#4884342
Here's a quick update for you guys.

Sanding the Bondo repair

Here are a couple of pictures. I think the sanding did a notable difference!

Inside the shell:

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Outside the shell:

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First coat of grey primer

Last night, after giving the shell and all of the resin components a scrub in a bath with dish soap, I placed everything inside a heated garage (outside, it's hovering at a maximum of around 4 degrees Celcius here in Edmonton lately). Then I sprayed the first coat of grey primer.

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The heated garage is currently set just above 20 degrees Celcius (or 70 degrees Farenheit) for the time that I am painting and drying my pack parts.

I let the first coat dry overnight and then I sprayed another light coat before going to work this morning.

How many coats of primer do you guys normally spray on your shell and parts?
Last edited by canpara on October 26th, 2016, 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
Jonobiwan liked this
#4884367
I tend to build my coats up using light spray and strokes. I usually do 4 of these coats and get a decent finish. I do the same with the satin black too
canpara liked this
#4884478
Sanding the booster tube, vacuum line tube and ion arm end cap

"Sanding" might not be the right word... I used some SOS steel wool pads and thoroughly cleaned these aluminum parts prior to painting. Then I gave them a bath with dish soap, rinsed them with water and dried them with paper towel.

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In case anyone is wondering, the Habs won 3-1 with goals from Galchenyuk, Pacioretty and Mitchell.

Rust-oleum satin black spray paint

24 hours after I applied the third coat of Rust-oleum grey primer, I gave all the components their first coat of satin black spray paint.

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I really didn't like the nozzle on this can... Compared to the Rust-oleum grey primer, I found that I had to get closer to the components when painting them and the spray comes out in odd directions. They also tend to drip, so make sure you wear gloves if you ever use this kind of spray paint.

For the aluminum parts, I didn't bother putting on any primer before painting them black. Unfortunately, I didn't have any space to hang them (well, I didn't think so), so I painted them upright in a cardboard box:

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One hour later, I gave everything a second coat. Tomorrow morning, I will check and see how well it dried.
twmedford23 liked this
#4884895
Fitting the booster tube cap inside the booster tube

I had tested this method on an earlier date, but now that aluminum booster tube and the resin booster tube cap are pained, it is time to set the wooden block and the booster tube cap permanently into the booster tube.

Since I have already explained how I set the depth of the wooden block in a previous update, I won’t spend too much time explaining it here. Needless to say, I reinserted the block so that the tip of the booster tube cap sticks out of the booster by ¼”.

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Then I removed the booster tube end cap and set it somewhere on my work table.

I grabbed a hot glue gun and a couple of glue sticks. I dumped a load of hot glue onto the wooden block that holding firmly upon the inside walls of the booster tube.

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Then I grabbed the booster tube cap and inserted firmly onto the load of glue, making sure to press hard enough for the glue to gush out onto the sides of the inside walls of the aluminum tube. This glue is what is going to hold the cap in place.

Here is a view from the bottom of the tube, where you can see the base of the booster tube cap on top of the wooden block, as well as the glue that gushed onto the inside walls of the tube. I also added a little more glue from the bottom end of the tube.

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Since hot glue solidifies fairly quickly, I had to make sure that the narrow tip of the booster tube cap was centrally positioned inside the tube and that it was protruding at ¼”. I held it level with the sliding T-square until the glue hardened.

The result was splendid:

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Cutting a hole for the N-Filter LED light

Using a hole saw, I cut a hole into the shell that is 1 ¾” in diameter. Out of pure luck, the base of the hole saw has exactly the same diameter as the N-Filter itself (I forget the diameter).

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For that reason, it was very easy to locate the centre of the circle for the drill bit. No calculations or measurements necessary.

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Here is a picture of the hole as I cut through the shell completely:

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This hole is meant for the LED light bulb of the GBFans powercell and cyclotron light kit, which will be inserted into reflector.

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Perfect fit!
Last edited by canpara on October 31st, 2016, 9:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
twmedford23 liked this
#4884896
Mounting the ion arm to the shell

I referred to this step earlier in my build thread, just prior to painting the shell, resin and aluminum components. As you read further into this update, I think you will understand why I chose to paint these parts prior to mounting the ion arm and the booster tube.

Some people use tape or clamps to hold their components before drilling holes and securing everything with screws. I use Bondo.

