed two. Did the thin red tubing first, then the yellow guy on the ion arm. They are nice and snug now, but not too much so that they can't be removed with sufficient force.

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Moved on to wrestle the gb1 ribbon cable. I traced the curve of a cable clamp plate onto the nicest end of the cable using a fine tip exploding sharpie. I used the bottom plate just in case I got any marks on it not knowing the pen was going to leak. Glad I did.

Used a pair of flush snips to cut the cable asking the mark wire by wire. This made quick work of it.

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Traced out the clamp screw holes onto the cable and poked them through with a small screwdriver. Fed screws through the top clamp plate, then the cable, and lastly through the bottom plate.

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Screwed clamp and cable onto the synchronous generator.

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Let the wrestling begin! Using the Venkman/Murray pack as reference and the heat gun as my muscle, I coaxed the cable to wrap little by little with zip ties being applied as I went. The wrapping was easy. It was getting it to bend to go through the p-clamp while maintaing the twist that was a pain. I managed it though thanks to the ties.

Those zip ties are great cable wrestling fighters! Tie fighters zipping around. Lol, I had to!

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Crap, I realized I neglected to cut all the way through the cosmetic plating layers. I only did the top layer previously. So I made a pilot hole from the front and cut it out with a hole saw from the back.

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I tried feeding the cable in through the front but it just wasn't having any of it. So I put a pair of needle nose pliers up through the bottom. Daddy bird fed baby bird its worms. I used my right hand to grip and pull down on the cable. My left hand wrangled stray wire ends into the hole. Put on a third zip tie to keep it all together a little in front of the hole.

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Flattened out and cut off the excess cable with the flush snips. Then drilled right through both the cable and bottom layer of the cosmetic spacer. Lifted the cable to tap the hole. Put a washer on the screw and passed the screw through the cable. Screwed it all to the styrene.

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Cut the tie tails off and took a step back to witness the glory of a zip tied gb1 cable twisted arch.

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Made sure the crank gen loom was pushed in all the way and drilled through the back of the crank gen pvc and into the loom and vinyl hose. Threaded the hole with a screw and tightened it in place. Now I can use the crank gen loom as a handle to lift the pack, but I won't.

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The next task had ben looming over me for a while, but now was the time. I first ran some thick speaker wire through the vinyl hose and loom. This way I can attach the cables to it and pull it through.

Then I went to remove a connector off one end of the wand lights' ribbon cable so it'd fit in the vinyl hose. Marked where the red key wire was on both sides and which side the cut end goes on. I first attempted to release the connector by pushing down the push down tab thingies to no avail. So I just broke off the plastic in front that was keeping them on. This was only the strain relief piece so nothing absolutely critical.

Lastly for the cable prep, I wrapped the ribbon cable around the loose wires and their connectors like an electrical taco. Wrapped some masking tape around it all at each connector site. Finally, I taped the cable to the speaker wire that was coming out the thrower-handle-end of the loom.

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Sitting with the loom in a big bend I had both ends facing me. Pulled on the pack-end of the speaker wire until the thrower wire assembly was entering the loom. Then I'd grab the ribbon cable around the loose wires like a tiny long taco and push an inch or so into the loom till it would bind up. Next, I'd pull an inch or so of speaker wire out the other loom end. Repeat ad nauseam. After 10 minutes of this horendous tedium I thought to straighten the loom and yank on the speaker wire.

So I put the thrower at the far side of the couch and held its loom end in between my feet. Then I held the pack end near my chin with one hand and pulled the speaker wire and cable assembly through in just a few big tugs with the other hand. This worked much faster! But I wasnt able to make sure the loose wires remained on one side/inside the taco as planned. Oh well.

Pushed the loom into the thrower handle while pulling on the speaker wire to take up slack inside the handle. Once I was sure it was past the rear screw of the handle, I tightened it down the screw. Held the thrower nervously in the air by the loom and shook it to test its retention. We're golden!

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Now I could put the cable connector back on. I made sure the red wire and cut end were on the correct sides. Then aligned the connector prongs to thier original puncture marks on the cable. Put the connector and cable in a vice and cranked it down. Wanting to incorporate the strain relief, cause it is a good idea, I put a small dab of gorilla gel glue on both sides. Then I bent the cable over and put the strain reliever on and held for thirty seconds. After a few minutes I gave it a good pull and it held firm. Sweet!

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I inserted the loose wire ends into the pack loom entry hole followed by the ribbon cable connector. Push them through all the way and inserted the loom and hose. Flipped the pack around to fold the sides of the loom and hose over the pvc loom coupler and screwed them to it one side at a time.

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There was a lot of extra ribbon cable so I ran it under both board shelves, made a wide bend back to the sound board, and plugged it in.

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I cut a scrap piece of styrene (hey, I haven't said that in a while, lol) for a relay retainer like the battery has. I drilled a hole in one end. Then drilled and tapped a hole in the upper center of the top shelf. Widened the retainer hole with a bigger bit and screwed it to the shelf. Switched back to the smaller bit and drilled through the retainer and shelf while holding it in place (one hand only in pic as I paused to take the shot, I'm sure that's obvious). Then removed the screw and widened the second retainer hole. Put both screws in the retainer and screwed it over the relay onto the shelf. Now it's a relay shelf! Yay for recycling failed ideas!

