By Weideman
#4898980
Hi Everyone, I thought I'd share some of the progress I've made so far on my Spirit Pack. I am going to start by saying, I ordered this pack for my kids/wife/anyone at an event who might need to borrow a pack. I 3d printed a lot of replacement parts as the scale seemed way off to me. I should also note that some of the hose colors are off at the moment. I fully plan to replace them in the future but they are all I had on hand at the time.

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Here are a few detail shots:

3d printed parts on the HGA:
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3d printed vhook:
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Here you can see some fake welds added and 3d printed resistors:
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Added the cable clamp along with a corrected PPD (this was removed, the square ends were dremeled down to the round shape and the cable connector was removed. I then rebuilt the top with miliput and sanded down):
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I drilled out the N-Filter holes and added mesh (it was a drain screen I had laying around I think?). Also added some quick nasty welds here:
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Another detail shot...
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Here you can see I removed the cable connector that came with the pack (it was cut off with a dremel and rebuilt with miliput, then sanded). I also added the blocks on the cosmetic plating (I know the decal placement is wrong here, but it just fit better).
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Another shot. You can also see the MDF motherboad it is mounted to:
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Mounted to the ALICE frame:
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The shock mount repainted (I might add a bolt here later on...)
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The wand with a serious repaint and the correct decals added. (I'll replace the blue tube later on and might add some actual switches).
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Overall, I'm pretty happy with it and still have a few things that I'll get to. Mostly for now, I just needed to finish it before we get to our groups busy season. Ooh, I should also note that I have a few led chaser kits showing up next week that I am going to add in here.

Let me know what you guys think.
below_radar_00, Kingpin, GBDRE760 and 5 others liked this
By GBDRE760
#4898983
GOOD STUFF MAN! I am almost done with mine, I am just waiting for my Alice Pack frame. Did you use L Brackets for your motherboard? I know some people are using Zip ties to add the Alice frame but that is so cheap to me, lol. I am thinking of making a motherboard and adding the pack frame that way. Other than that, my pack is done.... I will have to point out.... HOWEVER you scaled down those labels and printed those out..... YOU ARE A GENIUS! That is one aspect that I overlooked! Time to get into my Photoshop or adobe illustrator and make it happen, lol.
By Weideman
#4898993
GBDRE760 wrote:GOOD STUFF MAN! I am almost done with mine, I am just waiting for my Alice Pack frame. Did you use L Brackets for your motherboard? I know some people are using Zip ties to add the Alice frame but that is so cheap to me, lol. I am thinking of making a motherboard and adding the pack frame that way. Other than that, my pack is done.... I will have to point out.... HOWEVER you scaled down those labels and printed those out..... YOU ARE A GENIUS! That is one aspect that I overlooked! Time to get into my Photoshop or adobe illustrator and make it happen, lol.
I did use L-brackets to mount the shell to the motherboard. I wasn't crazy about the zip ties method at all. Thank you for the label remark. I scaled them from a standard set to 95%, 85%, and 65%. From there it was a matter of mixing and matching the various sizes to see what fit best.

I saw last night that somebody on eBay is selling label sheets scaled for the spirit pack. I wonder how they fit? Anyways, I have a print shop like a block from my work so I can usually email them what i want and for like a buck they'll print it and I can pick it up on my way home. Beats having to buy stuff like that online.
GBDRE760 liked this
By Weideman
#4898994
1chapelcredit wrote:Looks great! Mind if I ask which parts you 3d printed? Mine comes in next week and I'm considering printing some mods for it as well.
I printed the Legris Elbows, the Clippard Brass Elbows, and the Dale RH Resistors. I thought about printing the Dale PH resistor and the crank knob but left them as is for now. I can always replace the PH but the crank knob would have required me to rebuild a lot of space on the front of the pack and I wasn't crazy about that idea.