The first step involved tracing the base of the ion arm onto the shell using a Sharpie pen. Using a Dremel, I then sanded some grooves into the polyurethane of the shell within the lines that I had just traced. I also sanded similar grooves into the resin at the base of the ion arm, like so:

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I prepared a little bit of Bondo to spread thinly over both the shell and the base of the ion arm.

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I placed the ion arm onto the shell, pressing firmly downward so that the Bondo would spread into the sanded grooves. Using a set square, I lined up the ion arm perfectly with the edges of the shell.

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Lesson learned: remember to wipe your fingers with a cloth or a rag as you are applying Bondo and manipulating your pack parts. You can see in the picture that I didn’t, so my fingers left little traces of Bondo on the ion arm. As the Bondo hardens and you try to remove these traces, it’s easy to chip the resin or the paint. The best bet is to let the traces of Bondo dry, then sand them off later.

After the Bondo had cured, it was time to flip the shell over and drill some 7/32” holes for the two 3/16” x 3” self-drilling roofing screws (with rubber washers) that would firmly secure the ion arm to the shell. These are the same screws that are used to secure the injector tubes, the beam line and the filler plug to the shell.

Since these screws are three inches long, I had to be careful to place the holes in positions that would not go through the holes I had drilled for the PH-25 resistor and the Legris (or in this case SMC) elbow. Hence the somewhat diagonal positioning seen here:

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Mounting the booster tube to the shell

Essentially, I mounted the booster tube in a similar method than the ion arm.

I am very fortunate that Benofkent Props pre-cuts a hole into their shells for the aluminum booster tube. The booster tube already fit into the hole in a tight and snug manner.

After placing the booster tube into its hole, I used my Sharpie pen to mark the outline of the shell onto the booster tube. I also left a straight reference mark on the centre of the tube and onto the shell, so that I could easily line them up later when I needed to.

Using some coarse grit sand paper, I then sanded the booster tube underneath the shell outline that I had just traced moments ago with my Sharpie pen. I also sanded around the extremities of the shell hole.

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I then prepared some Bondo and spread it on the sanded areas of the booster tube, the lips of the shell hole and generously within the shell hole.

Once I placed the booster tube into the shell hole, I aligned the centre reference marks that I had made on the booster tube and the shell. I also set the booster tube to a distance of exactly one inch from the crank generator. Luckily, the metal ruler in my sliding T-square is exactly one-inch in width, so it was easy to line up the booster tube one ruler-width from the wall of the crank generator (at different points along the wall, of course). I also used my pilot hole punch between the ion arm and the booster tube to help hold the desired position as the bondo began to cure.

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I then used my fingers to wipe away the excess Bondo. I tried to create the smooth look of a high pressure weld. What do you guys think?

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After the Bondo had cured, I flipped the shell around and grabbed my Sharpie pen. After measuring and calculating the centre of the booster tube, I traced a reference line up the inside of the shell. This line represents the length of the booster tube along its centre on the flip side of the shell.

My objective here was to drill two holes through the shell and though one side of the aluminum booster tube. The holes are meant for the two mounting screws. Since I had so many of them on hand, I decided to use the same 10 x ¾” self-drilling screws that I used to mount the PPD to the shell (these screws were not listed in my first post and unfortunately am I no longer able to edit it to update my screws and bolts list), even if they have much larger threads than ridged cap-style bolt. I used a 9//64” drill bit for the pilot holes.

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How did I measure the location of the screw holes?

For the first screw, I wanted it to go into the wooden block inside the booster tube that is supporting the booster tube cap. I thought this would be an easy and efficient way to properly secure both the wooden block and the booster tube end cap inside the booster tube (in addition to the hot glue). To do this, I used the thin end of my digital caliper to measure depth of the booster tube cap inside the tube. Since the height of the base of the cap was about an inch, and since the wooden block below it is two inches long, it was easy to approximate its location along the refence line I had just drawn. Sure enough, as I drilled the first hole on the left, the drill bit brought up some wood dust.

For the second hole, I eyeballed its location to be along my reference line, but somewhere between the first screw and the ledge of the shell (where the booster tube is inserted).

One this was complete, this is one booster tube that isn’t going anywhere.

Mounting the booster tube ladder

Unfortunately, I don’t have too many pictures for this step.

Using my digital caliper and my Sharpie pen, I measured and traced a line from one end of the booster tube to the other.

Using Stefan’s plans as a reference, I knew that the bottom edge of the ladder lined up with the bottom edge of the powercell box (on the shell) and the upper edge of the PPD cut-out (once again, on the shell).