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Threw two metallic stickers onto the thrower I had forgoten the other day. Then hung the thrower on the v-hook. Sometimes it's good to be hosed!

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Figured next I'd install the reordered-and-actually-in-the-untempered-packaging-this-time 1/8" mini jack onto the motherboard. Drilled a 1/2" hole on the opposite side from the volume knob. Started with the bit in reverse to not mar the paint or surface. Then drilled forward all the way through. Inserted the jack and nutted it down. This is a TRRS, (tip ring ring sleeve) jack.

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It refers to the sections separated by the black insulating layers on 1/16", 1/8", and 1/4" jacks and connectors.

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I only needed to use the top three for a standard TRS 1/8" cable that'll plug into the headphone jack of my phone.

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I cut off an end of a stereo 1/8" male to male mini cable I had and stripped its wiring. The copper shielding around the red and white wires are both grounds connected to the sleeve on the male jack. Since I have a TRRS female jack and two grounds on my TRS male jack, I'll use both grounds. One in the second ring terminal, the other in the sleeve terminal. That'll turn the female jack into TRS only.

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I spent a few minutes researching which wire was the tip and which was the first ring just to find out it's different from manufacturer to manufacturer. I was about to get frustrated when it dawned on me that it gets turned from stereo into mono at the board. So it didn't matter what was tip or first ring/left or right. So I just screwed into the terminals red for tip/left, white for first ring/right, and both coppers for second ring and sleeve/ground and mic, turning them both into the same sleeve/ground effectively.

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I wanted to test the motherboard fit. This time I hosed myself! The newly installed jack runs right into the loom coupler leaving a 1/2" gap. Doh! This seriously bummed me out. Sometimes it's bad to be hosed!

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Kept my cool after a few expletives and feeling really dumb. I removed the jack and mixed up some apoxie sculpt real quick and filled the hole in the motherboard. The jack will have to get relocated. Good thing it happened when it did! I scheduled the next day for the n-filter respray, the last day of warmer weather for the foreseeable forecast. The motherboard be the n-filter's respray buddy.

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Again, went to test fit the motherboard to the pack, and was getting caught up by about a 1/4" towards the center. I rocked the motherboard on what was hanging it up until I found the rocking fulcrum position. Put my finger at that spot and removed the motherboard. Wouldn't you know it, it was the bolt and nut for the half moon spacer to Alice frame. I then had a wave of dread hit me thinking it was hitting the gb1 cable excess or screw/washer.

So I put some masking tape on the end of the bolt, sticky side out. It stayed on long enough to put the motherboard back on the pack. Then I removed it and saw the tape worked to mark where the bolt was hitting. It was indeed clear of the cable and screw/washer. Whew, relief!

I trimmed a litte more off the corner of the cable near thr impact mark. Drilled out that area and now the motherboard fits perfectly!

Called it a day and hung out with the lady for the remainder of the night.
MasterOod, bworld liked this
#4901213
Monday, November 20th: Respray and Devil's In The Decals

Got out of work a half hour early at 2:30pm and rushed home to take advantage of the almost 50°f weather. Threw a used but not empty can of satin black in a bucket of hot water and went to prep the bottom of the motherboard while the paint can warmed up.

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Started with blending the epoxie in the motherboard and taking down the weird ripple that was near the epoxie. Used 1200 grit and a light touch.

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Cut the heat shrink on the switch and removed the charge port wire and also took it out off its motherboard hole. Drilled a new hole between the switch and its original hole. Started with the bit in reverse and then forward all the way through. Cleaned up around the drilled hole. Reinstalled the charge port into its new location.

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Widened the old charge hole (I think I accidentally rented that on VHS once) to 1/2" diameter, cleaned it up, and installed the 1/8" mini jack.

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Removed everything from the bottom of the motherboard and wiped it down with a moist paper towel. Then I masked off the hockey puck spacers and Alice frame with some packaging paper and masking tape. All prepped for paint touch up

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It was now 4:22pm and 48°f out. Ignore the clock on the thermometer, it never got adjusted for bs savings time. Dried off the paint can and shook for a full 5 minutes. Took it and the n-filter to the balcony where I still had everything tarped and got a coat on it. In the bathroom it went. Then I sprayed the motherboard and it joined the filter in the bathroom.

While waiting for the first coat to dry, I threw the rattle can back in the bucket and prepped the kitchen table for tint and decal work with spongeface's awesome bezel kit.

When time was up I got another coat on the n-filter and motherboard and returned them to the bathroom.

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Using spongeface's bezel kit instructions as a guide, I rubbed the kit's lenticular lens on some super fine 1200 grit rub away paper. Smooth side down and in the direction of the lenticular lines only. This removes the ridges left from laser cutting.

I filled a little container with purified water. Then I peeled off the backing from the tint strip to reveal the adhesive and dipped it in the water.

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I pulled the strip from the water and placed it on the smooth side of the lenticular lens. I used a credit card to squeegee out any air or water. Set it aside to dry.