I think I downloaded the files off Thingiverse and printed them at 80%. I printed the V-Hook too but left that at full size. I was worried scaling it might weaken the wand piece.
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By Weideman
#4899006
CountDeMonet wrote:This looks really good. Nice mods!
Thank you very much!
below_radar_00 wrote:I'm so happy Spirit came out with these packs. It's fun watching all the mod threads pop up. Your mods are my favorite so far and I'm sure I'll be referencing them when I have the time to work on my Spirit pack. Thanks for sharing!
I appreciate the kind words and if you should have any questions when referencing this pack, let me know. I am happy to help!
Kingpin wrote:Some nice mod work there, and that gives me ideas... or bolsters ideas I've had for modding my own. :)
Thank you sir. I can't wait to see yours!
User avatar
By WindDrake
#4899306
Very nice work man, looks like we had a lot of the same ideas!

3D printing is great, isn't it?

I put out all my models on Thingiverse that I made for the Spirit packs - If you want a new powercell lens, try out the one I designed. Print at 100% infill - they look great.
Henners liked this
By Henners
#4899315
WindDrake wrote:Very nice work man, looks like we had a lot of the same ideas!

3D printing is great, isn't it?

I put out all my models on Thingiverse that I made for the Spirit packs - If you want a new powercell lens, try out the one I designed. Print at 100% infill - they look great.
Awesome! You think you can fit the GBFans wand kit in the 80% scale print?
User avatar
By WindDrake
#4899316
80%? At 100%, the main board in the wand is about 80% of the length of the gunbox... It would be very close, I think. Though by my measurements the Spirit pack is ~85%, at 85% it may clear well, gives you some more margin for error vs. 80%.
User avatar
By scigro
#4899341
I,m moving along as well.... I already have a full light kit lade out in the Shell. ....as well as the sound kit ..i,m just waiting on my full size thrower and light kit for that. ....And i,m good to go...again if I can find s way to post pictures I will . all kits are g.b fans except the cyclotron. That's a Cix kit.
By hutto
#4899375
scigro wrote:i used 1/8in plywood..I hate MDF .
I threw away a shelving unit that had plywood shelves just over a half inch thick. I'm thinking about using a shelf to thicken the pack a bit and add some weight.
scigro liked this
By Weideman
#4899483
Sorry everyone, I have been out of town the past few days taking the family to Disneyland. I just got home tonight and saw all the activity on this post. I'll do my best to answer any questions, but if I miss anything, ask again and I'll respond.
Heatley2001 wrote:Where did you get the labels for the back and the wand?

What size did you scale them to?
The labels are from a search here on the boards... Somebody at some point posted a PDF of them. They had the pack, wand, and danger labels on 1 sheet. I scaled them to 95%, 85%, and 65%... I think I ended up using the 85% ones mostly but found that I mixed and matched a few according to what looked best. I think I have them on my computer at work. I will take a look next week when I am back and if you still need them, we can sort that out.
WindDrake wrote:Very nice work man, looks like we had a lot of the same ideas!

3D printing is great, isn't it?

I put out all my models on Thingiverse that I made for the Spirit packs - If you want a new powercell lens, try out the one I designed. Print at 100% infill - they look great.
Thank you! As they say, great minds think alike!

I saw the files up on thingiverse and have already pointed a few people toward them to mod their packs. They look great! I might have to try out the power cell lens as the one that comes standard NEEDS to be replaced.

Henners wrote:
WindDrake wrote:Very nice work man, looks like we had a lot of the same ideas!

3D printing is great, isn't it?