Using my sliding T-square as a set square, I lined up the bottom of the ladder against the lines of the shell (as per the visual references in Stefan’s plans). I also positioned the ladder so that I could see my Sharpie pen line run through the middle of the bolt holes. Then I marked the bolt hole locations onto the booster tube using my pilot hole punch.

Then I took off the ladder and grabbed my drill. I used a 5/32” bit to drill both holes and I tapped them to M5 x 0.8 mm. The bolts I used are both M5 30 mm black ridged cap-style bolts.

While I think the methodology in drilling these two holes was sound, I made a minor mistake when drilling the first (bottom) hole. Although I had marked the location of the hole with my hole punch, I lined-up my drill bit with another mark which was probably left accidentally. In result, the hole was slightly to the right of the centre line. Since I am a perfectionist, I was pretty bummed about this mistake.

In the end, I tried drilling a hole exactly where it should have been, even though the holes would overlap. This ended up working well, since the hole (and thread) was still enough for the bolt to catch in the correct hole.

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Furthermore, when the ladder is bolted onto the booster tube, no one can notice my mistake.

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On the positive side, I had the unexpected benefit of having the top bolt screw into the wooden block inside the booster tube. This means there is a second bolt/screw holding the wooden block securely in place.
Last edited by canpara on November 1st, 2016, 12:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
#4884898
CPU64 wrote:I'm wondering why some of you guys drill a big hole on the side of the crank gen for a big wood dowel to go through, when a simple screw from the inside is more than enough to secure it, same way the HGA is mounted.
In that area of my pack, the shell isn't hollow, so I figured this was the way to go. If you're able to do it with just one screw, that's the better option!
#4884899
Placing reflective aluminum foil tape and aluminum insect screening into the interior walls of the N-Filter cylinder

As I had shown earlier, I cut a 1 ¾” hole into the shell where the N-filter will be mounted. In that hole, there will be a flashlight reflector housing the N-Filter LED bulb from the GBFans powercell and cyclotron light kit.

In order to maximize the intensity of the light from the LED bulb, I thought it would be a good idea to stick some general purpose aluminum foil tape to the inside walls of the N-Filter cylinder (this type of tape is normally found in hardware stores in the aisles for duct or HVAC related products). In this fashion, the inside of the whole cylinder could act as a reflector.

I started by measuring the diameter of the inside of the N-Filter cylinder, which I determined to be 60 mm. I cut two pieces of tape and superimposed them on one edge in order to form a square (without removing the backing). Using a pencil compass, I drew a circle with a radius of 30 mm.

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Then I cut the circle using a pair of scissors. I removed the backing from the edge of one of the pieces of tape in order to stick it to the other.

Then I placed the circle onto a plastic bottle with the sticky side facing up (I practiced this in the N-Filter prior to removing the tape backing). I took the N-Filter cylinder and slowly lowered it onto the sticky aluminum tape being held by the bottle.

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With my finger, I flattened the tape onto the inside-face of the N-Filter.

Next, I measured and cut five 55 mm long strips of aluminum foil tape (one extra, in case I needed it).

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I carefully placed them on the inside walls of the cylinder, like so:

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When I was done, the inside of the N-Filter looked like this:

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Next, I used the radius of the interior circle (30 mm) to calculate the circumference. The circumference represents the length of the strip of aluminum insect screening that I will need to cover the holes of the N-Filter from the inside.

The calculation is as follows:

Circumference = 2 x pi x radius
Circumference = 2 x 3.14159 x 30 mm
Circumference = 188.49 mm

I made myself a template that is 188.5 mm in length and 40 mm in height in order to test these dimensions. The result was perfect:

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I also used the template to help me cut the strip of insect screening to the proper dimensions:

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Finally, I placed the insect screening inside the N-Filter cylinder so that the face and the edges of the strip were firmly placed against the walls of the cylinder. I had some Lepage Super Glue Ultra Gel leftover from my build of Spongeface’s Belt Gizmo kit, so I used this super glue to adhere the screening to the N-Filter walls permanently. Indeed, the long nozzle of the Lepage super glue dispenser was very handy.

Here are some photos of the end result. Bottom view:

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Side view:

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#4885415
Re-aligning the PPD onto the shell

I stated in an earlier post that I thought I had rotated the PPD too much. It turns out that my instincts were right. I wanted to see if the PPD would interfere with the booster tube ladder and, sure enough, it did.