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I put the bar graphic window decal in the water and let it sit. Peeled off the protective backing on the plexiglass and felt some ridges. Nothing in the instructions about ridges on the plexi. So I rubbed the corners only on the section of gritty sheet to not scratch the plexi, and it took care of that.

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I use this amazing stuff called Micro Set and Micro Sol for any decals. The set lets you easily move the decal around and softens it some so it can conform around raised or depressed details. The set then dissolves any clear portions and makes the decal look painted on. Spongeface does mention that he tried applying this decal with one of the two and that he didn't like it. They are designed to be used in tandem, not alone.

So, I applied some Micro Set to the plexiglass with a q-tip. Then I carefully grabbed the decal out of the water and gently slid a small section over the edge of the backing with my thumb. Placed the exposed decal area on the plexi, held it down lightly with some tweezers while pulling the backing away slowly. I lowered the decal onto the plexi as I pulled the backing away. Then I lightly moved the decal into its final positron with the tweezers. Let it sit to completely dry.

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Took this time while the plexi was drying to trim up the tinting on Mr. Lenticular guy. I held it down with the tinted side down on something I didn't mind cutting and cut along the edge with an exacto blade. Then I ran the blade along the tinted edge with the blade at a 45° angle to further tighten up the trim. Did this for all four sides. In the last pic you can see where I rushed and ripped the tinting. Damn it! But I squeegee'd it back in place with the credit card, and, spoiler alert, you can't see it at all once installed. Whew! Haste makes waste!

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The plexi was now dry so I applied some Micro Sol to the decal with a new q-tip. This is where I had to be really be careful with a delicate touch. The sol in Micro Sol, as you've probably guessed, means solvent. It's dissolving the decal's transfer material leaving just the pigment. If you touch it too hard after applying the sol you can warp or entirely remove the decal. I accidentally dropped the q-tip and you can see it took away a tiny bit of the circle at the bottom where it landed. Crap, but luckily its really hard to tell in person. Left the plexi alone to dry completely.

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While the plexi was drying again, I inserted the tinted lenticular guy into the bezel tint down, ridges up. Inserted the top first, then pressed the bottom in with the butt of a bamboo skewer. It took some force to get it in there. So much so that I'm not worried about it coming out without glue at all.

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Now the plexi was dry so I carefully trimmed off the excess. Used the same 45° blade angle technique as the tinting, but without the initial laying down and cutting. This was super super light handed work. I'm talking just the weight of the blade was used. No extras force needed. Tiny short movements too.

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Then I inserted it into the bezel decal side down on top of the lenticular piece. Again, I used the bamboo skewer as a ramming rod to get it in there. Was nice at tight. Wink wink.

Spongeface mentions you can use tiny dots of gorilla gel glue applied with a toothpick in the corners of the bezel before inserting the plexi on top of the lenticular lens. I didn't feel the need, others' millage may very.

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Man this look so good! Even better in action.

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Surprisingly the paint had already dried within 3 hours enough to get the n-filter installed. I wonder if it was from shaking the can for about 5 minutes strait. Before I'd only shake about 1 to 2 minutes. Whatever, not complaining!

If you've been wondering why my nails have looked long and grimy, it's cause I've been letting them grow just so I could weather the pack here and there. I just simply run a nail over the paint. Sometimes hard and short. Other times lights and fast in random directions.

Anyway, you can see a line on the filter where it had split and didn't go back into perfect alignment. If someone notices this I'm going to have to tell them to to get their head away from my posterior. Lol.

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Got the gray vinyl danger sticker on there followed by the dry rub. Woo I dry rubbed the hell out of that thing and it came out almost perfect! Slight bend on the long top horizontal line towards the right side. Again, if sometime notices this, they owe me dinner and a movie, cause they be getting intimately close.

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Motherboard was very dry, almost not tacky as well. Reinstalled the potentiometer, 1/8" mini jack, charge port, and switch. Hooked up the charge port power lead to the switch with some heat shrink to complete it.

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I've designed the pack so I can hook everything up like a clamshell from the top. I lined up the bottom of the pack and motherboard and started pluging in stuff. Then I seated the lower L brackets in place and hooked up the top speaker before closing her up.

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Screwed everything up with brass washers cause I like them everywhere.

Time for money shots!

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Oh yes! Oh yes! Oh yes! Look at that.

That finished up the day. Just some few last touches before its 100%.

Straps and kidney pad, neoprene motherboard foam and Alice frame pipe insulation, gaff tape, red hose on thrower, brass washers on booster frame, and star washers on thrower switches. That should be all that's needed!

Staaaaaaaaay tuned!
MasterOod liked this
#4901220
Hubba Hubba!! This thread is a credit to you man, amazing amazing work. This will be a huge help for anyone looking to build a pack. Well done sir!!
#4901223
Venkman's Swagger wrote:Hubba Hubba!! This thread is a credit to you man, amazing amazing work. This will be a huge help for anyone looking to build a pack. Well done sir!!
Thanks VS! There a few more updates to come. Just got back from being in the Chicago Thanksgiving Parade with the pack for the first time. My shoulders are freaking out lol.
#4901260
Ecto46 wrote:Man that is amazing work!
Thanks man!
#4901280
Tuesday, November 21st: Straps and foam

Got home from work and responsibilities taken care of by 3:45pm. With only 2 days left to work on the pack if I wanted it done for the Chicago thanksgiving day parade, I got to it right away.