I put out all my models on Thingiverse that I made for the Spirit packs - If you want a new powercell lens, try out the one I designed. Print at 100% infill - they look great.
Awesome! You think you can fit the GBFans wand kit in the 80% scale print?
I don't think I would event attempt to fit a GBFans wand kit in there. At best it would be a tight fit and at worst, you might destroy the wand. If anything, you could buy a Nickatron or Throwing Chicken kit, put the GBFans kit in that and replace the wand on the spirit pack. If you upgrade to a full sized pack later on, move the wand to the bigger pack and put back on your spirit wand.
scigro wrote:I,m moving along as well.... I already have a full light kit lade out in the Shell. ....as well as the sound kit ..i,m just waiting on my full size thrower and light kit for that. ....And i,m good to go...again if I can find s way to post pictures I will . all kits are g.b fans except the cyclotron. That's a Cix kit.
I'd love to see it. The kits I ordered for the light just don't do it for me... I thought they'd work but they don't so I am looking for alternatives and I don't want to dump a bunch of $$ into this. I think the only part I have bought outside of the $4 chaser light kits was the ALICE frame.
hutto wrote:What thickness of MDF did you use for your motherboard? I assume those are 1 inch spacers? For time and cash, I'm going to use corner brackets to attach it.
Its 1/4in MDF. Not sure on the size of the spacers... I had them lying around from my previous build. I bought them at some point thinking they would work for my SC build but they were a little small. I used corner brackets to mount to the motherboard. They were also part of the stuff I had laying around from some other build (I never get rid of anything like that for fear I'll need it for something like this lol).
scigro wrote:i used 1/8in plywood..I hate MDF .
Not crazy about it either but if you seal the edges with superglue it doesn't flake off and creates a nice finish... Plus I had a sheet of the stuff laying around in the garage.
hutto wrote:
scigro wrote:i used 1/8in plywood..I hate MDF .
I threw away a shelving unit that had plywood shelves just over a half inch thick. I'm thinking about using a shelf to thicken the pack a bit and add some weight.
I am helping my buddy mod his as well and we just talked about using a thicker piece to add some height to the pack as our biggest complaint is that the pack looks 'thin'. If you go with a 1/2 in motherboard, I'd love to see what it looks like! Especially from a profile view.
By J10kmn
#4899523
First off, the pack looks incredible. You'd never be able to tell that it was a plastic Halloween item and not scratch made. What kind of paint did you use if you don't mind me asking?
By Weideman
#4899528
J10kmn wrote:First off, the pack looks incredible. You'd never be able to tell that it was a plastic Halloween item and not scratch made. What kind of paint did you use if you don't mind me asking?
Thank you so much! As for the paint, there are multiple layers and are as follows:

1. Rustoleum Flat Black Primer (Any primer will do, its just what I had on hand)
2. Rustoleum Metallic Alluminum
3. Mask off areas that don need texture and then spray with Rustoleum Hammered Silver
4. I used mustard to mask off areas that I wanted weathered and let dry (this gets wiped away later)
5. Rustoleum Satin Black
6. Wipe away mustard (this will cause the black to flake off in those areas) and clean with a damp towel
7. I usually hit some of the silver areas (like the silver top of the clippard) with a Testors metallic enamel to give some variation of the silver metallics
8. Cheap Flat Black Craft paint (think cheap craft paints at Walmart) - This I usually do thin washes and try to let some of the paint settle in the low spots.
9. Seal with Rustoleum Clear Enamel (You can get flat or gloss - I usually go with flat as it will knock down some of the shine left from the Satin Black)

It might have been overkill as far as the explanation goes but I hope it helps!
J10kmn liked this
By J10kmn
#4899569
Weideman wrote:It might have been overkill as far as the explanation goes but I hope it helps!
Not at all! Just from looking at it you can tell a lot of work went into the paint job (which can really make or break a build). Thanks for the info. Hopefully I can get mine looking at least 1/2 as good.
By Weideman
#4899584
J10kmn wrote:Not at all! Just from looking at it you can tell a lot of work went into the paint job (which can really make or break a build). Thanks for the info. Hopefully I can get mine looking at least 1/2 as good.
I have always found painting to be the most enjoyable stage of any build. It's relaxing and allows you to play a little bit. If you screw it up, you can always do a little sanding and paint over it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask, I am more than happy to help out!
By hutto
#4899598
Weideman wrote:Sorry everyone, I have been out of town the past few days taking the family to Disneyland. I just got home tonight and saw all the activity on this post. I'll do my best to answer any questions, but if I miss anything, ask again and I'll respond.
Heatley2001 wrote:Where did you get the labels for the back and the wand?