Lesson learned: mount the booster tube ladder prior to mounting the PPD. This way, one can easily determine the proper rotation for the PPD when mounting it. Essentially, you rotate the PPD counter-clockwise until the top nearly touches the ladder.

I’m sure most builders on this forum knew this already, but somehow I had overlooked this part in my research and preparation.

After much deliberating, I decided to drill a new hole into both the shell and the PPD to try this step again and get this mounted correctly. I was still able to use one of the existing shell holes.

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This isn’t the most elegant fix, but thankfully it will not be apparent on the exterior. Here’s a view from the top:

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And one from the side:

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Mounting the vacuum tube dowel

This step was relatively simple and easy to do.

Firstly, I bought a round ¾” x 48” dowel at a local hardware store and cut one of the ends to make a 80 mm (3 5/32”) wooden cylinder.

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Secondly, I grabbed some washers that I had on hand (I forget the diameter) that fit perfectly into the shell ring that supports the vacuum tube. Using the center hole of the washers, I eyeballed and punched the location of a new hole through the shell.

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Thirdly, I drilled the hole through the shell using my drill and a 3/32” drill bit. I drilled a pilot hole through one end of the vacuum tube dowel using a drill press and a 9/64” drill bit. The depth of the pilot hole was 1” (25.4 millimeters).

After flipping over the shell, I mounted the dowel with a 3/32” x 1” wood screw, like so:

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Here is a view of the dowel from the exterior of the shell with the aluminum vacuum tube in place:

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And now a picture with the loom fitting snugly over the dowel and inside the aluminum vacuum tube:

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I also cut a 65 mm dowel for vacuum line in the crank generator:

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My plan so far is to mount this dowel inside the shell using Bondo (unless someone has a better suggestion). For that reason, I decided to save this step for another time.
#4885416
Attaching the N-Filter to the shell

Now that I have stuck the aluminum foil tape and glued the aluminum insect screening inside the N-Filter, it was time to attach the N-Filter permanently to the pack shell.

You guessed it… I did it with Bondo.

After dry-fitting the N-Filter onto the pack shell, I traced the outline of the shell onto the N-Filter. Then I grabbed my Dremel and began sanding grooves within the interior of the traced lines (the grooves looked like a soccer net). I also sanded some grooves onto the pack shell (these ones looked like a picket pence).

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As a proactive measure, I took out my thin painter’s tape and plugged the nine holes of the N-Filter. Since I will be repainting the shell soon, I figured it would be easier to place the masking tape in the holes while the N-Filter is still detached from the shell. It was really easy to insert the masking tape into the hole using the blunt end of my Sharpie pen.

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Then I spread Bondo on both the N-Filter and the cyclotron cut-out on the shell to achieve a good seal. I intended to replicate the look of a high-pressure weld (using my fingers and some water), just as I had done with the booster tube.

Right side view:

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Left side view:

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Looking down from the top of the cyclotron:

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I wanted to make sure that the Bondo weld completely blocked the light that would be coming out of the N-Filter. I tested the welds with a flashlight from inside the shell:

Looking up from the bottom of the synchronous generator:

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Right side view:

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Obviously, I need to sand, wash and polish the Bondo welds and finger tracks prior to spray painting more coats to the shell. I didn’t get around to it this this time.
#4885419
Drilling speaker-grate holes into the motherboard

After attaching the the N-Filter to the shell and while waiting for the Bondo to cure, I had the opportunity to start working on the speaker grates that I wished to drill into the aluminum motherboard.

Thankfully, the back side of the speaker packaging included ready-made templates. All I needed to do was cut them out:

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I traced horizontal and vertical reference lines onto the motherboard with a pencil. This would help me place my 6 ½” and 4” speaker templates, which I used to mark down the location of the bolt holes onto the mother board.
  • I placed the centre of the 6.5” speaker at the exact centre of the cyclotron (directly below the bolt hole on the pack shell for the shock mount bumper and metal bellows).

    I carefully measured the 4” speaker to be directly below the booster tube (attached to the pack shell) without interfering with the powercell electronics. I traced the contour of the speaker template onto the motherboard. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down my measurements, I forgot them and I’m too lazy to measure them again at this moment.
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Then I cut out Alan Hawkins’ 6” and 4” speaker grate templates (2013-07-10) that I had printed earlier onto paper. I traced two intersecting lines to find the centre of both templates.
  • I lined-up the intersecting lines on Alan’s 6” speaker grate with my horizontal and vertical reference lines on the motherboard. Using a set square, I marked each radius (from the centre) onto the motherboard with a pencil. I removed Alan’s template to draw each radius line onto the motherboard, then I put back his template to mark each hole location with my “punch” tool (I don’t know what it’s called) to later direct the drill bit.