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Grabbed the neoprene strip I got from the GBFans shop. I looked all over the net for neoprene at a good price. Everyone wanted it bought in bulk and for ridiculous prices. Couldn't find any local sources either. So even with shipping it's still worth it getting it from gbfans.

Anyway, I taped the neoprene strip in place on the back top of the motherboard. Then I traced the edge of the motherboard onto the backing. I made marks based on reference photos on where it ends.

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Took the neoprene off and cut the end marks first to get rid of the excess. Secondly I cut the little vertical parts near the top center. Then in from the outer edges. For the curved parts, I used an exacto blade cutting with a sawing motion as I went.

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I decided to take measurements of the speaker grill and transfer those to the neoprene backing. Then I realised I needed to mirror image the plotting. Doh! I did that and it didn't look right to me.

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I wanted a new method and remembered I had a compass.
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I adjusted the compass to the radius of the speaker grill pattern. Found center of the cardboard envelope that the dry rubs shipped in. Looks like it's a disc sleeve. Drew the circle onto it with the compass. Cut the envelope in half and then cut half the circle. Lined it up and traced it out onto the neoprene. Glad I did it this way. You can see my failed plotting attempt.

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Cut out the tracing and pulled off the backing. Lined up the top cut to the top of the motherboard and pressed it on from the center down and out.

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Moved onto the Alice frame foam. Started it by getting the width dialed in, again using reference photos. Cut a piece of 1/2" ID pipe insulation foam to size and test fit it.

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Took the foam off and proceeded to install the shoulder straps. I drew arrows for visual clarity and reference to anyone reading this. Basically, you start at the bottom and put the looped bottom strap from the inner side though the Alice frame hole surrounded with the plastic rip guard. Then you run the top strap thorough the loop and pull it through so it pulls the loop tight onto the frame.

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Then take the top of the strap and run it back to front through the frame loop on the underside of the top bar.

[EDIT: I messed this up the first time. Don't do what's said up there with the shoulder strap. You want to go through the same loop, but from the front. Then over the 1/2" thick top bar then down to the buckle. Thanks twmedford23 for catching this mistake.]

With the metal buckle flipped upwards, run the stap under it and the come up through its second slot. Then run the stap up and over the buckle's center hump and down through its first slot. Pull the strap up while pulling the buckle down to loosen or tighten the strap.

Repeat the process for the other shoulder strap.

I've heard of horror stories that replica Alice frames such as this one can have the straps come loose if these buckles accidentally get flicked down. I'll eventually safety pin the tops of the straps in place.

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Decided since I was strapping I might as well get the kidney pad straped on. This actually consists of two separate pieces: the kidney pad with metal loops on the strap ends and a tensioner strap with a buckle at one end.

From the outside going in, put one metal loop end though a bigger metal loop on the bottom front of the Alice frame. Then take the separate tensioner stap and put the strap end of it through the kidney pad loop from the back going forward.

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Put the kidney pad metal loop of the opposite side through the bigger frame loop. Then run the tensioner strap through that metal loop from the front to the back.

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Lastly, run the tensioner stap through its own buckle's second slot from the under side. Then up over the buckle hump and down through its first slot. Just like the shoulder straps.

Pull it tight to bring the kidney pad straps closer together. This tensioner strap will keep the pad from hitting the Alice frame 'v' support beam things web wearing it, so it needs to be tight.

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I put the foam back on the top bar and made small cuts around the shoulder straps. Then I took the foam off and extended the cuts up a quarter of the foam loop. I test wore it for the first time and saw I needed to redo the foam holes to not go all the way to the slit so the foam doesn't fly off the bar.

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So I cut a new piece of foam and redid the square holes based on the first piece. This time I stayed about 3/8" away from the slit in the tube.

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There are only 2 things on this pack that are not gb1 for comforts sake. One is the angle of the thrower on the v-hook. The other is the alice frame, especially its top bar foam. I've decided to double up on it. I should have bought 1" inner diameter pipe insulating foam for the second layer, but I got 3/4" already so I made it work.

Cut square holes into it the same way as the smaller foam. Took the straps off and then on again running them through the foam square holes in the process. Had to run the straps up through the outer layer first from the outside in. Then the inner layer the same way. Next it went through the loop on the top frame bar's underside from the back. Lastly the strap had to run through the square holes in the foam tubes again. This time the smaller inner tube first from the inside out, then the same way on the larger outer foam. Of course it then went through the buckle as before.

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I took the outer foam off the inner foam and dropped it down on the straps. I did this to put zip ties on the foam because I wanted more support than just the the tape but I didn't want bulges or a quilted affect. So I put zip ties on each layer. After the inner layer got zipped I put the outer foam over it and zipped it only 2 clicks.

Then I trimmed off the excess ties. I didn't apply any tape yet cause I wasn't sure if I wanted to use real gaff tape or gorilla tape. I have both on hand. I've read real gaff tape can rub off on fabrics. I wanted to do tests first before applying tape.

