[Ecto39]

Hello. I was wondering what the pros and cons are for using aluminum parts on a fiberglass shell. I am gathering parts to build my first pack and want to be as accurate as I can. I am new to GBFans so forgive me if this has already been asked/answered.

[Kingpin]

So here are some of the pros to using aluminium pieces over resin:

*Usually lighter.
*Stronger.
*Sharper in detail than some resin offerings (though resin details vary from maker to maker).

The downside to aluminium parts is that they are more expensive than resin, as they need to be machined to some degree.

Probably the most notable thing to try get in metal if you can, would be the Proton Gun. An aluminium thrower would be lighter and stronger than a resin equivalent, and you'd have more room to work with on the inside. Additionally, it'd be more accurate to the original props, as the majority of the hero/close-up props had aluminium Proton Guns (the others had foam or resin throwers).

[Ecto39]

Thanks for the reply Kingpin. Without knowing any better, I bought a resin thrower kit from ThrowingChickens. It’s actually en route as we speak. I wish I had known.

My pack will be used for the occasional Halloween costume but will spend most of it life hanging on the wall in my man cave. I just want to be as realistic as possible ($$$ permitting).

I saw that HeavyProps has a complete set of aluminum parts on eBay with a $400 asking price. Looks like I can get the same stuff from GBFans shop for less, but not all of it is in stock.

I want to weather my pack to some degree so it looks like it came straight out of the movie. I heard that is easier to do with aluminum parts.

My shell will be fiberglass, and my thrower is mostly resin. Will the pieces look out of place?

[Kingpin]

ThrowingChicken's resin Proton Gun is probably the best out there, so it's a pretty solid investment in its own right.

What you could always do is give the Pack/Proton Gun a layer of silver before you give it a layer of black, that way the pieces should generally weather at the same rate, and if the black paint gets buffed/scratched off in spots it should hopefully reveal the silver layer.

I wouldn't expect there to be any visible "sign" that the parts are resin, the most likely circumstance where a part is revealed to be resin would likely be if it gets damaged.