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    I repeated a similar method for the 4” speaker, whereby I lined up the intersecting lines with the four bolt hole locations (rather than using the horizontal and vertical reference lines, as I had done for the 6” speaker).

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Next, I drilled the holes using a 5/32” drill bit. Then I used a countersink bit onto each hole (on both sides of the motherboard). The results were splendid.

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I drilled the holes for the speaker-mounting bolts. I used a 3/16” drill bit for the 3/16” bolts. Afterwards, I used two nuts and ¼” rubber washer as spacers (for the time being) for each bolt in order to elevate the speaker over the grate.

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As you can see, I will need to purchase longer 3/16” bolts for the 6.5” speaker. I plan to have them support a shelf overtop of the speaker to hold the four painted reflectors of the cyclotron lights. This, too, will be for another day.

As you can see, both speakers seem to line up nicely with the shell.
  • Here is a view of the 6.5" speaker below the cyclotron:

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    And here a view of the 4" speaker through the powercell window:

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Finally, here is a view of the speaker grates from the back of the motherboard (mounted to the ALICE pack frame):

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What do you guys think?
OCP_Model-001 liked this
#4885704
Last Friday, I sanded the whole pack shell with some 320 grain sanding sheet. I gave the shell a sponge bath with soap and water. I dried it with a microfibre cloth, wiped it again with some paper towel, then let it sit for half an hour. Then I went to the heated garage to give a final coat of satin black spray paint.

My friend Stefan once told me, "Rule #1: don't f*** up. Rule #2: you f**** up."

In this case, he was right.

I thought this was going to be the final coat of paint... Until the shell went all "Stranger Things" on me.

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"Veins" appeared in certain spots:

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See the ressemblance? It was actually worst... As you can see, I started to sand this area prior to taking the picture.

Demogorgons tried to break through my shell in some other spots as well:

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A top view of these monstruous atrocities:

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My theory is that I didn't wait long enough for the shell to dry completely, even though I thought it was sufficiently dry. By applying another coat of spray paint, I trapped air or moisture, thereby creating the "vein"-like patterns on the shell.

This totally ruined my Friday night. I was pretty discouraged. Good thing the lights weren't flickering anywhere.

Lesson learned: after washing any items that you wish to paint, give them enough time dry completely and undoubtedly. Oh, and avoid the demogorgons.

So now, how do I fix this?

Well, for most of the affected areas, I started by sanding them with some 80 grit (medium) sanding sponges to get rid of the "veins." I went over them again with a 120 grain (fine) sanding sponge, then another time with a 320 grain (extra-fine) sanding pad.

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For this portion, I had to use with a 60 grit sanding sponge, which stripped the black paint and primer:

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Now that I have washed the shell again, I will wait until tomorrow before spot-painting the sanded areas.

Has this happened to anyone here before? Any words of advice?
#4885708
Just a little bump in the road dude. Seen this happen on alu parts before and the peeps have just sanded them down and painted them again with great results. Chin up dude. Will look like it never happened once you get the coat of paint on there again
canpara liked this
#4885717
Venkman's Swagger wrote:Just a little bump in the road dude. Seen this happen on alu parts before and the peeps have just sanded them down and painted them again with great results. Chin up dude. Will look like it never happened once you get the coat of paint on there again
I think I'm going to start a Venkman's Swagger appreciation post. Seriously, thanks for the encouragement and support!
#4885720
Something similar happened with my Studio Creations shell. I used two different brands of paint - Krylon hammered then Rustoleum satin. I didn't give the Krylon sufficient time to dry before hitting it with the Rusto and had to sand down THE ENTIRE THING. I remember freaking out and felt so discouraged but in the end, it was just a minor setback. It took a few hours to sand and when that was out of the way, the build was back on track.
canpara liked this
#4885724
canpara wrote:
Venkman's Swagger wrote:Just a little bump in the road dude. Seen this happen on alu parts before and the peeps have just sanded them down and painted them again with great results. Chin up dude. Will look like it never happened once you get the coat of paint on there again
I think I'm going to start a Venkman's Swagger appreciation post. Seriously, thanks for the encouragement and support!
Hahaha thanks and you're welcome. Just saying what I see and trying to give a little back to the community
#4885736
Awesome! I built a pack one year from scratch with just some blueprints and wood from my dads shop. I miss it, it got trashed after I let a friend use it. Are you going to add the steam "overload" where the piece slides out and the pack literally vents steam while the pie pan lights flash?
#4885740
DrRchrz60 wrote:Awesome! I built a pack one year from scratch with just some blueprints and wood from my dads shop. I miss it, it got trashed after I let a friend use it. Are you going to add the steam "overload" where the piece slides out and the pack literally vents steam while the pie pan lights flash?
Unfortunately not. I think that's way beyond my abilities, haha!
#4887078
I just wanted to chime in on the whole reflective strip bit:
While doing researching lighting for model kits I kept hearing people saying that they had painted the insides of their models white. This seemed completely illogical as silver seems to be a better way of reflecting light. But I had an epiphany one night: I was looking at my back yard, which was completely covered in snow, and realized that the white snow reflected light very well (and yes, I know that snow isn't just white paint), but I tested it- white paint actually transfers light better than silver paint.
#4887080
It's a good thing you tested it out... Snow can often have an icy crust that can be very reflective too.