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I got around to getting 2 layers of heat shrink on the small red thrower tip tube ends. I had to trim the ends down as it was pretty snug and not going in all the way to clear the rubber.

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To finish the day I swapped out the steel washers on the booster frame for brass ones I picked up the other day at Home Depot while I was getting 1/2" pipe insulation.


Now, here are some obligatory first-time-wearing-the-pack shots. Full disclosure: It's actually about the fifth time wearing it, but all within the same hour on the same. I was putting it on and off while testing out the foam and strap situation. So here they are:

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One more day and a very small amount left to do! Woooo!


Stay tuuuuuuuuuuned!
Last edited by Batfly on November 25th, 2017, 9:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
MasterOod, twmedford23 liked this
#4901293
cjchiu wrote:Fantastic work! Looking great in the pack. I have learned so much from your process.
Thanks! Comments like yours letting me know others are getting use out of this makes updating this build thread worth it!
#4901295
Ecto46 wrote:yeah man....I find my self going back and rereading parts of it all the time when I think about how to do something.......Now that the first round of Holiday Silliness is over....mebbe I can get back to building.......
"Get to it!" Says the guy who took multiple several month long progress breaks (me) haha. Glad its a resource!
#4901305
twmedford23 wrote:Fantastic! One suggestion, though: the alice frame straps need to go around the bar, and not just through the slits.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=10227
Oh man, you are correct! How'd I screw that up? Will go back and edit. Thanks!
#4901309
Wednesday, November 22nd: the day before Thanksgiving

Did the get out of work stuff and started on an experiment.

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I wanted to test if the gaff tape I had would leave marks. So I grabbed a white undershirt, a roll of real gaff tape, and set a timer for one minute. I peeled the tape back and ripped it off to reveal a fresh layer. Then rubbed the shirt in random directions on the newly exposed tape with my thumb. The timer beeped and I looked at the shirt. Definitely started leaving a mark after only one minute.

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I reset the timer and rubbed again in the same spot on the shirt. Yep, mark is darker. I know some see this as more natural weathering on the suit, but I don't lol. So gorilla tape it will be!

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Took the roll of gorilla tape, stretched out a length, held it up to the foam padding and ripped off a section a tiny bit loonger than the foam. I applied it to the top of the foam and thought I should have started at the bottom. So I ripped sections the size of the bottom portions around the straps. Then I did one just over the whole length for the middle/front of the foam slightly overlapping the lower pieces. Finally, I returned to the top piece and pressed it down. It perfectly overlapped the front piece.

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Lastly, I cut off the excess tape from the edges. Got the top excess cut with sissors and the bottom with an exacto blade. The downward sissor angle just felt wierd.

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I started to take nuts off the thrower switches to put star washers under the nuts. I noticed the switch started rotating and realized it was going to be a pain to keep them in their propper orientation when tightening the nuts back down. So I aborted this plan and tightened the nut back down. I was super nervous about gouging the paint anyway.

For the hell of it, I took one of the smaller star washers I bought a couple days prior and put it over the switch lever onto the threads sticking up past the nut. It didn't fit! It was too small. It wouldn't have worked anyway. Haha.

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Got the last large vinyl danger label applied to the motherboard. Its not in the normal spot due to the speaker grill but I don't mind.

And that's it! 100% compete! Or should I say 100% ready for the parade? I already have some mods planned. I want to move the wand kit board into the pack and run cat5 cable to the lights and switches. That way I can fit a rumbler and tip extension mechanics in the thrower. I also want to upgraded the speakers eventually to have tweeters. Wanting an aluminum make v-hook too. So this thread isn't over, lol.

Here are some glamour shots I took and a video. Sorry for tap-a-talk's compression through this whole thread.

Also, I've kept an itemized piece list of parts and supplies excluding tools. That'll come in a post to follow this one.



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MasterOod, twmedford23 liked this
#4901310
[See post just before this one for 100% complete pack status if you haven't already]

Did I ever mention I have OCD?
Here's a running itemized list off offsets and suppliers I've tried to keep all throughout the build. Some things are generalized or rounded. Others are exact amounts with tax figured in. Its an approximation that I'd day is give or take $10 accurate.

I didn't include any replacements from messing up such as plasma tube board, motherboard mdf, 1" instead of 3/4" wide aluminum for Alice frame bar. If I did it right the first time it wouldn't have been an expense, so they aren't on there.

Tools have also been excluded. You'll notice a sanding block on there (this doesn't count against not saying that word again in this thread since it's not a progress post [emoji14] ). I've included it cause its almost been destroyed with all the times I had to replace the sandpaper. The rubber retention flaps are starting to split, threatening to crack off.