What size did you scale them to?
The labels are from a search here on the boards... Somebody at some point posted a PDF of them. They had the pack, wand, and danger labels on 1 sheet. I scaled them to 95%, 85%, and 65%... I think I ended up using the 85% ones mostly but found that I mixed and matched a few according to what looked best. I think I have them on my computer at work. I will take a look next week when I am back and if you still need them, we can sort that out.
WindDrake wrote:Very nice work man, looks like we had a lot of the same ideas!

3D printing is great, isn't it?

I put out all my models on Thingiverse that I made for the Spirit packs - If you want a new powercell lens, try out the one I designed. Print at 100% infill - they look great.
Thank you! As they say, great minds think alike!

I saw the files up on thingiverse and have already pointed a few people toward them to mod their packs. They look great! I might have to try out the power cell lens as the one that comes standard NEEDS to be replaced.

Henners wrote:
Awesome! You think you can fit the GBFans wand kit in the 80% scale print?
I don't think I would event attempt to fit a GBFans wand kit in there. At best it would be a tight fit and at worst, you might destroy the wand. If anything, you could buy a Nickatron or Throwing Chicken kit, put the GBFans kit in that and replace the wand on the spirit pack. If you upgrade to a full sized pack later on, move the wand to the bigger pack and put back on your spirit wand.
scigro wrote:I,m moving along as well.... I already have a full light kit lade out in the Shell. ....as well as the sound kit ..i,m just waiting on my full size thrower and light kit for that. ....And i,m good to go...again if I can find s way to post pictures I will . all kits are g.b fans except the cyclotron. That's a Cix kit.
I'd love to see it. The kits I ordered for the light just don't do it for me... I thought they'd work but they don't so I am looking for alternatives and I don't want to dump a bunch of $$ into this. I think the only part I have bought outside of the $4 chaser light kits was the ALICE frame.
hutto wrote:What thickness of MDF did you use for your motherboard? I assume those are 1 inch spacers? For time and cash, I'm going to use corner brackets to attach it.
Its 1/4in MDF. Not sure on the size of the spacers... I had them lying around from my previous build. I bought them at some point thinking they would work for my SC build but they were a little small. I used corner brackets to mount to the motherboard. They were also part of the stuff I had laying around from some other build (I never get rid of anything like that for fear I'll need it for something like this lol).
scigro wrote:i used 1/8in plywood..I hate MDF .
Not crazy about it either but if you seal the edges with superglue it doesn't flake off and creates a nice finish... Plus I had a sheet of the stuff laying around in the garage.
hutto wrote:
I threw away a shelving unit that had plywood shelves just over a half inch thick. I'm thinking about using a shelf to thicken the pack a bit and add some weight.
I am helping my buddy mod his as well and we just talked about using a thicker piece to add some height to the pack as our biggest complaint is that the pack looks 'thin'. If you go with a 1/2 in motherboard, I'd love to see what it looks like! Especially from a profile view.
I went for it with the plywood. It's attached to the frame but the pack isn't, yet.
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By Weideman
#4899653
hutto wrote:I went for it with the plywood. It's attached to the frame but the pack isn't, yet.
Image
I really like the look of that! It looks like it adds a nice bit of height to the pack.
By hutto
#4899680
Weideman wrote:
hutto wrote:I went for it with the plywood. It's attached to the frame but the pack isn't, yet.
Image
I really like the look of that! It looks like it adds a nice bit of height to the pack.
Thanks. I actually screwed up while drilling holes for mounts and ultimately zip tied it. I routed the battery pack to other side of the board.

The whole pack weighs 11.3 lbs

I scaled the wand labels to 23% in Photoshop's print with preview. Fits pretty much perfect.

I spent way too much money on it but, it's nice to finally have a pack.
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