To be honest, I never thought about white paint (or any paint). I used the aluminum reflective tape to act like a mirror that is similar to the reflectors of a flashlight.

Thanks for sharing! Feel free to post some picture if you have any.
#4896546
I finally started working on my pack again...

A couple of weeks ago, I created the powercell shelf with sintra, but I forgot to take pictures. I had also drilled holes through the motherboard for the rivets that will secure the Spengler plate.

Amplified soundboard shelf and mounting the blue brick battery

Today I created a shelf for the GBFans amplified soundboard as well as a "mount" or "holder" to secure the blue brick battery, the ground loop insulator and the RCA cables that connect the insulator to the bluetooth dongle.

Before creating the "battery mount," I used some zip ties to keep the RCA cables flat on top of the battery:

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This is was it looks like with the battery mount:

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Here is a picture of the soundboard mount on its own. I really don't think the picture does it justice:

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The whole in cut in the middle is to feed the wires and cables from below the shelf, while the small slit on the side (or bottom from the perspective of that camera angle) is for the protruding volume knob. I thought about removing the knob and installing another one (using a potentiometer and a volume knob) somewhere else on the motherboard, but I figured I would leave the volume at full blast most of the time anyway and decided to keep the original knob. I can control the volume of the bluetooth sound through the source device (such as my phone) anyhow, so it's not too much of a hassle.

Here is a picture with the mounted speakers, just for fun:

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My next task is the cyclotron shelf, so stay tuned.
Last edited by canpara on August 5th, 2017, 10:40 pm, edited 2 times in total.
#4896650
More work done today. This time on the cyclotron shelf.

Cyclotron Shelf

I started by designing a template. I guess that's how I roll.

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It was easy to trace out the four holes for the cyclotron lights by placing a flashlight inside the shell and have the light directed upwards underneath the paper (I placed a screwdriver through the centre bumper hole to keep everything properly in place):

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Here you can see how I intended to create three flaps to the shelf (top, left and right), while leaving the speaker exposed at the bottom:

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In the picture below, you can see how the shelf will be mounted with the four bolts that are already holding my 6.5" speaker.

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Here are some picture of the finished shelf made of sintra. All flaps were heated and folded into shape, not glued.

Looking up from the bottom, where the speaker is exposed along with unsecured LED lights (I will use them as a vent light in the N-Filter):

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From the side, showcasing one of the three bolted flaps (top, left and right) that follow the curve of the speaker:

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The picture below is the top flap, which I have used to mount 1) the vent relay board and 2) the Cyclotron TVG Lights board. It too is secured with a bolt.

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You may have noticed that I have placed a different set of reflectors than the ones I had painted earlier in my pack build. These new ones are more compact and fit much better when considering the speaker underneath. They are probably the same kind that most pack builders are using on this forum. I will paint them red (as I had done on the old set) in due time.

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The four reflectors lined up nicely with their corresponding holes in the shell. There was still a comfortable amount of space between the reflectors and the shell, though they both looked very flush from the outside. There was lots of room between the shell and the mounted vent relay board and Cyclotron TVG board, so no worries there.

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It's always a good feeling when everything goes according to plan!
Last edited by canpara on August 7th, 2017, 10:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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