Anyway, here's the list:

Pack:
_$60.00 2x 2'x4'x0.125" Styrene Sheet (Petersen Brother's Plastics)
_$60.00 1x Sound Board (GBFans Shop)
_$50.00 1x Metal Bellows (GBFans Shop)
_$48.00 1x Alice Pack Frame (OpticsPlanet.com)
_$45.00 1x Powercell/Cyclotron Light Kit (GBFans Shop)
_$40.00 1x Spectra Ribbon Cable (EJGunth)
_$35.00 1x Vinyl Labels (GBFans Shop)
_$30.00 1x [Set of 4] Aluminum Mounting Brackets and rivets (GBFans Shop)
_$25.00 1x Metallic Vinyl Labels (GBFans Shop)
_$25.00 Varyious Screws and washers(Home Depot)
_$24.00 3x #3109 Legris Gray Elbows (SMC elbows GBFans Shop)
_$20.00 2x #3175 Legris Brass Straight Male Connector (GBFans Shop)
_$20.00 1x Dry Rub transfer labels sheet (GBFans Shop)
_$20.00 1x Custom knurled, beveled,& threaded ion arm rod+knub (Freeky Geeky)
_$12.50 5x Clippard #11752 Hose Barb (GBFans Shop)
_$12.00 1x 2" PVC, 1x 1.25" PVC, 1x 1" PVC, 1x Sink Drain (Home Depot)
_$11.00 1x Dale PH-25 Resistor (GBFans Shop sold out, got on ebay)
_$10.13 1x 1"x1/8"x48" Aluminium stock (Home Depot)
_$10.00 1x ¾” Split Loom Tubing 6 Feet (GBFans Shop)
_$ 9.68 1x Calrad 30-712K-S Solderless Chassis Mount 3.5mm Audio Jack
_$ 8.79 1x DPDT On Off On Toggle Switch (Ace)
_$ 8.18 1x Motherboard [2' x 4' x 0.25" MDF] (Home Depot)
_$ 8.00 2x Clippard #15090 L-Fitting + #11752 hose barb (GBFans Shop)
_$ 6.99 1' Foam Neoprene Motherboard Protecxtor (GBFans Shop)
_$ 6.58 3x Hockey Pucks for Motherboard Spacers (Play It Again Sports)
_$ 6.00 1x 1/4” Blue Tubing 3 Feet (GBFans Shop)
_$ 6.00 1x 1/8” Red Tubing 4 Feet (GBFans Shop)
_$ 6.00 1x Raytheon Crank Knob #MS91528 (ebay)
_$ 5.00 1x Sage Resistor (Short) (GBFans Shop)
_$ 5.00 1x Red transparent, 1x Blue transparent acrylic (Petersen Brother's Plastics)
_$ 4.40 4x Flashlights for their reflectors (Dollar Tree)
_$ 4.39 1x DC Power Charge Port Jack (Micro Center)
_$ 4.00 1x Pack Kit ribbon connector (GBFans Shop)
_$ 4.00 1x Clippard brass elbow ion arm (GBFans Shop)
_$ 4.00 1x 1/4” Red Tubing 2 Feet (GBFans Shop)
_$ 4.00 2x Pipe insulation padding [3\4" & 1\2" ID](Home Depot)
_$ 3.84 1x 10kohm Potentiometeter Volume Knob (Micro Center)
_$ 3.50 1x Ribbon Cable P-Clamp (GBFans Shop)
_$ 3.00 1x Dale RH-50 Resistor (Long) (GBFans Shop out of stock, got on ebay)
_$ 3.00 1x 1/8” Yellow Tubing 2 Feet (GBFans Shop)
_$ 3.00 1x ¼” Split Loom Tubing 3 Feet (GBFans Shop)
_$ 1.10 1x Grease Splatter Screen for N-Filter Mesh (Dollar Tree)
_$ FREE 1x Clippard Valve R-331
_$ FREE 1x Rechargable Battery ($27.14 paid with Gift Card)
_$ FREE ?x Various screws and washers (already had from projects over the years)
___________________________________________
Pack Subtotal: $676.08

Thrower:
_$60.00 1x Thrower Light Kit (GBFans Shop)
_$30.00 2x Nycoil Banjo #55020 (GBFans Shop)
_$25.00 2x Grips (GBFans Shop)
_$25.00 1x Trigger Tip (CJGunth)
_$25.00 1x Tip COnverter (Freeky Geeky)
_$20.00 2x Double Disk Drift Velocity Knurled Knobs (On left side of gun)
_$20.00 1x Gun Heatsink (GBFans Shop)
_$17.50 1x 15" Plasma Light Tube (Ebay)
_$16.00 2x Hat Light-Orange (GBFans Shop)
_$15.00 1x Bar Graph Bezel Kit (Spongeface)
_$15.00 1x Clear Acrylic Tube (GBFans Shop)
_$12.00 1x Stainless Steel Female Vhook (Freeky Geeky)
_$10.00 1x Thrower Kit Ribbon Connector (GBFans Shop)
_$10.00 1x Forward Knurled Knob [Next to Clippard] (GBFans Shop)
_$10.00 1x Knurled Stream Adjuster Knob [top left] (GBFans Shop)
_$10.00 1x Bottom Cosmetic Knob Knurled Large (GBFans Shop)
_$ 8.00 1x Extension Lever + reatianing knob (Freeky Geeky)
_$ 6.53 6' 5/8"ID 3/4"OD Vinyle Hose (ace)
_$ 5.00 2x Clippard #11752 Hose Barb (GBFans Shop)
_$ 4.77 1x DPDT Momentary Pushbutton Switch (Ebay)
_$ 4.00 1x Small Knob (Freeky Geeky)
_$ 2.50 2x Cliplites 1-red 1-clear (got 2 of each GBFans Shop)
_$ 2.00 1x ¼” Green Tubing 1 Foot (GBFans Shop)
_$ FREE 1x Clippard Valve R-701
_$ FREE 1x Hat Light-Vintage Milky White
_$ FREE ?x Various screws and washers (already had from projects over the years)
___________________________________________
Thrower Subtotal: $353.30

Suit:
_$163.16 1x Corcoran XC1585 !0" Jump Boots
_$ 60.00 1x Nomex CWU-27/P 46S (Belmnte Army Chicago)
_$ 25.00 1x Grey Elbow Pads 1 Pair (GBFans Shop)
_$ 25.00 Various nylon straps, d-rings, snaps for belt fobs
_$ 21.00 1x Motorola MT500 Radio (Ebay)
_$ 20.00 1x Tan Rubber Hose Connector (GBFans Shop)
_$ 18.00 1x Glow in the dark GB T-Shirt
_$ 12.00 1x Custom Name Badge Patch (GBFans Shop)
_$ 12.00 1x No Ghosts Patch (GBFans Shop)
_$ 10.00 1x Yellow Vinyl Leg Hose (Ace)
____________________________________________
Suit Subtotal: $366.16

Shared MISC [Glue, Epoxie, Paint, Electrical, Sanding]:
_$28.56 4x Krylon Satin Black (Ace)
_$19.75 3x Weld-on #16 glue 5oz.
_$18.53 1pound Apoxie Sculpt
_$17.58 2x Ace metallic silver spraypaint (Ace)
_$15.38 2x Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 Primer (Ace)
_$15.36 4x packs of Wire Disconnects [2x male and 2x female] (Ace)
_$10.57 Dupli-color Truck Bed Coating (Advance Auto)
_$ 6.59 1x 6pack 4-7/8"x3-1/2"x1" 150/250 Grit Sanding Sponges (Harbor Freight)
_$ 4.39 1x 10pack 9"x11" Sandpaper [220,50,1000,1200 grits] (Harbor Freight)
_$ 3.84 1x 4-7/8 in. Soft Rubber Sanding Block (Harbor Feight)
_$ 3.29 1x 10pack 9"x11" Sandpaper [60,100,150,220 grits] (Harbor Freight)
_____________________________________________
Shared MISC Subtotal: $143.84

Total:$1539.38


Shipping:
$15.56
$13.86
$13.04
$12.78
$11.86
$ 9.83
$ 9.31
$ 8.59
$ 7.51
$ 7.40
$ 6.40
$ 6.38
$ 6.10
$ 5.99
$ 5.41
$ 5.35
$ 4.00
$ 3.39
___________
$152.76
Last edited by Batfly on November 26th, 2017, 9:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
MasterOod, twmedford23 liked this
#4901321
Thursday, November 23rd: Out In The Wild, Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade

Alright, deadline reached! Pack is 100% compete and ready for the parade. Time for the its first gig!

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I forgot to update that the night before I had sewn on the Windy City Ghostbusters patch I received when I was inaugurated as a full member. I've had it over a year and never got around to sewing it on. The morning of the parade a did the same for my fiancee Sheila's suit. She's had hers since March.

So we got up at the awesome hour of 5am to arrive on location at 7:20am. Parade started at 8am and our group was #70. We could have arrived and woke up later, however, the perk of getting there this early was that the roads weren't closed off yet. Our lyft ride was able to tske us all the way to the meet up location. Sweet.

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After a little socialization and new pack talk, Sheila ask if she could wear it for a bit. Hell yeah you can lady! Man she looks good in it! She wants me to make her a slime blower next. It never ends haha.

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Nice couples shot ;)

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Jason Staadt and his ecto was there.

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More socializing and waiting. More and more WCGBs were showing up.

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This was the 5th or more event for four of our rookies, so they got inaugurated as official members. Here they are receiving their WCGB patches. We now have 53 full members and I don't know how many rookies.

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The Star Wars 501st Legion was there.

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They were friendly until they realized our proton packs were the equivalent of long distance light sabers combined with force lightning. Yeah, enough power to take down both Jedi and Sith!

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Had time for a few selfies before we were off to marching! Crowd was great. Had many high five runs. No pack mishaps except the thrower loom wasn't all the way past and secured with the rear grip screw like I thought. No big deal. It only affected it when I carried the thrower. At those times I just gripped the thrower with half my fingers and the loom with the other half. It was fixed first thing when we got home.

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My sister texted pics from Florida of us on tv in the parade and dancing with Santa at the end. :) My brother dvr'd it and texted, "you came, we saw, you kicked some ass!". :D


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Speaking of getting home, we decided to take the EL train to save some money.

There was this family with two young sons in the train terminal. Had to be like 5 and 8 years old. They were going crazy tugging on their parents clothing pointing and whispering "Ghostbusters!". So the parents came over asking us, "could we trouble you for some pictures?". Trouble us? That's what makes this fun! We knelt down next to the kiddos and took a few pics.

Then I grabbed the thrower and flicked it on. The kids went crazy. I told one to push the fire button and the zapping tip, lights and sound blew their minds. Their parents looked just as excited as their kids. It put a huge smile on Sheila and I's faces.

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Oh, on the way to the train stop, I found a lock out tag out maintenance tag. These are OSHA compliant safety measures to make sure dangerous equipment isn't turned on or used while someone is working on them.

So, always remember to practice safety and lock out/tag out your paranormal elimination gear when not in use or in repair.


Then we had a quaint Thanksgiving dinner together and called family in Florida.


Happy holidays everyone and hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!
MasterOod, TK5759, CountDeMonet and 1 others liked this
#4901333
TK5759 wrote:This thread has been a journey that was like watching a child be born through adulthood. Dude, your last post genuinely made me smile. Kudos bro!
Thanks TK! Now I feel all warm and mushy inside. Seriously though, it's appreciated.
#4901383
gbrob wrote:Clean ass build. Been wanting to build a styrene pack for a few years.
Thanks man! Do it! Starting it is relatively cheap. Just styrene and glue at first. A good project to start in the winter.
#4901387
Congrats on the finish of your project, and an incredible thread :D It's been an interesting and amusing read, thanks for sharing ;)
#4901388
OCP_Model-001 wrote:Congrats on the finish of your project, and an incredible thread :D It's been an interesting and amusing read, thanks for sharing ;)
Thanks man i appreciate it. Kinda relieved I don't have to update this until upgrades time.
#4901390
Venkman's Swagger wrote:You have the tools, you have the talent!!

Amazing work buddy. Now you can relax and enjoy it whilst planning the next one [emoji6]
Thank VS! Yep, next up is probably belt gizmos. Then Sheila wants a slime blower pack. All that will be way after the holidays lol.
#4901391
Batfly wrote:
Venkman's Swagger wrote:You have the tools, you have the talent!!

Amazing work buddy. Now you can relax and enjoy it whilst planning the next one [emoji6]
Thank VS! Yep, next up is probably belt gizmos. Then Sheila wants a slime blower pack. All that will be way after the holidays lol.
You're welcome man. Styrene blower?
#4901392
BIG Whowzers!
This pack and the complete thread as well, with all it's scrupulously detailed dokumentation in every very single step is such an amazing story to look at, and is such a great source of inspiration for every scatchbuilding ghosthead i guess. And not to forget the result speaks for itself.

I recommend this to be taken to the packbuilders "hall-of-fame"-threads :)

I just want to thank you for sharing your incredible build - this is most impressive! Although i've already built mine out of plywood mostly, there are many resemblances in some techniques and seeing this thread, surely gave me some additional ideas, maybe i'll rebuild some details one day (geez - my wife should never ever read this thread)...

take this: :crunch:
#4901393
Theoderic wrote:BIG Whowzers!
This pack and the complete thread as well, with all it's scrupulously detailed dokumentation in every very single step is such an amazing story to look at, and is such a great source of inspiration for every scatchbuilding ghosthead i guess. And not to forget the result speaks for itself.

I recommend this to be taken to the packbuilders "hall-of-fame"-threads :)

I just want to thank you for sharing your incredible build - this is most impressive! Although i've already built mine out of plywood mostly, there are many resemblances in some techniques and seeing this thread, surely gave me some additional ideas, maybe i'll rebuild some details one day (geez - my wife should never ever read this thread)...

take this: :crunch:
Wow Theoderic, this comment, just wow. Thanks a ton!

Just a tidbit of info: Every single progress post averaged about 3 hours to make. These comments of people getting use and enjoyment out of this thread makes it all worth while! I'm actually touched.

VS: not sure what I'll make the slime blower out of. Still very much in the research phase of that. Not much is conducive to making it out of styrene except the little boxes, but that might even be cheaper and easier to use tin flashing or sheet metal. Weight reduction will be the main factor. For the tanks I'm thinking of using bollard covers. They are the plastic rounded top sleeve covers that go over those concrete pylons in parking lots or in front of stores.
twmedford23 liked this
#4901434
Batfly wrote:Wow Theoderic, this comment, just wow. Thanks a ton!

Just a tidbit of info: Every single progress post averaged about 3 hours to make. These comments of people getting use and enjoyment out of this thread makes it all worth while! I'm actually touched.

VS: not sure what I'll make the slime blower out of. Still very much in the research phase of that. Not much is conducive to making it out of styrene except the little boxes, but that might even be cheaper and easier to use tin flashing or sheet metal. Weight reduction will be the main factor. For the tanks I'm thinking of using bollard covers. They are the plastic rounded top sleeve covers that go over those concrete pylons in parking lots or in front of stores.
You're welcome :)

Funfact is; i've just recently stumbled across a pretty interesting thread over at the RPF, regarding constructing very impressivly shaped and seamlessly rounded helmets from styrene, using some very innovative pepakura-based-technique. Maybe you haven't heard from that already (might have happened from one styrene wizard to the other) and this could be helpful with you upcoming project, so please take a look at:

https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t ... ost2442205

so he e.g. can make things like these

https://www.therpf.com/showthread.php?t=159800

Greetings!
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